As ships reposition, cruise price is right

WHY do cruise lines charge so little for their repositioning cruises? Savvy travelers can find prices as low as $53 to $60 a day for everything: transportation, accommodations, meals, entertainment and more.

It’s because a repositioning cruise spends many days at sea without port stops and is therefore anathema to many American travelers. People flock to the port-a-day sailings that dock every morning in a nondescript seaside city that’s decked out like a shopping mall. Thousands of cruisers descend on shore and often reduce, by their massive presence, whatever charm these towns once possessed.

By contrast, a repositioning cruise usually includes a crossing of six days and more; it is designed to move the ship from a continent where the travel season is ending to another continent or region where the season is beginning.

Passengers sail the world’s great oceans; they’re relegated to spending time reading a book in a deck chair while inhaling the sea air, contemplating the vastness of the Earth and making use of the ship’s libraries, lounges, fitness rooms, theaters, lecture facilities and classes.

A crossing of that sort is my own idea of heaven, but many U.S. travelers don’t necessarily agree. So the cruise lines need, in effect, to bribe the public into booking such sailings.

On Sept. 20, Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Norwegian Dream, which has six restaurants and 10 bars and lounges, will set sail on a 17-day repositioning cruise from Dover, England, to Houston. Inside cabins will cost $949 per person, double occupancy, or about $55 a day. To check availability, or to book the cruise, call (866) 234-0292 or see www.ncl.com.

Another bargain NCL cruise will take place next April, when the Norwegian Jewel begins a 15-day, $749 repositioning cruise traveling from Miami to Italy and Greece. You’ll cross the Atlantic to Portugal’s Madeira Island, where the ship will stay for two nights, and then spend three more days at sea passing through the Mediterranean to Civitavecchia, the port of Rome, then to Naples, Crete and Athens. That price works out to about $50 a day for everything except port charges and taxes.

On Dec. 2, a 17-day repositioning cruise will get underway when the Opera of MSC Italian Cruises leaves Genoa, Italy, sailing to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The ship will stop at several Caribbean islands before reaching Fort Lauderdale. The price starts at $899 per person, double occupancy, or $53 a day in an inside cabin, with a free stateroom upgrade to the next category. For this deal, call (800) 666-9333 or go to www.msccruises.com.

And on April 29, 2007, the Lirica of MSC Italian Cruises will undertake a 17-day repositioning cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Hamburg, Germany, for as little as $899 per person, or $53 a day.

These repositioning cruises are among the most remarkable bargains available in travel. And the interlude at sea can be among the most memorable times of your life.