<i>I would like to ask a somewhat related question for a relative of mine who would like to visit SA for the first time but would prefer to travel there by ship. Are there any ships making the voyage from British or European ports to Capetown?</i>

There are a couple of repositioning sailings to/from CT from/to Europe most years, e.g. a Princess itinerary next October. Also there are several round-the-world itineraries that would allow segment bookings, from, e.g., Rio or Singapore. A good cruise TA could help.

Also there's a freighter route from Western Europe to CT; see http://www.freightercruises.com/pdf/daleastlondon.pdf

Finally, there's a trip I'd love to make, but a bit pricey - the RMS St. Helena, one of the last working Royal Mail ships in the world - hits St. Helena and Ascension Islands... way cool. http://www.rms-st-helena.com/

We did South Africa differently and don't do what we did. We left LAX and spent 4 days in Hong Kong then down to Joberg. I don't sleep on planes even when flat. We met people on a tour while in HK who lived in the area we were visiting and they gave us great information. The flight from HK to Joberg was ok. The return had a 24 hour layover with a room reserved. We had only 8 hours due to a weather delay. I was nearly dead once I got back to LAX.
We did HK because it was cheaper at that time than Europe and my husband had never been. I would not do it this way again. 4 days in a European city to adjust to the time sounds like what I will do when we go back.
We used a consolidator and save a lot of money. I don't do budget but I do a lot of comparison and use the money I save for a better hotel, better meals, longer stay, etc. A lot of my fun is in the pre trip research. I have been all over the world and have a lot more to see and have copied the suggestions above for my return to SA.
I can't remember the airlines used since this was in 1999 and I have been back in Asia a few times and don't remember the exact airline for each trip. Except for not being able to sleep, the fligts were fine with good service. I am all for the multi day layovers.

Thanks, Gardyloo. I think he is envisioning a voyage similar to a trans-Atlantic crossing, not a cruise with many stops. He may be a few decade too late for that! I will look into the Princess options for him.

For me, the RMS St. Helena sounds like the ticket!! I have already sent the link onto a friend..

As one of the other repliers did we flew Sea to Atlanta had a short layover and then Atlanta to Joburg. We spent time in Kruger before flying to CapeTown and spent time both there and in the gorgeous Winelands.

There are some write ups in our blog:

http://luggagetag.blogspot.com/searc...South%20Africa