Cruises seem to be popular, but how come nobody seems to use boats to actually get to their destination and stay there for a while. I would much rather spend a few weeks at sea and have it take a little work to get to my destination than hop on a plane and take all the fun out of it.
Why isn't freight travel more popular?
- Thread starter eflat
- Start date
cost vs time spent is inefficient. In the time I save taking a plane, it'd be possible for me to work for minimum wage and, not only make up the difference in cost, but also have some money left over. On top of that...how many people have a few weeks they can spend doing absolutely nothing productive whereas they could be on vacation or something.
Schadenfreude
Lifer
- Dec 28, 2001
- 11,391
- 3
- 0
y'know what I'd really like to do is take a train trip - I always wondered if they have tours aroudn the country with those things . . . it'd be so fun!
I'm leaving for a trail ride from Portland to Philledelphia tomorrow.. so the answer is YES!
And as for Mr. Yoda, um I think it's safe to say I would rather spend a few weeks on a ship in the open sea than work at McDonalds. I would consider it a "vacation." And it the actual cost of the trip shouldn't be much for than flying.
GTaudiophile
Lifer
- Oct 24, 2000
- 29,767
- 33
- 81
That guy who does the PBS show "Around the World in 80 Days" travels by cargo ship in the series. He enjoyed it.
Link the vid @ amazon.com
Link the vid @ amazon.com
I took the Amtrak train (California Zephyr) from Colorado to California - roughly 32 hour trip. It was kinda sucky, though, because due to a freight train derailment, we couldn't take the usual route through the Rocky Mountains, which is supposed to be very scenic. Instead, we had to go hundreds of miles through boring grazing land and plains - lots of cows.
But it was alright, you can walk around at will the whole time, hop from car to car, sit in the observation deck, have lunch or dinner in the dining car (bring money). But for $86 (regular price of $108), I could have probably found a competitive one-way air fare and made the trip in 2-1/2 hours or less. 32 hours vs. 2-1/2 hours.
Depends on how fast you need to get where you're going. Most people aren't traveling just to 'see things' in between their departure and destination. They're traveling to get some place. Its much more expensive to stop along the way, stay the night, etc.
One of these years, I intend to do the National Rail Pass thing with Amtrak, for around $400 you can ride the train anywhere in the US for 30 days with unlimited stop-overs. Go anywhere you want.
The North America Rail Pass includes the US and Canada for around $600.
But it was alright, you can walk around at will the whole time, hop from car to car, sit in the observation deck, have lunch or dinner in the dining car (bring money). But for $86 (regular price of $108), I could have probably found a competitive one-way air fare and made the trip in 2-1/2 hours or less. 32 hours vs. 2-1/2 hours.
Depends on how fast you need to get where you're going. Most people aren't traveling just to 'see things' in between their departure and destination. They're traveling to get some place. Its much more expensive to stop along the way, stay the night, etc.
One of these years, I intend to do the National Rail Pass thing with Amtrak, for around $400 you can ride the train anywhere in the US for 30 days with unlimited stop-overs. Go anywhere you want.
The North America Rail Pass includes the US and Canada for around $600.
Some of us have jobs and can't just take off weeks of our life to travel somewhere.... that is a pretty damn good reason to fly.
I could see this being fun if you took a cruise ship to hawaii or something, but why the hell would you want to do it on a cargo ship?
i wanna try the train sometimes but the prices are ridiculous. i can fly for as cheap or even cheaper, surpringly, and save a couple of days, too. heck, if i work with the time lost, then i can afford to stay wherever it is im staying at for an extra few days...
if i lived somewhere scenic like the pacific northwest id take the train just for the train, though
if i lived somewhere scenic like the pacific northwest id take the train just for the train, though
Siddhartha
Lifer
- Oct 17, 1999
- 12,505
- 3
- 81
On one hand the boat takes weeks and on the other hand a plane takes hours.... I would take a plane.
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