WHY NOT RETIRE ON A LIFETIME CRUISE?

 I'm exploring various facets of cruising in preparation for our (I have a travel partner) around the world cruise next year.  I was sent a video of this lady who thriftily lives on a cruise ship because it is cheaper than living in a nursing home.

She pays $135/day, plus up to $65/day for tips and other expenses, and seems rather happy.

I can't do this because I already handed over $400,000 to move into my retirement community.  If I left, I lose that sum.  My 111-day around the world cruise, which itself will probably cost more than $40,000 (about $325/day).  However, I still need to pay my monthly fee, which will be a bit more than $20,000 for those four months.  This will be my final major travel adventure.

If you don't have my problem, then perhaps you can become a life-long cruiser and see the world, again and again, for almost free.  Read this article on How to Retire on a Cruise Ship.  Good information:

• The average cruise ship passenger pays around $213/day, or $77,745/year.  There are cheaper options and a lot of more expensive ones.
• In comparison, a stay at a typical assisted living facility (which would be a rental), would be $48,000/year, although $60,000 is about what it costs in Hawaii.
• The Plaza (there are six sites scattered around Oahu) is a rental system with no move-in assessment.  But when you get really sick, you need to move out.
• Or, you can pay a million and more to live in Kahala Nui, plus $5000 or more/month, so that when  you pass away, your family will be reimbursed around 80% of the first investment.
• A third option is the one where I live at Arcadia / 15 Craigside, where you provide something around $400,00 to move in, then $5000 or so per month.  However, they promise to take care of you even if you run out of money.  The catch is that they won't accept you unless they feel you have enough for a sufficient period when you need total care, which costs $12,000/month.
• Then, of course, you can live with your family, or try to survive alone.
• Otherwise, there is something called Senior Living at Sea:

Senior Living at Sea provides the convenience of cruising with the fulfillment of world travel - all without having to suffer through uncomfortable flights and jetlag, or repeated packing and unpacking. You also won't find a better value for retirement living than on a cruise ship, where you'll enjoy the incredible amenities and exceptional service of a carefree vacation lifestyle. Traditional land-based retirement communities or assisted living programs can't come close to providing the same benefits and value as making a cruise ship your home - compare for yourself in our Benefit Comparison. Plus, with Senior Living at Sea, your stateroom will be cleaned daily while you're out enjoying fresh cooked meals, Broadway-style shows, casino games and various social activities. Imagine never having to make your bed again!

• While the ship will generally take care of you, Medicare does not work away from the USA.  You might need health insurance.
• Need to do something about tax time.

If you're rich, there is The World:

• 165 shipboard condos cost from $825,000 to $7.3 million.  
• Plus another 10-15% of the original investment/year for food, etc.  
• Residents collectively determine the itinerary.
• Average owner is in the mid-60's.
• The ship has 12 decks, a large lobby, four restaurants, three bars, a cigar lounge, a boutique and showroom, grocery store, deli, fitness center, billiard room, golf simulator and putting greens, full-size tennis court, jogging track, spa, swimming pool, theater, and library.
• Entertainment generally is low key, in keeping with the ship’s intimate atmosphere. The nightly performer is likely to be a comedian or a classical, jazz, or pop artist.
• Past itinerary included two- and three-day visits to 104 ports in 30 countries on six continents, with expeditions to Antarctica and Greenland.
• Most only spend 3 to 4 months on the ship, and rent their condo for from $1300 to $2300/day.
• You can re-sell your condo like on land.
• That came from an 2015 article, and the ship will soon become 20 years old.
• In the summer of 2012 it made a Northwest Passage.
• But, whoops, in March 2020 everyone had to leave the ship because of COVID-19, and will not be able to return until the third quarter of this year.
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  Further, there is a green mentality expanding worldwide, and ship had to face a group in the UK protesting the environmental impact of cruise liners.  How bad?  To quote VOX:

Their heavy and growing use of fossil fuels means someone on a seven-day cruise produces the same amount of emissions as they would during 18 days on land.

So what about renewable powered cruise ships?  There is nuclear, of course, but, somehow, that just doesn't feel right today.  How would you like to live right next to a nuclear reactor?  Here is a long article about hydrogen, beginning with the Hydroville in Belgium.  In time, larger ships will be so outfitted.

Wind-powered ships are coming.  There was a time in our history--think Magellan, Columbus and the Puritans--when that was the only way to travel over the seas.  At first, these sails will only reduce the use of fossil fuels, like the one being developed by Mitsui and Oshima.  Denmark had their Flettner rotors on the Maersk Pelican.  Vindskip of Norway is designing a symmetrical airfoil.  A few months ago the Swedish Oceanbird cargo ship was announced to save 90% of carbon emissions compared to conventional ocean crafts.

Being built in South Korea by Samsung is the $1.1 billion Utopia, to be commissioned sometime later this year.  But that is more wishful thinking.

• 199 residences (1,400 to 6,600 square feet), to cost from $3.9 million to $36 million each.
• In addition, a 218-room hotel.
• Crew of 600.
• Casino.
• Can cook in your residence.
• Pretty much like The World.

About cruise personalities, there is the legendary 91-year old Lee Wachstetter, known as Mama Lee, who, in 2018 had been on the Crystal Serenity for ten years, at a cost of $170,000/year.

• She and her husband went on 89 cruises.
• After he passed away, she first spent her time on a Holland America ship, but they changed their policy of dance hosts, so she moved to the Crystal Serenity.
• She's now been on that ship for more than a decade.
• Watch her talk about her ship life.
• She enjoys needlepoint, and gives them to the crew.
• Found time for a book, I May Be Homeless, But You Should See My Yacht.
• Has gained 23 pounds.  Yes, that is a problem about cruises.

The other super senior cruiser is Super Mario, Mario Salcedo:

• Five years ago he had already been on 950 cruises.
• Changes ships, although he likes Royal Caribbean best, and now only sails with them.  Has lived on 22 of their 24 ships so far.
• Only spends $65,000/year on them, in lower-priced interior cabins.
• Still runs his own business.
• At night, might dance in the Latin club Boleros, smoke a cigar in the lounge and take in a show.
• Still owns a condo in Miami.
• Plans to to cruise for the rest of his life.
• Here is a video titled HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO LIVE FULL TIME ON A CRUISE SHIP WITH SUPER MARIO.

Here is a more realistic version on HOW MUCH IT COSTS TO LIVE ON A CRUISE SHIP FOR A YEAR.  There are others, like Morton Jablin, who in 2018 was 94, and living on a luxury ship for 13 years, now the Seven Seas Navigator.  Not sure if he's still alive or will continue when the ship begins cruising again.

Yes, they all had this pandemic problem.  So where did they go?  Watch this video, which says Mama Lee and Super Mario are with friends and family.

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