“Serenade of the Seas” on the Transatlantic Crossing.
Really you ask, “why take a one-way anything”! Well, here are my nine good reasons to take a one-way cruise.
Cruise ships are a bit like whales – every six months they undertake a great migration. They finish the summer on one side of the world and head back to start summer cruises on the other side of the globe. (These are called repositioning cruises).
Now, I’m not a “dyed in the wool sailor”, but these cruises are the best kept secret and often cheaper!
As luck would have it, we’ve experienced two of these relocational (one-way) cruises.
The first was across the Pacific Ocean from Sydney to Seattle for on board Royal Caribbean’s “Explorer of the Seas” . Peace, sea days, and several different ports of call such as the Hawaiian Islands. (OK it might have been at the same time as the volcano eruption on the main island of Hawaii, but that wasn’t planned!)
The second was across the Atlantic Ocean on board Royal Caribbean’s “Serenade of the Seas” from Fort Lauderdale ending up in Copenhagen. But…that’s for another post.
Table of Contents
1 Try a shorter one-way cruise if 23 days is too long.
A month might be too long for you, so why not try a 10-14 day cruise, e.g. from Sydney to Auckland, spend a week in the country of the Long White Cloud then fly home?
Or, go in reverse? Board in Auckland and head towards Melbourne. Just imagine the shopping that’s waiting for you in the New York of Australia. A week might not be long enough before heading home to New Zealand.
I know I sound like a travel agent, but this one-way cruise secret is too good not to share and is quickly becoming popular in the world of baby boomer travel.
Leaving behind the green hills of Dunedin
2 Only One Flight needed
Your option is to either fly to the destination and cruise back, or cruise to the destination and fly back. This is a magic way to avoid two (sometimes painful) long haul flights. And, one-way flights are definitely getting cheaper.
3 No Jetlag – BARGAIN!
One-way cruising means your unwanted friend “Jetlag” will only happen once instead of twice!
4 No Backtracking
Rather than doing a complete circle back home, there’s always a new adventure waiting for you at end of the cruise.
What a perfect way to tack on a week at your final destination. Visit those cities on the long wish list that always seem so far away – that is until you discover one-way cruising.
Part of a huge glass creation at Chihuly Gardens, Seattle.
New York, Seattle, Sydney or Melbourne – they’re all waiting for you at little extra cost – so why not keep exploring before heading home.
Imagine talking to your mates and saying “I half circumnavigated the world last month”.
5 Back to Back One-Way Cruises
These are excellent. One example for us was flying to Fort Lauderdale and taking an 11 night cruise around the Caribbean. So many experiences waiting for you on the islands of Bonaire and Curacao to name a couple.
Bonaire looking towards Little Bonaire Island.
THEN, you stay on the same ship (possibly the same cabin) and head cross the Atlantic for a 16-day cruise finishing at Copenhagen, Denmark! (We did this and can’t emphasise what a fantastic experience this was).
This cruise had flights at both ends – that gave the chance to spend time in both locations. In this case Fort Lauderdale to wonderful Copenhagen.
6 Enjoy the Relaxation!
The longer one-way cruises have more sea days than usual.
This means you get more time to relax – meet more baby boomer travel people and make new friends because you’re not heading off on so many shore tours.
Plus, extra sea days gives you the chance to become an expert at many on-board activities – trivia, sushi making, bocce, dancing lessons and so much more. Maybe even become a pro at stand-up surfing on a Flow rider (yes even those of us getting towards the pointy end can achieve this fun sport).
Give it a go…or just watch!
Maybe Mini Golf is your thing and definitely less strenuous. A couple of whirls around the greens will see you putting your balls like a pro. (Mind you my golf balls have a mind of their own and seem to always land on another green just as someone is about to hit their winning shot!!). If it’s laughs you’re looking for head to the mini golf course!
An attempt at a hole in one!
8 One-Way Cruises – the chance to Enrich Yourself!
Why? You’re on holiday right! But…the enrichment programs (delivered by guest speakers) cover such a wide range of topics. Whether you’re interested in the Maritime history of your ship’s route, archaeology, or simple methods to keep your brain active and even “remember people’s names”!
Learning the history of Pearl Harbour
There’s something for everyone on the longer cruises – the talks only last for 45 minutes and help to keep the old grey matter active. (You can get too much relaxation!)
9 Visit Family and Friends
Like us, many of you have family and friends in far flung places around the world. What better way than to find a cruise that takes you from your home to theirs and spend quality time together before flying back.
10 Handy Hints
- Take seasickness remedy (Quells, patches or ginger) as the crossing can get bumpy at times. (Adds to the excitement of being at sea).
- For a Trans Pacific cruise – pack your tropical clothes because the repositioning happens in the summer zone.
- For a Trans Atlantic crossing, you will need both, because you arrive in the spring of the Northern Hemisphere which is quite chilly.
- Make sure you check the weather at both departure and arrival points.
- Contact your Travel Agent and ask to be alerted to when these cruises happen.
- Aussies – check out Escape.com.au on a weekly basis for information on one-way-cruises.
- Why not check out my Gypsy’s Top Tips?
One-way cruising…
the way to go, especially for the baby boomer travel set.
What a lovely post and a delightful read. You have given good points to consider. Although, I have not been on a cruise yet, you have given me food for thought. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Thank you for reading my post Georgina. When you do eventually go on cruise – ENJOY! We always do, but are not dyed in the wool cruisers – definitely like to mix our holidays up a bit. Currently we are caravanning for six weeks down in South Australia – 2,000+ kilometres from home1 🙂
Thanks Joycee for these tips about repositioning cruise deals. I have never been on a cruise. But, I’m going on my first next February. I really like the idea of one way long haul flights. Plus getting the to see great destinations along the repositioning cruise. I like the idea of the back to back cruise too. And getting a travel agent to send you alerts when these occur. All in all great tips.Lets hope I like my first cruise 🙂
You will Estelle! We usually fit in one cruise a year – always to destinations where we haven’t yet visited. Although we’ve been on quite a few cruises, believe it or not we aren’t dyed in the wool cruisers. Mixing holidays up is the way to go I think – currently caravanning this great country of ours – nothing better really. ENJOY your cruise in February! 🙂