November is one of the most exciting months in the cruise retail calendar, as it is the time of changing seasons. This is not just about changing your wardrobe and getting a new jacket for the colder weather!
In the cruise industry, this means 'repositioning'.
Repositioning is the event which usually happens 2 times a year when cruise ships will change where they are in the world to head to somewhere warmer and sunnier, leaving the cold weather behind. Usually this involves a cruise that is around about 1 month long as ships sail to their new destination. The repositioning cruise is a much more relaxed affair than most cruises with generally a few ports of call from the departing area and then a fair few more towards the destination. Usually in the middle of the repositioning cruise around 4-6 sea days in a row, as the ship crosses the main ocean. The average age of the guests is slightly higher than the rest of the season, and generally they have either flown to join the ship, or will fly back home after leaving the ship, going in just 1 direction onboard.
And right now, we are in the middle of the main repositionings happening across the industry! Just take a look today at the Cruise Mapper app and you will see a huge flotila of cruise ships crossing across the Atlantic ocean heading to their new homes for the new season... just like a flock of migrating birds!
So, what is happening and where are they are all going?
Well there are 4 main areas which are pretty much finishing for this year.... Alaska, Northern Europe, Eastern Mediterranean and Canada. These areas are simply too cold, windy and wet to carry on cruising throughout the winter, so it is much harder for the cruise lines to sell their cruises then, and not as enjoyable for guests onboard.
So, with the natural end of these seasons, the ships are now repositioning to 4 other main areas....
Caribbean, South America, Dubai / Middle East, Australia & NZ.
Ships from Alaska are likely to head to Australia, ships from Europe can go to South America etc. All these ships are heading to their new area, generally with guests onboard to begin the new season, which generally starts at the beginning of December in readiness for Christmas and the New Year. There are a few other interesting areas which also open up for the season - including Antarctica (from Argentina) and South Africa.
This is the unique beauty of cruise ships - it it gets too cold in one location, simply sail to somewhere which is much warmer! This will all happen once again at the end of the 'winter season' as ships will sail back on another repositioning in the opposite direction.
All change!
TIP: You can learn a lot more about all these areas of cruising in our E-Academy course, Cruising Around the World!
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