Hi, we're Pam and Gilbert of 2 Bikes 4 Adventure.
We love to visit far away places by pedaling at our own pace.
This often involves beginning our cycling at a distant airport
but another way we reach our starting point is by ship. We have several times
combined two or three weeks of cycling with the trans-oceanic voyage.
Some cargo ships offer passenger cabins, but options are limited and surprisingly expensive.
A cheaper and more lively option is to
join a conventional cruise voyage, especially during reposition season.
Twice a year, in spring and fall, cruise ships are relocated due to
seasonal customer demands. A ship that spends the winter of the
caribbean will move to europe for the summer.
There are also relocations between alaska and asia, alaska and the caribbean
or asia and the middle east. Some in this process traverse the
Panama or Suez canal. Because repositioning cruises have
different departure and arrival ports, usually take a couple of weeks and have
limited ports of call, they may not appeal to typical cruise
passengers, so these trips are offered at reduced prices.
They can be a great deal if they go where and when you want to go.
We find these shoulder seasons good times to cycle also.
To plan a combined sailing and cycling trip it's important to check the cruise
line policy about bringing bicycles on board.
Not every company permits bikes. In the last seven years we have successfully
traveled with Celebrity, Cunard, Windstar and Norwegian Lines
but we check the current restricted items list every time
and ask for email confirmation. We have learned to bring a printout because
security at the embarkation port may be unaware of specific policies.
If a folding bike is accepted, the passenger must carry it on and off the ship
meaning that it cannot be among the
checked luggage that the ship employees load and unload.
It must be stowed in the passenger's cabin. Our folded Bromptons slide easily
under the bed. It is strictly forbidden to ride the
bike on board, but we do cycle in every port.
Once we know which lines will let us on with our folding bikes, we check which
trips are available and how they fit within our budget and availability.
We check our go-to website: repositioningcruise.com
where we can sort the available trips by date, departure port
destination, operator or price per night. Some questions we ask ourselves are:
do we want to sail one way and fly back, if so do we start or end with the sea voyage.
The answers will probably decide for us
whether we travel in fall or in spring. The price often decreases as the
departure date approaches but we've learned not to cut it too
close because we need to plan any flights or other reservations before the
last minute.
As part of this process, we decide on our cycling route. We describe much of our
system in our "Where to go next" video. In addition, we look into cycling at each
port of call. We design our own shore excursions on
our bikes and it costs almost nothing. We also find out if we can cycle right
to our ship when embarking. For example, we could take a train to our
first port, spend a night there and cycle to the ship in the morning.
We actually carry all our luggage on and off the ship as well as our bikes.
We're always the travelers with the smallest and lightest bags.
If you've watched our cycle touring wardrobe videos, you know that we travel
with a very limited set of clothing. Yhis is usually not enough for a couple
of weeks of social events and spending time with a group of people.
There may also be a dress code for some venues, but we still manage to cover all
our needs in a small carry-on each. For instance, Gilbert may bring a blazer
type of jacket and a button-down shirt as well as a polo shirt and sometimes a tie.
He usually sticks to his favorite Salomon Techamphibian
shoes because, really, no one is looking at his feet.
I will bring a few extra options, such as a skirt and a pair of slacks
that i can mix and match with a couple more tops and layering pieces.
If i bring a dress, I make sure that I can change the look of it with
accessories and I had a pair of flat but more formal shoes.
We want to look good but not attention seeking, so nothing really striking.
The friends we make on cruises find it hard to believe when we admit how
limited our luggage is because we always look appropriate and
keep up with our laundry. Although these items don't take up much
space or add significant weight, we don't want to carry any excess on the
cycling part of our trip, so we have ways to deal with that.
For a trip i often choose items that I'm no longer
wearing frequently and I would be ready to pass on to someone else.
If we take a cruise at the beginning of our trip, I donate or discard unwanted
items depending on the condition when we leave the ship.
Alternatively, if the cruise is at the end of our trip, we can ship a parcel of
clothing ahead of time to our departure location hotel.
We have to address the notion that cruise ships are unhealthy places where
passengers all get sick. We do not advise cruising during a
pandemic and yes we have occasionally been sick on cruises.
We've also caught diseases and infections in hotels, at parties and at
our office jobs. We use best practices to avoid picking
up or spreading anything but there are no guarantees anywhere.
We don't buy into the cliches of overeating, over drinking or overspending
on a cruise. We appreciate the fancy food and
entertainment that are included but the really fun part is getting to
know interesting people and the bonus is having new audiences for our stories.
We pretty much maintain our lifestyle of moderation and physical activity and
fresh air as much as we do at home.
We combine cycle touring and cruising as two different ways of having fun.
Cruising is physically relaxing and more sociable as we make connections with new people,
while cycle touring has more physical
and mental challenges we're independent but rarely speak to another person more
than once. These contrasts balance our trip in a
satisfying way. The overlap between ocean cruisers and
bike tours is small and our fellow passengers are always
intrigued about our cycling lifestyle. If this intersection of different ways
to get away from it all interests you, feel free to comment with your questions