By the time November comes around the prime Mediterranean cruise season is coming to an end. That means it’s time for the cruise lines to move their ships to new home ports for the winter. These are known as “repositioning cruises” and provide some relatively unique opportunities to take a one-way cruise out of Barcelona.
Costa Is Busiest In November
Costa Cruise Lines provides the most repositioning cruises from Barcelona in November, with three ships heading to new homes. Instead of looking for a warmer spot in the northern hemisphere, they’re staying in the summer season by sending their ships south.
Costa Favalosa will be making a transatlantic trip to South America. There are two options for length and final destination: 14-nights to Rio de Janeiro or 15 days to Santos (the port city nearest to Sao Paulo). On the way there will be visits to Lanzarote (Arrecife), St. Cruz de Tenerife, Recife, Maceio, and Salvador. The cruise leaves Barcelona on November 20th.
Two days later, Costa Fortuna will be making a similar trip across the Atlantic. This time there will be a 15-night option that ends in Rio de Janeiro and a 18-day trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The itinerary for the cruise varies slightly from that of Favalosa, with stops in Casablanca, Las Palmas (Canary Islands), Recife, Salvador and Ilheus.
And finally, Costa Toscana begins its 18 day transatlantic voyage on November 29th, ending in Santos, Brazil. On Day 2 it’ll make a stop in Cadiz, followed by visits to Lanzarote, Tenerife, Salvador and Ilheus.
In addition to Costa, Viking also offers one repositioning cruise to South America as Viking Jupiter begins a 22-day voyage on November 10th. Ports of call include Granada, Casablanca, Dakar, Rio and Montevideo. The cruise ends in Buenos Aires.
Repositioning Cruises From Barcelona To Florida
Two ships will be moving from Barcelona to Florida in November, with Holland America’s Oosterdam going to Fort Lauderdale and Oceania Sirena headed to Miami.
Ooosterdam’s leaves Barcelona on November 5th on its 14-day “Spanish Farewell” transatlantic cruise. It’ll make three stops in Spain: Cartagena, Malaga, and Cadiz; then to Lisbon and Funchal before arriving in Fort Lauderdale.
Oceania Sirena gets a one day headstart on Oosterdam, departing Barcelona on November 4th. It’s another 14-night cruise with visits to Malaga, Funchal and Bermuda on the way to Miami. Sirena will spend the winter mixing up Caribbean cruises that depart from Miami and Bridgetown, Barbados.
Seabourn and Royal Caribbean to Barbados
Seabourn Ovation takes its time getting to its destination with a 28-night cruise to Barbados. Departing Barcelona on November 12th it makes a couple of stops in Morocco (Tangier and Casablanca), a couple more in the Canary Islands, heads a bit north to say “Hi!” to Lisbon, cross the Atlantic and makes a few Caribbean island stops (St. Johns, St. Kitts, Guadeloupe and Martinique) before finally arriving in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas leaves Barcelona on November 12th with a more single-minded, destination-oriented approach: just 12 nights to get to Barbados. Still, cruisers will get a chance to see Cannes, Malaga and Madeira along the way. Rhapsody of the Seas then begins a winter of southern Caribbean cruises from 5 to 14 days in length.