Travel by boat?

Question

...or ship.

Say you plan to go to Thailand from Boston. The first thing someone would do is book an airline ticket and fly out there give or take a few stops and bumps along the way).

But are there still ships that are used for travel to get from point A to point B that is NOT a cruise ship? It's not something that just pops into your head when thinking of travel.

Answer 1

It's still possible to travel on non-cruise ships, you can either book via a shipping agent or if you're near the docks make a private arrangement with the ship's captain.

Either way, you may be travelling as what is known as "supercargo", and notionally you'll be a temporary crew member for official purposes with responsibility for some minor bit of (often non-existent) cargo. On most ships you'll be mixing and dining with the crew, and on a few you may even have to share sleeping quarters but this is rare on larger vessels as they often have spare accommodation.

Many large ships even rely on passengers as a regular part of their earnings, Such ships are referred to as Passenger Cargo Ships and  have segregated accommodation for travellers and dedicated stewards to take care of you. On these vessels, passage costs you a lot more but you're not officially part of the crew either and it's still cheaper (normally!) than a regular cruise ship.