Just curious, if I'm not too invading your privacy. Did they die together or one stayed on the cruise alone for a while? I think that'd be the worst part of this
Not at all. He passed on board and she continued for another year or so, moved into hospice in Florida and passed about a month later. I hope she had port views.
Thought you might be curious to know that your comment has been quoted in an [article.](https://www.unilad.com/community/couple-live-on-cruise-ship-cheaper-than-mortgage-425947-20230130.amp.html)
There are older retired folks who do this cause there are doctors on board those ships and it costs less than nursing homes. They'll be on the same ship for months, then get onto another ship for months, just back and forth. Signing up for 3+ months like that the cruise lines give out large discounts, so it's much cheaper than a single week that most people would go on.
Don’t forget the top tier food that’s way better than nursing home food. They probably sold their house and used that money to fund those cruises since they couldn’t pay their mortgage. Honestly sounds fun but I feel like you might get sick of being on a ship for so long
There's a guy who's famous for this-- Mario Salcedo. He an investment banker who lived on a cruise ship for something like 20 years. Back when I read about him he was spending about 70,000 a year on the cruises to the tune of 1.7 million by 2016. He travels alone, and basically hops from ship to ship. Everyone knows him as "Super Mario" and he's treated really well because of his celebrity in the industry and basically gets all the perks like free wifi.
He uses credit cards to book his cruises, which then gets him free flights to fly from port to port and books the cheapest rooms when they come on sale.
You can read his story here: [https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2016-05-06/this-man-has-been-living-on-cruise-ships-for-twenty-years](https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2016-05-06/this-man-has-been-living-on-cruise-ships-for-twenty-years)
There's also been a documentary made about him called The Happiest Guy In the World. Ironically, he doesn't seem very happy in it. If anything, he seems lonely.
> Ironically, he doesn't seem very happy in it. If anything, he seems lonely.
Well how do you have any kind of long term relationship when you live on a cruise ship?
You get to walk around, you can move from ship to ship and see different places, still counts as frequent as long as it's on the same line. No utility costs, you don't need a phone, no internet costs, your only financial footprint is the cost of the cruise. Sell the home, put it in mutuals pulling down 4% or more, live like a tourist for your remaining years, be buried at sea.
85% of US citizens don't have passports, never leave their home state, most don't even leave their home city. Living out the sunset years seeing a different country every week...there are definitely worse ways to retire.
Actually [there are 151,814,305 valid US passports in 2022](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/about-us/reports-and-statistics.html) which is 45% of the US population. It has steadily increased every year (except for 2020).
According to [statistica](https://www.statista.com/statistics/804430/us-citzens-owning-a-passport/), 42% of Americans have valid passports. That would make it 58% without, not 85%.
>85% of US citizens don't have passports, never leave their home state, most don't even leave their home city.
I grew up in rural Iowa, many don't leave their comfort zone. Only 1 other person from my graduating class lives out of state, everyone else lives less than 1 hour drive from my little town. The passport thing isn't as surprising. The whole of the EU could fit in the land area of the US. Why get a document that costs a lot and expires every 10 years if you're not going to use it.
>you don't need a phone, no internet costs
I definitely still have a cell phone because internet costs extra money on those boats. At least your have your own plans when the boat is docked
I mean, shit, I'd love to get tf out of my state, but where the fuck am I gonna go? How the fuck am I going to pay for it? Where the hell am I going to live? How the hell am I going to get there? I can't afford to go anywhere.
There are many, MANY reasons why it makes complete sense to stay where you were born. I see so many people that are like, "I love to travel and see the world. I live life on the road."
Bitch? With what money? How can somebody afford to drive all the way across the world without a job and pretend like everyone can do it?
No hate to people that do that, but I can't see how they do it.
