Living on a cruise ship!

[F11]

I was told on a recent cruise some retirees would rather live/cruise all year on ship than live on land! Some are in fact doing it-more cheaply than land!!!

 

I also heard you can buy a condo on Ships and live there and cruise. Comments....:D

[MikeT718]

I was told on a recent cruise some retirees would rather live/cruise all year on ship than live on land! Some are in fact doing it-more cheaply than land!!!

 

I also heard you can buy a condo on Ships and live there and cruise. Comments....:D

 

There was a woman who lived on the Zaandam we met her on our cruise last Feburary (2005) her name is Mama Lou very nice lady..On a recent thread I heard that she had died which made me very sad:confused: ..Further into that thread it was revealed that she is alive and well:) and now on the Volendam..I guess that if you have an inside cabin in the lowest cat. and continue to cruise HAL gives you a discount..It also means that you can not rack up ship board charges the way we all do and I guess you could live cheaply on a ship instead of the Adult assisted Living.

[patval]

If you are interested in living on a ship and buying a condo you can try Residen Sea. The price is high but you own it for 40 years I thikn they start at 500,000 to over 4 million and month maintence charge that includes your meals between 20000 to over 100000 per month I believe. Also you need to have a minumum net worth of 20 million or more to qualify. This idea was so popular when the ship came out the Residents decided to buy the ship from the corporate company so it is resident own.

 

The website is www. residensea.com

 

Paul

[Randyk47]

I think it's possible to live more or less permanently on a cruise ship but have some question about whether or not it's actually cheaper. Of course, the cost analysis would have to be based on the level of support required on land or sea and the location on land or the cabin category on the ship. For instance, my father moved through stages of care and support after my step-mother passed away. At one time I guess he'd been OK on a ship but after a couple of strokes he was in a nursing home in Orlando with pretty much 24/7 nursing care. We eventually moved him to California where my brother and sister-in-law (an registered nurse) could better manage his care. The monthly cost for basically the same care level was 40% higher in California but none of us lived in Florida so we had to move him regardless of the cost. Luckily Dad had pretty good resources and monthly income from a number of retirements, no way Social Security would have kept up with the drain. As to buying a ship condo.....haven't spent a lot of time looking at that option but the brochures I've seen make that option extremely expensive even for the most modest accommodations. Those ships are meant more for time-sharing than for regular or full time residence.

[Grumpy1]

I think it's possible to live more or less permanently on a cruise ship but have some question about whether or not it's actually cheaper. Of course, the cost analysis would have to be based on the level of support required on land or sea and the location on land or the cabin category on the ship. For instance, my father moved through stages of care and support after my step-mother passed away. At one time I guess he'd been OK on a ship but after a couple of strokes he was in a nursing home in Orlando with pretty much 24/7 nursing care. We eventually moved him to California where my brother and sister-in-law (an registered nurse) could better manage his care. The monthly cost for basically the same care level was 40% higher in California but none of us lived in Florida so we had to move him regardless of the cost. Luckily Dad had pretty good resources and monthly income from a number of retirements, no way Social Security would have kept up with the drain. As to buying a ship condo.....haven't spent a lot of time looking at that option but the brochures I've seen make that option extremely expensive even for the most modest accommodations. Those ships are meant more for time-sharing than for regular or full time residence.

While cruising may be cheaper than assisted living facilities, they are NOT assisted living facilities. If a person is living in assisted living, but only for the convenience of not having to do the cooking and cleaning... is in full control of their life, is mobile and does not need ANY assistance with personal care, living on a cruise ship could work out OK. For a person that needs any assistance from others to bathe, dress, keep track of medications, etc, a cruise ship is not the place to be. They could be lucky enough to have certain crew members "adopt" them, but that would be a pretty tenuous relationship.

[jhannah]

On the surface, life at sea has a real attraction. However, for us cruising is special. An occasional treat and retreat from our day-to-day lives. It would no longer be that way if we were to take up residence, whether permanent or very lengthy. I wouldn't consider it even if I had the means to do so.

[benchmarklearning]

When on a cruise and having a great time I think about getting one of the floating condos for fulltime living on the seas.

 

But, watching the elk walk by my home office window this morning, having the wild turkeys chase me while riding my ATV, sitting NAKED in my own hot tub (:D ) watching the sunrise...I guess I'll stay here and take a cruise to get away from it all.

[boomerSexyK]

I agree with jhannah. The idea while very appealing at a glance, I believe, would soon pale. Our last ( and only ) cruise was only a 9-day. I must admit that by the end that time, my DW and I were ready to consider disembarking. ON THE CONDITION we could get back on next month....)))

[kryos]

I think it's possible to live more or less permanently on a cruise ship but have some question about whether or not it's actually cheaper.

I think it could work out cheaper if 1) You had spartan accommodations ... an inside in the cheapest cabin category, and 2) the ship you sailed wasn't doing any particularly exotic itineraries ... i.e., just seven-day alternating eastern/western caribbean, etc. Given those two conditions, and the fact that I am sure HAL (or pretty much any cruise line) would probably give you some steep discounts if you were gonna keep the cabin for the long-term. I think living onboard a cruise ship could definitely be cheaper than maintaining one's own place on land ... not to mention a better lifestyle, especially for an elderly person who was alone in life; i.e., no children, no spouse, etc. Of course, you couldn't be a spendthrift like most of us are when we are cruising. :) You would rarely buy anything onboard that would require signing a chit ... because you would want to keep your onboard charges low.

 

But other than that ... what better environment to spend one's days? You have people around to talk to, a full range of onboard diversions and activities, all of your meals prepared for you, entertainment nightly (even if it would start to get old seeing the same shows week in and week out), pretty decent medical facilities, and someone to take care of any "maintenance" issues that come up along the way such as burned out lightbulbs, leaky faucets, etc. I can think of a lot worse ways to live than to live on a cruise ship. And even with a "boring" itinerary, who cares? It's not like you're gonna want to get off the ship at most of the port stops anyway.

 

But, just like others on this thread have stated ... this is really only a viable option if you are fully self-sufficient. If you need help with your tasks of daily living, or have significant medical problems, retiring on a cruise ship is definitely NOT the way to go.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Randyk47]

Rita - I agree and really didn't mean to suggest that it should be dismissed out of hand as not an option. It's just part of my normal business to do what we can "economic analysis" or "cost benefit" so I naturally fall into that mode.....unless we're planning our own cruise in which case I throw all of that stuff out the window. :D Certainly I can look at my mother who reasonably could have lived on a cruise ship health wise until just the past couple of years and really enjoyed it. She doesn't drive and has very few friends who can drive so there's not much visiting. On the other hand, she could get around pretty good and we used to take her to Vegas or Reno and she did quite well in what amounts to a fairly controlled environment (room, food, entertainment, etc., all in one place under one roof...kind of like a cruise ship). She loves to visit and chat.....thank goodness for unlimited long distance phone calls.....and a ship might be a great place for her. Her problem would have been financial though. Her little cottage takes minimum care, is paid for, has minimum property tax and is very economical to heat. I'd be hard pressed to show economically that she'd been better off on a ship....but maybe. Oh yeah....one problem....she hates the sea and gets really seasick. That might have been a big stumbling block. :rolleyes: