Permanent cruising? Have you ever had unorthodox ideas for your life after FIRE?

[tenant13]

https://www.upworthy.com/amp/life-on-a-cruise-ship-2658985941

It sounds pretty great to me.

Ever since I retired, I’ve been traveling a lot. I live out of a carry-on for 2-4 months at a time. Then I get tired of moving around too much and go back home but the ultimate goal would be to park somewhere, rest and keep going - maybe visit my current home but not “go back”. I met a gentleman in Cambodia who’s been doing it for 7 years so I’m not the only one.

 

[Sunset]

A long time prior to RE, I was in Cuba at an all inclusive resort. The cost back then was $70/day.
I realized I could live there year round really cheap. Especially as I could probably get a discount for long term staying.

Problem with the thought was:

• the resort closed 2 months of the year.
• I'd be in Cuba.

Many of these alternative ideas have some hidden issues.

 

[MarieIG]

There are definitely upsides, and I can see the appeal, but would not want to be separated from family. I also suspect I would feel trapped.

Also, for an older person, the medical facilities would not be equivalent to a major hospital

 

[Sunset]

Covid has shown us, that cruise ships can suddenly become unusable, they kicked all the passengers and most crew off many ships. This guy would not be allowed to stay on during an event like that.

 

[Lewis Clark]

My experience with cruise ship wifi has been inconsistent. Sometimes the connection is decent and at other times it can be essentially unusable if too may try to use it at the same time. Could make working from a cruise ship problematic.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I love love cruising. I’ve taken 22 so far and have 3 more booked over the next 6 months. The longest I as at sea was 24 days (two 12-day cruises back to back). By the end of that, I was ready to be back on land for a while. So I put my max cruise duration at about 30 days.

 

[marko]

A long time prior to RE, I was in Cuba at an all inclusive resort. The cost back then was $70/day.
I realized I could live there year round really cheap. Especially as I could probably get a discount for long term staying.

Problem with the thought was:

• the resort closed 2 months of the year.
• I'd be in Cuba.

Many of these alternative ideas have some hidden issues.

Like "living in Cuba", you can live in a van under a bridge for $70 a day. But who'd want to!

 

[flyingaway]

https://www.upworthy.com/amp/life-on-a-cruise-ship-2658985941

It sounds pretty great to me.

Ever since I retired, I’ve been traveling a lot. I live out of a carry-on for 2-4 months at a time. Then I get tired of moving around too much and go back home but the ultimate goal would be to park somewhere, rest and keep going - maybe visit my current home but not “go back”. I met a gentleman in Cambodia who’s been doing it for 7 years so I’m not the only one.

This is not an ordinary cruise ship. It is more like a place for those digital nomads, where you might meet people who talk about their works.

 

[MichealKnight]

Met one of them

This is going back to the early 2000's (which is code for - thriving profitable business, no kids, and LBYM meant cruises and vacays all the time

Met a woman she was 74, looked no more than 60. She had been on the ship for 2 years and had spent give or take, 2 months on land.

She booked herself one of the cheapest cabins - ie just a porthole, no balcony, no perks, no frills. Real person- didn't use guarded language, what you see is what you get. She said her total cost is around $105 per day. She said - look, I spend $3000 a month, that includes my rent, my groceries, and for $75 I get to see that wonderful SouthAfrican-Indian doctor downstairs with an hour's notice. She said she can't live like that at home.

She kept fit and I asked her how with all the foods she does it she says: Look, after 3 months it gets old. All I do now is "eat cereal, and Sh....". LOL. She eats simply, just hangs out. Her point was it's just like home, it IS home to her - so she eats normal, sleeps normal, at times gets off the ship to enjoy a port and air...other times she stays on the ship on port days, she has it to herself - women after my own heart on that one. When her kids and her schedule match - she gets off on a port and they spend time.

To each his own but I can think of far worse things.....

 

[sengsational]

I just got off a 3 week cruise, and what I realized is that if I wanted to eat like I eat at home, I'd need to shop for groceries and have my own kitchen. I eat specific stuff that they just didn't have. They had sugared yogurt and drippy plain...I like Greek. They had gloppy overcooked oatmeal, I like it less like paste. And the same kinds of comments could be made for lunch and dinner. Mass prepared food is ok for a week or so, but it all starts to taste the same after a while.

 

[Chuckanut]

I just got off a 3 week cruise, and what I realized is that if I wanted to eat like I eat at home, I'd need to shop for groceries and have my own kitchen. I eat specific stuff that they just didn't have. They had sugared yogurt and drippy plain...I like Greek. They had gloppy overcooked oatmeal, I like it less like paste. And the same kinds of comments could be made for lunch and dinner. Mass prepared food is ok for a week or so, but it all starts to taste the same after a while.

+1

One of the reasons I took early retirement was to take better care of my health. Once I had more time to prepare more of my own meals I was able to lose 10+ pounds without having to exercise an ounce of will-power.

 

[Koolau]

Never any thought of full-time cruising, but at one time, full time RVing did appeal. I never did it as we decided to move to a place I've never seen an RV (namely, Oahu.)

