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UK to America Without Flying or Cruising!!


babs135
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An idle Saturday morning got me thinking 

 

If the worst case scenario were to happen and cruising either disappeared (gulp) or became very expensive  and you couldn't fly how would you get to America?  From the UK with a mixture of trains and car journeys I could get as far as Russia but then I'm stuck.  I'd be prepared to jump aboard a ferry or even a freighter.  Is this even possible?  Assuming it was I'd then hire a car and would be able to go through Alaska and Canada.  I could even go as far as the tip of South America. 

 

Sounds like a plan for someone a lot younger than me with no worries about time or money! 🤣

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Cunard offers periodic trans-Atlantic service direct from Southampton to New York.   A lot of the passengers on QM2 would never want to  “cruise” - go on a ship from a particular port to just sail around, visiting ports here and there, and then return to the original port.

 

We use QM2 as a “ferry” to get home from periodic visits to England. It surely beats flying.

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There is actually a number of people who do this. Just google round the world overland and you'll find lots of blogs of people who have or are currently doing this. They give tips on how to freighter your car and manage all the border crossings. It is quite fascinating🤗.

Edited by ilikeanswers
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5 hours ago, babs135 said:

An idle Saturday morning got me thinking 

 

If the worst case scenario were to happen and cruising either disappeared (gulp) or became very expensive  and you couldn't fly how would you get to America?  From the UK with a mixture of trains and car journeys I could get as far as Russia but then I'm stuck.  I'd be prepared to jump aboard a ferry or even a freighter.  Is this even possible?  Assuming it was I'd then hire a car and would be able to go through Alaska and Canada.  I could even go as far as the tip of South America. 

 

Sounds like a plan for someone a lot younger than me with no worries about time or money! 🤣

 

At present, Alaska is as far as you can travel, as the Canada/US border is closed and will remain closed until the US effectively deals with COVID.

 

Yes, you can sail on cargo ships, which can carry up to 12 pax and still maintain cargo ship standards. Check out the appropriate Board on CC - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/378-freighter-and-other-non-traditional-cruise-travel/

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Oh to be younger - well, actually a lot younger  🤣 - with no responsibilities and all the time in the world and obviously no coronavirus.  It's quite a trip . I wonder if anyone has actually done it or something similar.  In the meantime I'll stick to crossing the Atlantic on the QM2 as soon as we're allowed to do so .

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4 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

Are there any companies that do private yacht charters from the UK to the US - although I can't imagine why you would want to do what you are proposing.  

 

DON

I don't .

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19 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

Well, if you can get to Russia, then things ice over you could walk across the Bering straight to Alaska.  😄

 

If you are willing to go at the end of winter, it seems possible although not advisable.

 

http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2020/03/

 

It looks like it has been attempted previously by someone from the UK.

 

https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=132033&page=1

 

Edited by SelectSys
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On 8/1/2020 at 12:28 PM, babs135 said:

suming it was I'd then hire a car and would be able to go through Alaska and Canada.  I could even go as far as the tip of South America. 

 

No you wouldn't, since you can't drive all the way in South America.

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2 hours ago, Extra Kim said:

No you wouldn't, since you can't drive all the way in South America.

Thanks for letting me know. As I can't swim I'll have to find another way to cross. Presumably there's a  ferry or similar? What about if I could borrow James Bond's submersible car?

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On 8/1/2020 at 11:57 AM, Heidi13 said:

 

At present, Alaska is as far as you can travel, as the Canada/US border is closed and will remain closed until the US effectively deals with COVID.

 

It is in theory at least possible for an American to transit through Canada from Alaska to the U.S.A. if they are returning to a permanent residence.    

 

https://www.canada.ca/en/border-services-agency/news/2020/07/covid-19-stricter-rules-for-foreign-nationals-transiting-through-canada-to-alaska.html

 

The rules were tightened recently because some American jackasses claimed to be in transit to Alaska and instead went to vacation in Banff, Jasper, etc.  

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8 hours ago, Extra Kim said:

No you wouldn't, since you can't drive all the way in South America.

 

If you are referring to the Darien Gap there are plenty of frieghter companies that will take your vehicle across. Just google blogs Pan American Highway, it is a popular road trip🤗.

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On 8/2/2020 at 11:06 AM, SelectSys said:

 

If you are willing to go at the end of winter, it seems possible although not advisable.

