Repositioning Cruises from Los Angeles: Routes and Timing

Los Angeles is a repositioning hub twice a year, and for opposite reasons each time. In spring, ships leave for Vancouver and Seattle to start the Alaska season. In autumn, they come back down the coast, and many carry on to Hawaii, the South Pacific or across to Australia. Both directions produce short, cheap voyages that are the easiest introduction to the format anywhere.

The spring migration north

From April into early May, ships that spent the winter on Mexican Riviera itineraries head for the Alaska season. The run from San Pedro or Long Beach up to Vancouver takes four to seven nights, usually calling at San Francisco, Astoria, Victoria or Seattle on the way.

These are the cheapest repositioning voyages in North America and the least intimidating. A five-night coastal sailing with two sea days tells you whether you like the format without committing to two weeks in the middle of an ocean.

The autumn migration south

From mid-September through October the same ships come back. Southbound voyages are the mirror image and often slightly cheaper, because the Alaska season ends with a glut of ships needing to be somewhere warmer at the same moment.

Autumn is also when the longer departures from Los Angeles appear. Ships bound for Australia and New Zealand for the southern summer leave in September and October, producing transpacific voyages of two to three weeks, usually via Hawaii and the South Pacific islands.

Hawaii runs

Los Angeles to Hawaii sits somewhere between a repositioning cruise and a normal itinerary. Round trips exist, but the one-way versions, where the ship continues onward to the South Pacific or Australia, are the ones priced like repositioning. Expect four or five consecutive sea days each way across open Pacific.

What it costs

Coastal repositioning between California and the Pacific Northwest frequently sells under $70 per person per night, and sometimes well under. The longer transpacific departures are cheap per night but long, so the total is higher even though the rate is lower.

The flight home is a much smaller problem than on an Atlantic crossing. A one-way domestic fare from Vancouver or Seattle back to Los Angeles is a modest cost booked at almost any notice, which removes the main risk that spoils the arithmetic on transatlantic crossings.

Which ports the ships use

Los Angeles cruise traffic is split between the World Cruise Center at San Pedro and, for some lines, Long Beach. They are different places roughly twenty miles apart, so check which one your ship uses before booking a hotel or a taxi.

Who it suits

Anyone curious about repositioning and unwilling to gamble two weeks on it. The Pacific coast runs are short, cheap, scenic and easy to get home from, which is a rare combination. If you enjoy one, the ocean crossings are the same idea with more water.