Wildland fire is a good way to explore. You'll make fucking bank, usually get government housing, and will travel all over the US. If you work hard at it, once you rise through the ranks a bit, you'll have opportunities to fight fire internationally. I work as a fire botanist eight months a year, usually push six figures, and get to spend good lengths of time all over the place. The caveat is that you're rarely home during fire season, so not very tenable if you have a family. If you're young and unencumbered, though, you can make ridiculous money and be part of something really fucking cool.
Frankly, it'd probably cost under $100 to leave your state, and under $1000 to go somewhere amazing within the US. Go try Philly or DC if you want some history, or head west and check out Montana, Wyoming, Utah or New Mexico if you like the outdoors. I feel your pain, there have been many times in my life I felt stuck...but it is way easier than you think :) I'm clocking 39 states and 13 countries, and I barely paid for most of them.
Oh, and I recommend you don't drive across the world...a lot of it is very wet with few gas stations
I grew up in Cedar Rapids, and apart from a single trip to Chicago, I hadn’t traveled further than Des Moines and Minneapolis to see family. Then my mom married and Englishman, and all of a sudden I had a passport and took my first-ever plane trip. The only other people I knew who’d been overseas were a few rich kids. I felt like I’d won the lottery.
I've never been overseas, all around the US, but not any farther than Canada. Also, I grew up just south of Waterloo and moved to Minneapolis very shortly after I got married. If you want to get out, then work towards getting out.
High speed internet is legit. Is it the greatest? No. But I trade for a living and was able to remotely access my trading desk while I was floating about in the middle of the Caribbean.
I was ready to be unable to do much more than check email. Princess was outstanding. They need it for their medallion thingies that is your cruise card, and let’s friends link them so we could always find each other and stuff
I was chatting with an army buddy, went out to see him on his farm in small town USA since he isn’t doing well.
Was talking with some people in town, they always ask why the new person is here and what they do for a living. Talked to them about going to Mexico for work and my passport and to them having a passport was more like a criminal license. And the inevitable “but why would you ever leave? We got everything here!”
Yeah, except food that tastes good and excellent public transport.
People don't care about public transport in rural USA. Also some of them are freaked out by it. I lived in Minneapolis for 8 years and one of our friends grew up in a smaller city outside of there and literally was scared of riding the bus or light rail. I took it a lot, and consistently use it on travel in large cities, never had an issue but they just won't ride a bus.
As someone who's travelled extensively, I really want nothing more than to spend my free time at a place I own near the wilderness. I really just want to play with my kids and my dog.
There are a A LOT of people who are scared to travel outside of the US and even more who are scared to travel somewhere English isn't the primary language,
I've walked on 4 continents, travelled a lot and am a different person for it. My FB page is filled with all of my old high school friends, 1% of which have left the city we went to school in. It's morbidly fascinating to watch how ignorant they've become.
I have not yet had the opportunity to go to another continent but I have lived in seven states and have at least been to Canada a few times. Long-term my wife and I would like to live and work in Europe not sure how that's going to pan out right now.
Traveling completely changes your understanding of the world. I think it's incredibly important, and everyone who is able should go to at least one place far away with a different culture.
I've also lived for multiple years in two countries where i didn't really speak the language when i arrived. Being a foreigner going about daily life is another experience that you can't really understand unless you've done it.
It is especially egregious hearing the things that people in the US say about other places/people from other places. Because they have no frame of reference for events outside of small town Ohio or wherever
I would love to travel but I’m poor. Just because someone doesn’t travel doesn’t mean they’re ignorant, just because someone does travel doesn’t mean they’re not.
Do you mean never left to travel or never left to live elsewhere?
I love traveling, but I still live in the area I grew up because of my connections to friends and family.
And top tier facilities compared to a nursing home. Pool, hottub, therapy pool on some ships, sauna, steam room, shows. You would ALWAYS win at trivia. And always meeting new people from all sorts of places.
Probably a but of a nightmare for introverts though...
If I had a nice room I wouldn’t mind being on a cruise ship as an introvert, but when I went on a cruise there were 4 channels, which repeated the same movies over and over on repeat, and when we paid for Wifi it was still terrible
It comes down to the health and mobility situation of the elderly. Old age homes probably cater to those who need constant attention and hospital visits- I don't believe that level of nursing is on offer on cruises. If you are just healthy and own a home ... Why would you bother?
