REPOSITIONING VOYAGES: BARGAIN OR BUMMER?

A repositioning cruise is when a ship transfers from one part of the world to another at the end of a busy season, typically from the Med to the Caribbean in Autumn, or vice versa in the spring. For many, they can be fabulous, exhilarating adventures, scooped up at a bargain price. For others, thet can be far too long, with too many sea days, and perhaps the chance of less than perfect weather along the way. Can you reconcile the two? If so, then a crossing might just be for you.

Price wise, these trips typically represent tremendous value, with the per person per day rate often less than half that of a normal scheduled cruise. It's very rare for such trips to completely sell out, so if you live in hopes of a smart, swift upgrade, you'll probably be better served booking one of these crossings. And, with less passengers on board, the service is usually just that little bit better, too.

Against that, you might find that the air fare works out more expensive than the cruise at times. Open jaw flights to, say, Barcelona and then flying home from Miami can be hideously over the top, price wise, and much more so than a simple round trip flight ticket to a European or Caribbean destination. Though you can shop around and look at good one way options on the likes of Norwegian Air for example. It certainly pays to do extensive research.

But there's no doubt that a repositioning voyage offers genuine relaxation, in the way that a typical cruise cannot do. On a week long cruise, you're on and off the ship almost every day. But, with several consecutive days at sea, a repositioning cruise allows you to truly unwind in a way that even very few land based holidays can.

Against that, repositioning cruises will really eat into your prosepctive leisure time. Very few of them tend to be of less than two full weeks' duration. And, as relaxing as it is, days on end of 'seeing nothing but the sea' might make some people stir crazy. Indeed, it is one of the main reasons cite for people who will not book them, bargain price or not.

On the whole, it has to be said that the pluses outweight the minuses in most cases, but that's for you to decide from your own, unique viewpoint. As with everything, the pros and the cons have to be weighed carfeully before you come to any binding decision.