Retire on a cruise ship

[kay1864]

There are definite downsides though....read the last two paragraphs in the Snopes link.

Edited July 25, 2014 by kay1864

[ODECCIT]

was on a HAL cruise years back and there was a lady that was living on the ship, they even had her name on the door.

 

Here name is mama "Lou". She gets off the ship for few month. She has her Holland America name tag made for her.

Edited July 25, 2014 by ODECCIT

[champagne123]

When I retire, can I just stay on a cruise ship--like a perpetual B2B? Think I could get a discounted monthly or yearly rate?

 

My ultimate fantasy.

[champagne123]

The whole "lady" retiring on a cruise ship is an urban legend.

 

No it is not. She was my patient

[INCHARGE]

Egon.

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1226852

 

Thank You so much for finding this for me. He was so very detailed and interesting. There is so much to learn from our seniors. :)

[lady_cruiser]

I thought I would love to do retire at sea and seriously considered it but after a couple B2Bs I figured that I would actually get tired of the same weekly menu; week after week after week.

 

At least at home I have a vast variety of meals I can plan when I am not on a cruise.

[Cruise, J.D.]

Thank You so much for finding this for me. He was so very detailed and interesting. There is so much to learn from our seniors. :)

 

You're welcome :) I loved his story.

[wanderingjew]

The whole "lady" retiring on a cruise ship is an urban legend.

I played Bridge with her on QE2

[SpencerTiger]

I think that spending a year or more onboard would be too much. If the spousal unit and I ever did something like this it would have to be for about 6 months at a time, probably in the winter, with the rest of the time spent in the mobile home up North in Michigan or Minnesota.

 

To do 6 months you would have to book about 10 7-day B2Bs with some travel time in between. I would want to try several different ships and locations, so plan for an average of 3-4 days in between sailings to catch up on family, do laundry, go to the doctor, etc. That would be about 175 days total.

 

I do think that $5000 per month would be enough to cover the basics for 2 people. That wouldn't include much in the way of alchohol or shore visits, but that kind of partying gets pretty old pretty quickly anyway.

[mzloolue]

When I priced assisted living it was over five thousand a month.

That was four years ago and it was for a decent but not elegant facility.

 

I saw some people on the Today show who had sold their home and were planning to live in hotels and here and there.

I don't know how much that would cost.

 

I love being on the ship, but I am always glad to get home.

 

I don't know.

[stormynow]

was on a HAL cruise years back and there was a lady that was living on the ship, they even had her name on the door.

Meet a little lady living on Holland some years ago. Her name was Annie and she was about 4ft 9 inches tall. Front row at every show and always asleep. She was a delight.

[Waynetor]

There was a lady on Princess that did about 10 months a year for many years. She stopped at the end of 2009 due to health and passed away this year.

 

Starting next Jan the ship Oceania Insignia has 3 180 day cruise scheduled B2B2B. Starting price for a couple is around $450 per day but there is a lot included.

 

If you are seriously thinking of this, look for a ship that moves around a lot. Doing the same 7 day itinerary with the same entertainment would loose its 'fun' factor quickly.

[ourfamilylovescruising]

The whole "lady" retiring on a cruise ship is an urban legend.

 

I meet a lady on the ryadam and she live on the ship I sat and talk to her it was very interesting she has to book it weekly just like everyone esle but the crew just loved her they help her with her walker it was nice to see

[Cruise-Crazy]

I've thought about doing that at some point :D

[angela12345]

Plus, if you always book your weeks at the future cruise desk, and if you own Carnival stock, that would be $200 worth of OBC each week. :D

(more or less depending on cruise lengths)

[Caribbeanqueen03]

Let me know, I will join you.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[RWolver672]

The only downfall I see is the same meals over and over every week.

[sparks1093]

DW and I have talked about doing something like this instead of becoming snowbirds, just cruising for the worst part of the winter (and certainly nothing year round). Or maybe buy a small seasonal place in Florida to spend most of the winter and cruise frequently during that time. Time will tell:).

[sparks1093]

When I priced assisted living it was over five thousand a month.

That was four years ago and it was for a decent but not elegant facility.

 

I saw some people on the Today show who had sold their home and were planning to live in hotels and here and there.

I don't know how much that would cost.

 

I love being on the ship, but I am always glad to get home.

 

I don't know.

 

I just priced a Ramada Inn room in Orlando for 1 month and it came in (on sale) for just under $1400.

[champagne123]

I just priced a Ramada Inn room in Orlando for 1 month and it came in (on sale) for just under $1400.

 

Interesting....but unless you stay in a hotel like "Extended Stay" (kitchen), you would be spending a fortune on three meals a day "out".

[sparks1093]

Interesting....but unless you stay in a hotel like "Extended Stay" (kitchen), you would be spending a fortune on three meals a day "out".

 

Yes, that is a consideration. A Hawthorn Suite room comes in at $1800, so that would probably be the better option (I priced a Mariott Residence Inn room for grins. $5700 for the month).

[champagne123]

Yes, that is a consideration. A Hawthorn Suite room comes in at $1800, so that would probably be the better option (I priced a Mariott Residence Inn room for grins. $5700 for the month).

 

OUCH:eek:

[EasyBreezy83]

Every time we are in a cruise I say this to my husband. How I wish....

[cruiseman_tx]

Before selling the house, cars and belongings, I'd advise taking some long cruises just to get a feel for it. HAL has long itineraries ranging from 30 days to the 115 day world cruise, and several in between. Some of them are round trip from US ports, so that's a plus on the airfare costs. We took their 30 day Hawaii/Tahiti cruise two years ago. And although we had a totally wonderful bucket-list type experience, we were ready to disembark upon return to San Diego....there's no place like home ;) We are fairly avid cruisers, 16 in the last 18 years on 3 different lines, but don't feel it could be an every day thing.

[JudyOh]

In June we were on the Freedom and had dinner with a couple (in their 80's) who sold everything and live on cruise ships. They are from California originally, he writes and spends a lot of time on the computer. They had done a btb on the Freedom (16 days) and were getting off and spending a week "on land" to do banking and doctor appointments. They have their car with all their possessions in it. After the week on land they were doing 5 cruises on Princess (I believe they were going to Europe). They have been around the world several times. They were a very interesting couple and made for a very interesting dinner.