Also considered just "driving" from place to place. Stop when tired. See all the sights. Go until I was lonely and then return home. DW put the Kibosh on that dream.

Also thought about expat life. Lots of early stuff here described the life style and it did sound interesting. But, I guess I'm just too set in my ways for it. Now, very settled in Paradise and hope to end my days here - not too soon.

 

[arcyallen]

My wife and I are considering a nine month "world cruise", but I told her we needed to take a 2-4 week cruise first. I can't imagine committing to an ultra-long cruise only to discover after a month that you've made a mistake. The longest cruise I've been on so far is 7 days, and I was far from being sick of it. A year? That might be a different story.

As far as unorthodox ideas for post-FIRE, the closest I can think of is in the next few years we plan to have a sort of "old dog sanctuary" here. We'll adopt an old dog that's near the end of their life and give them a soft place to land until the end. Once they die we'll do it again. We're still not sure how we'll handle it emotionally, but we figure if it's a dog we've only had a short amount of time it won't be as hard as a dog we've had it's entire life.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I had a dog that only lived 5 weeks and 2 only lived 6 months and I grieved the same as when I had one 15 years. Each one Allen takes a piece of your heart. When the two I have die I plan to do the same as you.

Two weeks is the longest cruise I have taken. I enjoyed it but love being home with family and friends. The food would get old and it would be hard to maintain my weight. I love walking and just around the ship wouldn’t cut it.

 

[brett]

https://www.upworthy.com/amp/life-on-a-cruise-ship-2658985941

It sounds pretty great to me.

Ever since I retired, I’ve been traveling a lot. I live out of a carry-on for 2-4 months at a time. Then I get tired of moving around too much and go back home but the ultimate goal would be to park somewhere, rest and keep going - maybe visit my current home but not “go back”. I met a gentleman in Cambodia who’s been doing it for 7 years so I’m not the only one.

We have been doing something similar. Started with a 7 month trip. Now we do two extended trips per year. 8-10 weeks each. We only do carry on. Plus some shorter trips in between. Often last minute or Xmas AI's with daughter and family.

We are not doing as many cruises as we did in the past. Most of our trips are independent land trips. Once in a while we will snag a last minute cruise when we are travelling in Europe.

Our longest cruise was 21 days. That was enough for me. I get tired of the food, of the environment. 10-14 days is our sweet spot with no more than 2 sea days in a row. We did a TA once. By sea day 4 we were ready to jump ship!

 

[Midpack]

There was a time when I thought we'd take a 3 month vacation to someplace warm every winter, rent a house in Hawaii, Bali or the like. But the logistics and expense are just more than I want to take on, has nothing to do with whether we can afford it or not. Something about adding big totally elective expenses just doesn't compute in my little brain after a lifetime of LBYM before. I think we like our daily routines too, sad to admit. But for those who do it, good on you.

 

[Music Lover]

We can handle a week at a resort if required, we did so recently visiting my niece in Dominican. But any longer than that and we want our own place with a kitchen and an outdoor area where we can sit and relax without other people around. Interestingly, we met an elderly lady at the resort who spends all winter going from resort to resort, and she loves it. But it's not for us.

I don't see a cruise ship being any different than an all-in resort. It would be fine for a week or two but after that it becomes repetitive.

 

[Koolau]

Like "living in Cuba", you can live in a van under a bridge for $70 a day. But who'd want to!

My best friend on the Island moved here in 1973. He had $63 in his pocket and had planned to buy a "blue tarp" and live on the beach. But he got a j*b right away (he was a killer salesman) and they put him up for 2 weeks until his first pay check arrived. I guess it all depends on what is most important to you that determines what sacrifices you will make.

 

[jollystomper]

I am a landlubber, so living on a cruise ship is probably my version of living in The Twilight Zone. It would have me running screaming into the hills at the first port of call . The notion of being on the water every day, even with land stops, just does not appeal to me, even with the fanciest surroundings. Plus the tales of illnesses running rampant through ships (even before covid) makes me wary. I know it is a rare occurrence relative to the number of cruises that occur, but it is analogous to folks not wanting to go to cities like Chicago after hearing of the violence that occurs, although odds of encountering that violence are statistically rare.

We like travel but our limit is 2 weeks. Maybe because we still enjoy our home and what we have built up in it, that still makes it more fun for us than staying in hotels/resorts/etc. When we travel our main criteria for a place to live is flexibility to cook our own meals, as we do not intend to spend a lot of time in the place. We are also biased towards having lots of space, so that we have the option to keep out of each others way if we need to.

The most unorthodox post-FIRE idea DW and I have joked about is moving to her native land in Central America. We could easily afford a beachfront mansion that is "off the path" and servants, and she has enough relatives there that would help us make it work. Of course, the main problem is that everyone there would know we have money - and in that area that would bring in all kinds of additional problems. Ultimately it would be feel like living in a very nice "prison". We much prefer living where we are "under the radar" and most folks assume that us not working means we do not have much .

 

[Alan]

Thanks for the interesting discussion.

Unfortunately the thread descended into a discussion on mass shootings, angry populations and other issues not related to cruising. (Posts have been deleted)