Food for thought

[R864382]

I have been looking at holidays on cargo/container ships and was surprised that the brochure stated that the ships were dry and not to expect cruise ship cuisine ,also you would eat with the crew and the staple diet was rice and fish.Did we eat ourselves out of a job?.It also stated that you could get bored on such a long voyage 22 days out and the same back.The shortest deep sea trip I did was just over 4 months without satelite tv and broad band just a crackling radio for company.Looks like a week in Blackpool as £5000 seems a bit much when you cannot even leave the ship unless you pay for shore passes and visas. Ah well just a thought I will keep on dreaming.

[Ray McCerery]

I have been looking at holidays on cargo/container ships and was surprised that the brochure stated that the ships were dry and not to expect cruise ship cuisine ,also you would eat with the crew and the staple diet was rice and fish.Did we eat ourselves out of a job?.It also stated that you could get bored on such a long voyage 22 days out and the same back.The shortest deep sea trip I did was just over 4 months without satelite tv and broad band just a crackling radio for company.Looks like a week in Blackpool as £5000 seems a bit much when you cannot even leave the ship unless you pay for shore passes and visas. Ah well just a thought I will keep on dreaming.

Order of the Day
Dry ships (Plenty of Softies) but no booze.

No Smoking inside accom.

Rice and Fish + Chicken, Mainly Filipino crews

thats the order of today.

Sad really

[John Arton]

Try Columbus line. Their container ships do the South American run and from what i remember they all havw excellent passenger accomodation for around 10 persons

Capt. John Arton (ret'd)

[Captain Kong]

I prefer the regular cruise ship, they have many bars and better amenities, and visit better ports. The menus are fantastic and so is the entertainment. I have met a lot of great people on board we still keep in touch with. The accommodation is better, on a Container ship you probably sleep in a ex Engineers Cabin, after they scaled down the Manning, they sell them to tourists.
Try getting ashore in a Container Port, you can hopefully get a taxi or not, You are not allowed to wander ashore through the Container Base, security and health and safety. the ship is moored miles from town and you only have a limited time to to get there and back. Hardly anyone to talk to,on your ship, Small crews these days and so the watch below, mostly all foreigners now, eat a meal mostly on their own then turn in, you wander around muttering,"Lonely, Lonely" to yourself. Not the same as the old days like we were back at sea.
I have been taking Long cruises around the planet, Far east, Australasia, Antarctic, West Indies, Africa and so on since 1995, This year did all the Pacific Islands in Polynesia, January next crossing the Pacific on Queen Elizabeth, from San Francisco to the Islands, Hawaii, Pago Pago, Fiji, New Zealand Auckland Wellington and Dunedin then Melbourne and leap ashore in Sydney, camper van across Australia to Perth then a few days in Singapore then Home, more than two months, fantastic, done that trip a few times. Beats the hell out of a Container ship.
.
I have stayed on the old Queen Mary, in Long Beach, twice this year and several times over the last few years, and have booked again in January for a few days. She is well worth a vacation, Beautiful accommodation. Excellent Restaraunts and Bars, and also the greatest Maritime Museum ever. This time they are charging me £78 for two per night in a lovely suite, all art decor in the original woods.
Breakfast, BIG, for $8, A week on her is well worth while. Also ideal for people who do not enjoy sailing.