Full-time cruising (Washington Post article)

[The Cosmic Avenger]

So I know there have been discussions here about this before, but it was interesting to see the media cover this topic. I thought this was fairly well done, not treating early retirees as rare and exotic creatures.

https://wapo.st/3PE1o9M (free access for 14 days)

My biggest nits to pick were:

1) The couple equated paying a mortgage with other living expenses, ignoring that it builds equity. While that may not be a factor if you're just concerned about totaling up your monthly expenses, depreciation and retained value of what you spend on does affect your NW in the long run and should at least be addressed.

2) They seem to be looking at "value cruising", which is fine, but saying "Living on water means you don’t hear “'mbulances, sirens, screaming and yelling. It’s just a calmer existence,' she added." is directly counter to my experience on the huge, less expensive cruise ships. I remember it being like a crowded amusement park or mall much of the time.

That said, good for them for running the numbers and coming up with their own plan!

What do you all think?

 

[pacergal]

They try to chose Holland America, which seems to have less families/kids than others, which is what I would do for a quieter cruise.
Wonder what their plan is for LTC? or if one of them has a major illness/injury on board?

I have a family member and her DH who probably take 10-20 cruises a year, not quite full time, they probably would if they could!
Not my cup of tea, but to each his/her own.

 

[fosterscik]

A pretty strange article. Quite surprising they'd write this based on future plans; the couple featured only plan to do this and haven't done so yet...

 

[njhowie]

$100/day for the two of them is extremely optimistic. Rarely do you see $50/person/day. Obviously that is going to be for a tiny inside cabin in the bowels of the ship...no balcony, no windows. Not the way many folks would like to spend a long-term retirement. Granted, it's just where you sleep, but again, how many folks will be satisfied spending 6 to 8 hours a day in 100 square feet...or less?

Now, there is the issue of "taxes, fees, and gratuities" which the article indicates is on top of their $100/day estimate. Most of the cruise lines have mandatory gratuities of anywhere from $10 to $20/person/day. Taxes and fees can add $100 to $200/person/cruise, so figure another $20 to $40/person/day for that.

Calculating that you can swing it today does not take into account future inflation and surcharges which may get added in. Last time oil prices were over $100/barrel all of the cruise lines imposed fuel surcharges adding about $5/person/day. My guess is we'll be seeing that again as summer sailing gets underway, if they haven't already begun.

Lastly, there are going to be additional expenses along the way. You aren't not going to spend money in port periodically. Pay for an on-board activity here and there. And then there's the inevitable - having to spend a day or two in a port city between cruises where you'll need to book a hotel, pay for meals, etc.

All of this may work for some folks, but for the majority, it very likely wouldn't.

 

[Music Lover]

They're comparing living in a house in Seattle (normal size, I assume?) to living in a tiny cabin on a ship. Well, my wife and I could sell our house and live in a 300 sq ft studio apartment for a lot less too.

 

[Helen]

They're comparing living in a house in Seattle (normal size, I assume?) to living in a tiny cabin on a ship. Well, my wife and I could sell our house and live in a 300 sq ft studio apartment for a lot less too.

Yes, but on the ship there is good food available 7x24, entertainment, new people to interact with, ports to explore, a gym and classes, and house keeping all included.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

No place for the grandkids to come spend the night with me? Oh heck no.
I’ve never taken a cruise so I don’t really have an opinion otherwise.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I love cruises but it would get old fast. Especially with Covid I wouldn’t do it.

 

[kingkarmann]

No place for the grandkids to come spend the night with me? Oh heck no.
I’ve never taken a cruise so I don’t really have an opinion otherwise.

Thankfully, no place for the grandkids!

 

[ivinsfan]

Without even reading it, it sounds like the typical click bait. What about wifi access.


Now if you are going to say it's a cheaper way to travel constantly , in lieu of making house payments and house expenses and adding on travel expenses, I'd agree that's probably true.

