Relocation Cruises: The Same Thing as Repositioning Cruises?

Relocation cruises are the same thing as repositioning cruises. Both names describe the one-way voyage a cruise ship makes when it moves between seasonal regions, from the Caribbean to Europe in spring, say, or from Alaska to California in fall, sold at lower per-night fares because the ship has to make the trip anyway. If you searched for one and found the other, nothing has gone wrong.

The difference is only who uses which word. Cruise lines say repositioning, or more often just label the voyage by its route. Passengers often say relocation. Knowing the lines’ own labels is what actually helps you find these sailings.

Why there are two names

Repositioning is the operational term. Lines talk about repositioning a ship the way an airline talks about ferrying a plane: moving an asset to where it is needed next season. When lines started selling those voyages to the public, the internal word came with them, and travelers shortened it to repo cruise.

Relocation is the everyday word people reach for when they have not heard the industry one. It describes the voyage just as well. The ship is relocating from one region to another, and you are going along for the ride.

What cruise lines actually call them

Here is the practical part. Few lines put either word on the booking button. They file these voyages under the route or under their own brand label, and searching a line’s site for relocation usually finds nothing.

The Cunard case is the one exception worth understanding. Queen Mary 2 crosses between New York and Southampton on a regular schedule, so its crossing is a liner service rather than a relocation. Cunard’s other ships do make genuine repositioning voyages; our page on Cunard transatlantic crossings and repositioning voyages explains the difference.

Related terms that are close but not the same

• Crossing usually means an ocean voyage, most often the Atlantic. Most crossings are repositioning voyages, but Queen Mary 2’s are not.
• One-way cruise is broader. Alaska sailings between Vancouver and Seward or Whittier run one way all summer as a regular product, not because the ship is changing regions.
• Transatlantic and transpacific name the ocean, not the reason for the voyage.
• Grand Voyage is a marketing label for a long voyage, usually but not always a repositioning.
• World cruise segment is a leg of a longer voyage sold on its own. It behaves like a repositioning cruise but exists for a different reason.

When and where relocation cruises happen

Whatever you call them, they follow the seasons. Of the 517 upcoming sailings in our repositioning cruise finder, checked on the lines’ own websites in late September 2026, the largest groups are:

April 2027 is the busiest single month in our data, with 87 sailings, followed by October 2027 with 69. The median voyage is 14 nights.

How long relocation cruises are

Longer than most cruises, because the ship is covering real distance. Our finder sorts the 517 sailings into four bands:

• Up to 7 nights: 74 sailings. Mostly Pacific coast runs between Vancouver, Seattle and California, plus a few short European and Caribbean moves.
• 8 to 14 nights: 200 sailings. Nearly half of all Atlantic crossings sit here, including the seven-day Queen Mary 2 crossings at the bottom of the range and most 12- to 14-night mainstream crossings.
• 15 to 21 nights: 186 sailings. Longer crossings, most Panama Canal voyages and many transpacific routes.
• 22 nights or more: 57 sailings. Grand voyages such as Los Angeles to Sydney or Europe to South America.

Why relocation cruises cost less

The ship is making the voyage anyway. The line has to pay for the fuel and the crew to move it to its next season, so an empty cabin earns nothing and almost any fare beats sailing with it empty. Demand is also thinner, since many travelers do not want a week at sea or a one-way trip. The result is a lower price per night than the same ship’s regular cruises, often by a quarter to a third, though the one-way flight home can eat into it. Our page on whether repositioning cruises are cheaper does the full math.

Finding relocation cruise deals

Search by month and route rather than by either word. On forums and travel sites you will also see repo cruise, which means the same thing. On a booking site, set a date range in the repositioning months, filter for 10 nights or more and look for sailings that start and end in different places. That finds these voyages whatever a line’s marketing team decided to call them. In our finder you can filter by route, month, line or length, for example eastbound transatlantic crossings in April 2027, and each listing links to the line’s own page for that sailing.

For the lowest fares, start with the mainstream lines that move the most ships: MSC, Carnival and Norwegian usually post the lowest per-night fares on Atlantic crossings, about $50 to $90 per person a night for an inside cabin as of 2026. In total price, short Pacific coast runs of three to seven nights are the cheapest relocation cruises of all. Our guide to cheap repositioning cruises covers when to book, which cabins save money and why the flight home decides whether the deal was good.

For the bigger picture, how the voyages work and whether the format suits you, see our guide to what a repositioning cruise is and our honest answer on whether repositioning cruises are worth it. The terminology is the least important part. The month you sail and the flight you book matter far more.