Disney Cruise Line in a Jiffy: What is a Repositioning Cruise?

How do you get a ship from one home port to another? Well – you sail it! When you put guests on board for the experience, you’ve got a repositioning cruise. Repositioning cruises are only a small fraction of cruise itineraries, but they have some special appeal. They have some downsides too, so here’s what to know.

Most cruise itineraries are closed-loop cruises that begin and end at the same port. Repositioning cruises begin and end at different ports, so your travel arrangements to and from the ship will be a bit more complicated. Note: not every sailing that begins and ends at different ports is a repositioning cruise. Some lines offer lengthy itineraries that go in a loop, and sell individual segments. The key feature of a repositioning cruise is that a ship is traveling from a port where it sailed several closed-loop cruises to a different port.

Some repositioning cruises – for instance, ones that move a ship up or down a coast – are on the shorter side. But many repositioning cruises are a week or more because they’re crossing a significant stretch of open ocean. This means that repositioning cruises often have stretches of several sea days in a row. That’s plenty of opportunity to enjoy everything the ship has to offer. For some guests this is just the ticket, long days to relax at sea.

But that might not appeal if you’re cruising as a way to visit new places. Or if you’re a first-time cruiser and aren’t sure you’ll enjoy it. Or if you’ll have difficulty getting the vacation time lined up. And although repositioning cruises often cost less per day, having a lot of days means that the fares can still be a big chunk of change.

Although repositioning cruises tend to have a lot of sea days, it isn’t true that they don’t have port stops. A ship moving from Europe to the U.S. might make a few port stops on the Mediterranean coast before crossing the Atlantic. For the last few years, the Disney Wonder has spent the winter in Australia. When returning to the U.S. she’s offered a 9-day repositioning itinerary that begins in Honolulu. It visits the Hawaiian Islands before several days at sea on the way to Vancouver, B.C.

Repositioning cruises are often less expensive per day than closed-loop cruises. But one-way tickets to and from different ports are often more expensive than a round-trip. You might also want to book a higher cabin class than you usually would, for instance upgrading to a stateroom with a verandah. If you’ll be in that room for two weeks, it matters more that you love it! Of course, this can be looked at in two ways. Maybe it’s eating into your savings. But maybe it’s letting you plus up the trip for the same price you’d pay on a closed-loop cruise.

On Disney Cruise Line, there are a few site filters that can help you find repositioning cruises. For sailing destinations, you can take a look at the category for transatlantic cruises. But that won’t find everything. For instance, the Hawaii cruise mentioned above is the second leg of a long repositioning; it’s already crossed the ocean – and it was the Pacific Ocean, not the Atlantic. Checking cruises with lengths from 8-13 days will also find some repositioning cruises. And cruises longer than 14 days, are almost certainly repositioning. Another way to do it is to look for itinerary announcements when new sailings are released. They often include information about repositioning cruises.

Disney Cruise Line in a Jiffy is for first-time Disney cruisers looking to learn about the DCL experience. Got a favorite tip about repositioning cruises? Suggest it in the comments below!