 

http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2020/03/

 

It looks like it has been attempted previously by someone from the UK.

 

https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=132033&page=1

 

 

I've  read that a few have successfully managed to cross, barely.  It sounds like they were very lucky.  

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On 8/2/2020 at 12:14 PM, navybankerteacher said:

Actually, I think you would have to find a more northern route than the Bering Straight - likely straight over the top, from central Siberia to the northern Canadian islands - but you’d want to dress warmly.

 

Along with these posts I was looking at the boundary of the arctic ice and saw that indeed it does touch on those two places.   I guess I had never really thought about it before.   Being  a native Californian, I'm going to admit to being pretty well spoiled when it comes to weather.   I don't own clothes warm enough for Iowa much less the Arctic!  haha

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  • 5 weeks later...

The bigger question is why you would want to go to America if you couldn't fly. While I don't think cruising will "disappear" if worse case scenario occurs and all current lines go bankrupt and no one picks up the torch for a few years, there's no plausible reason you couldn't fly to America short of the borders being closed due to covid. Airlines will not disappear and flights from Europe to America will continue for business reasons even if we are imagining a future where people aren't traveling for pleasure. Which again begs the question of why would you jump through hoops, pay much more money, and take much more time to skirt the inability to fly simply to arrive in a country that leads the world in covid infections....

Edited by sanger727
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There was an earlier thread with the same question.  I asked if Philleas Fogg was still around - that was a reference to "Around the World in 80 Days" by Jules Verne.  Tongue in cheek, I also mentioned Captain Nemo, as in "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea".

 

Seriously, folks have rowed across the Atlantic: it's been done solo and in teams.  Perhaps in the 3 months it takes to do the crossing, visitors from the UK might be able to enter the US since they would have done their quarantine already?

 

But WHY???????

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On 8/1/2020 at 4:28 AM, babs135 said:

An idle Saturday morning got me thinking 

 

If the worst case scenario were to happen and cruising either disappeared (gulp) or became very expensive  and you couldn't fly how would you get to America?  From the UK with a mixture of trains and car journeys I could get as far as Russia but then I'm stuck.  I'd be prepared to jump aboard a ferry or even a freighter.  Is this even possible?  Assuming it was I'd then hire a car and would be able to go through Alaska and Canada.  I could even go as far as the tip of South America. 

 

Sounds like a plan for someone a lot younger than me with no worries about time or money! 🤣

 

Except for the problem of getting from far eastern Russia to some point in the Aleutian islands, it is easy.  Get to Russia by car or train.  Take the trans Siberian railroad or drive to Pacific Russian.  Now you have a problem.  How do you get from Russia to Alaska since once you get to AK, you can take the Alaska Marine Highway ferries the rest of the way to Seattle.  

 

DON

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3 hours ago, sanger727 said:

The bigger question is why you would want to go to America if you couldn't fly. While I don't think cruising will "disappear" if worse case scenario occurs and all current lines go bankrupt and no one picks up the torch for a few years, there's no plausible reason you couldn't fly to America short of the borders being closed due to covid. Airlines will not disappear and flights from Europe to America will continue for business reasons even if we are imagining a future where people aren't traveling for pleasure. Which again begs the question of why would you jump through hoops, pay much more money, and take much more time to skirt the inability to fly simply to arrive in a country that leads the world in covid infections....

 

3 hours ago, evandbob said:

There was an earlier thread with the same question.  I asked if Philleas Fogg was still around - that was a reference to "Around the World in 80 Days" by Jules Verne.  Tongue in cheek, I also mentioned Captain Nemo, as in "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea".

 

Seriously, folks have rowed across the Atlantic: it's been done solo and in teams.  Perhaps in the 3 months it takes to do the crossing, visitors from the UK might be able to enter the US since they would have done their quarantine already?

 

But WHY???????

As I'd said right at the beginning of this thread I was just 'musing' how someone would get to the States without flying or cruising .  It was merely an exercise to pass the time whilst we wait for the cruise industry to hit the restart button.  The fact that we're in the middle of a pandemic is immaterial. This scenario could be at any time.

You can tell I'm bored 🤣😄

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14 hours ago, getting older slowly said:

Slow Friday..... wait for the next ice age..... then dog sled  or ski across the frozen seas....lol...

 

People are a bit serious.... cheers Don 

Ah, not too long to wait then, "The Day After Tomorrow" 😄 

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