West to east transatlantic infinitely better than a corresponding transatlantic plane trip with jet lag if you have the time. Everyone is different , but I barely noticed the time change other than adjusting my phone during the daily announcement. This was on the Queen Mary 2 which is built for this type of trip.

We did a repositioning cruise West to East. We had perfect weather and actually liked getting to Europe with the gradual time change. My advice to readers is to take a lot of books or an eReader. We bought cheap second hand paperbacks and then left them in the library.

I've considered a repositioning cruise to avoid that awful overnight flight from the US to Europe. The cruise would cost about the same as lie-flat business class seats. We are retired, so we are not in a hurry. I think we could adjust to the time change if we had an easy travel schedule upon arrival.

Good point about losing an hour a day traveling west to east. It didn't bother us though. Traveling east across the Atlantic in March the seas were super calm for us. But in the fall when ships travel west from Europe, it's hurricane season and the Atlantic can be turbulent.

We have done a lot of Transatlantic cruises on different ships. Both ways. We live in Europe and either way we have to fly to get to a cruise port! So it does not really matter for us. Looking forward to the next one in just about 4 weeks ❤️

Funny that I choose flights to Europe with sunlight in mind too. Always sit on the right side. It gets the sunset & sunrise heading east, but it’s shaded side for the full day flight heading west.

We have done a west to east from the Caribbean to Europe plus East to West and back again. No problem at all, the issues being raised are minor and were of little consequence and I am not a great traveller. Our first one was a 25 years old ship, the latter was 18 months old and again there were no problems on any of them.

Hi Rob and Allie, thank you for this great video! I am thinking about exploring a cruise in 2026. Could you do a video about how solo travelers can avoid the single supplement or if that's even possible and where to find the best cruises?

Not all repositioning itineraries are equal. The first leg of our crossing from Miami to Rome was 16 days because we visited several ports, including the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Azores, Spain, and Monte Carlo. The mega ships can do the same crossing in 12 days but they might only visit a few ports.

Excellent points on losing/gaining time and when the sun shines. We will be mindful. Thank you.

Do you have any plans to do a transpacific cruise? I would love to hear what you think about them.

You're right on about the older ships not having as much to offer. The repositioning cruise on Royal Caribbean Rhapsody of the seas from Barcelona really had us shocked. Staff seemed new, especially in the dining room. The entertainment was lacking variety, and a lot was construction paper crafts...really?

Everyone is different as has been mentioned already. We hate sailing East to West. Adjusting to a string of 25-hour days is much harder than simply getting up an hour earlier for a few days. Also, the weather is normally better in the Spring than the Fall.

Repositioning cruises sound perfect to me, less kids, quieter passengers, less showbiz and more sea days … perfect ❤ Trying to get the time off work to sail on one though is always my challenge 😢

Good morning cruise family!

I love this channel. Your content is always so great. Thank you for all of this good info!

Just getting ready to book a repo for May on Princess. I can’t sleep on a plane so the overnight flights to Europe totally mess me up for days. I’ll take my chances on 23 hour days and just try to go to bed a little earlier each night. Thanks for the tip to choose a cabin on the north side. Never thought of that.

Also repositioning to and from Alaska for the summer season.

I have never been on a repositioning cruise but can see how they are good to get from one side of the globe to the other. Thanks so much for the tips, I will keep those in mind when I book. 😊

This couple talk “all theory” . We have been cruise couple times from Miami/NY to Europe both ways. We been cruised from Seattle/Long Beach to Japan both ways. We have been cruise from Seattle to Australia both ways, we have no affect by what they said . The two things difference are (1) Reposition cruise in Pacific you will cross the Date Line. (2) Reposition to Australia you will cross the equator and the date line. BTW, we took the advantage of the free room up grade to get the balcony cabin and we never had the problem of the sun is too hot to overcome the cabin AC, have you ever seen the window cabin without curtain to block the sun ? All theory……..

Thanks for the suggestion on which side of the ship your cabin needs to be on. I'd have thought you'd want a sunny balcony. OTOH, I've read the suggestion that a balcony isn't even a great idea on repositioning cruises. An ocean view cabin. is fine because you won't be on the balcony much due to frequent rough seas and wind.

@FoodiesVacations

4 ай бұрын

They are also lower and have less sway… I agree.

@m.m.4645

4 ай бұрын

It depends on what time of the year you are doing your cruise. Of course it is (in my eyes) silly to have a balcony in the middle of a Winter Transatlantic (for example with QM2), in the late spring it might be considerable. In general it is wise to question balcony or oceanview. If the price difference is okay, go ahead. We often find balconies too expensive anyway. We prefer to have more cruises per year than to spend a lot of money on a balcony.

