So I'm hopping a freighter to China...

[Rain Man]

Well, actually Vietnam. But I'll make a stop in China.

It just seemed like the thing to do. I'm in Oakland now waiting as they load cargo. I'm the only passenger on a 1,000 foot ship for the next 19 days.

Here's my ship: http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/...:CMA_CGM_RHONE. I got whisked aboard before I could take an exterior photo.

Since I'm the only passenger, I get the owner's cabin on the top deck. Here are a few pictures of my cabin area. I also have the use of a lounge on another floor, and I can share the crew's gym.

So if anybody needs me, I won't be around for the next few weeks as I sail my private 1,000 foot yacht across the Pacific.

[Rain Man]

After Hong Kong, the height of the stack went down by one, so my view expanded to this.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by stumppy

Did you make it up to that tower up front and do the 'Titanic' thing?

I really wanted to, but there were no women on board to do it with.

[Rain Man]

This was the only land we saw for the first ten days. It's Unimak Island in the Aleutians. The pictures aren't that great, but it was freaking gorgeous.

[Rain Man]

Here's a holy car carrier.

[Mr. Plow]

So, I gotta ask. Would you do the trip again? If yes, would there be anything you'd change or something you didn't think to bring that you wish you had?

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Mr. Plow

So, I gotta ask. Would you do the trip again? If yes, would there be anything you'd change or something you didn't think to bring that you wish you had?

I would. But I probably wouldn't do it for more than 10 days or so. I was able to keep myself entertained and it was very comfortable, but there wasn't much variety in anything else. This was a test run to see if I would do an around the world trip at some point, which would take about 90 days. That's a no, but if I had to do a one week leg combined with cruise ships to go around the world, sure.

You have to be really comfortable not conversing very often, so it's not for everyone. I think that may be the biggest obstacle to most.

[Randallflagg]

This is going to sound a tad "crazy" but I'm curious, how does "hopping a freighter" compare, price wise to a typical cruise on one of the cruise lines? I mean, aside from the obvious "creature comforts" - how was the food? Facilities like "cafeteria" (Galley)?

Thanks and hope you had a great trip!

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Randallflagg

This is going to sound a tad "crazy" but I'm curious, how does "hopping a freighter" compare, price wise to a typical cruise on one of the cruise lines? I mean, aside from the obvious "creature comforts" - how was the food? Facilities like "cafeteria" (Galley)?

Thanks and hope you had a great trip!

It was about the same price as a repositioning cruise (i.e., a cruise with few stops). Maybe $120 a day overall, with a few cost surprises on top of that that maybe added another 10 percent.

The food was generally quite good. It depends on the cook and crew, so I got a lot of Romanian food, with the option of eating Sri Lankan food if I preferred. I ate in the officer dining room, and there was only one item on the dinner menu every night (Romanian). If you weren't interested you could ask what the crew's dining area was having (Sri Lankan), and they also served a soup every night that went to both dining areas.

The Sri Lankans don't eat beef or pork, so their menu was always a rice or noodle dish with either chicken or fish. I don't know if this is related, but the Romanian side seldom had chicken or fish and pretty much always had beef or pork. Meals were at a set time and there was no snacking for the most part. If you got hungry before meal time, you could come down and raid the fridge, which had bread and cold cuts in it.

[TimBone]

What's the story on the surprise porting fee, Rain Man?

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by TimBone

What's the story on the surprise porting fee, Rain Man?

It will be reported in due time.

[wheeler08]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Interesting three sentence story coming in a few days. I now have a conversation starter for parties that few can match.

On another note, I'm pretty sure the desk clerk at my hotel is the cutest human on the planet. She's what you would get if you crossbred Disney baby characters and kittens with Winona Ryder.

Uhh pics?????

[Iowanian]

If I had only known about this trip ahead of time I'd have commissioned a study of my own and paid the crew to sing "it's a small world after all" every time they saw you. After 20 days you'd probably look like you're in the The Shining.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

I could see Rainman masterminding a war between the Romanians and Sri Lankins

[JoeyChuckles]

Did you remember to file your taxes before you left?!?!?

[GloucesterChief]

Did you prefer the Romanian or Sri Lankan food?