 

[dak2018]

My wife and I have been on several cruises - I have a hard time grasping the notion of living aboard a cruise ship full time, mostly because I can't imagine being on vacation 100% of the time. We are retired, and still feel the need to occasionally be useful - do some volunteering, a household project or two, meet friends (in real life!), go for a hike or bike ride, etc.

Cruising would seem to me to quickly get repetitive, but I wouldn't mind trying it for a month or so!

 

[cathy63]

Without even reading it, it sounds like the typical click bait. What about wifi access...

Perks like Internet access and laundry are free once you accumulate enough points in the loyalty program, which they will after living aboard ships for a couple of months. Many ships have high speed Internet using LEO satellites nowadays, so lack of bandwidth and lag are much less of an issue than they used to be.

 

[Sunset]

Those $50 pp cruises are pretty rare,

I really don't think they can do it, the story would be better if they had done it for a year.

They certainly haven't factored in the connecting cruises part, for example a great cheap cruise from Fort Lauderdale and back, but the rest of cruises are expensive for a month. However out of Texas is a cheap cruise, how do they go from A->B

There was a story about a fellow that lived on cruises but even he had an apt in Miami, where he would stay for some weeks to take care of the dentist/doctor/absence of cruises issue. He wasn't trying to be extra cheap.

 

[Markola]

^^^The couple says they are saving money compared to their Seattle lifestyle, and she’s an accountant so she should know. This article and the one you mention from a few years ago about the solo guy based in Miami both mention loyalty programs stretching the buck. People who combine those programs with expert credit card churning might well stretch a dollar very far, since all of your living expenses earn points, also defraying between-cruise hotel stays.

IIRC, that other article was in the NYT and the title was, “See the World - Then See It Again.”

The lifestyle is somewhere on my mental Plan C or D list to experiment with should the SHTF and I end up solo and in good health. Otherwise, my DW would never be down with cruise ship living in one million years.

 

[Badger]

I have enjoyed the dozen+ 7-12 day cruises we have taken but after that I am ready to take a break. The only exercise I can do is ride a recumbent trike in the morning. I would hate to give up the chance to ride 10-20 miles in the morning, watch the sun come up over the ocean, see wildlife, and listen to the birds singing. Then there are the cats and working in the garden and having multiple rooms.

Cheers!

 

[Aerides]

I imagine they've figured out the math, but even if they are doing it at those prices, there have to be a lot of repositioning and dont-care-where cruises, inner cabins, older ships, and no extras.

And the moment one of them has a medical thing that requires them to see a doctor on even a semi-regular basis, or any illness that requires real attention, they'll be stuck.

 

[lucky penny]

IIRC, that other article was in the NYT and the title was, “See the World - Then See It Again.”

Here's the earlier article, which includes an interesting analysis comparing the cost of living on a cruise ship vs in a retirement home (hope the link works):

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/24/business/retiring-on-a-cruise-ship.html

 

[Souschef]

I love cruises but it would get old fast. Especially with Covid I wouldn’t do it.

The longest cruise we were on was 32 days. We were in a minisuite which was comfortable. We enjoyed it, but agreed that it was too long for us.

 

[YB88]

Interesting how many different ways there are to look at this. My first reaction was based on the heavy oil that cruise ships use, the carbon/pollution impact is non-trivial to the point where I'm not sure that I'll cruise again even for relatively short trips. I *do* like the cruise experience, but the idea of being on a ship full-time when it's generating so much CO2, sulpher oxide, and nitrogen oxide would make me uncomfortable, and that's assuming they're not still just tossing their waste into the ocean anymore.

I don't mean to be a downer here --- OR judgmental (!). This is just something I'll have to sort out before my wife and I cruise again, if we do. I expect that if so, we'll start by looking at lists ships/lines that have done best at mitigating this stuff, such as:
https://www.crew-center.com/stern-r...nvironmentally-friendly-and-safe-cruise-ships

 

[Markola]

Here's the earlier article, which includes an interesting analysis comparing the cost of living on a cruise ship vs in a retirement home (hope the link works):

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/24/business/retiring-on-a-cruise-ship.html

Ha, thanks for listing that. It was fun to read again after five years. I note that the person featured who has lived the lifestyle for 20 years still runs an online business five hours a day, so he’s more of a digital nomad than a retiree, which opens this option to many more people.

