Atomic Lobster (aka living on a cruise ship)

The book Atomic Lobster is written by Tim Dorsey, a Florida native and resident. A strange whodunnit book but the part that intrigued me was the 4 women who shared a cabin and basically lived on a cruise ship. Cheaper that assisted living. I did some figures and actually 2 people can share an inside cabin on a smaller ship and beat the price of assisted living.They sailed out of Florida. Each week some would go do laundry and some would do all other errands and meet back at the ship in time to sail again. Hmmm, has anyone ever met someone on their cruises that was doing this? Does anyone want to do this? I would so love to do this at least for part of the year. I'm just saying.....:D

The only person I know that comes close to what you described is super Mario.

the only person i know that comes close to what you described is super mario.

lol

There was a single gentleman that spent almost a year living on the MSC Poesia. There was a thread on the 'Solo' board where he posted regularly until he had to stop because of illness.

His name is Egon and he often played the grand piano in the centrum just for the fun of it. He drove a scooter when getting off the ship and spent most of his off time hunting down free internet so he could keep posting.

I plan on doing just that when we retire to Cape Canaveral! As often as possible anyways. First I want to get a job at the port sending people on their cruise, looks like a great job and maybe some RC benefits wouldn't hurt my quest to live on a ship!;)

Would love to do that....mmmmm wonder if I could talk dh into it! Looking for a new book to read, just might have to check on this one.

I used to work at Barnes and Noble and remember seeing the cover of the magazine "Where to Retire".......it was all about living on a cruise ship..sometimes it can be cheaper!:)

Would love to do that....mmmmm wonder if I could talk dh into it! Looking for a new book to read, just might have to check on this one.

Prepare yourself, I love Dorsey's books but be forewarned they are wild and crazy!:D

That's my dream. I have already retired and love to cruise and hopefully when I get to the stage in life when the grandchildren are married with families of their own, I will be financially able to book back to back world cruises so that I spend only the summer months in Canada and the rest of the time being catered to on a luxurious cruise ship.....ahhhhhhhhhhhh

Like I said, it is a dream.

spent most of his off time hunting down free internet so he could keep posting.

that made me laugh for some reason.

b4 Disney Cruise Line there was Premier Cruise Line and their Big Red Boats with a Disney connection which sailed from Port Canaveral - Disney was testing the waters. Circa 1986 . . .

Local paper ran a story about a retired guy who was living on one of their ships .. crew had adopted him, he had an honorary Captain's uniform, ate at the Captains table .... it's been done! As I recall he'd been on for over a year but the ship was soon going to dry dock so he'd have to get off at least to a sister ship.

Wow - I love your stories. I remember The Big Red Boat! Ohhh this is fun.

That's one of my dreams - to retire to a cabin at sea. Trying to come up with some kind of cost - so I can work with my financial planner. Still have too many years to go for retirement - but I can dream - and maybe I'll hit a powerball some day. :D

The only person I know that comes close to what you described is super Mario.

2 guys on the Adventure were on for 6 months last year and 8 months this year. They have the Royal Suite too!! What a way to go.

I remember reading a story where someone figured out that it was cheaper living in a Holiday Inn than staying in Assisted Care. I would bet that if one talked to RCL and proposed booking a cabin for a year, they would get a substantial discount to bring down the costs.

Might even work out a deal where you could work at some ship job to pay for some of the fare. I know that when RVing, there are deals where you stay at the campground for free if you work some minimum number of hours a week.

I remember the story about someone living in a motel (maybe Holiday Inn). You get free heat BIG PLUS. Laundry on premises plus maid service. Free breakfast and some motels give afternoon snacks and light fare dinners (had that at Marriott). But I did watch in the 1980's probably, when I first started cruising a weekly installment on I think the Travel Channel about an older woman living on I believe the Conard Line. It explained how it was cheaper or maybe the same as living in a senior community home. I always remembered that story and wondered what happened to her.

There has been many articles written about this very subject . In fact, AARP published an article a few years ago that compared the actual costs at that time which suggested if people were in reasonable good health , that they take out additional yearly travel/medical insurance including evacutation insurance it was quite doable to live your retirement out on a cruise ship rather than independent or assisted living.

Years ago when Premier Cruises (the Big Red Boats pre Disney have there own cruise ships) were arround, I was on a Mediterranean Cruise. There was a couple that the ships personnel all knew and I do mean all. One day I had the pleasure to be sitted with the couple at lunch and asked how they became so popular so fast since it was only a 10 day cruise ? To my surprise she stated they lived on the ship .

After retiring to Florida and their kids promising they'd come to visit and never coming the couple decided to up and sell everything. They whittled e things down to 2 suitcases each and placed some items in storage with each one of their 3 children for when they would come back for a visit. They booked 3 months of cruises at a time. Told their kids here's the intinerary and if you want to visit pick a port.

Well it turned out to the best ever for them. So they booked 3 months of cruises at a time all with the same cruise line each time. After each 3 month period they would come back to the states and visit one of their kids for a month and take care of any personal matters just as doctors appointments. Than would start the process all over with visiting a different child after each 3 month period. The kids and their families did plan their vacations around their parents itinerary and met them through the year. There favorite ports for this were those that the ship was docked over night.

This woman said the trick to living on a cruise ship was to

• actually treat the ship as your home.
  
• Make neccessary arrangements to have several months of RX's to have all the contact numbers if they needed to refill in ports .
  
• Find out the addresses in each port where the crews mail gets delvier and held for the ships arrival ( generally it's the embarkation port) in the event that something had to be sent to you.
  
• Have a living will done for each other and have a couple original copies with you while cruising.
  
• Live as you would if you were at home. Meaning not eating large dinners every evening or thinking you even have to leave your cabin on everyday.
  
• Find a hobby that can easily be done on board is and also very portable .
  
• Not attending the shows regularly. Rather think of the shows only as a special evening out such as you would a special night out if you were back home.
  
• Don't live like tourist . Meaning unless there was something specific of interest in a port they did not go on excursions at every stop. Instead they used port time to pickup personal items that might be needed or snacks they'd like on board. Having gotten to know the crew well they knew were to go in each port to do these things as cheap as possible and safetly.
  

Come home after that cruise and said that's what I want to do !

2 guys on the Adventure were on for 6 months last year and 8 months this year. They have the Royal Suite too!! What a way to go.

I remember hearing about these guys last year. Does anyone know if they're doing it again?

This article raises some interesting points about living on a cruise ship in retirement:

http://www.snopes.com/travel/trap/retire.asp

I remember hearing about these guys last year. Does anyone know if they're doing it again?

They're on right now from some of the reviews posted lately.

Nothing to add to the topic - but I love Tim Dorsey - Serge Lives!

They're on right now from some of the reviews posted lately.

Wow. That's the life! :rolleyes:

I plan to retire and become a cruise ship doc 6417 days from today.

We have met, one woman who lived on Princess (mostly on the Diamond) many years ago.

We have also sailed a couple of times now with a really nice German gentleman who spends more time on the ship than on land. We sailed with him this past spring and then again this past fall--and in the fall there was also a retired couple from Australia on board--they have a motor home in Europe they live n some times. They will rent a place in Brazil for about two months this winter between curies, but mostly they cruise. They have no permanent home.

I really love meeting people on board and getting to see them again on future cruises :)

Am I the only one who thinks that there is NO way I could live on a cruise ship?

I would get bored. I would feel cramped. I would feel no real connection to anything.

Don't get me wrong - I love cruising, but the old saying is true.. "It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there"

Like I said; maybe I'm the only one.