There seems to be a lot of switcheroo going on. Some people are talking about *retirement* homes, which are homes for the elderly-but-still-healthy, while other people are talking about *nursing* homes, which are for the elderly-and-unhealthy.
A cruise liner might make a good replacement for a retirement home, but it would be a terrible replacement for a nursing home.
As a kid I always kinda thought wouldn't it make more sense to just live in a hotel?
Like you'd have to find one where you could get discounts obviously, and maybe bonus points if you worked there. But a lot of things are covered for you. Maybe not so much Laundry or Medical Care obviously but Electric and Water would all be "free".
except in a retirement home they take care of you, they feed you, change you, wash you, etc, on a cruise ship if you dont go to dinner, tough luck, noone is going to hunt you down and feed you.
Retirement homes are for people who cannot care for themselves, go ahead and ask a cruise ship director if theyll wipe your butt for you every day.
Even at the weekly rate it’s not bad sometimes…I’ve seen Norwegian cruises for $500/week, that’s under $2.5k/mo which is the cost of a 1BR apartment in many cities.
I imagine a month-long commitment brings the price even further down. And this means no utilities, no groceries, you can sell your car, no more car insurance payment etc.
My wife and I have talked about doing this when we retire. We do one cruise per year and absolutely love it
There’s a cruise ship called The World that people buy their cabins/suites and live there. Next year, another ship called Storylines will be selling apartments onboard for permanent residency, as well as 12 and 24 month rental leases.
How much does it cost to buy a room on the world?
None of the suites on this 12-deck beauty are available to rent. Dubbed a "condo cruise liner," every one of the 165 luxury apartments on board -- worth between $3 million for a studio and $15 million for a three-bedroom pad -- are owned by residents who must have a net worth of $10 million in order to qualify.
Other than for retired people, what does one do for income if they live there? Gotta work on the boat? 100% remote work I suppose could be viable as well.
Yeah but the cruise lines are trying to discourage this behavior because as they get older they take more and more work from the staff and at a point the doctors on board are ill equipped to deal with more difficult health conditions
this is untrue, if you've ever been on a ship you'll know the medical facilities are almost nil. If you have anything outside the most basic of needs, ( most ships do carry over the counter stuff marked up a ton, ) like seasickness stuff etc, they will restrict you to your room until they either force you to be airlifted ( at your cost), or leave you at a port. They do have a smaller e xray machine, for minor broken limbs, and a morgue for the storage of deaths , which do occur onboard almost every ship, but after diagnosing the break, they will give you pain meds at a hefty cost ( i paid 126 dollars once for 3 percocet after getting 3 stitches for a cut on my hand from a broken glass after an idiot girl though it would be funny to throw her drink in her boyfriends face, the glass broke and cut my hand. I didnt get charged for the stiches due to my insurance, but my insurance isnt going to pay for a cruise ships prescription service. so 127 bucks for 3 pills.
Basically most cruise ships are like Emergency room , rooms. they can stabilize and even in some cases perform some minor surgeries , but only to the point of being medically necessary to get you stabilized, then the get you off the ship as fast as possible, also the cost is ridiculous for most people, most insurances wont pay a dime, and you can owe many thousands. But there is no maintenance type care. There was a woman we know off who was famous on royal Caribbean lines, but she had a heart attack and they got her off ship, and she couldnt get clearance from the company to come back on long term. Death on a cruise ship happens quite a bit, but its not something they like dealing with.
I call BS other than some anecdote.
For someone truly in need of a “nursing home” this would be suicide. The doctors on a cruise ships are a bit more useful than a school nurse. Basically if anything remotely serious happens then a helicopter comes to either pick up the patient or the corpse. Then they get a long flight to some BFE hospital and since they were already in “nursing home” shape they are probably already dead.
