Tell me about repositioning cruises please!

[cruiseintoheaven]

Hi all,

 

DH and I are looking at the repositioning cruise from NY to FLL Oct. 2017on the Regal, which would include Halloween. Apart from the obvious differences (different embarkation/debarkation ports and airports, and more sea days, are there any other significant differences? I'm anticipating that the first few days may be chilly (?). Is the entertainment the same? Overall vibe?

 

Our other option is a 10 day Southern Car. on Nov. 5 on the Royal, which obviously has more ports. I kind of like the idea of having a lot of sea days to enjoy just relaxing, and we do have two weeks on the Regal this coming February doing eastern/western....

 

Any thoughts or feedback appreciated! :)

 

Lynn

Edited June 18, 2016 by cruiseintoheaven

[moki'smommy]

No real difference. Sometimes they can be a bargain to book, but that's often when the airfare is rough. Otherwise, they feel like the best cruises ever!

[elliair]

We're on a re-positioning from Quebec City to FLL in October 2016 on the Caribbean Princess. It's port intensive which is okay with us because it's ports we've never been to. I'm planning for cold and then warm. When we reach FLL, we're spending one night then getting on the Royal Princess for a 10-day Southern Caribbean cruise with only 3 sea days and it's port intensive as well. We love sea days but looking forward to ports this time around. If you really want sea days, the Hawaii cruise is for you. 4 sea days there and 5 sea days back. We're looking to do that in January 2017 out of SF on the Grand. BTW, we were on the Coral Princess re-positioning through the canal and the Coral headed to do Alaska. There were a few Canadians onboard who were not offered the chance to book extending the cruise to Vancouver. They had to get off the ship in LA and fly home. The ship was sold out!

[VTX-AL]

Just FYI - if you like sea days, I second the Hawaii cruise idea, only out of Vancouver (as opposed to LA or SanFran )- five sea days each way. I loved it !!:D

 

...VTX-Al

[janetz]

Hi all,

 

DH and I are looking at the repositioning cruise from NY to FLL Oct. 2017on the Regal, which would include Halloween. Apart from the obvious differences (different embarkation/debarkation ports and airports, and more sea days, are there any other significant differences? I'm anticipating that the first few days may be chilly (?). Is the entertainment the same? Overall vibe?

 

Our other option is a 10 day Southern Car. on Nov. 5 on the Royal, which obviously has more ports. I kind of like the idea of having a lot of sea days to enjoy just relaxing, and we do have two weeks on the Regal this coming February doing eastern/western....

 

Any thoughts or feedback appreciated! :)

 

Lynn

 

We are planning on booking the same cruise. We did the same repo on the Royal 2014. It was wonderful!

The sea days are so relaxing and since the sailing is now on the Regal they have switched up the ports a bit.

It was warm enough to be at the pool in the afternoon the day after we left NY. :)

Halloween is a huge event onboard so bring a costume!

Edited June 19, 2016 by janetz

[GFLeeper]

The sea days are always a pleasure on repositioning cruises. Since the cruise is longer than 7 days, the passenger mix will be slightly older with fewer children.

 

In late October, there is still a chance of storms, but the Captain will have a lot of sea room to maneuver between New York and St. Maarten to avoid worst.

 

With different departure and arrival ports. the best air fares may be through Princess EZair.

 

Halloween, can be a blast on board. Bring some sort of a costume just in case.

 

George

[freshair8]

Just FYI - if you like sea days, I second the Hawaii cruise idea, only out of Vancouver (as opposed to LA or SanFran )- five sea days each way. I loved it !!:D

 

...VTX-Al

 

Where's the "like button" when you need one.....:)

[satxdiver]

Of the three sea days before the first port, most likely only the first sea day and perhaps part of the second will be cool. A lot depends on the available sun and blue sky of course. The six sea days will give you a taste of a TA cruise but will be partially spread out. Technically hurricane season does not end until November 30 but the likelihood of one is very very small. Enjoy either cruise you decide to take.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

I have found that repos, or any cruise with a high % of sea days, tend to draw out the more seasoned cruisers who truly enjoy being at sea. Also, since repos tend to come at the beginning or end of a cruise season, staff members can be fresh onboard, or about to begin a stretch of time off. So morale can be high if that is the case.

 

The thing to watch out for is if the ship is doing a repo because it is heading to or from a drydock. If so, there can be noise and inconvenience if preparations are being made en route to, or glitches to be worked out if just after a drydock.

 

Hope this helps!

