Cost of Living on a Carnival Cruise Ship

[pollux]

Just got off the Miracle 13 day journey.

Was trying to book 13 weeks on the Magic.

From6/04 till 8/20. But The lady told me to call Miami she could not book that long.

Carnival has special prices for long time Passengers.

Will not have to pay for laundry get a bag a week.

Will call them soon.

[silvercrikhix]

Hey OP, this IS a great concept.

It's certainly fun to entertain the idea, at least :D

DH & I figured it out while still on our 1st cruise (yeah we were smitten).

He's a CPA and we didn't forget a thing.

We found that we would definitely save money living on cruise ships.

Ditching your home (s), vehicles, insurances, real estate taxes, furnishings, utility bills, etc..... Adds up to a lot of $$$$.

 

Those 3 weeks posters are asking about, who cares.....people probably would take at least that much time off ship to visit friends and relatives on land.

People have done it and probably at all price points.

Insides on Carnival to SilverSea Suites, depending on your budget.

It definitely piqued our interest to add a lot of cruising upon retirement.

Not full time, but with other plans it would work very well.

[ryano]

There have been people who did this in the past. I believe there is one called Mama Lou who may be currently on HAL. There was a woman, Bea Muller, who lived on QE2 and QV for years, but her health failed and she had to go back to land (since died). And there was Louise Artz who lived on the original Royal Princess, and was godmother to the second Royal P. She is also deceased. There is a couple from Canada who spend their winters sailing Celebrity ships from Florida. I believe he is the 'most sailed' person on Celebrity. These people don't sail in suites, or even balconies. EM

 

Mario Salcedo aka Super Mario has over 700 cruises completed since 2000 :eek: on Royal Caribbean. It costs him about 60,000 a year and he only gets inside cabins. He spends about 50 weeks a year on a cruise ship.

[campdaan]

Not for nothing...

 

But a year of Cruise food would be too much for me.

 

They would need to use a forklift to finally disembark me.

[leedm]

When I win the PCH $5,000 every week prize, $$$ will not be a problem

[Budget Queen]

I think some of the values above are low. It isn't easy getting a week cruise for $1000 for 2 people. One, person price, yes certainly, not sure what some references are for.

 

As I mentioned, I don't cruise, just to be on a ship, and never would consider multiple back to backs on the same ship. For me, the priority is where I can go. I always have gotten the cheap insides, and those are the only rates I consider. I frequently late book and add on. It's been rare but, there have been a few upgrades. I never expect them. :) There is something for everyone with cruising, but I will speculate, it's going to be rare for someone, to just up and get rid of their house and car, so, that expense will, many times, remain. In my case, it's 2 houses, with no intent, getting rid of either.

 

Absolutely- interesting reading and discussions. Great having open ideas.

[mmckm]

Question - you mentioned having to get off the ship every 3-4 days to go thru customs. I may be wrong about this, but passengers booked on b2b cruises don't have to get off the ship, do they?

 

I'm following your blog because recently my sister and I were talking about retiring on a cruise ship.

 

Roz

 

Every b2b we have taken we had to get off the ship and file past immigration. People have told us sometimes they will do it on board. It may depend on how many b2b passengers there are. Or what the immigration officers want to do.

[Roz]

MMckm, thanks for the info. I think I've seen passengers that were staying onboard go to one of the lounges for "inspection".

 

Logically you want/need to get off the ship periodically to go shopping for toiletries, refill prescriptions, get mail, etc.

 

Roz

[mmckm]

MMckm, thanks for the info. I think I've seen passengers that were staying onboard go to one of the lounges for "inspection".

 

Logically you want/need to get off the ship periodically to go shopping for toiletries, refill prescriptions, get mail, etc.

 

Roz

 

We haven't been that lucky yet to not have to get off the ship.

[steph7021]

Is that per person? It's going to be tough if not.

 

 

 

For me, it matters where I went, and that was my priority. With a lower budget, you are going to be making too many compromises in my opinion. Just not suitable for me. :) I had about 7 weeks of land touring, as well, with my travel. I would not have considered all that time in the Caribbean. :) Everyone is different, it's important to find your own way. A lot of options to consider.

 

 

$50 pp. different kind of travel than cruise vacation. I always say travel and vacation are very different. We have started with this resource: http://www.nomadicmatt.com/

 

Still, I think we will be able to snag a few cruises. Probably on MSC.

[lyannea]

Though not on Carnival , there's a couple who cruise during the winter months and have great info in the FAQ section of their blog, which is called yellow fish cruises.

[RedBeard78]

Buy 100 shares of carnival stock and get the OBCs for each cruise

[momof3cruisers]

Buy 100 shares of carnival stock and get the OBCs for each cruise

 

Hmmm...is there an annual limit?

[jh2360]

Recently I read the thread about Egon Landsberg's year long cruise on the MSC Poesia, and it got me to thinking about folks actually living aboard cruise ships. I'm going to be comparing the cost of living/sailing on several lines. I'm first looking at Carnival!

