Unfortunately, it simply does not appear to be possible using
commercial transportation to get from New York or Boston to Haifa,
Israel (a major port city) using methods of travel other than flying
in seven days or less. According to FindLocalWeather.com
http://www.findlocalweather.com/forecast.php?forecast=pass&pass=distances&dpp=0&pands1x=New+York%2C+NY&pands2x=llha&Find+distance=How+far+is+it%3F,
"The straight line distance between New York and Sde-Haifa Haifa is
approximately 5646 miles or 9087 kilometers." The current record for
a transatlantic crossing by a ship is held by CAT-LINK V, which
crossed with an average speed of 76 kph ("Blue Riband" Wikipedia
(January 10, 2006) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Riband and
"Record Broken Again!!!" American VULKAN Corp. (July 20, 1998)
http://www.vulkanusa.com/blueriband.htm). Therefore, you would be
looking at a crossing time of five days if you could charter the
fastest available ship and it could go in a straight line from New
York to Haifa (which of course it cannot because of intervening land
masses). Therefore, your trip will take more than seven days, but I
have identified how you could do it in about 12 to 14 days without
flying, depending upon the means used for the transatlantic crossing.
The shortest time for a transatlantic crossing by a conventional
cruise ship I could locate is 6 days on the Cunard Line's Queen Mary
2. Unfortunately, there are no eastbound sailings until April 15,
2006 ("Voyage Details" Cunard Line
(2004)http://www.cunard.com/CruiseCalendar.asp?LeftNav=Planner&plan_active=CruiseFinder)
. As the Cruise Lines International Association notes, "As short as
six days or as long as two weeks or more, these crossings between
Europe and America feature the endless pleasures of leisurely days at
sea the ship lovers and experienced cruisers treasure, rather than the
usual series of port calls.
Transatlantic cruises once were the heart of daily commerce across the
Atlantic, but today they are seasonal treats. One cruise line operates
a schedule of crossings through the summer months, but most other
transatlantic sailings occur with the migrations of cruise fleets from
the Caribbean to Europe and the Mediterranean in the spring and the
return voyages in the fall." "Worldwide Destinations: Transatlantic"
Cruise Lines International Association (2006)
http://www.cruising.org/planyourcruise/wwdest/destination.cfm?ID=15.
This suggests that your desired departure in February will be
problematic using conventional cruise ships (I suggest you employ the
services of a qualified travel agent to ensure I have not overlooked
any possibilities. The most comprehensive listing I found was
"Trans-Atlantic Passenger Services 2006" The Cruise People Ltd.
(January 9, 2006) http://members.aol.com/CruiseAZ/transat.htm).
In light of this potential difficulty, your best alternative may be
freighter travel. "Internet Guide to Freighter Travel" (July 6, 2005)
http://www.geocities.com/freighterman.geo/mainmenu.html offers
considerable insight into travel by freighter. Using a link from that
site, I located "CMA CGM The French Line"
http://members.aol.com/CruiseAZ/cma.htm. On its Amerigo Express Line,
passengers can transit from New York to Lisbon in 8 days. Their
American booking agent can be found at "CMA CGM The French Line" Maris
USA Ltd. http://www.freighter-cruises.com/french-line.html. You would
want to inquire about a "part voyage" most likely to save time,
although you could take the ship all the way to Italy.
Upon arriving in Portugal, you would then want to take a train to
Venice or Athens because trains are generally faster than ships.
According to "How to travel by train from London to Greece..." The Man
in Seat Sixty-One http://www.seat61.com/Greece.htm, the trip will take
you between two and three days depending upon your route, which
includes a ferry from southern Italy to Greece for the fastest time.
You can then take a ferry from Venice or Athens to Haifa, Israel.
According to "Getting There" Frommer's (2006)
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/israel/0227030057.html, the trip
from Athens typically takes four days.
The total travel time is then 12 to 14 days, comprising six to eight
days for the transatlantic crossing, two days to get to Athens, and
four days to get from Athens to Haifa. While you could conceivably
find a freighter that would take you all the way to Israel, it is
likely to be much slower since it would normally have many intervening
ports of call and typically would transit slower than a train. Your
desire to travel in February makes a conventional cruise ship
transatlantic crossing problematic. I encourage you to utilize a
travel agent to coordinate your travel because your itinerary will be
complicated and you will want to be sure all of the components of the
trip have schedules that are compatible with your needs and each
other.
I hope you enjoy your trip.
Sincerely,
Wonko
Search terms: transatlantic cruise ship; transatlantic cruise;
transatlantic crossing record; distance "New York" Haifa; travel
Israel "by boat"; Portugal Greece train; freighter travel |
