ccc18

As you have discovered; it’s much more efficient in terms of time and money to fly than to cruise. I agree with the others that if your cousin actually wants to take this trip, addressing their flying issues would potentially be a better long term solution. It actually sounds at this point that you want this trip more than your cousin does.

 

But if you both want to travel this way and view it as a once in a lifetime trip, in your shoes, I would wait until I had the time and money for a ‘world cruise’.

You are perceptive--I have gone from being quite skeptical that I could enjoy a cruise to looking forward to taking one. But my cousin has shown no interest. I may have projected onto him my enthusiasm for exploring Europe, it wouldn't be entirely unheard of. :-)

He has understandable reasons not to fly and it's not for me to persuade him otherwise. While I'm disappointed he hasn't taken up the offer, it won't in the least keep me from revisiting Europe, or from taking a cruise sometime if I feel like it.

Your encouragement to dream large when it comes to once-in-a-lifetime adventures is well received. Perennially wise counsel.

Pacific Princess 6/12/2019 to 6/30/2019 from Ft Lauderdale to Dover...

Sea Princess 7/9/2019 to 7/22/2019 from Dover to New York...OR

ms Rotterdam 7/13/2019 to 7/30/2019 from Rotterdam to Boston...Will this work?

Probably not, but thanks for finding a good return match.

Just went to the "freighter and non-traditional cruise" forum, and it was "oak hill cruiser" who posted last on their experience taking a container ship from Houston to Europe. Note that they had to change their plans at least once, due to a change in schedule of the original ship.

thanks, that thread was quite enlightening on medical, insurance, MPCs, flexibility of dates, and ship tracking.

I would CALL Cunard about doing the round trip, with the desired amount of time in Europe...But be sitting down when you get the pricing....

board rules prevent any discussion or naming of TAs. you will need to conduct your research elsewhere.

Good to know, thanks for letting me know. I've no wish to violate the community standards or rules here.

The strict dress code doesn’t apply to the buffet - style dining.

...

That sounds more like it.

There is a forum here on CC entitled "non-traditional cruising" that covers travel by freighter. ...

 

We are not allowed to mention travel agents here on CC, but if you google "freighter cruises" or "cargo ship cruises" you will find some. Some lines advertise directly, like Maris....

Many thanks for all the details about restrictions and differences, it helps me know where to place this on the research agenda. Still sounds worth checking out. I did not know till now that one could still "hop a freighter" (I can see it's not so casual as that sounds and needs reserving/paying, but trying to evoke the image that lingers from long ago youth.)

Thanks. Having good company sounds like the ticket.

Nothing, unless you're interested in the adventure of cargo ship "cruising". They're also one-way cruises, but they take a lot longer, are a lot less fancy, and they arrive and depart from cargo locations. But they offer a lot more options at all times of the year, and offer a really unique experience.

This really appeals to me--I'd just as soon visit a friend's basement as their living room! ;)

If anyone knows a good way to get the lowdown--sample prices and schedules and actual experiences--I'm open to suggestion.

... With cruising do not think in terms of round trip but rather getting from Point A to Point B....and later from Point B back to Point A (or somewhere near Point A). ...There is no reason to only be looking at one cruise line. For example, take a Celebrity cruise from Ft Lauderdale to Amsterdam and perhaps a few weeks later take the Queen Mary 2 from Southampton to NYC...

 

Hank

It's good to have that strategy confirmed, and with real examples, since it seems to fit our needs.. I'm just beginning to grapple with the different opportunities that (one-way) cruising offers.

I would say that you need to contact a good TA for this one.

 

DON

That raises a good question. Maybe I'll look around this forum for suggestions on that.

Cunard also has a strict dress code in the evenings, a dark suit at the minimum and tuxedo if you want to go all the way. There are limited areas available to casual clothing in the evenings. This is just to let you know before going in what type of crossing it will be.

Whoa! A shock to my system but my cousin would love it.

I had a straight up hard nosed conversation with my Dad.

He refused to fly. Played it up that he wasn't scared, but he was.

...

We flew to Hawaii a few months later.

Not a solution in this case. I've talked over flying more than once w/cousin, it's really out of the question for him.

It's totally doable, but will cost MUCH, MUCH more, both in money and in time!

Neither of us will like the cost, but that seems to be the only way he'll get to Europe in this lifetime--and it's a once-a-lifetime trip.

Nothing.

 

Actually, the Cunard cruises are usually two B2B one-way sailings...often on the Queen Mary 2.

 

You can sail to Southampton, stay for two weeks and sail back to NY on the QM2.

Good to know. I have now discovered a decent search engine for transatlantics (cruise-circle.co.uk) but hope to find even better.

What you are missing is that the season for cruising to Europe and the season cruising from Europe are different times. Ships reposition to Europe for the Spring/summer season, and return in late fall. So unless he wants to spend a couple or three months in Europe between cruises, Cunard is your option. Here is a schedule of Transatlantic cruise for your perusal. Check it out, maybe you can find a Cunard crossing that will get him to Europe in time to spend a week or two and return on a fall repo. EM

 

http://www.cruisetransatlantic.com/cruises.html

Thanks for that great concise list and pointing me to a useful website. (And, no, he won't want to spend a few months in Europe.)

Hi, and thanks for any thoughts you have to offer.

I've a cousin who will not fly, but might be open to cruising back-and-forth from US to Europe via two one-way cruises. I identified a few (very few) possible one-way trips via cruisecritics great search function, all offered by MSC.

I want to get him on the ground in a European city or two for a week or so. This means that cruises like the round trips offered by Cunard are of no interest to me.

But--I don't really know anything about cruises except they cost a lot more than flying. :(I'm looking for your creative ideas, or to be told that there are precious few alternatives, and I've already found them.

At the moment all I can see to do is to book 2 one-way cruises: a) US to Europe and b) Europe to US.

What am I missing?