Travelling by freighter ship

[cultura ex cultura]

Does anyone have any advice or experience when it comes to travelling by freighter ship? I've been trying to google it a bit but I've been getting some conflicting information. I'm hoping it'll be a lot cheaper than a flight.

[cactusg]

Where would you like to travel?

The lonely planet guides usually have information too.

[cultura ex cultura]

I'd like to head to either Saudi Arabia or Switzerland, though I'm not certain how feasible that is.

[andyfoggy]

I heard it was actually quite expensive, I met some people a few years ago who were coming back from India to the UK on a freighter, I was shocked at how much. Cant remember the exact money but it was a lot more than a flight :'(

[rustymcallister]

I looked into it for the trip over (west coast of the US to Korea), and it is not worth it.  The freighter workers (fright workers?) are all unionized, so there's no chance of working to pay your way.  They allow passengers, but any kind of decent trip will probably run you into the thousands of dollars.  There's not much to do but sit around with the other passengers (probably mostly retirees), in your area of the boat.  Your best bet if you want to travel cheaply on the water is to learn to sail and help crew someone else's boat.  There are a few websites like findacrew.net that are set up to help people looking for a boat to crew.  I'd want to be careful about the Indian Ocean with all the piracy going on these days.

Anyway, that's all I got.  Good luck with your adventures!

[cultura ex cultura]

Ah, well that's too bad :S It seems remarkable that flying is cheaper but I suppose I never really gave it any thought.

Your best bet if you want to travel cheaply on the water is to learn to sail and help crew someone else's boat.  There are a few websites like findacrew.net that are set up to help people looking for a boat to crew.

This is unlikely. I have the unenviable physique of an emaciated mantis. Sounds fun though.

Anyway, thanks everyone for all the help!

[cruisemonkey]

I'd like to head to either Saudi Arabia or Switzerland, though I'm not certain how feasible that is.

Considering Switzerland is landlocked, it's probably not at all feasible to travel there by ship.  ::)

[infogoddess]

I've never done it but always wanted to

lots of info here
http://www.freightercruises.com/q_a_freighter_cruise_guide.php#Q_A

[cultura ex cultura]

I'd like to head to either Saudi Arabia or Switzerland, though I'm not certain how feasible that is.

Considering Switzerland is landlocked, it's probably not at all feasible to travel there by ship.  ::)

Simply accounting for global warming. Not at all a lack of forethough on my part.

[siamagoo]

It's probably more expensive because it takes longer. Airplanes only provide one meal and a snack. How does the price compare when you include the food and hotel for however long it takes?

[cruisemonkey]

You can get better deals on some 'repositioning' cruises with main stream cruise lines than on freighters. For example - http://www.vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=12657

[Adnan87]

I was looking into this a while ago and yeah, it's incredibly expensive. It seems the market is mostly geared towards retired people with lots of time on their hands. It also doesn't really seem to be a great way to 'see' anything, since you basically just stop in ports. A better option might be just going to a port and seeing if you can find work on a boat?

[mryogurt892]

http://www.freighterworld.com/places/fareast.html#nsbhboston

this is the site im going to book with when i return to america, it will cost me about 1,400 dollars, about the same as a flight

[Canonite]

Ah, well that's too bad :S It seems remarkable that flying is cheaper but I suppose I never really gave it any thought.

Your best bet if you want to travel cheaply on the water is to learn to sail and help crew someone else's boat.  There are a few websites like findacrew.net that are set up to help people looking for a boat to crew.

This is unlikely. I have the unenviable physique of an emaciated mantis. Sounds fun though.

Anyway, thanks everyone for all the help!

haha...sorry, but that description is gold! :) Good luck with your travel plans :)

[cultura ex cultura]

Yeah this sounds like it isn't going to work out  :(

I'm going to be time-rich and money-poor when this is over, and this sounds more like a time-and-money-rich thing. Someone should bring back affordable zeppelin travel. Again, thanks for all the help!

[oskinny1]

http://www.freighterworld.com/places/fareast.html#nsbhboston

this is the site im going to book with when i return to america, it will cost me about 1,400 dollars, about the same as a flight

I went through them a couple years ago. I went from Busan to Long Beach and it took about 16 days. Not much to do on the ship and you can't get off in Japan. I still enjoyed it and would do it again, but next time with a lady to help me waste away the hours.

You're basically in a large hotel room with a minfridge, tv, dvd player, dvds and possibly books. The captain let me into his stash of dvds and some of the crew offered me their...er... mature dvds. The cook on my ship (Hanjin Praha) was Russian so the menu leaned in that direction, but the captain and chief engineer (who you would be eating with) hated it.

[peanuts72]

wow I never heeard that you could do this so thanks OP.  I've always been fascinated by big ships and especially cargoo ships.  I'm looking at travelling from Pusan to singapore to start my travels now. Awesome!