The Pacific is the biggest stretch of water on Earth, and crossing it by ship is the cheapest way to travel between two continents. Spring and autumn repositioning sailings link Japan and Alaska season ships with the US West Coast, at per-night prices no land holiday can touch.
The route at a glance
Seventeen nights, Tokyo (Yokohama) to Los Angeles, in the spring repositioning window. Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas sails May 2027 through a string of Japanese ports - Shimizu for Mount Fuji, Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe for Kyoto - then crosses the International Date Line and runs roughly ten straight sea days to Los Angeles. Westbound versions sail Los Angeles or Seattle to Tokyo in September. There are no stops in the middle of the Pacific: once Japan falls behind, the voyage becomes the ship, the horizon and your sea legs.
Who this route suits
Best for sea-day devotees (ten in a row is the entire point), for travelers pairing the crossing with time in Japan - see the Japan, Tokyo to Osaka route for the land side - and for budget travelers who want a two-continent trip on a one-continent budget. Big-ship stability helps, but ten sea days test anyone who needs a port each morning. Less ideal for light sleepers sensitive to ship motion in open ocean, and travelers who cannot take three weeks including the flights at each end.
What it costs
Crossings are repositioning cruises, and priced to fill. The May 2027 Navigator of the Seas sailing lists from $1,429 per person including taxes and fees - under $90 a night for accommodation, meals and transport between continents. The real cost drivers are the one-way international flights and hotels at each end; Tokyo in May and Los Angeles hotels both need budgeting. Book early for the cheap cabin grades: the lowest fares on these sailings historically sell first and rarely return.
The five-minute version
- Seventeen nights, Tokyo to Los Angeles; spring and autumn windows only.
- Japanese ports first (Shimizu, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe), then ten straight sea days.
- From $1,429 per person including taxes and fees - under $90 a night.
- One-way flights and end-city hotels are the real extras.
- Prefer the Atlantic? The transatlantic crossing is the shorter, cheaper ocean to try first.