 

I didn't want to post the whole blog entry here because it would make for a rather lengthy post.

 

http://www.plane2port.com/cost-of-living-on-a-carnival-cruise-ship/

 

Let me know what you think!

 

I'd be careful using the word scientific when describing your blog. You looked at prices of cruises for a single month, opting to go for the lowest price. There wasn't much in the ways of scientific research to it.

 

You left out many key elements, with one of the biggest ones being time. Everything changes. Prices, port charges, inflation, it all changes. To do a real study you would want to figure out the average rate of inflation for all the associated costs involved.

 

On top of this, you would need to figure out an average length of time a person would be living on the ship. How old were they when they started? What is their expected remaining lifespan? And so on.

 

There is more, but I think my point is made. It was an interesting read, but not scientific in anyway.

[IsanTom]

Recently I read the thread about Egon Landsberg's year long cruise on the MSC Poesia, and it got me to thinking about folks actually living aboard cruise ships. I'm going to be comparing the cost of living/sailing on several lines. I'm first looking at Carnival!

 

I didn't want to post the whole blog entry here because it would make for a rather lengthy post.

 

http://www.plane2port.com/cost-of-living-on-a-carnival-cruise-ship/

 

Let me know what you think!

 

An Oceanview cabin for 6 months would run you about $57.58 P/P P/D!

Of course no OBC, so you would need to figure in the extras. The Main Dining Rooms would be free! And don't forget the gratuities, although you might be able to request service one day per week! Bon Voyage!

[tea4ular]

I haven't read the blog yet (on my way now) however here's a suggestion for the gratuities - purchase a minimum of 100 shares of Carnival stock and receive OBC for each and every sailing - a 7 day gets you $100 OBC - That would certainly cover gratuities & a couple of non-alcoholic beverages.

 

I'm not a liquor drinker so that's a cost I would be able to do without.

[mcgratru]

Interesting topic!

 

Would be interested to hear from any who have spent long time on one ship?

 

 

......and beware negative poster alert....he never says anything positive or helpful.....misunderstands that a critique need not always be negative.

Edited February 16, 2016 by mcgratru

[lyannea]

Interesting topic!

 

Would be interested to hear from any who have spent long time on one ship?

 

 

......and beware negative poster alert....he never says anything positive or helpful.....misunderstands that a critique need not always be negative.

 

Two blogs I follow - members of CC as well -

 

Vickie and Bernie Travels- very organized in their writing with pictures

Yellow Fish Cruises - she blogs daily while cruising and it's an interesting read on the daily life on a ship- she's cruising now and does so for the winter months

[plane2port]

Hi, its the OP! Sorry I haven't been back to this thread in awhile. I've been wanting to reply to so many of your comments, but I've been very busy.

 

I babysit my two grandkids (4-years-old and 1-year-old) while my daughter goes to school, and the 1-year-old has been sick and I just haven't had the time to sit down at the computer.

 

One thing that several posters have mentioned in the Carnival stock holder credit. I myself own the stock for the shareholder credit, even though I think the stock itself is good in it's own right. I did a blog post on it if you are interested:

 

http://www.plane2port.com/should-i-buy-carnival-stock-ccl-for-the-shareholder-credit-yes/

[plane2port]

Two blogs I follow - members of CC as well -

 

Vickie and Bernie Travels- very organized in their writing with pictures

Yellow Fish Cruises - she blogs daily while cruising and it's an interesting read on the daily life on a ship- she's cruising now and does so for the winter months

 

Thanks! I've enjoyed reading these blogs that you've mentioned. Here's the links in case anyone else is interested:

 

http://vickieandbernietravel.blogspot.com/

 

 

http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com

Edited February 19, 2016 by plane2port

[firefighter bill]

The national median monthly rate for assisted living is is $3,600. If you can still pretty much take care of yourself and are still mobile you could live on a cruise ship for not much more than that. Better food, better weather, better entertainment and new people every week to talk to. I would take the cruise ship.

[Tripper10]

I haven't read the blog yet (on my way now) however here's a suggestion for the gratuities - purchase a minimum of 100 shares of Carnival stock and receive OBC for each and every sailing - a 7 day gets you $100 OBC - That would certainly cover gratuities & a couple of non-alcoholic beverages.

 

I'm not a liquor drinker so that's a cost I would be able to do without.

 

The 100 shares for OBC is a great help

[KirkNC]

I did the calculation on time on HAL's Rotterdam inside cabin and it was about $85,000. Now I would hope you could negotiate a discount on that for an entire year.

[mcgratru]

Thanks lyannea! I will check those out.

[plane2port]

I did the calculation on time on HAL's Rotterdam inside cabin and it was about $85,000. Now I would hope you could negotiate a discount on that for an entire year.

 

Is that for two? That works out to $232/day. I'm working on calculating the costs for Royal Caribbean and the numbers are similar.