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Example: My "flight" is at 2:00 PM.

I am a Filipino, and English is our second language here in the Philippines. We have 7,000+ islands here and travel by boat is very common, yet we don't have an equivalent word for "flight", even in our language. We jokingly just say, "What time is your float?"

I think "voyage" as suggested below is the most fitting. Thank you!

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    suggest boards.cruisecritic.com. Please show work you've done to try to solve this problem yourself.
    – anongoodnurse
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 15:20
  • 1
    related: english.stackexchange.com/questions/127034/…
    – ermanen
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 15:23
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    @Edwin: Nothing wrong with My train is at seven, My bus is at nine, etc.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 17:27
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    @FF ... As I said. I'm not going to accept that the nouns 'flight' and 'train' are equivalent.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 18:36
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    The return flight was much smoother. */??The return bus / train / ferry / was much smoother. ///The flight was not without its dramas. /// Though the company only had three planes, it managed ten flights to Tropicali Island that Tuesday. Here we have a title where OP's example is considered to narrow the goalposts; he doesn't clarify whether this is his intention. But the usages of 'flight' and 'cruise', 'bus', etc only overlap in specific areas.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented May 24, 2014 at 13:35

11 Answers 11

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I don't know about your flight but my cruise starts at 2 pm.

Other than cruise, you may also use "voyage" or "sail" to mean a trip by boat or ship.

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    To me, "cruise" is a bit limited. I would only use it in certain situations like pleasure-trips or patrols where the purpose of the trip is something other than to get from A to B.
    – Rupe
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 15:51
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Sailing, or boat-trip.

You could use "voyage" or "journey" too but I am assuming from your analogy with "flight" that you're looking for something that can only be used in relation to boats.

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    As someone who lives in English-speaking ferry-boat country, "sailing" is the noun with overwhelming currency.
    – SevenSidedDie
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 18:54
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    I definitely think "voyage" has nautical/space connotations. It doesn't seem valid for car, train, or plane journeys, and most people will probably not assume you mean a space-flight rather than a boat-ride. This may be subjective, but "set sail on a voyage" or even "take off on a voyage" implies a boat to me. The relationship with space is probably to do with the sense of exploration both involve.
    – Magus
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 19:04
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    I definitely favor voyage for this, it's the right word for a trip by boat. Sail could be used for a trip by sailboat only, and I would never use sailing for the trip, it's the action, analogous to piloting or driving.
    – Ben Voigt
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 19:21
  • @Magus Space is traditionally traversed with ships, so there's a lot of terminology overlap there. An airship could have a voyage, I suppose, but planes aren't usually called airships.
    – Brilliand
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 22:20
  • @Brilliand: Yeah, that too. That was what I was trying to say. But I expect that part of the reason we call them space ships is some romantic connection in the minds of people imagining them to exploring the seas, rather than just transportation.
    – Magus
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 22:52
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It's not exactly the same, but you could say something like:

I set sail at 2:00 PM.

We will set sail at 2:00 PM.

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    The question indicates that the asker is requesting an equivalent to the noun "flight", not the verb (see the given example: "My 'flight' is at 2:00 pm").
    – Ted Broda
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 18:05
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    The sailing is at 2:00 PM? Unfortunately, most nautical terms are verb phrases, not nouns (set sail, cast off, weigh anchor). Depending on the trip purpose, duration, size of vessel, etc., a number of different terms could be used. A week on an 80,000 tonne luxury ship going from NYC to Antigua would be a cruise, while 20 minutes on a ferry would be a trip, and an hour in a runabout taking in the sights might be a ride.
    – Phil Perry
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 22:18
  • set sail is equivalent to take off. PHIL, EXCELLENT -- for shorter than cruise, "trip" or "ride".
    – Fattie
    Commented May 24, 2014 at 9:19
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To answer the question in your title, the word corresponding to flight is passage. In the text of your question, it seems that you are concerned with the time of departure. In this case, leaves or departs apply equally well to all forms of public transport---by land, sea, or air.

