Cruising Home: My Repositioning Adventure on HAL’s Nieuw Amsterdam

A Reverse City Trip: Why I Took the Long Way Home

Let’s be honest: a cruise is a vacation—not necessarily travel. Yes, it takes you places, but often in an odd mix of hand sanitizer, buffet lines and Broadway-style shows. It’s an acquired taste.

Some cruises do offer genuine moments of discovery, especially if you choose your itinerary wisely. This spring, I boarded Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam for a repositioning cruise from San Diego back home to Vancouver. It wasn’t packed with ports or exotic stops, but as a unique one-way sailing, it gave me a different kind of travel experience—and a new appreciation for how to end a journey.

I dislike feeling at home when I am abroad. ~ George Bernard Shaw

Why Repositioning Cruises Are Worth It

Repositioning cruises happen when cruise lines move ships between seasonal home ports—like from the Caribbean to Alaska, or all the way from Europe to North America. In my case, Nieuw Amsterdam was returning to Vancouver for the summer Alaska runs, and I joined for the final stretch. These cruises can…