Top Repositioning Cruises in 2026

It took a lot of digging across multiple sites, but we think we’ve created an awesome master list!

This blog post is free for 10 days to all subscribers. After July 4, it will be available for paid subscribers only. Please consider a paid subscription - all proceeds contribute to our favorite organizations supporting women and girls’ education, health, and entrepreneurship.

As you likely know by now, we are converted to the joys of traveling long distances on repositioning cruises. We’ve taken three so far - two transatlantics from the US to Europe on Celebrity and one transatlantic from the US to Argentina on Princess. We plan to take our first transpacific cruise in September from Los Angeles to Tokyo on Royal Caribbean. And next spring, we are already booked on the Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady from Miami to Barcelona (let us know if you will be on the same ships!).

Repositioning cruises are the perfect opportunity to relax (I’ve been known to take three naps in one day), purposefully take a digital detox, focus on our mental and physical health, and quite often, save money compared to conventional travel to the same location.

In the past, we assumed researching repositioning cruises was pretty simple. After all, just about everybody we know tends to recommend the same sites - Vacations to Go and their subset site, Repositioningcruise.com, and Cruise Plum. When we started to explore options for 2026, we decided to compare the top recommended sites and see if they offered any major differences.

Well, good golly, I did NOT expect to find so many differences!

This blog post will hopefully give you some tips for doing your own research. And at the end, there is a link to our master spreadsheet of what we think are the top repositioning and one way cruises of 2026.

Generally, ships reposition at the same times and in the same directions each year. There are always exceptions to the rule.

The Research

Let me tell you a bit about how we researched these cruises and the differences we found. We searched the three sites mentioned above. Right from the start, while Repositioningcruise is a subset of Vacationstogo, we found a much more robust list of cruises when we used “repositioning cruises” as a filter on Vacationstogo than on the Repositioningcruise site.

Then things got even more interesting when we started searching for repositioning cruises on Cruise Plum. Both databases seemed to have the majority of the same cruises. But there were about 20% different options on Cruise Plum compared to Vacationstogo and vice versa. It took scouring both sites to come up with our first round of the master list.

But wait, there’s more!

By accident, we discovered a bunch of repositioning and one way cruises not listed on any of these sites. Using search terms for the Panama Canal, Hawaii, and Australia, we unlocked a number of additional very interesting cruises beyond what we had already found. We found a few more when we searched for the Middle East and Africa.

Our friend and fellow nomad Cris Gawlik recommends also searching for World Cruises. You can jump on segments of them even if they are not listed. Working directly with the cruise line or through an agent, they will let you choose your own embarkation and debarkation ports, and price quote for your choice of route. The start and end ports must have full immigration and customs operations. She’s working with Princess right now to craft a more customized route for her upcoming travels.

Did we find everything using these tactics? I have no idea. So, I recommend that you use our list as a starting point as you consider your own plans for 2026, determine what’s most important to you - where you arrive, where you depart, or when, and then do a fresh search to see if any additional cruises are uncovered. And let me know if you find anything we might have missed!

A note on the prices in the spreadsheet, we originally did this research in early June for the least expensive cabin option per person (most often, that meant an inside cabin). But prices do change regularly and there are often deals to be had from cruise lines and your favorite travel agent throughout the year. So please don’t use the prices on the spreadsheet as gospel. However, the price column should help you sort for what should be some pretty great deals.

A final note, there are soooooo many other cruises in 2026 than what is on our list. We eliminated cruises from one part of the US to another (like, Tampa to LA). We also eliminated round trips and cruises over 50 days as those are typically more about around the world travel. We also deleted short distances and some Panama Canal cruises that started and ended in the US, Costa Rica, and Colombia. Those could be cool if you are cruising for the sake of cruising, but we wanted to focus on long haul options.

New to repositioning cruising? Read our tips for booking your first repositioning cruise here. And if you need help figuring out which cruise line might be right for you, here’s a good article from Cruise Critic on How to Pick a Cruise Line.

Here’s the link to the spreadsheet which you can download as a copy to sort, edit, and customize for yourself.

P.S. We completely acknowledge the complexities of choosing to travel by cruise ship in today’s tourism context. We’ve been thoroughly overwhelmed by cruise ship crowds in places like Lisbon, Kotor, and Dubrovnik and sympathize with the protestors in Spain, Italy, and Portugal against overtourism. We try to do our best to contribute positively to the ports we stop in along the way.