4 ms·

Traveling from China to Europe on a cargo ship

54 points by kareemm 11y ago

user3141592653 11y ago
great read but lots of inaccuracies.
- dang 11y ago
  This comment would be better if you'd say what the inaccuracies are. Then we'd learn something by reading the thread, which makes for the best kind of thread.
amgin3 11y ago
This is a journey strictly for trust-fund kiddies and other rich people, costs about $160USD/day for a bed on this boat, so she paid around $4,500 for her 27-day trip just counting accommodation.
- 1stop 11y ago
  ... because only Trust-fund kiddies have $4,500. I don't feel so bad about not being a trust fund kid now that I know their funds are so meagre.
- rfjedwards 11y ago
  $160 USD / day is very inexpensive compared to a lot of popular destinations.
  - reedlaw 11y ago
    It's cheap for people with money but little time. But a 27-day cruise seems more aimed at people with time but little money.
- lnanek2 11y ago
  Agreed. The time is irrelevant to me, because I can easily spend a month without internet programming my mobile apps, but I checked their schedules and their prices and they are very high compared to just flying wherever I need to go. Getting to Shanghai is 4x the cost of just flying. Seems like just a waste of money for rich hipsters.
david-given 11y ago
This isn't as hard as it looks --- lots of freighters are set up to carry passengers. (Apparently about 1%, but that's still many thousands of ships.) You're basically staying in officer's quarters. The reviews I've seen all comment on the cabins and food all being plain but really good. There appears to be no internet (but you can make satellite calls at €5 a minute). Pricing is reasonable by hotel standards, about €100 a day, but of course you have to pay for the entire voyage. A transatlantic voyage from Felixstowe to New York takes about 12 days. If you have 130 days to spare, you can do a round-the-world trip. There seems to be quite a community doing it, mostly older people. They're not cruise liners, so there's no entertainment --- it's definitely for the self-reliant only. And, of course, the ship's going to cargo ports, so everywhere the ship calls will be in the middle of nowhere. See here for more information (yes, I've thought of doing a trip): https://www.freightercruises.com/q_a_freighter_cruise_guide.php https://www.freightercruises.com/q_a_freighter_cruise_guide....
- jon-wood 11y ago
  Since that ship's journey ended at Southampton docks, a fourty five minute walk from my house, I feel obliged to point out not all cargo docks are in the middle of nowhere. I have no idea if we're just the exception though, and every other city keeps its docks far away!
  - hrrsn 11y ago
    Auckland's docks are right in the middle of the CBD, much to the locals dismay.
  - zappo2938 11y ago
    I'm quite sure that most cargo ports are in the middle of everywhere. For example, every major city on both coasts of the United States, also include New Orleans, Chicago, St.Louis, Detroit, Toronto, and Montreal for the same reason, are major cities because of being a cargo port.
  - jacquesm 11y ago
    (Some) Rotterdam docks are walking distance from the town center.
lifeformed 11y ago
Are there any budget ones, where you just sleep in a shipping container?
- Tsagadai 11y ago
  Depending on your citizenship and physical build there are plenty of easy to get jobs on cargo ships. Pay is not always good (ranges from blue collar western European levels to slavelike) but if you were just doing it for kicks you could try it for a month or two.
rfjedwards 11y ago
This has been on my bucket list for ages. Perfect environment to disconnect from the world and rediscover ones self.
tcdent 11y ago
If you pack a vehicle in a container you'll have it available when you arrive. People commonly containerize custom motorhomes as they travel between continents. Arranging travel for people and cargo on the same ship is less common, however.
- lifeisstillgood 11y ago
  That is a surprisingly cool idea - drive an RV literally around the world
alexandrerond 11y ago
In the last years there have been quite a few stories about these sort of trips. While they were interesting to read at first, I have the feeling these trips come down to pretty much nothing, that is, hours and hours stuck in a room without much to do/see. Even if you're lucky with a crew/fellow passengers that provides you with some conversations/activities, they're usually nothing out of the ordinary or worth even telling. This doesn't mean they can be meaninful to oneself, but well... A good travel journal is like cooking a dish where you have the main ingredient (what happened/what u did) and the spices (the context, research and extra infos). Here you only have the second part as you spend a month doing little, seeing less, and sorry but everyone has that in their kitchen. That said, large ships and cargo managememt are very interesting from the physics and technical sides, but these are hardly ever covered...
- Nicholas_C 11y ago
  Indeed. No Internet as well could make for a boring passage. If I take a freighter I will make sure to load up on books in case I have trouble occupying myself.
Nicholas_C 11y ago
I'm contemplating a circumnavigation by land and sea only (no planes) and plan to use cargo ships to cross the Atlantic and Pacific. So far it looks like the biggest hurdles are planning the trip around cargo ships. From what I've read, the passenger accommodations are booked far in advance and ships don't necessarily leave on a set schedule.There is usually a window of +/- several days, with possible delays that could last much longer.
- grovr 11y ago
  My brother did this including 2 trips on cargo ships, one across the Pacific and one across the Atlantic. He's got a blog with information on the trips here: http://noflytripping.com/ http://noflytripping.com/

54 points by kareemm 11y ago

user3141592653 11y ago

great read but lots of inaccuracies.

dang 11y ago
This comment would be better if you'd say what the inaccuracies are. Then we'd learn something by reading the thread, which makes for the best kind of thread.

amgin3 11y ago

This is a journey strictly for trust-fund kiddies and other rich people, costs about $160USD/day for a bed on this boat, so she paid around $4,500 for her 27-day trip just counting accommodation.

