For Thursday, February 23, 2006 Drummer Column, Gibbs, 770 words


Ah, frigate


Whew. I just finished booking a cruise to celebrate out 20th wedding anniversary. Last week I wrote of picking foiled cruises and earning bruises. I tried to reserve under the radar to surprise Susan, but broke down and told her before locking in the fees. Lucky I did. She didn’t like my choices and challenged me to try harder and surprise her again later, before locking in the fees.
It’s like any Christmas or birthday present. People tell family, friends and Santa what they want as a gift, then they want to be surprised with it on the big day. They want a colorful package sealed with ribbons and bows, and they want to know what’s inside.
If I were to ask for a dog, but not specify the breed, age, and attitude, I’m likely to get a one-eyed schnauzer with a feral past a bad cough. I can respect a woman’s need to say to her husband, “Honey, surprise me this year by giving me what I want.”
So I went back into research mode. I scoured the Internet, visited travel agencies, called cruise lines direct, spoke to agents, interviewed friends who’ve floated, collected recommendations. I’m exhausted. I need a vacation.
OK. I have to share one unique voyage venue I found. I didn’t select it, but it was tempting. I’m talking about the slow boat to China. Taking a freighter cruise.
I’d never considered freighter cruises until I logged into my fee-based Consumer Reports website and read an article about them in the preface to their special “How to plan a cruise,” advice section. They sounded interesting, so I checked out freighterworld.com. Wow.
Freighters like the ones we see drifting through Benicia bay may have up to a dozen rooms for paying travelers. I didn’t know that. Many have a pool, sauna, recreation room, ping pong tables, sun deck, lending book and video library, all the basics for relaxation, peace, quiet, and solitude. Food is included. The cost is approximately $100 a day and some of these voyages last for months.
The Reederie F. Laeisz GmbH line has eight sister ships that float regularly from Long Beach to Oakland then across the Pacific to Tokyo, Osaka, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sri Lanka, up the Suez Canal, around Spain to Le Havre, France, through the English Channel to Hamburg, Germany, and finally to Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where they turn around and retrace their steps. The entire trip is 84 days long. The cost is $8,736. That is a true blue dyed-in-the-wool no-doubt-about-it get-away vacation.
A trip like that would be perfect if one were writing a book, or newly married and deeply, deeply in love, or just retiring and wanting to do something monumental, or too old and seasoned by life to be thrilled by pleasure cruise casinos and cabaret shows, or living with a wild spirit and a tight budget, or trying to learn Japanese, or escaping a hectic lifestyle, or someone who just loves the open sea.
One website shows passenger photos of former trips, often in clusters of four to six senior couples, happy together picnicking, playing cards, hanging out.
If 84 days is too short, you can take a trip around the world on the Andrew Weir or the Rickmers-Linie in 124 days for $13,500. It stops at over a dozen ports, including Tahiti, Fiji, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Malaysia and on and on. There are also many trips lasting two to three weeks. These would provide a taste test.
Ah, well. A freighter cruise is not for me now. “Honey, guess where we’re going? The rainforests of Papua. We’ll be back by Halloween.” I don’t think so. However, I’m intrigued by the whole concept of barge world travel. Someday, maybe.
I booked the Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas tour to the Mexican Riviera for seven days this spring. I was able to barter a discount fare on the phone than was not mentioned on the website, $1,900 with airfare.
We wanted a balcony, but that was an extra $1,200, and the ship is lined in sundecks, so we settled for an ocean view. Why, I could book passage on a Polynesian frigate for the price of a balcony.
So, anyhow, this will be my first Mexican cruise. If anyone reading this has been on this particular cruise and has advise for us of things to do, not do, enjoy, not enjoy, approach, avoid, eat, drink not eat, drink, and has no intention of selling me a time-share in Cabo, send me an email, please. I’m an empty vessel. gibbz@pacbell.net