I tried to use a different unlocked link, which might work. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/24/...73Mqn-c2c4cBX33wkgGhx2XcmxQZxc&smid=url-share

 

[Sunset]

Interesting how many different ways there are to look at this. My first reaction was based on the heavy oil that cruise ships use, the carbon/pollution impact is non-trivial to the point where I'm not sure that I'll cruise again even for relatively short trips. I *do* like the cruise experience, but the idea of being on a ship full-time when it's generating so much CO2, sulpher oxide, and nitrogen oxide would make me uncomfortable, and that's assuming they're not still just tossing their waste into the ocean anymore.

I don't mean to be a downer here --- OR judgmental (!). This is just something I'll have to sort out before my wife and I cruise again, if we do. I expect that if so, we'll start by looking at lists ships/lines that have done best at mitigating this stuff, such as:
https://www.crew-center.com/stern-r...nvironmentally-friendly-and-safe-cruise-ships

The ship will sail whether you are on it or not. So not going on a ship won't save the world, and won't make any difference at all.

However, if you are extremely concerned about it. Consider nearly all the goods and lots of food you purchase are also transported by shipping, and pollute with the same heavy oil used. Not even counting the ones that sink, or catch fire.
If you purchase a car, it probably has at least demanded many cargo ships to be used, shipping the ore, shipping the steel, shipping parts from various countries back and forth, and finally shipping completed parts to the USA to assemble the car. It could be dozens of cargo ship trips, as shipping is so cheap for companies.

 

[skyking1]

I'd read an article years ago about a widow who filled in on last minute vacancies for one of the lines out of Florida, and basically did this. She was a social person and they sort of employed her to break the ice with other solo travelers. As i recall she had deeply discounted rates, and a condo with closets full of formal wear to rotate through.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

Thankfully, no place for the grandkids!

Who will set up your tech equipment if there isn’t room for grandkids? [emoji38]

 

[Koolau]

One of my potential tag lines is: "I can barely run my own life, so why would I try to run someone else's?" With that in mind, I can't criticize the concept of full-time cruising. Many posts here sum up my feelings on the subject. IOW it's NOT for me.

Now, having said that, I've "toyed" with the idea of living full time in a hotel? Realistically, I could move to the mainland, pick a 2nd tier sized city (Knoxville, Cincinnati, Lexington, Indianapolis, Columbus, etc.) and find a nice hotel that would cost LESS than my current digs (on a realistic daily basis.) I'm guessing rates would be negotiable with an "independent" hotel (not a chain.)

I could go the "Innsuites" route but, more likely for me, an older, established, downtown hotel. Service would be key as I also see such a living arrangement as a potential substitution (or at least a delaying action) for assisted living. A "good" service oriented hotel is likely "better" than assisted living in many cases though I've never tried either (but MIL used assisted living with mixed results.)

If you have seen the movie "That Thing You Do" you will recall the character "Lamarr" played by Obba Babatundé. Hotel staff with his impeccable qualities MUST still exist in some small/medium-sized independent hotel. With a service oriented "friend" such as Lamarr looking after your every need, I think the only issue would be the total cost. I could live that way, I think. I'd have to look for a while to find my "Lamarr" and his hotel, but I think he/they must still exist somewhere.

I really enjoyed the TV movie "Always at The Carlyle" which showed a NYC hotel and discussed its service. I think it would be a BIT out of my price range with rooms starting at (IIRC) around $4K! But the concept - translated to Omaha, just might work in leu of a ship on the ocean (or, more practically) an assisted living complex. YMMV

 

[MarieIG]

This is a matter of preference.

It is totally NOT for me. While a cruise with a limited time frame would be interesting, with something like this I would feel TRAPPED; and after a few weeks looking to escape . . .