NOTE I am not asking if you can travel by purchasing a boat, or paying a boat owner to take you somewhere, or stowing away.
I am asking if there is still an industry where I could say I want to travel to Germany, or Australia and go to a website or call a company and purchase tickets to travel on a boat. Like how the Titanic was not only carrying cargo but passengers, that kind of thing.
I know it would be much slower than airline travel, I am just wondering if it still exists.
Cruise ships do that.
Someone more expert will be along shortly, but I believe there are now only two main types of oceanic travel by ship. The first is passage on freighters, and I gather that a tidy little market has sprung up catering to folks who thrive on the adventure of that, and aren’t put off by the unpredictable schedule and distinct lack of luxury.
The other is repositioning cruises, when vessels that ply the Caribbean in winter relocate to the Baltic or Mediterranean for summer, and vice versa. You can go one way across the Atlantic, but would have to fly back home (or wait several months).
True but the places you can get to just on cruise ships are quite limited.
Many cargo ships have a small number of passenger berths:
And many island nations have an extensive network of passenger ships:
Eg Indonesia:
http://www.pelni.co.id/?bhs=en
Japan, Ferry routes to China, Korea and Russia:
http://www.seejapan.co.uk/jnto_consumer/plan-your-trip/transportation/international-ferries
Ships today seems to be more of a regional travel means as opposed to an international way of getting around.
The ship travel I’ve done have always been a blast (Shanghai > Hong Kong;Don Sak, Thailand to Ko Samui; Batangas, Phillippines to Boracay;Palembang, Sumatra > Jakarta and Kagoshima, Japan > Okinawa).
If you’ve got the time, it sure beats flying.
Can you take a cruise one-way?
At the least, you would have to pay for the full round-trip, and I’m guessing that if you told them in advance that you wanted to get off in the middle, they may not sell you a ticket.(They want you to spend money at the bar, etc)
Yea I know about these but it isn’t really what I’m thinking of, cruise ships are usually a round trip type thing and stop at multiple ports for short periods and charge a high rate because you’re being entertained on the ship basically.
I was wondering more like buying passage on a cargo ship, or how it seemed to work in the past(like the Titanic example I offered or how passengers would come to the USA via Ellis island).
You can hitch a ride on a freight ship. Freight ship companies rent out surplus cabins on their ships to paying passengers. There are small travel agencies that specialize in this type of travel. It’s considerably cheaper than taking a cruise ship. You’ll find mostly retired people with lots of time on their hand and who are seafaring/naval buffs.
The latter isn’t possible today. The intercontinental ocean liners were totally gone by the mid-70s as they were unable to compete with air travel (with the exception of the QE2, which was successfully marketed as a luxury product, more like a cruise, rather than a transportation service).
Its possible and indeed common for shorter international journeys. There are numerous regular scheduled international sea services carrying passengers between the countries of North-Western Europe and Scandinavia, for example, or between the countries bordering the Mediterranean. Some of these journeys are quite short - Dublin to Holyhead takes less than two hours - while others are longer. There’s an overnight service from Harwich in England to the Hook of Holland in the Netherlands; it takes 9 hours 30 minutes. Dublin to Cherbourg takes 22 hours. And no doubt there are still longer journeys between, say, northern Germany and the Baltic states.
Yes, it’s slower than the plane. On the other hand, you can bring your car and a lot more than 30kg of luggage, which can be handy if you intend to do a bit of touring or camping.
(including links to travel agencies)
Some places, boat is still the only civilian way to get there (for the next year, at least).
While many cruises are designed for return to same port, not stopping at a major airport… many are totally flexible and have several ports they will accept a pickup or drop off at … some guests get off, some get on, ship continues on…
(bolding mine)
I would disagree. I happen to have checked the site of a specialized agent some days ago, and in fact it’s very costly. I understand that it used to be cheaper, but it seems that now the market has been recognized, and they don’t anymore sell unused cabins to make some money with travellers on the cheap but rather advertize for people who really want to travel on a freighter and are willing to pay through the nose for that.
Also, the destinations might not be what the average traveller would enjoy most, obviously. I’m still wondering who would want a “cruise” that consists in stopping in the major industrial ports of Europe, especially at the price proposed. Buffs, I guess. Former sailors, maybe?
However, you can go from France to Tahiti this way, for instance. If you’re in no hurry and are wanting to pay way more than a plane return ticket + hotel stay would cost (€ 6200). Crossing the Atlantic one way is in the € 2000 range. Going from Rotterdam to Turkey around € 1500.
Also, the destinations and stopping places are subject to change.
The Titanic was Southampton to New York. You can do the same trip today.
No third class 
eta
The term you are looking for on cruise ships is repositioning.
Yes it is expensive - and slow. For example:
27 days/nights on a ship with nothing to see but ocean and very little to do but look at it.
Where do I sign up?
Do I have to pay more for no Internet or mobile phone access?
It’s definitely not a way to travel cheap, but still somewhat affordable.
Also, freight ship travel apparently isn’t for the really old. I’m looking at the website of a travel agent and they say that they don’t accept passengers older than 79 years. Folks over 65 have to submit a medical report.
There are some Caribbean ferries, but flying is pretty cheap too and I gather it has grabbed a lot of the market.
Here’s a ferry service that covers Puerto Rico and several of the US and British Virgin Islands. There are also PR <-> Dominican Republic ferries that run sometimes depending on what companies are currently in business.
The Cunard Line currently operates 3 major cruise ships: the Queen Mary 2, the Queen Victoria, and the Queen Elizabeth. The first two seem to regularly do the Southampton - New York route “in season”. All three take cruises to other locales.
Note that as far as getting from point A to point B, cruise ships, especially the above, are not exactly cheap. So the price of freighter passage should be compared to those.