If you want an absolutely care-free, do-nothing cruise, freighter travel is the answer. Most freighters carry from eight to twelve passengers, have great food, friendly crews, and cost about $100 per day per person. If that sounds like something you might be interested in, the best way to get acquainted with this type of travel and the places freighters visit is to subscribe to TravLtips bimonthly magazine for $40 per year. It features passenger-written a rticles about actual trips. In addition, it has information on freighter trips, expedition travel, conventional cruise ships, and unusual vessels, such as four-masted clipper ships, barge and river boats. In other words, if it has anything to do with water, they can get you there. To subscribe to the magazine or get more information on cruises, contact TravLtips at the address below. It is, to my knowledge, the only agency in the U.S. that books freighter trips.
TravLtips; Freighter and Specialty Cruises; Box 580188, Flushing, NY 11358-0188 Telephone: 1-800-872-8584; Web site: www.travltips.com
A year ago last October my husband and I embarked on our first, but hopefully not our last, freighter trip. We wanted to visit Australia, but were not sure how long we wanted to be on a ship, so we chose to fly to Australia and return by freighter. TravLtips arranged our flight from Los Angeles on Quantas and booked our passage on the Queensland Star. We made our own reservations for the layover in Fiji. We planned to stay in Australia for ten days before the cruise and made reservations for our time in Brisbane, Lady Elliot Island (on the Great Barrier Reef), Fraser Island, etc. Making those arrangements was the most difficult part of the trip, as TravLtips does not handle hotel reservations and the travel agencies here seem to specialize in more traditional trips.
The only expenses you have after boarding the ship are whatever you spend in ports, drinks in the passenger lounge, bond store purchases (cigarettes, liquor, and stamps are available), and tips. The bar in the lounge is open 24 hours a day and you are on the honor system to help yourself and to record in the book what you take. Almost all liquor was $.40 or $.50 a shot. Ironically, the mix ran about $.60, so a martini was $.50 and a gin and tonic was an exorbitant $1.10. The chief steward bartended from 11:30 to noon, when we ate lunch, from 5:30 to 6:30 when we ate dinner, and he served coffee and drinks in the lounge after dinner.
The meals were all served by the waiters in the dining room where the tables were set with white linen and lots of silverware. (I could figure out most of the side settings, but I always seemed to have something left over.) The captain and the chief engineer were the only crew members who were not Filipino and they ate with us. The captain was at one table half of the voyage, then swapped places with the chief engineer the second half. That gave us a chance to ask lots of questions about the route, the operations of the ship, and anything else we wanted to know. The food was great, there was plenty of it, and we had a good variety. The menu was posted every day in the lounge as well as on each table.
Dress is very informal--jeans, shorts, or swimming suits during the day, and a change to slacks or casual dress for the evening meal. There is a passenger's laundry on board--two washers, one drier and a drying closet. Also, a passenger's "pantry" that had a small refrigerator, toaster, coffee pot, and a huge urn of hot water for instant tea or coffee. The fridge was stocked with fresh fruit, bread, butter, jam, and some kind of "sweet," like lemon or banana cake, so no one ever went hungry.
The only decisions you have to make all day are: Do I want to get up for breakfast (8 o'clock, and yes you do because the breakfasts are delicious), and after breakfast shall I read, take a walk on the deck, sit in the sun or in the shade, take a dip in the splash pool, visit with some of the other passengers in the lounge or on the deck, or take a nap" After lunch decisions are about the same. Our ship had a great library and hundreds of videos you could watch on the VCR. When we had bad weather there was usually some discussion concerning which video to watch and two or three would do that while others read or played cards or board games. One thing my husband and I appreciated was that the other passengers were as independent as we were. We ate and visited together, but never felt "obliged" to be sociable. Everyone just did their own thing whenever they wanted to.
The other passengers were well educated, well read, and had traveled a good deal. There were two other couples and three people traveling by themselves. The ages ranged from about 45 to 80. One couple had been on one other freighter cruise to China and were doing the round trip cruise on this one. One person had been on twelve freighter trips, another on twenty; the rest of us were first-timers.
I do think you have to be a little more independent and willing to try something different to enjoy this kind of travel. There are no floor show, no slot machines, no prepared entertainment. However, during our 31 days on the water, we had several parties which involved the entire crew. We played Bingo, had a wooden horse race, a bar-b-que on deck, and parties in the crew's lounge where they sang, had disco-type lights, drums, guitars, and a sound system that could blow you away. What they lacked in talent they made up in volume and enthusiasm and after a few beers (in some cases, several) they sounded great and we sang and danced until we were exhausted. We had tours of the ship, birthday and anniversary parties for the other passengers, watched islands emerge from the fog, crossed the equator, navigated through the Panama Canal, observed the stars, and had breathtaking sunsets. What more can you ask from a cruise?
I really can recommend the Queensland Star, the Blue Star Shipping Lines, and cruising by freighter in particular. And no, I don't work for them. I'm retired and loving it.
Below some pictures of our voyage.
 "Queensland Star" |
 Passenger's Lounge |
 Party with the crew |
 A part of our cabin |
 Panama Canal |
 Pitcairn Island |
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