I Dont FLY so QE2 Southampton to New York then ride to Costa Rica back to NewYork Jul
 

:welcome: Because i dont fly we are planning a trip round the USA end of July 2009 for about 10 weeks, we will arrive in NewYork on the QE2 and fly the bike out of london a week before then do the trip 'the long way round' so New York then north to Canada then over to the west cost of the US then down to, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, spend two weeks their then back up to El Salvador, Belize, Mexico, USA round to florida and the keys and back up to New York.

My Wife and I are having a work sabbatical for a 6 months or so and plan to camp the above ride 3-4 days a week and use cheap hotels on the other nights. We are looking to see if their is anyone out their who is planning this sort of trip next year? OR if anyone reads this and thinks its the kinda trip they would like to do with us? It would be nice to find 2 or 3 or MORE couples who would like to do this and we can certainly pool resources and have some safety in numbers. Shipping from the UK could also be cheaper with more bikes. Sam and i have put £10k by for the trip but will work out more depending on how much you camp and how much you use B&B!

:scooter:Its looking like the trip should be fantastic but with the pound dropping by 25c from its $2 doller per pound its made it more expensive. We hope the pound will improve. The QE2 will need to be booked soon, as the cheap cabins will start to go!!! we are looking at about £1,700 per person return based on two sharing. Its a 6 day crossing all food etc included. If anyones done this round trip before please let me have your comments? If anyone wants to do this but needs help then all they have to do is ask and i can provide all the information you could possibly need.:thumbup1:

About 14,500 plus miles is on the cards depending on routes and conditions.

Regards

Mick :clap:

Forgot to ask can anyone in the USA can recommend some nice camp sites maybe with GPS co-ords? Thanks Mick

That seems like a lot of riding in 10 weeks but also sounds like a great trip. If you want to come to Mex City send me a PM. We love getting travellers and my wife can make a good cuppa

Does the boat not have a garage? You used to be able to take a vehicle with you on the boat. They probably think there is a security risk though but worth asking.

Hi Garry, thanks for the invite, we may just take you up on your very kind offer. :mchappy:

Hi Doctor, good point about the boat, ill ask the question but you could be right about a security threat!

Thanks Guys!!! :thumbup1:

Don't take this the wrong way but the opening thread talks about £ 1700 each tickets on the QE2 and then asks about cheap campsites .... I found that somehow amusing :confused1:

Hi There, not that funny when you dont fly:eek3:! Unless you know a cheaper way to get across the pond? Given time scales etc its the only alternative, but if you know another way without flying please let me know?

I love camping and it keeps the cost down which most poeple want to do.

:rolleyes2:

I'm in the same boat ! Some container ships take passengers (between 4 and 12 people ) and charge about £70 per day, not sure what it would cost to have your bike on there as well.

Hi Giggles,

Yes its hard to get places when you dont fly, if they could knock you out, like B.A from the A Team then that would be fine :( I did look into a container for my bike and grabing a cabin but the boat takes over 20 days to get over rather than the 6 days the passenger boat takes! by the time you have paid £1500+ for the slow ship its not far off jumping on the QE2 and getting their in 6 days!

:mchappy:

Things we do to ride our bikes!!!!

Mick

Removed my post, wrong info

ok will do just need to work out how :)

:( USA / Canada Campsites anyone out there who could reccomend one? :thumbup1:

well not knowing you route Its going be a bit hard must be 10,000 or so campgrounds along the routs you may be taking. not knowing what you want to see hampers what to look for as well.

The miles your looking to go seems a bit low for all places your looking to go. I went to a HU meeting in Colorado and back home to Washington state and did over 5k in 2 weeks did half the sighting seeing I wantend to and I seen most the places already.

But as for places to stay there are many. I dont know how much per day your looking to spend and at what level of accommodation will be ok. You can be staying in a place better suted to the thred wolrd and the next night where your roilty realy did spend a night. From free wild camping to several thousand $ a night. As im a cheap basterd so take the advice from that point of view. I dont care KOA or most privit campgrounds there eather expensive or so depresing I rather spend more and go to a hotel.

