Retire and live on a cruise ship

[Sparky74]

The gentleman I followed on his retirement cruises compared the cost to the cost of living in a retirement village (not what we call aged care). When he needed aged care, he retired from continuous cruising to Canada.

 

A retirement village is, of course, a different kettle of fish. However I would still refer you to the snopes article, particularly the last two paragraphs.

[MicCanberra]

I just heard back from GUT. He's a bit down at the moment. He's cancelled all his cruises except for a 2-dayer. He said he might post from time to time once he feels a bit better.

Thanks for following up for us, I thought it may have been a flare up of his medical issue that he flagged some time ago may end up stopping him from travel. Such a shame.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Thanks for following up for us, I thought it may have been a flare up of his medical issue that he flagged some time ago may end up stopping him from travel. Such a shame.

 

Yes, I think his health is quite bad at the moment. :( He didn't go into details.

[The_Big_M]

Let me declare my bias from the onset by revealing that I currently work in the aged care industry.

 

Whist it may be feasible to retire on a cruise ship, it's not necessarily all beer and skittles. This article points out some of the pitfalls.

 

Love that that's on snopes.

 

I agree when it's come up before, the main issue against it imo is the medical aspect. Plus the statements made are usually sweeping generalisations implying one is cheaper than another, without being realistic.

[GuavaTechAngels]

your spot on regarding retirement homes rip offs.there was a 4 corners-abc t.v expose 2 weeks ago,they charge $10 to replace a light bulb-$5 for a flat white coffee,and someone comes around to clean the unit every 2 weeks,1 bloke fell over and stayed over for a few days until the fortnightly cleaner came around.

at least on a ship you get room serviced daily.i do like my garden though...and my own washing machine

 

Why on Earth, when you can have someone clean and professionally press everything for you?! Plus, ships don't allow irons in staterooms due to fire hazard.

 

At $175K per year x 8 years = $1.4m so far. They must have lived in a mansion in Florida.

[MicCanberra]

Got to have money and a passion.

[joandian]

I'm sorry to hear about Gut :(

 

As for Nursing Homes in the US. A friend in Houston had her Mother in a 'good quality' home and it was costing over $6000 per month and that was several years ago.

[Aus Traveller]

I'm sorry to hear about Gut :(

 

As for Nursing Homes in the US. A friend in Houston had her Mother in a 'good quality' home and it was costing over $6000 per month and that was several years ago.

Not cheap in Australia but not that bad. If you have a lot of cash/assets it is fairly expensive. My MIL had to pay $450,000 (refundable) bond. Because she was on a full pension her 'board' was limited to 85% of the pension. The rest is paid by the federal government. There were some other small charges, but not too bad. The care she got was superb. This was a 100-bed privately-owned nursing home and nothing like mentioned on the Four Corners programme on Monday night. I watched that on iView (hope I spelt that correctly). It is worth watching. I think it was called "Bleed them till they Die" and deals mainly with the retirement villages owned by Aveo.

[phoenixx]

The snopes link comes up "404 not found"?

 

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[MicCanberra]

I would think if you need a Nursing home, you shouldn't be on a ship without your own personal Carer at least. retirement village is a different story, that may be just for assisted living.

[Aus Traveller]

I would think if you need a Nursing home, you shouldn't be on a ship without your own personal Carer at least. retirement village is a different story, that may be just for assisted living.

I agree with that. This is an argument I use when people on board bring up the old story of "cheaper than a nursing home". When a person needs care or is very ill, the medical staff will insist they have to leave the ship. No choice in the matter for the passenger's safety and for everyone else's safety if there is an emergency.

 

On our last cruise a NZ'er boarded with his carer for the short run to Sydney. They joined us at our dinner table in the MDR. All good. I imagine that this isn't very rare.:)

[mr walker]

Sorry to hear about Gut - hope to hear good news from him shortly. We will surely miss his input around here while he is not himself.

[Sparky74]

The snopes link comes up "404 not found"?

 

Sent from my SM-N910U using Forums mobile app

 

Try www.snopes.com/travel/trap/retire.asp

or go to www.snopes.com and search for "cruise ship".

[mdaviswv]

That is fantastic. I'm quite envious. I'll never be able to afford it, but I can dream I guess.

 

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[MicCanberra]

Dreaming is still free at least.

[Sparky74]

Dreaming is still free at least.

 

I think they're adding an additional charge for dreaming. :eek::rolleyes:;p

[The Other Tom]

Another thread on the subject:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2386823

[Hunter69]

I don't know if it would be to hard. i have 3 rental properties at the moment. Unfortunately a 250K mortgage. After the mortgages has been paid for. I should get a rental income of about $1000 a week in Newcastle after expenses. I could get a cruise for that. With my preferred lines. Unfortunately i can't pay for wifey!!! Would be great between 60 to 80. don't know about when things start to go wrong after 80...

[Sparky74]

I don't know if it would be to hard. i have 3 rental properties at the moment. Unfortunately a 250K mortgage. After the mortgages has been paid for. I should get a rental income of about $1000 a week in Newcastle after expenses. I could get a cruise for that. With my preferred lines. Unfortunately i can't pay for wifey!!! Would be great between 60 to 80. don't know about when things start to go wrong after 80...

 

Unfortunately it doesn't always work like that. I could introduce you to plenty of people in their 70s and quite a few in their 60s who can no longer live independently due to a decline in their physical or cognitive abilities.

 

So enjoy life and cruise now while you still can!

[Hunter69]

I know Sparky, i'm currently 48 but still run 10km's a day, ok i'm getting slower. But the body is in great shape. Limbs, bones & mobilty fantastic. Yes i had laser eye surgery to correct vision & wear hearing aids but i don't want anything to slow this Gen-X down. I worried about Prostate & denmentia though.. Love old people, there life experiences are so inspirational to hear..

[mdaviswv]

I know Sparky, i'm currently 48 but still run 10km's a day, ok i'm getting slower. But the body is in great shape. Limbs, bones & mobilty fantastic. Yes i had laser eye surgery to correct vision & wear hearing aids but i don't want anything to slow this Gen-X down. I worried about Prostate & denmentia though.. Love old people, there life experiences are so inspirational to hear..

 

Awesome! Go Gen-X! :cool:

[MicCanberra]

I think they're adding an additional charge for dreaming. :eek::rolleyes:;p

Bummer, I wonder if hey charge more for certain types of dreams.

[Bentleg]

Its nice to dream about but it would only work while your health is good, and if you do not care too much about regular contact with family ties.

 

The big drawback to doing it is the moment you get a significant health issue they will offload you at the next port (and where will that be?)

 

It might be a substitute for the retirement village for a while (which I don't want to do, I'll stay in my house thanks) but it will not work when you need assistance with daily care or nursing home care.