Whats the cheapest way to get across an ocean by a ship, and how?

[happybadger@hexbear.net]

Cargo ships are your cheapest paid option. I've yet to do it, but contact the shipping companies and see what their passenger policies are. There are also shipping agents who coordinate with those companies as intermediates.

There's also the potential of crewing a small boat if you have any skills or show them you want to learn fast. I did a lot of sailing around Panama just by sitting in a marina at either side of the canal and chatting with people who are about to sail somewhere. The work was either poorly paid ($50-100 per day) or free in exchange for a bed and food. For transatlantic/transpacific sailing though, I don't know if you're going to find as many yachters as I did who were just sailing in the Caribbean. That's also a fun option if you want to build those skills since they need a certain number of crew to even transit the canal and they're all going somewhere after.

[over_clox@lemmy.world]

There's plenty of free spare styrofoam and plastic in the great garbage patch in the Pacific, I hear that stuff floats...

[themeatbridge@lemmy.world]

Which ocean? Do you care where you start and/or end your journey? Miami to Barcelona is going to be very different than Long Beach to Shanghai.

[franconian_nomad@feddit.org]

Many freighters rent cabins for passage. No idea how expensive this is, tho.

[readmorebooks@lemmy.zip]

Future fish food.

[tias@discuss.tchncs.de]

But if you're a hottie, you should think about the implication

[kittenbiscuits@lemm.ee]

The global hitchiker's currency is gas, grass, or ass.

[objection@lemmy.ml]

Cruise ships sometimes have repositioning cruises where they go one way across an ocean to start operating in another region, and they can offer significant discounts. I'm sure there's cheaper ways but it's an option.

[milkisklim@lemm.ee]

I don't know why anyone would down vote this. It does answer OP's question. Now whether you would enjoy serving living in a tin can with 200-5k of your closest coworkers is an entirely different question.

[ithorian@hexbear.net]

It's been a while since I've looked into it but you can hitch a ride on a cargo ship. https://www.cargoshipvoyages.com/

Although that site says no one is offering Transatlantic travel anymore.

[i_am_10_squirrels@beehaw.org]

https://cargoholidays.com/

Also bare in mind that this is a cargo ship, not a modern cruise ship with stabilizers. A modern cruise ship has a maximum roll of 0.5 degrees. A cargo ship can roll up to 12 degrees.

[spongebue@lemmy.world]

Or like... Get a job as a cook on a ship. Keep the beer for yourself

[nigelfrobisher@aussie.zone]

Work your passage.

[bob_robertson_ix@discuss.tchncs.de]

What you're saying is that if you can cook well enough then the ship's captain will bribe you with a free ride AND give you money? Amazing.

[sharemysims@lemmy.dbzer0.com]

I personally downvoted it because it's a terrible idea, op wants to leave the US, not sign their life and soul away to it.

[milkisklim@lemm.ee]

Then OP should have said so in their statement.