First some web sights.
Adventure Rider Motorcycle Forum HUs big mean USA sibling look for trip plang and tent space list. More about the USA but a it may help.
Now there are state and provintal parks and campgrounds but national parks are almost alwas better.
Welcome to Parks Canada Agency Canada national parks a quick look around at the parks will find you a place that strikes your fancy, I liked Bamff.
National Park Service - Experience Your America USA national parks, Utah stunning but not not for all. Yellowstone is well loved...loved to death.

Now for the ride it self Canada tends to be a more than the USA as for the $. But tends to pride it self more in its nature and people. Riding the middle bit of Canada or the USA is difrent long and boring not much to see. but will be a nice change from the traffic of the Atlantic coast. I have ridden the plains and did not like it never done the Atlantic coast.
Once you hit the rocky mountains it will cool down and the roads will become much more fun the Canadan rockes are a thing of beauty (so are the USA ones, mountins dont see imaginary lines).
Next is the Pacific, (I live here so I ride the area a lot) If you have the time ride the Washington state Olimpic National park if not I5 to Oregon then 101 (and 1) down to mexico.

Oh and why Florida? seems a bit out of the way

Books to get, a good Atlas I like the National Geographic ones such as "The American Road Atles & Travel Planner" parks and many campgrounds are listed on it.

Hi there, thanks for the feedback and the websites they will come in very handy. Whatd you think about just camping out in the wilds? Safe or a bit nasty?

Is there a chain of cheap hotels in the US? Also have you been to Mexico? If so how safe is it, espacially if you camp out?

Mick

A cheap hotel chain I stay at in the USA to wash cloths and shower in is
Motel 6 not alwas the best value but seem to placed out of city centers.

Wild camping free and grate fun. Not legal every place like privet land but most people dont seem to care as long as you dont cross a fence to do it. Ask the land owner if you can find them if you cant and need to rest pull over and rest. Remembe its not a campground and fire is a big no no leve no trace when you leve treat there land better than they do. There is legal free camping in Natanol Forest and BLM land in the USA but nether of them will tell you that. In small towns asking around will get some place to stay a night or find a gas station and camp behind it but not on driveway fule trucks often use them. In larger citys no one knows anyone and finding a out of way spot is all you need to do, Its not as nice but will be ok for a night.

Mexico is safer than it was when I camped on the beach there. Away from citys is vary safe thefs and bandits need people to steal from. On the other hand why wild camp there ask around and someone will let you stay and more than not feed you (leve them some money even if they wont take any). Hotels in Mexico are not as nice as you have seen but cheaper too $5 to $15 a night. A lot of people dont camp south of the USA because of cheap hotels I like camping so I do it. It has been a long time sence I have down there things may have changed. A guide book like Moon, LP or Foot prints may be good idea to a over all feel for the area. A word to wise about guide books, once a place is "found" it will go down hill fast almost alwas.

Hi Again, :thumbup1: Thanks again for the info, its been very helpfull. I may alter my route a little just to keep the riding down a little as its been suggested i an trying to cover a few too many miles?

Insurance is another area that i need to look at as mexico has to be covered sepratly to the US and Canada. Thanks again for all the help.

Mick

:Beach:

You could always go in the other direction , Europe, Asia, Russia and a few other places and you wouldn't even need to come close to an airport :blushing: but then I guess it depends how much you want to be in America versus the rest of the world . Seems kind of funny to pick the one continent you'd almost have to fly to when there is so much more on offer . Just think how far you could ride with the cost of your boat tickets ......
:scooter:

Hi There, we have already been that way and going again earlier in the year, but its a fair point you make. The best thing to do is just get used to flying but its also easier said then done.

Thanks for the input!:scooter:

Mick

I wonder how many other bikers DONT FLY?
 

I wonder how many other bikers DONT FLY?

:eek3:

Mick

well yea, since my accident i've become really claustraphopic and have only flown once, a 2 hour flight...had such a bad time I wont be getting on a plane again, can't imagine being stuck for 8 hours or so now.we are also planning on shipping to usa, there are sites out there offering return trips with cunard for 1800 dollars! worth checking it could save you quite a wedge.
Lastly, I dont usually comment on this sort of stuff but wow - DLBiten -
spelling that bad must take some effort, have to read everything twice just to see if i understand it! excellent!:thumbup1:

Hi there,
Wow a fellow plane disliker!!! well i know how you fell, glad i'm not alone. :helpsmilie: thats how i feel just thinking of flying. Thanks for the input ill check out Cunard.