1stop 11y ago
... because only Trust-fund kiddies have $4,500. I don't feel so bad about not being a trust fund kid now that I know their funds are so meagre.
rfjedwards 11y ago
$160 USD / day is very inexpensive compared to a lot of popular destinations.
- reedlaw 11y ago
  It's cheap for people with money but little time. But a 27-day cruise seems more aimed at people with time but little money.
lnanek2 11y ago
Agreed. The time is irrelevant to me, because I can easily spend a month without internet programming my mobile apps, but I checked their schedules and their prices and they are very high compared to just flying wherever I need to go. Getting to Shanghai is 4x the cost of just flying. Seems like just a waste of money for rich hipsters.

david-given 11y ago

This isn't as hard as it looks --- lots of freighters are set up to carry passengers. (Apparently about 1%, but that's still many thousands of ships.) You're basically staying in officer's quarters. The reviews I've seen all comment on the cabins and food all being plain but really good. There appears to be no internet (but you can make satellite calls at €5 a minute). Pricing is reasonable by hotel standards, about €100 a day, but of course you have to pay for the entire voyage. A transatlantic voyage from Felixstowe to New York takes about 12 days. If you have 130 days to spare, you can do a round-the-world trip. There seems to be quite a community doing it, mostly older people. They're not cruise liners, so there's no entertainment --- it's definitely for the self-reliant only. And, of course, the ship's going to cargo ports, so everywhere the ship calls will be in the middle of nowhere. See here for more information (yes, I've thought of doing a trip): https://www.freightercruises.com/q_a_freighter_cruise_guide.php https://www.freightercruises.com/q_a_freighter_cruise_guide....

jon-wood 11y ago
Since that ship's journey ended at Southampton docks, a fourty five minute walk from my house, I feel obliged to point out not all cargo docks are in the middle of nowhere. I have no idea if we're just the exception though, and every other city keeps its docks far away!
- hrrsn 11y ago
  Auckland's docks are right in the middle of the CBD, much to the locals dismay.
- zappo2938 11y ago
  I'm quite sure that most cargo ports are in the middle of everywhere. For example, every major city on both coasts of the United States, also include New Orleans, Chicago, St.Louis, Detroit, Toronto, and Montreal for the same reason, are major cities because of being a cargo port.
- jacquesm 11y ago
  (Some) Rotterdam docks are walking distance from the town center.

lifeformed 11y ago

Are there any budget ones, where you just sleep in a shipping container?

Tsagadai 11y ago
Depending on your citizenship and physical build there are plenty of easy to get jobs on cargo ships. Pay is not always good (ranges from blue collar western European levels to slavelike) but if you were just doing it for kicks you could try it for a month or two.

rfjedwards 11y ago

This has been on my bucket list for ages. Perfect environment to disconnect from the world and rediscover ones self.

tcdent 11y ago

If you pack a vehicle in a container you'll have it available when you arrive. People commonly containerize custom motorhomes as they travel between continents. Arranging travel for people and cargo on the same ship is less common, however.

lifeisstillgood 11y ago
That is a surprisingly cool idea - drive an RV literally around the world

alexandrerond 11y ago

In the last years there have been quite a few stories about these sort of trips. While they were interesting to read at first, I have the feeling these trips come down to pretty much nothing, that is, hours and hours stuck in a room without much to do/see. Even if you're lucky with a crew/fellow passengers that provides you with some conversations/activities, they're usually nothing out of the ordinary or worth even telling. This doesn't mean they can be meaninful to oneself, but well... A good travel journal is like cooking a dish where you have the main ingredient (what happened/what u did) and the spices (the context, research and extra infos). Here you only have the second part as you spend a month doing little, seeing less, and sorry but everyone has that in their kitchen. That said, large ships and cargo managememt are very interesting from the physics and technical sides, but these are hardly ever covered...

Nicholas_C 11y ago
Indeed. No Internet as well could make for a boring passage. If I take a freighter I will make sure to load up on books in case I have trouble occupying myself.

Nicholas_C 11y ago

I'm contemplating a circumnavigation by land and sea only (no planes) and plan to use cargo ships to cross the Atlantic and Pacific. So far it looks like the biggest hurdles are planning the trip around cargo ships. From what I've read, the passenger accommodations are booked far in advance and ships don't necessarily leave on a set schedule.There is usually a window of +/- several days, with possible delays that could last much longer.

grovr 11y ago
My brother did this including 2 trips on cargo ships, one across the Pacific and one across the Atlantic. He's got a blog with information on the trips here: http://noflytripping.com/ http://noflytripping.com/