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The German
cargo ship CSAV Hamburgo is unloaded while docked
at Port Everglades on Jan. 26, 2007 in Fort
Lauderdale, Fla. They may not have spas with
fruity facials, rock climbing walls and water
slides, spinning classes and planned shore
excursions, but freighter enthusiasts rave about
container ship travel.
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -
When Ravannah Schrack booked her latest cruise she knew
exactly what she didn't want: flashy shows, formal
dinners, and competition for deck chairs around a pool.
So, instead of booking on a traditional cruise line, the
self-described un-tourist booked a berth on a cargo ship,
her fifth such vacation.
She got exactly what she
wanted: solitude, simple meals and containers as next-door
neighbors.
Cargo ships may not have
spas with fruity facials, rock-climbing walls and water
slides, spinning classes and planned shore excursions, but
freighter enthusiasts rave about their trips. With only a
handful of travelers on any voyage, there's no dress code
for dinner and plenty of space.
''It's the un-cruise,''
said Schrack, a retired teacher from Vancouver, Canada.
''We like saying it's like
staying on your own yacht with a captain,'' said Ranko
Zunic, the owner of Maris Freighter & Specialty
Cruises, a Connecticut company that books freighter
travel.
Zunic's company is one of a
small number that book the trips, and he sells between 200
and 300 annually. A California company, Freighter World
Cruises Inc., books about 1,000 trips a year, and a third
company, New York-based TravLtips, Inc. arranges about
200, most through Freighter World.
By comparison, more than
12.5 million people are expected to take traditional
cruises this year. And the experiences are oceans apart.
On freighters, cabins are
utilitarian. There are no 24-hour buffets or gourmet
cooking demonstrations; dinner is usually a single option.
Travel has to be booked far in advance, and while the cost
is usually less per day, about $100, voyages are longer,
so the trips remain costly. At the same time, cargo ships
aren't in port long, largely nixing extended shore visits.
On a recent stop in Fort
Lauderdale, the cargo ship CSAV Hamburgo was in port only
about six hours before leaving for a trip up the East
Coast. As a crane unloaded the ship's refrigerated
containers, Capt. Szamrej Krzysztof said he typically has
one to three passengers on five-week trips to North and
South America.
Many of the travelers are
retired or older. Florence Hansen, 73, of Spokane, Wash.,
has been on at least 10 freighter voyages and called
traditional cruises ''dreadful.'' But, Andre Reams, 45, of
Arlington, Va., simply hates to fly. For the past decade
he's been boarding the ships once or twice a year to
travel to places he needs to go for work. The head of his
own company, Reams said he gets a lot of work done onboard
because there are few distractions.
''I feel there is no reason
under the sun to get on a plane. The freighters work
perfectly for me,'' said Reams, who has tried and disliked
traveling by cruise ship.
Freighters aren't for
everyone. Passengers must be in good physical condition as
the ships generally don't have elevators, and because
there is no doctor onboard, some ships set an upper age
limit.
Joycene Deel, president of
Freighter World Cruises, says her company screens
potential clients to make sure they really want to travel
by cargo ship.
''People have this
glamorized image. It usually is not what you dream about.
When you come down to reality, it's a working cargo
ship,'' Deel said.
Passengers who have to ask
what to do with all the time or get bored easily might
seek other trips, Deel added.
For container ship
enthusiasts, walking the deck, watching the sea, or
tackling crafts and puzzles are entertainment enough. Many
tote stacks of books or start writing one of their own: an
autobiography or a narrative of their voyage. A few ships
have saltwater plunge pools that can be filled for
passengers. There's also visiting the ship's bridge and
talking with the crew, though crew members frequently
speak languages different from travelers.
Bud Kibbee, 81, of Quincy,
Calif., took his first freighter ship voyage last year. He
and his wife had been on cruises, but he said his
five-week voyage converted him.
''I'd take the freighter
every time,'' he said.
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If You Go...
CONTAINER SHIP CRUISES:
Companies that offer information about traveling on a
container ship and can help book a trip include Freighter
World Travel, http://www.freighterworld.com/ or
626-449-3106; Maris Freighter & Specialty Cruises,
http://www.freightercruises.com/ or 800-996-2747;
TravLtips, http://www.travltips.com/ or 800-872-8584.
COST: About $100 a day,
though prices are typically in euros.
DURATION: Ranges from 10
days to more than 120 to go around the world, but ports of
call may only last a few hours.
PASSENGERS: Generally a
half-dozen or fewer. Ages 70 and older should ask about
age restrictions. |
