Too Many Repositioning Cruisers Make These Same Mistakes

Name: Too Many Repositioning Cruisers Make These Same Mistakes | Open Video
Uploaded: 2025-11-09T09:29:06+00:00
Duration: 14 min 50 s

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While repositioning cruisers can be an
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absolute bargain, they come with
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catches, watch outs, and easily made
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mistakes that can turn what looks like
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the cruise deal of a lifetime into a
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regretfilled trip. Welcome aboard. I'm
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Gary Benbridge. And having done many
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repositioning cruisers, I want to share
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not only what they are and how to find
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them, but also the mistakes I see many
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cruisers make and importantly, how to
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avoid them. First, what exactly is a
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repositioning cruise? Some people
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misunderstand exactly what it is. They
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are when cruise lines move their ships
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on one-way trips between different
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cruising regions, usually in spring and
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autumn. In spring, March, April, ships
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are moved from the Caribbean to Europe
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or Alaska for the summer seasons there.
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And in autumn, October, November time,
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ships are moved back to the Caribbean
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for the busy season there. Instead of
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sailing ships empty, the cruise lines
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sell these one-way journeys as what the
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industry calls repositioning cruisers.
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The three most common are transatlantic
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repositionings between Europe and the
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Caribbean, Panama Canal, US West Coast
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repositionings between Alaska and the
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Caribbean, and trans-Pacific
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repositionings like the one I'm just
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back from between Alaska and Japan.
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There are other though less common
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repositionings like to and from the
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Mediterranean via the SE canal to Asia,
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to and from Australia and Alaska via
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French Polynesia and Hawaii, and to and
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from South America and Europe. What many
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people don't appreciate is that
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repositionings almost all happen in only
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two time periods, spring and autumn. So,
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cruisers are limited on when they can
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actually do them. And due to their
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distance, they're longer voyages lasting
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10 to 21 nights or sometimes even more.
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Unlike regular cruises around a region
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which are port intensive, they all have
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many sea days, often five or six in a
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row, as a line wants to get their ships
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in place to start running regular
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cruises as quickly as possible. For
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example, that Silver Sea Silver Silven
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Nova Trans-Pacific repositioning I
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mentioned that I'm just back from Alaska
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to Japan. It had eight sea days, six of
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them backto back. So, if they're so
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seedday heavy, why are they popular with
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so many cruisers? And what do many not
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understand about them? First, they are
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fantastic value because they appeal to a
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limited market due to those sea days,
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few ports, and length. Fairs are usually
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much lower per night than the same
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ship's regular cruises. For example, my
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Silver Nova repositioning daily rate was
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about half a regular cruise on that
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ship. And I've got transatlantic
2:44
repositionings booked on Crystal and
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Regent for next year at even bigger per
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night savings. These lower fairs have
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the added appeal to many cruisers
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because they can then afford to travel
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in a better grade of cabin or even a
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more premium cruise line than their
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budget would usually cover. For example,
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friends of mine frequently use
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repositioning cruisers to be able to
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cruise on Viking, the small ship luxury
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line. Now, their regular cruisers are
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way out of their budget, but they're not
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if they go on repositionings. I'm using
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repositionings to go on the ultra luxury
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region in Crystal next year. as I
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mentioned because it is way less cost
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than cruising on them normally. Another
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reason many go on them is for the very
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unique itineraries. Although there's
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many sea days in between, they usually
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offer unusual port combinations. For
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example, I once did a pino cruisers
3:36
repositioning from the UK to the
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Caribbean via the Canary Islands. Those
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are two regions you rarely see or can do
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in one itinerary. on that silver trip I
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mentioned. I got to visit Alaska and
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then eight Japanese ports in one trip.
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The third reason I find many go on them
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is for the sea days themselves. Some
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people really love the chance to have
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days with no pressure to explore ports
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and be able to have days backtoback to
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really relax, dive into enrichment
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lectures and just enjoy ship life. One
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thing I found is repositioning cruisers
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are chosen by highly social travelers
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because the multiple sea days along
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with, as you'll hear more about later,
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mixed weather means there's lots of time
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to meet and get to know fellow cruisers.
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The fourth reason many like them is for
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the vibe and similar traveler mix. They
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attract way fewer families because
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they're longer and fall in shoulder
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seasons out of school vacation times.
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And the crowd tends to skew older,
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quieter, and is definitely more relaxed.
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I'm frequently asked by people attracted
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by all of these. How though do you find
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repositioning cruisers as they don't see
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them advertised normally.
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Probably the easiest way is to ask a
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cruise specialist travel agent. And if
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you are looking for a good agent, I have
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recommendations for those in different
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countries in an article on my blog at
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titsraers.com/agents.
