"you Must Book Well In Advance!"

[Matz]

On the Hamish side it says "You MUST book well in advance!". Well, yes and no. If you know that you want to go a certain distance or by a certain line you should book as soon as you can, I had f.x. to book my Australia - Europe journey 18 months in advance. But that advice shouldn't be read the other way: "If I can't book well in advance, I might as well give up trying to get a freighter ticket". By no means! On the very same ship from Australia to Europe, where I had boooked my Brisbane - Zeebrugge cabin 18 months in advance there was an Englishman travelling just from Brisbane to Auckland on a rather short notice, and another one going from Auckland to Tilbury on a short notice. So there is no need to give up without trying!

Matz

[Steve]

Quite a lot of people have absolutely no idea of the concept of freighter travel - and they think it is like buying an airline ticket for any day they choose.

They think they can contact an agent and leave in a weeks time - they can't - not unless it's a tramp voyage.

That's really what is meant by book well in advance - it doesn't have to be 6 months in advance - just at least 30 days or so, rather than next week.