[Times Prince]

Hi all,

 

DH and I are looking at the repositioning cruise from NY to FLL Oct. 2017on the Regal, which would include Halloween. Apart from the obvious differences (different embarkation/debarkation ports and airports, and more sea days, are there any other significant differences? I'm anticipating that the first few days may be chilly (?). Is the entertainment the same? Overall vibe?

 

Our other option is a 10 day Southern Car. on Nov. 5 on the Royal, which obviously has more ports. I kind of like the idea of having a lot of sea days to enjoy just relaxing, and we do have two weeks on the Regal this coming February doing eastern/western....

 

Any thoughts or feedback appreciated! :)

 

Lynn

We did a NY to Houston repositioning a few years back. There was a group in our roll call who seem to do this type of cruise each year. Entertainment was about the same. We had early Traditional dining (6 PM confirmed) which became even earlier once onboard (5:30/45?). As a result we missed going under the bridge leaving New York.

 

Having now done a couple of repositioning cruises, our experience is that the Excursion department may not quite have their act together, as ports are typically beginning of season or pre-season, and personnel may be new. The worst in this regard was an LA to Chile repo where some ports were "once a year" ports.

 

Onboard ship has less surprises as the routine is already established.

[USN59-79]

We took three repositioning cruises on the Diamond when she used to cruise Alaska in the Summer and Asia in the Winter; Beijing to Vancouver or the reverse. We found that prices were more reasonable than for a similar 20 or so day cruise and the big thing for us was that we only had one rather than two overseas flights. I love cruising in Asia, but hate the long flights across the ocean. So we would spend a week in Asia either pre or post cruise and have a fairly inexpensive three week vacation.

[reedprincess]

Hi all,

 

DH and I are looking at the repositioning cruise from NY to FLL Oct. 2017on the Regal, which would include Halloween. Apart from the obvious differences (different embarkation/debarkation ports and airports, and more sea days, are there any other significant differences? I'm anticipating that the first few days may be chilly (?). Is the entertainment the same? Overall vibe?

 

Our other option is a 10 day Southern Car. on Nov. 5 on the Royal, which obviously has more ports. I kind of like the idea of having a lot of sea days to enjoy just relaxing, and we do have two weeks on the Regal this coming February doing eastern/western....

 

Any thoughts or feedback appreciated! :)

 

Lynn

 

We did this sailing last year, great sailing. Loved it. Onboard, same as always, a few more acrivites due to all the sea days, but everything is up and running as usual.

There is a large group of repeat cruisers on this particular sailing, they usually have a very active roll call and get several roll call group activities put together including dinner together one night in Crown Grill, a parade of costumes through the dining room, slot pull, can crawl, usually they get one of the ships photographer dedicated to them, etc. They are a fun group of people, but the group can also dominate venues to the detriment of others enjoyment at times also. Check out the roll call for this year's saiking foe an idea of activities and tone of the group.

It'a a great cruise, we'd do it again in a heartbeat if it fit our travel plans.

Enjoy.

[cruiseintoheaven]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I've gotten a lot of good information and things to think about. I did notice that the RC for this year's cruise is quite active. Maybe I'll read through that for a sense of things. Hawaii is on our list for sure! And Janetz, perhaps we will see you onboard....:)

[elliair]

I have found that repos, or any cruise with a high % of sea days, tend to draw out the more seasoned cruisers who truly enjoy being at sea. Also, since repos tend to come at the beginning or end of a cruise season, staff members can be fresh onboard, or about to begin a stretch of time off. So morale can be high if that is the case.

 

The thing to watch out for is if the ship is doing a repo because it is heading to or from a drydock. If so, there can be noise and inconvenience if preparations are being made en route to, or glitches to be worked out if just after a drydock.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Yes, we were on the Grand to Hawaii and it was going into dry dock when we got back to SF. They had loaded on quite a bit of equipment and rolls of carpet getting ready for the dry dock. We had lots of subcontractors on board working here and there. The one thing that ticks me off on these type of cruises is when they have parts of the Promenade deck roped off and no full access to walking around the ship.

 

It was a good thing the Grand was going into dry dock as she was pretty worn out. We hit a severe storm 2 days out of SF. It blew the sliding glass door in in the cabin next to us, and the cabin on the other side of us the ceiling fell down on the elderly couple who were in bed. It broke the guys collar bone and he was in the infirmary for 2 days. That was the wildest cruise ever for us.:eek:

 

P.S. They tell you to keep the sliding glass door closed due to air conditioning. While sitting on the bed DH said come look at this! There was at least a 1 inch gap under the slider. The caulking was gone and you could see clear underneath the door and onto the balcony. We were on the Caribe and had waves reaching the railing. The wind was horrendous.

