Repositioning Cruises: The Cheapest Nights at Sea

Cruise ships follow the seasons. Alaska's fleet works May to September and then has to be somewhere else; the Mediterranean fleet empties in November; ships move between Europe and the Caribbean, between Alaska and Mexico, between the northern and southern hemispheres.

Those relocation voyages carry passengers, and they are priced to fill a ship that is making the journey regardless. It is the clearest example in travel of a cost that exists whether or not you buy it.

When they run

• April–May — westbound and northbound: Caribbean to Europe, Mexico to Alaska.
• September–November — the larger wave: Europe to the Caribbean, Alaska south, the Mediterranean fleet dispersing.
• Transatlantic crossings in both directions are the classic form, typically 7 to 14 nights.

In our data, transatlantic and grand-voyage sailings sit at a median of $111 per night over a typical ten nights — below Alaska, below the Mediterranean, and about a quarter of the European river rate, on ships that are frequently at the premium end of the fleet.

What you are actually buying

A repositioning cruise is mostly sea days. A transatlantic may have six or seven consecutive days with no land at all. This is the thing to be honest with yourself about, because it is the whole character of the trip and it divides people absolutely.

For some travellers it is the best holiday there is: a week of reading, eating, lectures, and the specific quiet of being genuinely out of contact. For others it is a floating hotel corridor and by day four they are counting.

The catches

1. It is one-way. You need a flight home from the other end, and it will usually be a long-haul flight bought separately. This can consume the whole saving — always price the sailing and the flight together.
2. The flight is often the expensive direction. One-way long-haul fares are frequently poor value compared with returns. Check before you commit.
3. Weather. Autumn North Atlantic crossings can be rough. Spring is generally kinder. If motion is a concern, book low and midships and prefer the spring wave.
4. Fewer ports means fewer chances to break the rhythm. Some crossings include the Azores, Madeira or the Canaries, which changes the trip considerably. Look for those.
5. Time zones every day or two, in one-hour steps. This is much gentler than a flight — arguably the most civilised way to cross an ocean — but it does mean losing or gaining an hour repeatedly.

Who they suit particularly well

• Anyone who dislikes flying. A crossing replaces an eight-hour flight with a week of sleeping in the same bed. For nervous flyers this is transformative.
• Readers and writers. There is no better working environment than a sea day.
• Travellers with time but not money. The trade is precisely time for money, at the best rate in the industry.
• People combining it with a long stay. Sail one way in spring, stay in Europe for a month, sail back in autumn. This is the classic use and the flights problem disappears entirely.

How to book one well

• Price the airfare first. If the one-way home is expensive, the deal may not be a deal.
• Prefer a crossing with island stops — Azores, Madeira, Canaries, Bermuda — if you are unsure about consecutive sea days.
• Book a balcony if you can. This is one itinerary where it genuinely earns its price, because the cabin is where the days happen.
• Spring over autumn for the North Atlantic, on weather.
• Check the ship, not just the price. Repositioning fares put you on ships you could not otherwise justify. That is the real bargain.

The short version

• Ships must relocate seasonally; the sailings that carry them are the cheapest nights in cruising.
• Median $111 a night in our data, on frequently excellent ships.
• Mostly sea days. Be honest about whether you like those.
• One-way — price the flight home before you celebrate the fare.
• Spring crossings are calmer than autumn ones.
• The best use is sailing out, staying a month, and sailing back.