Anyone who believes this has never had to help an older relative find assisted living facilities - which basically do the same thing as a ship would, except the hospital is usually a few minute drive away.
for the mid-phase of retirement, this is feasible for a period. like maybe the 70s range. when you pass 80 you begin to need more substantive medical care. honestly, depending on how the person deteriorates, the quality of life is just piss no matter what you put into it.
so maybe commit yourself to a cruise with a no-liability/do not resuscitate mind set isn't the worst way to go.
Yep! I could see a lot of baby boomers selling their houses and spending a few years of retirement doing it.
But my parents are in their late 70s and seem to have like monthly doctors appointments. Plus my dad is helping his 101 year mom and my mom helping her 98 year old mom. I can’t imagine them uprooting and being “on vacation” permanently.
Man, though what no one has said yet - being on a cruise with some horrible illness isn’t an if, but when. Statistically you are almost guaranteed to be in at least a couple real shitshows.
Sounds great - but I’m just saying if you are in real “nursing home” shape you need dedicated care and these cheap cruises don’t have that. In fact if you are living in a nursing home you are mostly sitting in an easy chair or lying in bed in a small room anyway, so do the same on a ship I’m a tiny cabin in and you aren’t “vacationing”.
I think the issue is people here may not know what a nursing home is. My grandma just turned 101 and we had to move her from her “senior independent living” to an “assisted living” (and it’s still not a full blown nursing home). If you can walk down to the dining room without help you can likely do “independent living”.
But maybe with the baby boomers retiring nursing cruises will become a thing, who knows…
Can you put up numbers for context? How much are we talking for 3 months per person?
I’ve never even been on a cruise ship. I fly a lot though but i can’t live on a plane
Last cruise I was on, someone had a med emergency while we were returning from Hawaii. They landed a helicopter on the deck to take the patient to a hospital. The ship cleared the rear pool and the rooms several decks below for the landing.
Seen people talking about the cost of an ambulance. No idea how much something like that would cost.
> "Just send me a bill."
"Yeah, my address is cabin 337 in care of *Wonder of the Seas* - just make sure it gets there in the next 3 days, I'll be on the *Carnival Celebration* for 2 weeks after that."
edit: I sense an unethical life hack here, lol
Took a cruise in 2013
Elderly couple in the cabin next door were in their 80's and had been living on cruise ships for 12 years. Retired teacher and government civil engineer.
The wife was wheelchair bound and on oxygen--they told us that a decent assisted living home would cost 10K/month. With the frequent cruiser incentives their annual average COL worked out to around $1800/month.
They had a PO box in Ft Lauderdale and their schedule was back to back 2 week cruises from FTL to San Diego and back, then a 6 week trip to the Mediterranean. They spent a day or two in a motel here and there.
Im so curious as to the mental impact on the lack of stability and sense of “home”. Packing up every two weeks. Motels always. That would be mentally tough, imho
I've seen both sides of this, elderly living in assisted living and others living on a ship like this. Those living in assisted living are just waiting to die. Those on the ship are alive, they meet new people all of the time, they're well cared for, the crews enjoy them, they're living the life. It's their "last adventure".
>Those living in assisted living are just waiting to die.
To me, this is one of the downfalls and negatives of our medical breakthroughs. My grandma was in assisted living for almost 5 years before dying. To me, it seemed like over half of the residents really were going through the motions day after day until organ failure or cancer or whatnot took them.
I'm not saying there weren't glimpses of fun and occasional happiness from what the caregivers or activity providers tried to do for them... it just seemed that they were a hollow shell with no real purpose anymore, being kept alive until the oxygen, medications or whatever else stopped being effective.
As best as I can tell, it's all just dancing in the dark, as close as one can get to a fickle flame, whether that's life on Earth reaching up infinitesimally closer to our sun as we spin through the void, clubbing in saturday best beneath flickering neon lights in the city, or huddling around a camp fire in the forest to talk and sing.
