I am planning on spending summer 2026 sitting in Europe. I’m hoping to find another female solo traveler who would be interested in sharing a cruise ship cabin on a transatlantic crossing. I am open to departing from any east coast port and landing in any European port. To clarify, I am not doing this for the “cruise lifestyle. Merely a mode of transportation that is competitively priced with “premium economy” airfare. Shipping lines offer what is referred to “repositioning cruises” which for transatlantic crossings can be as short as 7 days and have few if any stops between departure and destination ports. The upsides: no airports, no delayed or cancelled flights, no jetlag; includes good food, entertainment, fresh air, space, and a real bed to sleep in. I am shooting for a mid May departure, but am flexible based on what is available. Right now a 7 day New York to Southhampton, England cruise is available for around $950 per person double occupancy. I’ve seen prices as low as $650 per person ( add about another $125 for taxes and gratuities). Please be in touch if you would be interested in discussing. Cheers, Julie
(apparently there is a way to direct message, but I haven’t figured that out yet)
What a clever idea! I would definitely have reached out to you about this if i weren’t already going to be in Europe by mid-May…but I am absolutely going to steal this idea for future use.
I hope you’ll keep us posted about how this works out for you!
There are several threads related to useful travel tips & advice, particularly for Sitters looking for cost-cutting measures to get to regions where they’re planning sits.
@JulieV I don’t know if you’re familiar with VacationsToGo (I don’t think I’m allowed to add a link). I just searched a repositioning cruise, any cruise line, single price. May of 2026 was still relatively high ($1700 US) but when I switched to April they were far less. Here are the first two, when I sorted by price:
Honestly you have really put a bug in my ear with this suggestion. Usually I use points to fly Biz class, but my husband wants to come over next Spring as well, & I’m a bit short to cover both of us. I may just start scanning for a March re-po cruise for myself, & he can fly over in April. Even with a single supplement, it’s possibly cheaper than the flight…and an eminently more enjoyable prospect!
I might be interested. I have looked into transatlantic repositioning cruises for similar reasons. However I won’t know my travel plans until April or so. I have several big life changes in motion.
@Shella_in_the_Forum . I’d like to keep in touch. I’ll probably also be looking at a repositioning cruise for my return to the US in September/October. I’m not sure how we can take this conversation off-line?
Hey Julie; if you click the person’s name/profile on top of one of their posts, you should get a menu that includes “Message.” This lets you send a DM.
However, I’m not sure if there are restrictions for new accounts, before you earn that ability.
The single supplement is a no-go for me - hence this inquiry. While some folks aren’t keen to share accommodations, I’ve slept in plenty of hostels, so not a big deal for me. Glad I was able to stimulate your imagination.
@JulieV I assume your prices are in US dollars? I did sits in Europe summer 2025 and took a cruise back from Barcelona at the end of October on MSC. Closer to sailing they were offering an inside cabin for CAN$50 a night (much less in US$). The ship still sailed at only about 3000/5500 capacity. These sailings never sell out and you should be able to get a very good deal without having to resort to sharing your cabin with a stranger.
So envious of all you people with easy travel to Europe. 24 hours minimum flying for me and when I’ve looked into repositioning cruises to Australia seems pretty non existent
@Cathie English sitter friends of mine travelled out to Oz on a repositioning ship in Nov 2017; spent 2 years sitting around Oz and NZ; took another repositioning ship via NZ to Canada; more sitting there; then another to Florida before another to the UK. They only got as far as Barcelona though as the pandemic hit and lockdowns happened. They ended up spending at least 14 weeks at Lanzarote rather than return to cold England. I’m thinking there are still cruise ships who do repositioning to Oz but maybe not as many since the pandemic?
@temba Post pandemic travel options are not what they were. Never been a cruiser so can’t comment there but a number of flight companies have not returned to all markets. Sydney and Melbourne appear to have more options. Coming from Brisbane we used to use two Asian low cost carriers out of the gold coast, neither of which have returned yet. Last trip home was via Ho Chi Minh City and Vietjet, not cheaper but a nice place for a stopover.
