container ship travel

[Abarb]

Hi Mary,
Sorry I didnt get back to you straight away, I have been very busy over the last few days re-organising our itinerary because the "Matisse" schedule has changed and she is now leaving Tilbury 14 days earlier than expected. It seems another ship in the fleet had to be taken out of service and go into dry dock, so our ship was re-routed and on the journey back from Sydney before she starts our voyage there are a number of ports "deleted". So perhaps there are passengers on the Sydney Tilbury voyage who are feeling a bit disappointed at missing a number of Ports.
It really threw a spanner in the works, but we are lucky that we are retired and could leave Australia earlier than planned and transfer our bookings in Dubai, Scandinavia, etc. to other dates.
So to anyone contemplating container/freighter ship travel, here is a valuable lesson...one that I didnt fully comprehend myself, that there could be REALLY major changes to departure/arrival dates.
Another thing that I would recommend is find out how to watch the schedule of "your" ship (in our case I logged onto the CMA CGM website and followed the line schedule) and just as well that I did, as the Agent in Sydney had no idea that this big change had taken place, and if I had waited till closer to our departure date, it may have been too late to change many of our bookings.
There was a point when I thought we may have to cancel the voyage, and that would have been expensive, (we would have lost our deposit) as the terms and conditions of the ships owners are weighted very much in their favour. We found out that our travel insurance didnt cover early departures, so another thing to be sure of when taking out your insurance.
After all the trials this week, we are both still really looking forward to the experience of container ship travel.
I think I have said in previous posts that Maris is probably the best contact for people in USA (telephone 1 800 99-Maris / 1 203 222 1500)
and I did have initial contact with Strand Travel UK, who seemed very able to help with this type of voyage.
Maris send out a very interesting small magazine each month, concentrating in each issue on a different area of freighter cruises.
If you google container ship travel and freighter travel, you will probably find your way to other peoples reviews of their voyages.
Do let me know if you decide to "do" a freighter cruise.
Best regards
Aileen

[Annieeee]

Hi,

Has anyone done this type of travel lately? Please share your thoughts.

Annieeee

[DryCreek]

Originally Posted by Annieeee

Hi,

Has anyone done this type of travel lately? Please share your thoughts.

Annieeee

Any info at all would be appreciated - such as cost and minimum at-sea times? I wonder if I could book a week long trip from, say, Galveston and hit the next US port - or would the Jones act prohibit this? Maybe if it went from Galveston to Central America and then to another U.S. Port?

[jcrandle]

Originally Posted by DryCreek

Any info at all would be appreciated - such as cost and minimum at-sea times? I wonder if I could book a week long trip from, say, Galveston and hit the next US port - or would the Jones act prohibit this? Maybe if it went from Galveston to Central America and then to another U.S. Port?

At the risk of being technical, that would be the Passenger Vessel Services Act, also called the PVSA. The Jones act has more to do with protection of the merchant marine (crew) on US flagged vessels.

It (the PVSA) prohibits foreign flagged ships from transporting passengers between two different US ports without a stop at a "distant foreign port".

For all practical purposes, the only caribbean ports that qualify as distant are the ABC ports, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao. Otherwise, the cruise must stop in South America.

The cruise lines are VERY aware of these issues, and will only offer cruises that satisfy the PVSA requirements, as they are subject to fines if they violate it.

[DryCreek]

Originally Posted by jcrandle

The cruise lines are VERY aware of these issues, and will only offer cruises that satisfy the PVSA requirements, as they are subject to fines if they violate it.

Do the container ships also fall under the PVSA regulations?

[jcrandle]

Originally Posted by DryCreek

Do the container ships also fall under the PVSA regulations?

If they are foreign flagged, they most certainly do, and most container ships are foreign flagged.

[jcrandle]

Wikipedia has a brief synopsis of the PVSA at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passeng...es_Act_of_1886

[davidwilsoon]

Originally Posted by snowman

I have 2 trans-alantic and agree with all of the above. You must remain loose with your time and your port time is VERY Short. I did these as an experiance at it certainly was. Enjoy

I just read someone review on his recent container ship travel. Imust say that while he says he had a great time, in his review it was obvious that his time in port was not as he had expected.

[Cactus Cruisers]

This is my first stop on this thread since I usually just do the Roll Call. It was interesting reading the posts but I was disappointed that Abarb never posted after her container voyage in 2008. This type of travel is something that my husband and I would like to try at least once after we retire. We have done small ship cruises and big ship cruises, so this is next in progression. Kathie

[rostocker]

Originally Posted by davidwilsoon

I just read someone review on his recent container ship travel. Imust say that while he says he had a great time, in his review it was obvious that his time in port was not as he had expected.

Container ships do have very short port times but there is an alternative. At least one company, Rickmers Linie, operate a Round the World service with large general cargo-heavy lift ships with purpose built passenger accommodation for 2 couples and three singles. Their port calls can be up to 4 days although the average is 2-3. There are at least three embarkation points in USA and round the World via Europe, Suez, Asia, the Pacific and Panama takes about 124 days with roughly 15 to 20 ports of call. Segments can also be booked.
As you can see from my signature I am a regular passenger. The standard of safety and comfort is very high and the officers and crew always friendly and helpful. I am a single lady, now 70 years old, and would not travel any other way although it is not for everyone. Next voyage is January 2011 on Rickmers Antwerp, Europe to Singapore.
I would be happy to give information and advice to anyone interested.

All the details, photos, ships plans etc. at www.mcc-marine.de

[Justimagine]

Greetings Rostocker - I'm very interested in your post and information about the Rickmers Line. I investigated the possibilities but didn't find them, booked QM2 instead for my first voyage. Makes no sense, I know, but will find my freighter later. I'm most interested in Europe to Asia thru Suez, etc. Have travel often, all over and alone, now 65, and feel this is the next step. I'd love to hear from you.

Joanna (joannay@cableone.net)

[rostocker]

Originally Posted by Justimagine

Greetings Rostocker - I'm very interested in your post and information about the Rickmers Line. I investigated the possibilities but didn't find them, booked QM2 instead for my first voyage. Makes no sense, I know, but will find my freighter later. I'm most interested in Europe to Asia thru Suez, etc. Have travel often, all over and alone, now 65, and feel this is the next step. I'd love to hear from you.

Joanna (joannay@cableone.net)

Hi Joanna, sorry you did not find the info re Rickmers Linie at the web address I gave. I will send the pages as an e-mail attachment if you wish and will be happy to answer all your questions.
Anni (aussieinrostock@gmail.com)

[suffolkchive]

To Abarb, "I have myself done two container ship voyages as a passenger first with P&O Nedlloyd aboard the m.v. 'City of Cape Town' from 2nd sept to 24th oct 2004, the route i travelled was from Tilbury to South Africa & back via Germany & the Canary Islands."
Well, I travelled from Tilbury to Australia on the same ship, "working my passage" when it was the 'Tolaga Bay' in 1983 - it was already 6 years old then and having engine problems. I'm amazed it has/had lasted so long (last tracked it in 2007). I got off because it was diverted to the Falklands! As an 18 year old I got up to some amazing adventures with the crew - happy memories.

[Woobstr112G]

Was curious of the cost of this type of cruise. I know accomedations vary depending on what type of ship you sail, but are there general several different categories of cabins.....?

Bob

[cruising cockroach]

I guess the likelihood that anyone here has sailed on the Hanjin Palermo or CC Jamaica or CC Coral is low?

[houtbay]

I recently returned to Long Beach CA from Auckland on the Natalie Schultz a container ship. Quite enjoyable and very relaxing.