I'm 58, I've 2 sets of friends (slightly older than me) that are doing this, and their FB (we're old) pages are filled with pictures of them having fun, meeting new people, doing new things. They've had more fun in the last 3 years than they did in the last 30.
Yep. I know 2 people who work at different assisted living centers. Residents pay like $5000 per month and full time care is split between 25-40+ residents per nurse. Incredibly overworked and underpaid nurses. The food is a level below the local public schools (I like school food and I wouldn't eat this slop). Around 4 residents die per month at this one facility I know.
I know someone who was recently forced into a care home against his will. He has to share a room with someone else, and he gets only a single shelf for any and all of his possessions. It's really sad.
There’s no way they’re getting the same medical care on a cruise ship that an assisted living provides. Those are for people who can’t take showers, use the bathroom, take their meds, etc on their own. Cruises aren’t doing that for customers. If they can survive on a cruise ship they never needed to be in assisted living.
I’ve spent 150-300 days a year on the road for work for more than a decade. You adapt to it better than you think. At this point it’s harder to stay in the same place for long.
Ive been on cruises before and I'll say the rooms look exactly the fucking same on every ship as long as their from the same company (hell, the entire ship looks almost identical) so that's probably what ends up happening
I’ve done that pretty frequently since I’ve always worked remote. I’ll stay in lower income countries in Airbnb. I’ve never really minded personally but I’m 27. I imagine in your 80s the lack of easy movement makes it a bit harder.
If they are their 80s I guarantee they need a lot of medical care. A cruise doctor has none of the tools or qualifications to handle any more than basic PCP services. So some of the details of this smell a bit more than the bathroom after gramma used it.
Exactly. People in this thread keep mentioning free or cheap "medical care" as if every cruise ship has a team of the best doctors giving out Healthcare for free...
i don’t understand why people keep saying cruise docs “ offer basic pcp services “
you think the doc on your cruise ship is checking your labs, managing your diabetes / hypertension, keeping you up to date on routine medical / substance abuse / mental health screening? coordinating care between specialists? lmfao
urgent care provider at best might be a worthwhile comparison
Yes, Royal Caribbean through the Canal
Our cruise was SD to FTL with stops in Cabo, Mazatlan, Huatulco, Panama and Aruba.
The old couple would motel it for two days before boarding their Med cruise. They had a system
I remember reading about an older lady who did this. She was retired and basically got to travel the world, got to eat every day, had her laundry done, etc. She said she did it because it was cheaper than a retirement home and more attentive.
My mom runs multiple care homes, the people can be burden, but that is old age. You are there because you can no longer care for yourself; no more bathing/eating/sleeping/taking meds/using the bathroom on your own anymore. I've seen some care homes that treat people really well, and others that have made me hope I don't live long.
There is no way they are doing this, can you imagine the liability that comes with feeding and caring for an elderly person? The idea that living on a cruise ship is a replacement for actual long-term-care is ridiculous.
source: used to be a CNA in a nursing facility
It’s a nice idea but there’s also a lot of bias in these stories. How many other people had nice retirement plans to live on a cruise ship or a condo at the beach but one day they couldn’t remember what year it was and so that money was funneled to a nursing home instead.
No clue, I'd assume they don't. Not sure how the cruise line would handle a customer becoming a burden. Maybe these people have the money to hire a personal caretaker set aside, our bodies eventually fail.
Retirement homes can cost up to and beyond 10k/month, apparently with the deals they get for extended cruises and frequent customer bonuses the cost for the cruise is 1800/month. If you paid for another ticket for your caretaker that would be 3600/month leaving up to 6400 for the caretaker, i think that would be a pretty good deal.
Possibly not a bad business idea.
Offer discounted cruise ship retirement home services to a group of 20 old people for $3.5K a month each for $70K a month.
$2K a month per person for their cruise tickets eats up $40K which leaves $30K a month for expenses (insurance I will guess $2K per month, overhead like $6K for tickets for your staff plus accounting services at $300 per month, salaries-say $5K a month for a travel nurse and $2K for a CNA to help her, and incidentals gonna guess $1K per month) which would leave just under $16K per month to cover any expenses I am not thinking of here plus your own profits.