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However, there are a few great websites
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that list repositioning cruisers that I
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use to check out options. My personal
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favorite and the most comprehensive by
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far is repositioning cruise.com. It's
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run by the well-known site vacations
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togo.com. I find it not only has all
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options from resort mega ships to small
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ultra luxury ones, but it's the best
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resource to easily look at all lines,
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itineraries, and dates in one place and
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get a really good feel for the prices.
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Now, I use this to see which would work.
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Though, I then actually use my travel
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agent to find the best fairs and to
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actually book. But if you are set on a
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specific line, most have on their
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website an option to set a filter in
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their cruise search for repositioning
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cruises. And some have dedicated
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repositioning pages listing all of them.
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For example, Celebrity does that. And if
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you're on a cruise and want to do one on
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that same line, check in with the future
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cruise team and they'll absolutely be
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able to help. I did that and I got that
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Crystal Lisbon to Miami repositioning I
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mentioned with added onboard discount. a
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fair that gave me one great upgrade and
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a pre cruise hotel stay by doing it on
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board. Even when cruisers have got all
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of this right, there are still a few
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areas where I see people getting things
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wrong. And here they are. First, many
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think they run like a regular cruise
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does. Being longer and with so many sea
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days, the lines must find ways to fill
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all of those days and keep passengers
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entertained. So I often see the program
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can be rather different to one of their
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regular cruisers selling in the
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Caribbean, Mediterranean, Alaska and so
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on. On repositioning cruises,
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entertainment leans more to enrichment
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lectures, trivia, bingo, competitive
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activities like table tennis golf
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putting officers versus passenger
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challenges, dance classes, cooking
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demonstrations, senior officer and
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theater singers and dancers, Q&As's, and
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it can get a little bit repetitive as
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they just keep repeating those things.
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The line only has a limited number of
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production shows, so they have to
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supplement them as they did in my recent
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one by letting the individual singers
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putting on specific cabaret shows and
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even some of the live musicians on the
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ship put on concerts on my latest
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repositioning to fill the many nights.
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Also, I have frequently seen the lines
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try new shows they're planning to roll
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out on repositioning cruises because
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there's time for performers to work on
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it. So, they're not always quite right
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yet. And again, they did that on my
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recent repositioning cruise. Next, I
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have on all the ones I've done met
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cruisers who booked a repositioning on a
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line they'd never been on before because
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of the price or route being one that
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appealed to them, but they didn't enjoy
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it and felt stuck because the line
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wasn't to their liking or style. For
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example, other friends encouraged by the
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experience of those other friends I
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mentioned doing repositions on Viking,
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they booked on Viking and found quite
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quickly they didn't like it. They like
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an upbeat late night high energy vibe, a
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much more partylike program when
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cruising. So, they disliked the quieter
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Viking vibe, which was lectures, smaller
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scale shows, no casino, less late night
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activities. It made the 12-day
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repositioning feel very long for them
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indeed by not choosing the right line.
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Also, many cruisers go on repositioning
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cruises, assuming calm seas and sunny
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weather. But crossing oceans like the
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Atlantic or the Bearing Sea between
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Alaska and Japan at those times of year
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can mean stormier weather and choppy
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seas. On reposition cruises I've been
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on, there's been decks closed due to
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wind pools closed or drained, lots of
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movement, so not always suiting people
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prone to seasickness. Plus, because
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they're in shoulder seasons before and
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after the best weather in a region,
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weather on a repositioning can usually
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be cold, wet, and windy at times. This
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was the case on my most recent one, too.
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Most cruisers also don't factor in that
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even the few ports on the itinerary
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could be cancelled due to this weather
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increasing even further the number of
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sea days. This happened to me on that
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Pino transatlantic repositioning I
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mentioned where we had to drop a port on
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the way due to weather. The most
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dramatic example I can think of weather
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impacting a transatlantic repositioning
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in the last few years is the Norwegian
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Aqua repositioning when it came into
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service out of the UK. Due to poor
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weather in the North Atlantic, it didn't
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even sail and end in the scheduled port
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of Boston at all. It sailed further
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south. It diverted and ended in New
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York. Instead, it took 3 days longer
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than scheduled to do that as well. The
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weather can make packing tricky, too.
