Economical sea travel from US to Europe

All of the cruise lines have repositioning cruises in the Spring to various European ports. Leave from a variety of ports between New York and Florida.Those trips can be very reasonable because the ship has to go. And same in the Fall when they return from Europe. Just go to any cruise line site and look for repositioning cruises. To use freighters you really should be an experienced boat person. The Atlantic can be rough depending on time of year and freighters do not have the anti roll hardware that cruise ships have and being smaller more inclined to pitch. So you would need some sea legs.

There are many freighters that will take approximately 10 passengers. It is not cheap. It is something I have always wanted to do, so have read a lot online about the freighters. Some of the large new container ships have the anti-roll which would be nice. The majority of the freighers arrive and depart on the west coast from LA area, SF and Seattle. Google online you will get many links. Good luck.

We have gone to Europe 3x, each one by ship. The best lines, in our opinion, are Holland America and Royal Caribbean. It is possible to go in an inside cabin for about $800 per person, tho prices vary. Freighters are not considerably cheaper. The "carbon footprint" would likely be much higher in a ship than a plane, as diesel will be burning 24hrs daily for about 7 days, as opposed to the multi-hour flight.

Freighters would take the longest. They are slower and on their "routes" and may have a few births for rent. If their route works for you, it's a cheap way to go. The cruise option is much more comfortable. Repositioning cruises occur at the start and end of the season. A ship that will cruise Northern Europe in the Summer will probably spend Winter in the Carribean or West Coast. In May, they take a one-way trip to their summer home. In September, they head back. Each is considered a seperate cruise. You can check them out at Vacationstogo.com. Search for repositioning cruises. These cruises rarely sell out so you can book last minute at a pretty good discount. The biggest drawback with traveling by sea is the time lost to travel. Many of us have limited vacation time and can't afford to lose most of it to the voyage.

I think the differential carbon footprint notion is a bit off. Both the plane and the boat are going, whether you're on them or not - - you're not making an iota of difference. It's been a while since I've had to figure weight and balance for a flying machine and I have no idea how much fuel a modern airliner burns, and even less of an idea of how much cargo is non-passenger baggage. But I'd bet that your notional couple of hundred pounds is inconsequential. A boat will burn more fuel than a plane over a given distance, not per ton-mile, but for the trip. As for your contribution, you'd be using up a half day for your portion of the airplane fuel, but a couple of weeks for the boat fuel. While you're gone, you'll be using fewer utilities at home (gas for heat, eletcricity for whatever, more electricity for the water company to pump your water, etc). You'll also be driving around burning up gasoline. Subtract some of all this for the plane trip duration, a lot more for the length of the boat trip. Tree-hugging is good. Seeing stuff is better. Seeing waves for days at a time is horrible.

Seems to me that using a repositioning cruise will only help in one direction unless OP wants to be in Europe for 5 months (hello Schengen). Also for those encouraging joining the ship on the west coast I would add several days to reach and transit the canal, or around the world. Surely that would knock the charcoal footfall?

Of course the OP asking his question is from Eugene. This is too funny and completely stereotypical. Ok, not sure if this is real, but in case it is. Shipping accounts for 5% of carbon emissions worldwide, jets 2%. To avoid a carbon footprint you should hike across the US and into Canada. When you reach Nova Scotia, build a raft from recycled wood and paper products. Set sail and follow St. Brendan's route to Ireland. Then work your way to the North Sea and down into Germany.