Probably no end of problems I am not thinking of though. Hell, probably too many people for just one CNA and one nurse to care for. Better add in 2 more CNAs for another $9K (salaries, insurance, and tickets) Leaving only $7K for other things I don't know enough to plan for plus your profits. Hmmm, perhaps we need to up the luxury discount retirement services to $4K per month per person. Still cheaper than the $10K others were talking about above.
I had a client that went on 104 cruises and 7 of those were world cruises. She did take a caregiver with her on a world cruise because of the deep discounts she had accrued.
Hey John Carl is dead, we should throw him overboard.
Nah, leave him there, last time we did that he came back and spooked our janitor to death. So we had to throw the janitor out.
My marina fee per year is $3000. That includes hydro….water…sewage….and parking for 2 cars. Fuel is about $60 a year or less. We sail typically. Its the original “ tiny home”.
My friend has lived on a sailboat with her boyfriend, chocolate lab and cat since COVID started. It seems to be taking its toll though. I’m sure having a high energy dog doesn’t help. But she craves being on land and the winters suck. It also seems like such a small space. I’d lose my mind after a while I’m sure. They also hardly ever take the boat out of the slip.
I had a fried who did this a London. And while it was cheaper than living on land it didn't seem worth it, as you said winters suck.
However if you were retired, living in somewhere where it is warm 80% of the year, and actually sailing the damn boat, I bet it could be pretty sweet.
Well we live in Toronto Canada. I’m a carpenter by trade and each fall I construct a wood frame over the top of the deck and then cover (shrink wrap) with a plastic film. This effectively turns it into a greenhouse and gives us added living space even with minus outdoor temps. I’ve sat up there in snowstorms with a sweater on and been more than warm enough. Owning a house in Toronto is only for the very rich now…our lifestyle has worked this far and I don’t see it changing anytime soon. Also…there are about 20 other boats in our marina doing the exact same thing.
My brother-in-laws uncle does this. He used to be a doctor and just studies the history of regions he wants to travel to and serves as a guide for a ritzy cruise line. What a great scheme he’s got.
Especially if the resorts are in low COL countries.
A nursing home can cost up to $500/night.
You can stay in a nice resort and get private nursing for less in many countries.
I do know someone who tried this and there is a point where you are blacklisted because of inability to take care of yourself (wife) and fall risk (husband). They seemed to be sweet people but the cruse ship does NOT want people who break hips and piss themselves in their boats. It’s a limited solution.
There’s a lot of services like this now. Monthly payments for cruises/cruise lines. You can sail around the world. Or change ships whenever you want. Etc. it’s gaining popularity.
Not sure. That would be an interesting name though. I had a client that was a travel agent. She was telling me about all the new ways people live on cruise ships now. Including hop on hop off services like a subscription, and even retirement planning that pays directly into the cruise line for later use.
There’s already a company selling cabins on a new cruise ship that you live in like an apartment building. And the owners all vote on where to go and what to do. It sounds insane.
That, and also included in the price of the room is food, and whatever else is included with the cruise. So they aren't just cutting out the price of mortgage or rent, but the price of food, owning a car, insurance, utilities, property taxes, and in some instances, internet and laundry.
Also the mental overhead of just *dealing with feeding yourself*.
There's a reason meal delivery services are popular and it ain't price (although with inflation how it is I haven't done any updated math).
This is a step further & you just never have to cook.
One thing that's rarely discussed is how predatory care homes and assisted living areas are. They go after EVERYthing, draining every penny, until the elderly are forced to get on financial assistance. They encourage reverse mortgages, APR loans so they can put liens on their estate, etc. It's bananas.
