How to get from USA to Ireland by sea?

Question

I've been terrified of riding in airplanes for the past few years, and my husband and I are planning on going to Ireland this year, and I can't stop from being sick to my stomach just thinking about being on a plane and crashing. I've done some searches online about traveling to Ireland by boat/ship, but haven't found anything solid. Obviously I would not hitch a ride on a cargo boat, but there has to be a way for someone to get to Ireland from the US without having to get on a plane--right? I welcome any suggestions for companies to contact, and if anyone knows how long it's supposed to take, please include that. Thank you so much!

Answer 1

The Cunard line makes this trip on rare occasion.  They operate 3 ships, the QE2, the Queen Victoria and the Queen Mary 2.  The Queen Mary 2 tend to do two or three cycles, east then west before taking a break and running another route and retunign to the Atlantic crossing.  

http://www.cunard.com/CruiseCalendar.asp

The problem is the crossing is 6 days each way and costs $1,200 per way per person.  12 travel days and spending $5,000 to get there, lets face it that is more time than most people can take for vacation and way more money for the travel segment than most can spend.  

The QM2 goes New York to Southhampton and back and from Southhampton you're looking at another day and a half each way roughly so your travel time would be 15 days plus how long it takes you to get to NYC.

You actually can walk the docks and ask a cargo ship captain if they'll let you on.  I've heard of it being done for a much smaller amount of money, however it is a working ship so there is zero entertainment.  You get a room and meals with the crew that is it.  Cargo ships also tend to sail at much slower speeds so you'll add more time to the journey.  

I'm not going to say just ignore your fear or quote some statistics, but practically speaking flying is the only reasonable option for many.  If you have the time and the means to sail, I hope you have a great journey.  If not, it would be a shame to miss a great trip with your spouse and possibly the oppertunity of a lifetime.  

If you're willing to give flying a shot, I'd suggest more than running to the doctor for magic knock out pills.  Try a 3 ponged approach.  See a psychiatrist and explain your fear.  While you're working with them visit an airport (I do not mean LAX, Atlanta or some big commercial airport, I mean the small local one) and sit with a flight instructor for a few hours having explained your fear and let them talk to you.  I've found so much the root of fear of flying is lack of knowledge.  Lastly just as a backup, go to a doctor and get them to give you something to ease your nerves.  

I've made the trip many times myself, and there aren't many sights quite like the view from 35,000 feet as the sun rises over the Atlantic and the west coast of Ireland makes it's way in to the distance.  

However you go about it I'm sure it'll be a great trip.

Answer 2

it would take a loooooonnnnnggggg time! sorry i can't give you anymore information,good luck :)

Answer 3

Try this site, It might help. http://www.cunard.com/

Answer 4

Gosh, that's going to be expensive. I think Cunard is the only shipping line that still operates a Transatlantic passenger service - the Queen Mary 2 runs from New York to Southampton  every 12 days, leaving New York at 5 p.m. and arriving at Southampton at 7 a.m. after six nights at sea. According to www.cunard.com one-way tickets cost between £899 and £11,000+ for UK residents, depending on the accommodation booked, I don't know what they charge if you book from the US.

Once you've got to Southampton, take a train (probably, but not necessarily, involving a change of stations in London) to Holyhead in north-west Wales, from where you can catch a ferry either to Dun Laoghaire (8 miles south of Dublin) (Stena Line - journey time 100 minutes) or to Dublin port (Irish Ferries - 3 hours).

It really would be much better for you to overcome your fear of flying. Bear in mind that the air transport industry is currently going through an amazingly safe period - no passenger of a major world airline has been killed in over six years, since a plane came down shortly after take off in New York in October 2001. Even when you include third-world airlines, fewer than 600 people are killed in air crashes each year, which is a small fraction of those killed on the roads in any major western country. Statistically, a passenger airliner is one of the safest places you can be anywhere in the world.

Answer 5

Listen, get over your fear of flying. You are statistically much safer flying to Ireland than you are taking a boat. Weather conditions on the North Atlantic can be treacherous, and on a boat you would be exposed to them for days if not weeks. If you fly, you would be flying over these and the most you would feel would be a little bit of turbulence for a few minutes, and then the aircraft would leave the area as it travels at something like 300 miles an hour.

Every day hundreds of flights take off from the US and travel safely to Europe, on schedule, no problems. Accidents with aircraft are the exception, not the rule - if this were the case, flying would not be as popular as it is. Security measures in airports have contributed to safe flights.

I think that if you can afford to sail to Ireland on a cruise liner or something, then you don't need to go searching for information on the Internet, the companies that do this will come to you.

Now missus, cop on to yourself. Get tranquilisers, do meditation, talk to a therapist - and get yourself on that plane. And stop being so alarmist. You have nothing to fear but fear.

Answer 6

sea is out of the question it would take way too long

your only option is air

Answer 7

there is only two options to got from the USA to Ireland and that's by sea and air. air is out of the question, that leaves sea

I don't like flying either. Once I got a ferry and bus ride from Ireland to London, that took me 17 hours, while a plane journey was only 55 minutes.  

a doctor can give you something before you go on a plane, it makes you sleep. ask your doctor about it. I was offered it once by my doctor. I should have taken it, but didn't.

other than that a cruise is the only option. and as that is, there's only a few that actually stop here.

http://www.princess.com/

http://www.cunard.com/

they are the two main cruise liners for transatlantic cruises.

you should go to your local travel agents and book a European/transatlantic cruise, one that has Ireland (I've seen the cruises in Dublin docklands), others go to waterford, as a stop off. you can just tell them you want to stay there.

as for time length, sorry but I've no idea, I'd say it'd be long. the shortest plane journey between the two is Ireland to New York direct flight which takes 8 hours. so you can imagine how long a cruise/ship would take on the ocean.