Table Of Content
And you'll need a backup plan should your health at some point prevent you from remaining on board. As I approach retirement age, the thought of retiring on a cruise ship has crossed my mind. The Storylines head office will also be based on the MV Narrative, with company executives living on board. Punton will move onto the ship with his wife and two children, who are currently two and five.
Seattle Begins Milestone Alaska Season With Norwegian Cruise Line Ship
There aren’t too many of these in existence, but there are some ships that are planned with full-time living in mind, removing all of the worry about making sure you stay booked onto the ship. Ownership simplifies a few things logistically, and your only additional costs are likely to be port expenditures and/or travel when you opt to leave the ship. You might also be able to rent out your cabin when you aren't using it, helping offset the cost of your cabin. Retirees and those close to retirement are also buying into the ship, Punton told CNBC.
Is it cheaper to live on a cruise ship than in a nursing home?
That’s the ultra-long-term world cruise option announced by Life At Sea Cruises. There’s a ‘worldschooling’ program with onboard teachers offering hands-on learning through field trips, tutoring, classes and clubs. And that cruise is epic – it’s a planned 3.5 year journey that will visit over 420 ports in 147 continents across all seven continents.
3 Residents share what it's like to live on a cruise ship full-time - Business Insider
3 Residents share what it's like to live on a cruise ship full-time.
Posted: Sat, 09 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Tips for Life on a Cruise Ship
Purchase prices for a one-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom unit averaged $2.7 million, with $111,000 in living fees. Living permanently at sea can present challenges when trying to stay in touch with family and friends. Different times zones and the expense of calling from sea or a foreign port might prevent you from staying current with family and friends. While cruise ships offer Wi-Fi, the ship's internet connectivity is not always as reliable or as fast as internet speeds on land. Look into cellphone plans and options before you sail away, and budget for expensive ship Wi-Fi (though, depending on the line, once you've sailed enough, you might get internet for free).
Set Sail and Live on a Cruise Ship
You should bear in mind how much work would be involved in constantly booking your next cruise, plus the added stress of worrying about whether you’d miss your chance and end up without a cabin. In most cases, you can't take pets with you on a cruise, so that can be a drawback for many retirees. You would need to budget for flights between ports and occasional hotel stays if you decide to return home or swap ships.
Simply not having to worry about grocery shopping, meal preparation or home maintenance tops most people's lists of retirement goals, and all of those would fit into a cruise ship retirement. It's possible to plan your retirement cruise itinerary to ensure you are always headed away from cold and snow. By contrast, a year onboard a luxury cruise line like Silversea, Seabourn or Regent Seven Seas will cost a minimum of $200,000 per person ($548 per person per night). The good news about that price is that cruising on those lines includes things like tours, gratuities, alcoholic beverages and most specialty dining, as well as laundry. Using this metric, with a total cruise fare of $99,766, the average couple would spend $72,829 onboard during the course of the year.
What does it cost to retire on a cruise ship?
You’ll want to get special insurance policies if you’re planning to live on a cruise ship full time. Ships are required to maintain medical staff on call 24/7, including at least one physician and two nurses. Similar in model to assisted living facilities, cruise ships are equipped to handle most medical emergencies in the short term. Onboard medical facilities will typically include X-ray machines, defibrillators, basic emergency medical equipment and an array of medication. By planning ahead, you can have your medications filled before you board. "I've been told I'm crazy for trying to live full time on a cruise ship, but it's not just for retired people," Gutridge said.
Villa Vie Residences
Plus, there are tips for staff to consider, which can total thousands per person during the course of a year. Residents will also be able to rent out their units if they are not on board — regardless of whether they are full or part owners. A studio apartment like the one Wells bought could generate around $4,500 a month, according to a calculator on the Storylines website. In total, it will spend three years or so traveling the world (the full itinerary is yet to be announced).
She was also working on boosting her loyalty status with Royal Caribbean. There are perks available to the highest loyalty levels that would save money when retirement time arrives. Complimentary laundry tops the list of valuable perks at the top levels on the mainstream lines, along with spa treatments and specialty restaurant meals, Wi-Fi discounts and free or discounted cruise nights. Even luxury lines like Silversea and Seabourn offer top loyalty members discounts and free nights.
It’s better to choose a cruise ship designed for long-term living than one from a mainstream cruise line. Logistically, booking back-to-back cruises with a standard cruise line is often not possible and you may have to change rooms regularly or even switch ships. Besides the health aspect, you'll always need to have a solid backup plan. Things like mechanical breakdowns, disaster-related shutdowns and cruise line business decisions can drastically affect your plans — more so than in most land-based living situations. You would need annual travel insurance as well as enough available money to cover hotels and transportation from almost anywhere on the globe.
A feeling of confinement is tops on the list of reasons people I talked to said they couldn't retire on a cruise ship. Even on a large ship, you can only go where it goes, plus the room you call your own is likely to be far smaller than what you are used to. There's a certain loss of freedom, but that's common with many forms of retirement living. Then there are people who enjoy being in the company of others, while maintaining nothing but passing interactions with them. Even an introvert might find the social scene of a cruise ship a better arrangement than a more solitary retirement scenario. Even an option that visits the same ports over and over might be more appealing than staying at home for some people.
No comments:
Post a Comment