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| Sailing every 3-4 weeks offering the following itinerary: Houston, TX (Day 1); New Orleans, LA (3); Port Everglades, FL (6); Savannah, GA (9); Freeport, Bahamas (12); Barcelona, Spain (23); Gioia Tauro (25), Naples (26) and La Spezia, Italy (28); Valencia, Spain (30); Sines, Portugal (33); Freeport, 2nd call (43); Vera Cruz (46) and Altamira, Mexico (47); Houston (49). |
  Two 30 sq. m. double-bed suites, consisting of a bedroom (bed size 2.05 x 1.80 m), separate living room with a TV set and private facilities with shower, located on the 7th deck, front facing - €90 pp double, €105 single occupancy per day. One 18 sq. m. single cabin (bed size 2.05 x 1.25 m) with private facilities and shower, located on the 7th deck, aft facing - €85 per day. |
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Passengers: 5 Deadweight: 85,824 tons Containers: 6,732 Length: 300 m Speed: 24 knots Built: 2001 Owners: NSB, German Officers & Crew: German & Int’l |
| Passenger cabins and shared facilities, such as the dining room, lounges, exercise room and swimming pool are located on various decks. There is an elevator on board the MSC Alessia and Flaminia, nevertheless passengers must be fully mobile and able to negotiate the stairs. Front and aft views may be obstructed by the containers stowed on deck. |  |
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Self service laundry facilities are available. The electrical current is 220/50 AC. A two-prong round adapter and converter are needed for North American appliances. A steward will clean the cabin once a week, or more often if necessary. A small onboard shop provides a limited selection of beverages, cigarettes and toiletries at duty free prices. Onboard expenses may be paid for with cash in €/US$. Tipping is at the passenger’s discretion; $/€ 3-5 per person per day is recommended. Telephone, fax and email connections are available through the Captain’s office. The average port time is one day. Reservations can be made by completing a Registration Form and providing a 25% deposit. The balance of the fare, plus €265 for port and vessel fees, is payable 70 days before departure. The fare may be paid for by check or wire (by exception only, credit cards may be accepted) in either EUR (€) as quoted by the steamship line, or any of the following major major currencies USD/CAD/GBP at the prevailing exchange rate, subject to a final adjustment at the time the ticket is issued, a few weeks before departure. Passports must be valid for at least 6 months beyond the anticipated return date, and a visa for the USA must be obtained, depending on the citizenship and voyage. A Medical Statement of Good Health and International Health and Accident Insurance are required. The age limit is 79. Cancellation fees are as follows: over 60 days, loss of deposit; 30-59 days, 50% of the fare. No refund will be made within 30 days of departure. To protect your investment, Cancellation and Interruption Insurance is highly recommended. Travelex Insurance packages, covering you from the moment you buy the policy are available to all our customers, worldwide, on page "Before You Sail". And if you buy the Travelex policy within three weeks of your initial trip deposit, pre-existing conditions are waived. |
1958 - 2008
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Freighter Travel Club
Editor briefs and Q&A excerpts from 1960s |
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Q. One of our members asks whether he could expect any problems in finding local transportation in various ports? |
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A. In general, the answer is no. In some ports, taxi comes right to the ship. In others, you’d have to take the terminal bus to the outer gate. In most ports taxi can be hired by the hour or day, and this works out fairly well. However, some people prefer to take a taxi to the best hotel in town, and there make arrangements to hire a car with a driver who can speak their language. As a rule, taxi drivers are not qualified tour guides nor they often speak any foreign language. Bus tours can be arranged through local travel agents. But these usually stop briefly at the most interesting spots and much longer at various places where there is merchandise for sale. The driver goes back later and collects his commission. |
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Q. I’m asking for your comments on the apparent demise of passenger-carrying freighters. Why are so many companies giving up this service? |
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A. Mark Twain once said that the reports of his death were greatly exaggerated. The same is true for passenger service on freighters. Yes some shipping companies have given up, but others have entered the field, and even some which had previously suspended operations have reinstated a policy of selling their empty cabins. We have no idea what goes on in corporate board rooms and so have no way of knowing how the decisions are reached, however, I have a feeling that complaining passengers may have some bearing on the matter. No company wants to answer a barrage of letters demanding that a captain be censured for refusing to take his ship 400 miles out of his way and make a stop in Hawaii! This did happen, believe it or not. Obviously, a few passengers are not going to provide a substantial profit for the ship, however I once had a captain tell me that he liked to have passengers because according to his calculations the fare for 12 passengers covered 10% of his daily operating cost. 10% of anything is important, so I hope more shipping companies will look at passenger revenue as a cost-reducing matter rather than a profit producing project. |
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“A sea trip,” writes the author, “is less a holiday than an experience. A sensation of being suspended in time, hanging in it, dangling by the thread of one’s own personality.” The passengers on a freighter he describes as “of a special type, usually middle-aged or older, usually retired or they would not have the time to travel on such long voyages. Not rich, because the rich are accustomed to greater luxury. Not poor, because fares are not cheap, and there are always the additional expenses of side trips.” |
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A penetrating bit deals with the echelon of command at sea, calling attention to “the isolation of the captain’s position, the loneliness of his responsibility. “The gap,” he goes on to say, “between the captain and the first mate is far greater than that between the first mate and the fourth. There can be no democracy on a ship. Nothing can be decided by a committee. There are only the captain, the ship and the sea.” |
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In addition to some twenty-seven sound travel hints which appear at intervals as the author breezes along over many a foreign hill and dale, Ms. Chase expounds one theory with which we couldn’t agree more - that travel is a triple delight, made up of anticipation, performance, and recollection. How true! |
| Travel, while one is in the actual process of moving about from place to place, often has its disillusionments and irritations. But the weeks or months of planning and anticipation are nuggets of pure gold, as are the memories and recollections one brings back along with those color slides and French perfumes. |
Grimaldi Winter 2008/2009 Special Rates
 (2 pdf pages, 300 KB) |
| We are most grateful for the support, including comments such as the following, which we have been receiving from our valued customers and club members as well as from the steamship lines and media over the years: |
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