Thanks for the review.

Mistakes ... like parking your personal car at the departure port, and then realizing it won't be there when you disembark... 😢

@chrismurray2237

4 ай бұрын

I spit out my tea when I read your post. My husband and I did that very same mistake on the first transatlantic cruise we ever took. Took 2 days to get our car from the departure port. What a lesson THAT was! Wish someone had warned us in advance from the cruise line. We now park at the nearby airport and transfer for free to the port to get the ship. On the return, we can get on the highway at the airport real quick and no hassle. Sorry the same happened to you. My husband is still pissed but I laugh at it now. Just another travel adventure story to share. LOL 🤭

@m.m.4645

4 ай бұрын

How silly is that??? 🤣🤣🤣

@jerrygarcia4390

Ай бұрын

😱

Kewl.....I'm learning more and more about my forthcoming virtual around the world tour.....Thanx.....

Another tip... if you like to swim on your cruise, pick a ship with a fully enclosed solarium, especially if you are traveling in November. Then you are not dependent on good weather to use the pool. Some ships have "solariums" but they are not fully enclosed and they still get cold. Regarding crossing the Atlantic in November or April/May, a big factor is the weather. November leaving FL or the northeast, the weather/water can be much worse than leaving in April/May. That's the specific reason with picked East to West. Good info about the direction your cabin faces... I never even thought about that. I'm going on my first TA late April into May and luckily, I picked a port side cabin so we'll be facing north. 😊

With the reposition cruise room on the wrong side, was there that many that they couldn't move you to the other side?

Wow, never thought about "ship lag".

Another reason repositioning cruises may not have everything the cruise usually offers is because they are picking up a new person or group once they get to their destination. For example, our last cruise of this type did not have a speaker or a manicurist as they were being replaced in the new position port.

Were you on NCL Joy TA from dry dock Feb 24? We did this cruise with our 2 children, there were 50 children onboard. Largely home educating families. We preferred rccl likely not sail with NCL again. But was fine asa ferry to Disney.

How do you guys normally go across as the oceans? Do you normally take a cruise… or do you wait to get to Asia and then fly to Europe. I look at these cruises and I keep wondering if it would be easier to fly

Going into drydock--worst transatlantic! Inaugural transatlantic--best four transatlantics eve! Best cruises!

Where do you find info about the ship regarding going into or out of dry dock?

You mentioned ships going into or coming from dry dock. How do you know if the cruise you’re considering is about to go into dry dock?

How do you know when a ship is coming out of dry dock to book that kind of a cruise?

I find both way less jet lag than flying.

Halloween absolutely loved her to transatlantic. It's way better to lose an hour a day for several days and you arrive in Europe fresh and ready to go. So for me I'm just quite the opposite of you . I then fly back to the States and that messes you up. I would rather do cruising through time zones then fly in any day in either direction

Need to compare west-to-east repositioning to west-to-east overnight flight, not vs east-to-west cruise. You lose 5-6 hours whether you cruise or fly east. If you can't sleep on overnight flights, that's a consideration. Also, having a medical emergency Mid-Atlantic is also a consideration.

@TinaLee2042

3 ай бұрын

At least mid Atlantic on a ship they have a doctor and health facilities. Mid Atlantic on a plane with a health emergency is a nightmare.

I prefer west to east myself

How does one get information on when these types of cruises occur? Thank you.

Our only (so far) repo cruise was From Port Everglades to Copenhagen on a 20+ year-old cruise ship. We absolutely loved it and the ocean was smooth the whole way across. We're doing another in May. I'm not arguing that any of your points are wrong, but when you have time off from work in April/May and not in October/November, a repo cruise can be great. Even if it's going the "wrong" direction.

Ooh now I’m kinda nervous going from NYC TO FLL in November

@DaveM-FFB

4 ай бұрын

We've sailed from Quebec City to Miami in late fall. It should be fine because hurricane season is over by November. Enjoy!

@user-zv5xv9gf7w

4 ай бұрын

Don't be nervous. We have cruised up and down the east coast. Weather is out of your control and captains have flexibility to go faster or slower to avoid rough seas. We are going Florida to NY in May. Can't wait!

@TinaLee2042

3 ай бұрын

We did this a couple of years ago and it was great

What sites do you recommend to find repositioning cruises?

Inside cabin lots of sea days balcony is extra money for not much benefit

I didn't even know repositioning cruises existed.