Finding a Repositioning Cruise

What is a repositioning cruise? It’s one where the cruise line is moving one of their cruise ships from one home port to another which means that their ship makes an unusual crossing, often involving more oceanic crossing and less port calls.

Companies that regularly reposition cruise ships include: Carnival, Celebrity, Costa, Crystal, Holland America, MSC, Norwegian, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Seabourn, SeaDream, SilverSea and Windstar. There are a variety of forms of repositioning – the best known is transatlantic voyages where ships are moved into and out of Europe and America, but cruise lines move ships into and out of Alaska, Canada, Hawaii and South America. The advantage of a repositioning cruise is that they tend to be offered at lower fares than regular cruises because of all those sea days, and they also sometimes offer incentives such as free or reduced cost access to ship facilities and the chance to visit ports that are not on traditional itineraries.

Remember that repositioning cruises come around seasonally, so if you want to book one, you need to be thinking about ships moving to a region with the onset of spring and out of it as the weather worsens. This can lead to a bit of a bumpier ride than is traditionally expected but if you’re a good sailor and you like sea days, a repositioning cruise can be a fantastic holiday as well as a fantastic bargain.