Last week I was having lunch with a couple of friends when the conversation turned to repositioning cruises. Not being familiar with the term, I asked them to tell me more.

“They’re the absolute best cruise travel deals available!” my one friend insisted. And she proceeded to educate me.

Some ships sail the same itinerary – or at least stay in the same region – year round. Others switch routes with the seasons, requiring them to reposition the ship from one home port to another, which is by necessity a one-way trip. Rather than sail without passengers the cruise lines sell these repositioning trips at a significant discount. Although these cruises require travelers to arrange for more expensive one-way airfare, they also visit more ports of call because they are not limited by the round-trip requirement. Further research turned up some intriguing examples:

Cruise West’s Spirit of Oceanus, a small luxury ship that accommodates only 120 passengers

• Cruise West’s Spirit of Oceanus is a small, luxury ship that departs from Anchorage, Alaska on September 10, 2009 for an 18-night Bering Sea crossing dubbed the Ring Of Fire. On its way to Kobe, Japan, the ship visits the Alaskan, Russian, and Japanese ports of Seward, Kodiak, Shumagin Islands, Dutch Harbor, Kiska Island, Attu Island, Petropavlovsk, Atlasova Island, Kuril Islands, Kushiro, Matushima, and Ise. The Continue reading →