Costa Diadema is on the move. After four months of fjord-hopping out of Kiel, Germany, the 3,700-passenger ship has set off on a 12-night repositioning cruise to Savona, Italy, ticking off eight ports across six countries on the way — stops in Denmark, Norway, France and Spain included.

Once back in home waters, the ship will run short Mediterranean sailings before shifting into longer ten- and 11-night Western Europe itineraries from late September. The nice bit for travellers? You can join in Savona, Marseille, Cadiz, Barcelona or Málaga, and the routes stretch as far as Lisbon, Casablanca and Gibraltar, touching Portugal, Morocco and even the UK.

The Mediterranean stint is just a stopgap, though. In early November, the 2014-built ship leaves Savona on a 21-night trans-Atlantic crossing to Santos, Brazil, calling at Barcelona, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Lisbon, Mindelo in Cape Verde, Maceió and Salvador. That sets up a South American winter season alongside Costa Serena, with three- to seven-night cruises through Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay running until April 2027, departing from Santos, Itajaí, Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

Then it's back to Europe: the 132,500-ton ship returns in May for another summer of Norwegian Fjords cruising. Before this repositioning, those seven-night Kiel departures took in Copenhagen plus Bergen, Stavanger, Flam, Alesund, Geiranger, Haugesund and Hellesylt — a solid hit-list of fjord country.

So what does this mean if you're eyeing a Costa cruise? It depends on your season and budget. The autumn Western Europe sailings are a clever way to sample several countries — Spain, France, Portugal, Morocco — without flying long-haul between them, and multi-embarkation ports mean you can often start closer to home. The Brazil season suits anyone wanting a warm-weather escape over the European winter, with the Cape Verde stop breaking up the crossing nicely. And if fjords are the goal, the ship will be back on that route from May, sailing the same dramatic western Norwegian ports it's become known for.

Worth noting: repositioning cruises like these — the 12-night Mediterranean transfer and the 21-night Atlantic crossing — often offer strong value per night compared with standard itineraries, though you'll need to sort one-way flights home. Full details on dates and fares are on Costa's site.