Q. A reader called about a trip she is hoping to take to Scotland. She was wondering if it would be cheaper to travel as a passenger on a cargo freighter than fly.

A. The short answer is no. Booking a passage on a cargo freighter averages just over $100 per night. Because the freighters are working ships, a trip to Europe from North America can take between 7 and 13 days each way. But freighter travel is usually cheaper than traditional cruises and often offers a more adventurous way to experience the sea. Travelers report that because there are so few passengers (many cargo ships have room for no more than 12 guests), they get to know the crew better.

If you like to have a lot of unstructured time to read, write and look at the stars, a freighter cruise could be for you. Again, because they are working ships, you also have to be open to the possibility that your end destination could change depending on weather or business conditions.

A few resources to get you started include freighter-travel.com and Freighter World Cruises.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 8th, 2009 at 2:31 pm and is filed under Europe travel, adventure, cruise ships, freighter cruises. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.