Regards

Mick:mchappy:

HI: My wife and I are heading to Mexico, Central America, and South America in the fall of 2009.
I just thought that I would invite your attention to another person's similar efforts, as yours, from your area. You may want to contact him. It is in this same section entitled "Anchorage to Tierra Del Fuego & Beyond?" I have communicated with them by Private Message.
My wife and I did take a 35 day shake down ride through Mexico in April and May, 2008. We covered about 7500 miles. Prices have gone up some for hotels and food-especially for two people.
Rather than describing our trip, you can check our HU Blog-Travelers Stories-Joe and Lynn Weatherby-RTW section. Please feel free to contact me, if you have any questions. Good Luck.

Hi Joe, Thanks for the comments ill check out your blog! Sounds good that others have been that way recently! Dont like the sound of the price increase :eek3: Thanks again.

Mick

:mchappy:

Crossing with QE2
 

Crossing with QE2 you are all ready late "Old Lady" has retired. :(

QE2 has been sold to Dubai interests and will be serve as floating hotel and museum after converted. She will be set in the front of beach of man-made Palm Jumeirah isle what will be also built on purpose.

Farewell to the British Isles
QE2's Farewell to the British Isles voyage will depart Southampton on September 30, 2008. The 10-night voyage will include maiden calls to Dublin and Belfast and an emotional call to the Clyde (Greenock) where QE2 was built, as well as calls to Cork (Cobh), Liverpool (Cunard's ancestral home), Edinburgh (South Queensferry) and Newcastle.

Final Transatlantic Crossings
On October 10, QE2 will leave Southampton with Cunard's flagship Queen Mary 2 and both vessels will depart on a final tandem crossing to New York. The six-night Final New York Arrival Crossing will arrive in New York on October 16 where QE2 will say farewell to what was her North American home, when she was Queen of the Atlantic for 34 years.

Later that day both liners will leave New York as QE2 begins her Farewell to America Crossing. This will be QE2's 806th and final Atlantic crossing and both ships will arrive in Southampton on October 22.

QE2's Final Voyage
In addition, Cunard has also announced QE2's Final Voyage which will leave Southampton for Dubai on November 11 and will call at Lisbon, Gibraltar, Civitavecchia, Naples, Malta, Alexandria and transit the Suez Canal before arriving on Dubai November 27.

During her time at sea, the 70,000-tonne QE2 has broken records, transported troops and hosted royalty.
She has traveled more than 5.6 million nautical miles, carried more than 2.5 million passengers and crossed the Atlantic 806 times.


There are still some cargo liners whom will take passengers and crossing will take 6 - 8 days and charge is some 50 - 100€/day + immigration, custom, transportation and ISPS fees in US what can be what ever 100 - ????? $ especially in New York.
My recommendation is try to find some liner who goes to Halifax or Quebec. It'll be way more easier and cost efficient.
:mchappy:

Hi Capo, You are of course correct the new ship taken over these sailings in the Queen Mary 2 rather than the floating resturant QE2 :boat:. I can find a cheaper option on the cargo side of things never found a ship that goes stright to Canada but i agree that could be a lot cheaper.

Regards

Mick :eek3:

The boat
 

One of the first problems is that Qe2 is not in service anymore! You will need to use the Qm2 however. The old Qe did indeed have a garage but it was removed in the 1987 refit( I used to work on board) What you could do is crate your bike to travel with you. Cruise ships have no luggage restrictions, but I am not sure if that would stretch to a crate.
I live in San Diego, born in London so can help at this end if needed.

Hi Acash, thanks for the info, thats very interesting. I wonder if i can blag a bike on the ship? Its going to be crowded in the cabin ?c? lol. What did you do the the QE2?

Thanks for the offer of help very kind!

Regards

Mick

How did this work out in the end? I'm in the early planning stages.

Cheers
Pete