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Generally, the weather at the start and
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end will be quite different with
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sweaters at the start and shorts and
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t-shirt at the end or vice versa. So you
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do need to pack for a multiple set of
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weather. So for example on that piano
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batania from the UK to the Caribbean, it
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was autumn as we left and had to be
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wrapped up with big coats, but by the
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time we got to the Caribbean, it was hot
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beach short weather. I also see far too
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many cruisers booking the wrong cabin on
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these. People who find an inside cabin
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works on a regular seven night port
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intensive cruise in the Caribbean,
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Mediterranean or Alaska find on a long
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repositioning it actually feels rather
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claustrophobic, especially sitting out
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on the deck due to weather, it's not
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always possible for some of the trip and
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they find with all the sea days and the
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pace, they actually want to spend a
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little bit more time in their cabin and
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an inside or ocean view doesn't always
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work. But that's why kind of balcony
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cabins or certain cabins with big
10:27
windows can make a real difference on a
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repositioning because you use the cabin
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differently. Midship cabins are also
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really good because the sea conditions
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are likely to mean more movement. So
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midshipips is a good bet. One area I see
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many slip up is not factoring in the
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potentially high cost of the required
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one-way international flight and pre and
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postday hotels. These can wipe out a lot
10:50
of the savings from the lower cruise
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fair in many cases. For example, I
10:55
needed to get to Anchorage to join that
10:58
Silver Nova Transpacific and stay a
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night. I did leave booking a hotel a
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little bit later than I should and by
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the time I booked it, it cost me $600
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for one night even in the Hilton because
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most of the hotels were sold out. If you
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don't factor all that in, the savings
11:13
could disappear and the cost for the
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entire trip end up being not much more
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of a bargain versus a regular cruise. I
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also see people not thinking through the
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impact of time changes on repositioning
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cruises and going in the kind of the
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wrong or less ideal direction. Let me
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explain. On that silver Nova from Alaska
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to Japan, we gained an hour every night.
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So, a total of 7 hours in seven days as
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we moved across time zones. This change
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overall felt more easy because when I
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went to bed, it was basically an hour
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earlier as I changed the clock back,
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giving me more sleep and rest. But if
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I'd headed the other way, I'd have lost
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an hour every night and that would be
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much more brutal. But still adjusting to
11:53
that time zone change a lot of people
11:55
struggled with. The same with
11:57
transatlantics. Westbound from Europe to
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the Caribbean, you gain 5 hours, making
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for 25-hour days, while eastbound, you
12:04
lose it having five 23-hour days
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instead. And it can be rather tiring.
12:10
There are a few practicalities that I
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have also seen many forget or not take
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enough account of like not thinking
12:17
through and checking any visa or transit
12:19
requirements. As repositionings pass
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through multiple countries, there may be
12:24
a need to get a visa or a series of ESTA
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or ETA electronic travel authorizations
12:30
to enter different countries. They have
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to be applied for and sorted in advance
12:34
and not having them could mean being
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refused boarding if you don't have them.
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On some repositionings, there will be
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in-person immigration process, maybe
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multiple times, like we had on board
12:45
when we were entering Japan on that
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Silver Nova repositioning. Many people
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assume Wi-Fi will be available and
12:51
reliable with plans or need to stay in
12:54
touch with family or do some work calls
12:55
or work. However, even with Starlink
12:58
these days, you can't assume this and
13:00
you may need to pay for premium services
13:02
to get streaming or to use a VPN and
13:05
there may be periods where it is patchy
13:07
or not available. All of that was the
13:09
case in that silver repositioning
13:11
because it was an area where Starlink
13:13
wasn't allowed to operate and the ship
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had to revert to the less reliable slow
13:17
marine satellite alternative. I also
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worry that many do not appreciate that
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travel insurance with cruise cover is
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really important on these longer
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sailings that sell far from land and
13:27
ports. If you do need medical attention
13:29
and must be medivvaced, it will cost an
13:32
absolute fortune. So having cover that
13:34
includes both that and foreign hospital
13:36
stays and repatriation home is
13:39
essential. Bearing in all this in mind,
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who have I seen should and should not do
13:45
reposition cruises and why?
13:47
Repositionings are best for experienced
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cruisers who know that they love sea
13:52
days. They're ideal for retirees or
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people with flexible schedules that can
13:56
be comfortably away for that amount of
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time and can travel in the two narrow
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windows when these all take place.
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They're also a great option for budget
14:06
conscious travelers who want to do more
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days for less, especially if they enjoy
14:11
a more enrichment and relaxed focused
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program. I find them, by the way, also
14:16
good for solo travelers because the
14:18
better value fairs make them more
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affordable, even if there's no solar
14:23
supplement. They're not good for
14:25
first-time cruisers nor families with
14:27
kids, as it may prove rather hard to
14:29
keep them entertained. They're also not
14:32
right for anyone who wants port
14:34
intensive itineraries, dislikes, or
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struggles a lot with motion sickness. If
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you're thinking of doing a repositioning
14:41
on a premium line, why not join me over
14:43
in this video where I compare and
14:45
contrast them to see which is best and
14:47
worst these days. See you over there.

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