Edited June 19, 2016 by elliair

[janetz]

QUOTE=cruiseintoheaven;50285622]Thanks everyone for the replies. I've gotten a lot of good information and things to think about. I did notice that the RC for this year's cruise is quite active. Maybe I'll read through that for a sense of things. Hawaii is on our list for sure! And Janetz, perhaps we will see you onboard....:)

 

Maybe so. :D You wont be disappointed. We had such a great time.

[cruiseintoheaven]

Yes, we were on the Grand to Hawaii and it was going into dry dock when we got back to SF. They had loaded on quite a bit of equipment and rolls of carpet getting ready for the dry dock. We had lots of subcontractors on board working here and there. The one thing that ticks me off on these type of cruises is when they have parts of the Promenade deck roped off and no full access to walking around the ship.

 

It was a good thing the Grand was going into dry dock as she was pretty worn out. We hit a severe storm 2 days out of SF. It blew the sliding glass door in in the cabin next to us, and the cabin on the other side of us the ceiling fell down on the elderly couple who were in bed. It broke the guys collar bone and he was in the infirmary for 2 days. That was the wildest cruise ever for us.:eek:

 

P.S. They tell you to keep the sliding glass door closed due to air conditioning. While sitting on the bed DH said come look at this! There was at least a 1 inch gap under the slider. The caulking was gone and you could see clear underneath the door and onto the balcony. We were on the Caribe and had waves reaching the railing. The wind was horrendous.

 

 

 

Oh my gosh - that's terrifying!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SusieKay]

Just be aware it is still hurricane season then along the east coast and the Carribbean. Season runs from 1 June-30 November.

[myfuzzy]

Check out the video on YouTube for last years activities--regal princess October 2015 Halloween cruise

[BigGuy25]

We just got home from our first repo from Ft. Lauderdale to London. Seven days at sea before we hit the Azores. Then it became much like a normal cruise with port stops in Portugal, Spain, France and Great Britain (two more sea days in that section). Overall it was a 13-day cruise then 3 days in London and 4 days in Prague. We loved it! But, as others have said, you need to enjoy sea days.

Edited June 19, 2016 by BigGuy25

[Lulubelle45]

We just got home from our first repo from Ft. Lauderdale to London. Seven days at sea before we hit the Azores. Then it became much like a normal cruise with port stops in Portugal, Spain, France and Great Britain (two more sea days in that section). Overall it was a 13-day cruise then 3 days in London and 4 days in Prague. We loved it! But, as others have said, you need to enjoy sea days.

 

Its one cruise I'd love to do ! How long were you in the Azores for??

[BigGuy25]

Its one cruise I'd love to do ! How long were you in the Azores for??

 

A good amount of time ... I think 7am - 3pm. I originally thought the Azores stop was just a place to stretch your legs after seven days at sea (they're about 900 miles off the coast of Portugal). But, we LOVED it. Beautiful volcanic islands with stunning lake filled craters bordered by lovely little villages. We were pleasantly surprised. And, as far as sea life goes, it's the Hawaii of the Atlantic. Many varieties of whales make the area their home at different times of the year.

[FritzG]

I'd like to say that repositioning cruises are terrible, and you should avoid them at all costs. But that's only because I'm trying to kept them from getting more popular so the prices don't go up!

 

We love repositioning cruises and especially the westbound (from Europe) ta's. We're big fans of sea days, and we also love visiting so many different ports that we wouldn't have had the opportunity to visit otherwise. We also love finding new areas that we would love to visit later as a land trip, too. Another bonus is gaining an hour a day for 5 days as we travel west.

[Kenosha Cruiser]

Lynn (cruiseintoheaven), will be booking this reposition cruise for next October (2017) tomorrow when the Princess sip & sale promotion starts. See you and Tom onboard! ☺

 

Cheers - Ken & Darlene

[cruiseintoheaven]

Yep! Just booked....woohoo!

 

 

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[susancruzs]

I love the repositioning, especially the TAs! :) I said I would only do my Emerald NZ cruise in March but saw the great itinerary for the Royal in October, and can't resist! :D

 

Three Spain ports I haven't been to plus I love Gibraltar and what is not to like about the Canaries????

 

I'm booked for October 2017, love those sea days!