Repositioning cruises

[Fionatritton]

So if our December Iona cruise is cancelled we are thinking about the March cruise in 2022 from  Bridgetown to Valletta. I think this is a repositioning cruise ? This would be our first cruise, I know there can be rough seas; we are pretty good sailors and have good "sea legs" for what we've done before (dinghy and cat sailing, lots of dive boats haha). Would you recommend a repositioning for a first cruise ? We aren't too bothered about ports, half a day isn't enough imho to see anywhere and we are quite happy with the prospect of lovely chilled out sea days with a bottle or 3 of wine ! 

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Fionatritton said:

So if our December Iona cruise is cancelled we are thinking about the March cruise in 2022 from  Bridgetown to Valletta. I think this is a repositioning cruise ? This would be our first cruise, I know there can be rough seas; we are pretty good sailors and have good "sea legs" for what we've done before (dinghy and cat sailing, lots of dive boats haha). Would you recommend a repositioning for a first cruise ? We aren't too bothered about ports, half a day isn't enough imho to see anywhere and we are quite happy with the prospect of lovely chilled out sea days with a bottle or 3 of wine ! 

Brave choice for a first cruise. 

It's  not about sea legs,  it's about how you manage 7 or 8 days at sea with your own company, surrounded by 3000 other people. 

You also don't mention  your cabin type. There is an enormous difference between an inside and a balcony cabin on this length of cruise. An inside cabin may be OK for a port intensive cruise, but they are smaller than prison cells, so can be claustrophobic with lots of sea days.  People will say they only sleep and wash in them, but that means you spend 16 hours a day with no privacy.

Try a 3 or 4 day cruise first.

 

[Fionatritton]

It would be the balcony deluxe or whatever the best thing down from suite is on the Azura, that's what our 125% would buy 

[Fionatritton]

Thankyou for the suggestion, we thought we would try to get as many nights as we could but didn't think of the prospect of not really enjoying it ! 

[wowzz]

Purely a personal opinion, but 2 ports in a 12 or 13 night cruise,  would not be my choice. I like sea days, but I also like them to be broken up with shore visits. 

Plus the weather is going to be a bit iffy on the latter part of the cruise. 

However, go with an open mind, take lots of books, choose a quiet cabin, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.  

[Neecy1]

Hi. We have only done 2 cruises, both Southampton to Barbados repositioning and absolutely loved both. First one was Brittania, second Azura. We loved the sea days more than the port days, so relaxing. We had a balcony. We had 2 good crossings although on the Azura one we managed to just stay ahead of a storm so the seas were rough but with the stabilisers on we never felt a thing. Saying that my other half was at sea for 10 years so he would have been fine whatever the weather. I'm sure you will be fine.

[wowzz]

8 minutes ago, Neecy1 said:

Hi. We have only done 2 cruises, both Southampton to Barbados repositioning and absolutely loved both. First one was Brittania, second Azura. We loved the sea days more than the port days, so relaxing. We had a balcony. We had 2 good crossings although on the Azura one we managed to just stay ahead of a storm so the seas were rough but with the stabilisers on we never felt a thing. Saying that my other half was at sea for 10 years so he would have been fine whatever the weather. I'm sure you will be fine.

But iirc, fewer sea days on your cruise than the one the OP is talking about.

[Neecy1]

Yes I've just checked. Days 3 to 8, day 10 and days 12 to 13 are sea days. Not for everyone Wowzz as you say but would be great for us. In fact if our Iona cruise doesn't go ahead next Feb (very doubtful) we might move our deposit to this. Already had one cancelled this year like many others  ☹️

[Fionatritton]

DH and I both work full time plus running 2 small businesses on the side, he works so many hours that his idea of a superb holiday is lying on a lounger doing not much other than eating and drinking. 12 days without his phone or any internet is his idea of heaven 

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, Fionatritton said:

DH and I both work full time plus running 2 small businesses on the side, he works so many hours that his idea of a superb holiday is lying on a lounger doing not much other than eating and drinking. 12 days without his phone or any internet is his idea of heaven 

I'm sure you'll enjoy it - just remember that the weather may not be great for the whole cruise.

You'll also be surrounded by Brits the entire time. Make of that what you will.

[P&O SUE]

If you’ve got a great cabin (which it sounds like you have) and you love the idea of chilling out and not doing much then I think you’ll enjoy it!

Hubby and I always wonder where the time goes on a sea day, we both like reading and I love just watching the sea. He likes listening to music (via headphones!) so we love a sea day.

My next cruise (if it goes ahead) is a 14 night one with only 6 days in port. My friend (a regular cruiser) looked at the itinerary and said ‘ooh lots of sea days are you ok with that’ and we are! 

[Bloodaxe]

We have done several transatlantic crossings on smaller ships than P and O 

I loved them just being at sea with all the facilities I need really suited me, very relaxing.

My Wife did not enjoy them quite so much and was ready to go ashore at the first opportunity.

[Adawn47]

9 hours ago, P&O SUE said:

If you’ve got a great cabin (which it sounds like you have) and you love the idea of chilling out and not doing much then I think you’ll enjoy it!

Hubby and I always wonder where the time goes on a sea day, we both like reading and I love just watching the sea. He likes listening to music (via headphones!) so we love a sea day.

My next cruise (if it goes ahead) is a 14 night one with only 6 days in port. My friend (a regular cruiser) looked at the itinerary and said ‘ooh lots of sea days are you ok with that’ and we are! 

Like you we love the sea days. We like to relax on the balcony, me with my well loaded  kindle and Frank with his painting. He has a travel watercolour set that's perfect for cruising. We could quite happily do a scenic no ports cruise if that's what the restart would be. We love being at sea.

Avril

[Fionatritton]

2 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

Like you we love the sea days. We like to relax on the balcony, me with my well loaded  kindle and Frank with his painting. He has a travel watercolour set that's perfect for cruising. We could quite happily do a scenic no ports cruise if that's what the restart would be. We love being at sea.

Avril

Yes I reckon I'd get a couple of embroideries done

[john watson]

On ‎8‎/‎25‎/‎2020 at 10:14 PM, Fionatritton said:

It would be the balcony deluxe or whatever the best thing down from suite is on the Azura, that's what our 125% would buy 

 

Yes, you definitely need a balcony cabin because during the transition if the weather is sunny virtually everyone is on deck on the loungers.  Looking at cabins you need to be on the south side of the ship to face the sun a bit better than the north side.  The most consecutive sea days I have done is 18 and we did not stop at any ports due to the weather. Small Star Clipper ship.

 

Regards John

[terrierjohn]

On 8/25/2020 at 10:14 PM, Fionatritton said:

It would be the balcony deluxe or whatever the best thing down from suite is on the Azura, that's what our 125% would buy 

Apart from a few de-luxe balcony cabins on E Deck, all the ones on D Deck have totally uncovered balconies, fine for the few days in or near the tropics, but not great once you near the azores.  However the C deck balconies are double the normal size and have 50:50 covered and open, but the interior is less spacious.