Travel by freight liner

I could be quite wrong, but I thought hawkeye was referring to the $1000 being a lowball on the freighter travel costs. That was certainly my discovery when I looked into it 6 or 8 years ago.

The whole Trans-Atlantic freighter travel thing turned out to be a romance for me, much less affordable then a repositioning cruise or a flight to Europe.

not arguing but agreeing. It is very hard from me to justify the fees that the freighters are trying to get in this economy, when the traditional cruise lines have done such heavy discounting on the basic fare. The cruise lines are cutting what is included in the fare, then trying to make it back during the cruise in fees and charges for extras, but those of us who dont want all of the frills and diversions come out great right now.

The $1000 that I spoke of is what the freighters want. The one I linked wants 85 euros a day, plus a 275 euro fee, which at 9 days put you above a grand IN EUROS! Plus your insurance, taxes, a rough ride, uncertain times, and and and....how does this make sense even for those of us who mostly want to stroll the decks, read, and otherwise piss away the time on board (AKA relax)?

My grandparents did this for a week along the coast of Norway. They had fun, but I think they preferred land travel.

Unfortunately, they're both now deceased, so no tips to offer.

My uncle was the captain on a Matsen Lines freighter, the Hawaiian Farmer. He offered to have me go on a round trip when I was about sixteen, but my parents said NO. Missed opportunity no. 2765... He retired not all that many years later.

er.....bookmark.

Ahh, I gotcha. I thought you were speaking of the cruises upselling (which was a plausible argument because they do).

The "freight cruise" thing certainly does seem overpriced. That has historically been one more of a stowaway or work-your-way type of ride (like what I was trying to do in Brazil, pay a capitan to let me aboard or work my way onto a ship) than a cruise but it looks like they are trying to split the difference now and portray their boring ride as a cruise.

With name-brand cruises as low as $30/day I don't get how a freighter can charge €85/day at all either.