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How to find the best deals with repositioning cruises

  • Erin Lizzo and Drew Macomber

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    One of my favorite travel hacks, when I’m planning out a longer trip, is to look for one-way flights. This offers a lot of flexibility in that I’m not locked into leaving from my original destination. Recently, I discovered that this strategy can be applied to cruises as well. Who knew?

    A repositioning cruise is basically a discounted cruise that is going just one way (instead of round trip). Occasionally, you’ll see these pop up when a cruise line is moving a ship to a different region to maximize on a different peak season. This is a great option for anyone who is looking to relax on a cruise and then maintain the flexibility and speed of booking air travel for the other leg of the trip.

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    Various websites can alert you to deals on repositioning cruises. (Photo by Denis Belitsky/Shutterstock)

    Top 3 sites to find cheap repositioning cruises

    When you start to think about traveling this way, it’s a great concept, right? So where can we find these magical repositioning cruise deals? Here are the top three sites that I typically search when looking for a cheap repositioning cruise.

    Vacations To Go

    You can find repositioning cruises when you visit the Vacations To Go site and click on “regions.” On the left side of the resulting page, you’ll see a box called “Find a Bargain.” Within that box, click on the “All regions” drop-down menu and select “Repositioning” from the list.

    One thing that I like about this site is that you can sort by the percentage of savings. Although you will often find a better deal directly on a given cruise line’s website, this is a great starting point to see an aggregated list of cruise lines, the duration of the trip, and the discount you’re receiving on the repositioning cruise. 

    CruiseDirect

    Have you suddenly found yourself with some unexpected time off? Looking to book some last-minute travel plans? The CruiseDirect Deals page lists a ton of really great offers on last-minute cruises. You can filter these by price, duration, and date range. There’s not a specific filter for “repositioning,” but you can search for the term and some results should pop up.

    The Cruise Web

    The Cruise Web has a full section dedicated to repositioning cruises, which makes it really easy to search and sort for the cruise that you’re looking for. Although this site doesn’t offer as robust of a list as Vacations To Go, it offers a lot of great information about repositioning cruises in general — and you can still find some fantastic deals. 

    List of repositioning cruises by cruise line

    Here is a list of repositioning cruises by cruise line, linking directly to the cruise line’s website to help you find the best deal.

    Things to look out for with repositioning cruise deals

    Before you book your cruise, here are a few things to consider. 

    Not all cruise lines are created equal

    Like with any major purchase, it’s always a good idea to read the reviews before you commit to booking the cruise. Look for unbiased sources. In other words, a review on the cruise line’s website might not hold as much weight as one submitted on an aggregator, like Cruise Direct (where you can search for the “customer rating”). 

    Check # of days at sea and port calls

    This is a tip that I probably wouldn’t have initially considered, but I think it’s really important. When you’re evaluating which cruise to take, look at the number of days you’ll be at sea and the port calls (how many times the ship will stop and let passengers disembark for a bit). It’s unusual to find a cruise with no port calls, but it does happen. So, unless you think you wouldn’t mind taking a 21-day cruise with zero stops, this is a big one to keep in mind. 

    Oceanview and balcony room prices can be similar

    The difference between an oceanview room and a balcony room is exactly as you’d imagine: An oceanview room has a window, and a balcony room has a small veranda that you can walk out on (giving you a bit more space). Sometimes the pricing for a balcony room is comparable to an oceanview room, which is good to keep in mind when you’re searching for cruise deals. 

    Bottom line

    Repositioning cruises are a cheaper way to cross the Atlantic for those who are looking for a bit of a slower journey. I like the thought of taking a cruise one way; it feels like an adventure. There are several good resources for finding this type of cruise, listed above. The key is to figure out how many days you’d like to travel and where you want to go. Have you considered taking a repositioning cruise? We’d love to hear your thoughts below!

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)