If I had a boat, I'd go out on the ocean

Alright, brainstormers. Here's one for you.

Since the beginning of all this planning to go to Belgium, it has always been assumed that we would travel there by plane. Seems like a good plan, right? Well shortly upon our arrival at CIT, one of the other students shared with us the story of another couple who had just left for France

... on a BOAT!

1800s style! Well, not quite. Technically it was a 5 day Transatlantic cruise that took them from New York to London.

Think about how wonderful that would be? Our first thought was, of course, how expensive would that be? But after checking we saw that it was priced at close to the exact same price as the flights.

Advantages to this mode of transportation?
- Having time to process all the goodbyes and grief from leaving family, and then transition into excitement for our time in Belgium
- Having time to adjust to the new time zone without the crazy jetlag phase upon arrival
- Not having to pay for excess baggage
- It would be really fun :)

Sounds great. Unfortunately, upon researching such cruises, we have discovered that no cruiseline (that we can find) offers transatlantic cruises in January.

Here is where you come in. Help up brainstorm if there is any other way to make this happen. Are there ways to charter (that would be ridiculously expensive, but it is a starting point) boats? Or are there private cruise lines out there? Any other ideas?

Help us think, if you have time to. We are totally happy with flying, but this idea seems too fun to just pass up without thinking through every option.

Thanks, friends!