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  • passage is something else. ask any travel agent, the equivalent of "flight" is "cruise" (on a cruise-ship; for container ships, I simply don't know)
    – Fattie
    Commented May 24, 2014 at 9:18
  • @Joe Blow: I'm assuming that the aim is to get from A to B, as with a flight. Admittedly, very few people nowadays choose sea travel for this purpose. A cruise is a circular trip which is an end in itself, not a means. It has no equivalent in air travel.
    – John Bentin
    Commented May 24, 2014 at 22:10
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I've heard "My launch is at 2:00pm."

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  • that is the equivalent of take-off. How hard is this guys, geesh
    – Fattie
    Commented May 24, 2014 at 9:18
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If it's a relatively short scheduled ferry service, you can use crossing.

"Are you on the 1pm or the 3pm crossing today?"

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Actually, it is navigation in general sense. (for answering the question title)

Travel or traffic by vessels, especially commercial shipping.

But in colloquial speech, you cannot say "My navigation is at 2:00pm."

In your example, you mean the "scheduled time" sense of the word. In my opinion, there is not a specific word that covers all scheduled times of all water travels that can substitute "flight" in your example.

One of the answers mentioned sailing, which has a dictionary definition in this sense but it does not sound right when you say "My sailing is at 2:00 pm".

You would use general words or rephrase what you want to say. For example, you can use departure.

My departure is at 2:00 pm

Just to be more specific, you might say "departure from the seaport". Though not all water travels start from a seaport.

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  • The main problem with this answer is not it's wonderful amount of detail, but the eventual conclusion that a manner of conveyance is equivalent to a launch. Many others make the mistake of supplying a means of conveyance. This could be improved, but is better than many.
    – Magus
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 19:50
  • My conclusion is there is not an exact equivalent. But I can consider your suggestions about how to improve it.
    – ermanen
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 19:51
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You could say

My ship weighs anchor at 2:00 pm.

And unlike the phrase set sail, the phrase weigh anchor can apply to ships that don't have sails.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weigh_anchor

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  • weighs anchor is equivalent to take off, not flight.
    – Fattie
    Commented May 24, 2014 at 9:12
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It's astounding this is so complicated. And it's astounding so many people don't realise he's looking for a word that fits in the same sentence, or confirmation there is no such word.

airplane/flight/takeoff

boat/cruise/departure

HOWEVER cruises take weeks/month whereas flights take minutes/hours.

the closest equivalent (in a sense) to "my flight is at 3PM: is "my cruise is on wednesday". it's usually a little weird to say "my cruise is at 3PM", exactly as it would be a little weird to say "my flight is at 3:13:37.45 seconds"

For more clarity on the three "things" above

airplane 'Spirit' / flight AF011 / takeoff 14:45

boat 'QE2' / cruise 'SunnyMed17B' / departure 10:00

the simple answer to your literal question is, of course, "my cruise is at 2PM". But bear in mind the "timescale metric weirdness" mentioned here.

note that you can say "my flight leaves at.." just as you can say "my cruise leaves at.."

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Well,

While it isn't just one word, the common expression I have heard amongst my sailor friends for departure is "set sail".

"We set sail at 2:00pm."

For the overall trip, voyage seems to be the preferred, at least amongst my crew.

HTH.

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  • set sail is equivalent to take off, not flight
    – Fattie
    Commented May 24, 2014 at 9:13
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  1. embark (v.) Look up embark at Dictionary.com 1540s, from Middle French embarquer, from em- (see en- (1)) + barque "small ship" (see bark (n.)). Related: Embarked; embarking.

  2. journey |ˈjərnē| noun (pl. journeys) an act of traveling from one place to another: she went on a long journey.

  3. If you go on a cruise ship however. Your cruise will start.

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  • This does not answer the OP's question.
    – anongoodnurse
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 15:40
  • @medica Actually, embark, while a verb form is sort of on point.
    – bib
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 16:17
  • @bib - "My "flight" is at 2:00 PM." /= "I'm embarking on a journey."
    – anongoodnurse
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 16:26
  • @medica Yes, but "my embarkation [or embarcation]" is.
    – bib
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 16:28
  • @bib - honestly. I (AmE) would never say "my embarcation." I would simply say *my ship departs at 2:00 PM. I need to be abourd by 12."
    – anongoodnurse
    Commented May 23, 2014 at 16:32

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