They're conditioned to three, four or sometimes five stops in a week. But half their cruise has been spent immobilized in port. Come the dawn, they are already tied to the dock. During the day in port, a ship is not only nearly deserted but also inert and apparently forsaken. Pool and public rooms are empty, and open-seating lunches shared with alien tablemates and stewards seem more perfunctory than pleasurable.
Passengers get to know their ship as intimately as the ship's company gets to know one another.
Another sign that you are sailing on a repositioning cruise occurs on the masthead. As the ship sails from one port to another you will see various flags flown there. For example, crossing the Atlantic into the Mediterranean, the Royal Princess flew the national flag of Gibraltar. Crossings are not always smooth. As part of its stability arsenal, every modern cruise ship is outfitted with two stabilizers recessed within the hull below the waterline.