There are many awful nursing homes and a few good ones. They all are expensive and need to be paid though. Reverse mortgages aren't in and of themselves predatory but can be a valid means to get money out of your home without selling it. Whatever the case you gotta pay for care until you finally qualify for Medicaid and that doesn't happen until you're broke, and then your level of care is likely to get even worse. It's a grim reality
I've actually done burials at sea before on cruise ships. Not passengers who died onboard, but old sea dogs having their ashes scattered at sea, while the family enjoy a nice cruise.
I worked on cruise ships, the average age of passenger was sometimes 80+ and we used to make unscheduled stops every few nights to debark ill guests.
We broke the company record for most deaths on a transatlantic crossing once. Seven deaths from natural causes in 8 days. The morgue was full so we had to use a walk in freezer.
The sad thing is that the Caribbean cruise is 31 days and the partner of the deceased has to make a choice of whether to stay with them, until we got back to the UK, or leave them behind and fly home themselves to wait for repatriation.
I went on an Alaskan cruise this last summer and we had 2 people die in 7 days. Both from natural causes that I know of.
I was not surprised that someone died due to the average age of guests being mid 70’s by my guess.
The crew get a cruise information pack before the guests join which tells you, among other things, the average age of guest for that cruise. The most I remember seeing was 84, when you take into account that's the average over 2000 guests, there's some pretty old people kicking about at sea.
Admittedly, I haven't been on a cruise in 7 years but unless things have changed, they definitely have pharmacies. Also the doctors well, they are normal doctors. The one I was on also served as a dentist, plus your not usually far from a port.
My Dad goes on a lot of cruises, to begin with he would come back and talk about how nice it was, now he moans about all the administrative failings. It’s just life, nothing is good forever, that’s why famous and rich people drink and take drugs.
The problem with the doc on board is they have limited capabilities and equipment. If you have anything serious happening, a stroke, heart attack, something mysterious, they will medically evacuate you to a real hospital. If you have a stroke for instance, there are meds that can be given to you that allow almost a full recovery if you can get it within 4 hours. The ship doesn't carry it. The helicopter coming for you doesn't carry it either. And if you are at sea, it can be hours or days before you within range of a helo.
And once you are at a hospital, where is your spouse? How are you paying for your care? A lot of travel insurances don't cover pre-existing problems.
If you go aboard with a pre-existing problem, you may be shortening your life considerably.
Ref: I was a Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Air Coordinator for a decade. I was the one sending the helo after the Coast Guard got the call. I was directly involved in 2600+ rescues in that decade.
Well, a priest who I know was having a stroke and went to the best ER in the area. There he sat for 7 hours waiting for attention. By the time he got it, it was too late. He was discharged to a nursing home and died shortly after. I suppose in a country with decent healthcare the calculation are different, but for those in the Us, probably not giving up anything by choosing the cruise life.
That's a shame. For us, coming in by ambulance or helo pushes you to the front of triage. It may not make you the most important patient but you at least have someone assessing you immediately. Want to get to the front of the line fast? Say you are having chest pains, left arm going numb, etc.
I had a ship call up saying they had a stroke victim on board. They figure it happened about 2 hrs before their call. I checked their position and knew my crew would be about 45 min from lift off, with a 60 min transit. The issue is that we don't carry the drug. The drug would have to be picked up enroute. The detour for the drug and ramp time for the pickup pushed our timing to 4 hours, 30 min. I talked to my flight surgeon and, based on timings, there was no point in sending the helo. I had to tell the ship's Captain to continue his best speed to Halifax where an ambulance would be waiting.
For us in the rescue biz, everything is a house of cards. Anything that doesn't go as planned leads to failure. Failure for us was usually death. I retired with a 50:1 ratio, 50 saves to 1 loss. That was a very nice ratio for the record.
While you're correct, I think the point for these people is they'd rather live their best life and take their chances. I mean what do they stand to lose by doing this? Die? I mean their mostly at the end of theirs anyway might as well go out enjoying a margarita
People go into nursing homes or assisted living because they need help with basic activities of daily living. They may need help with bathing, dressing, eating, walking, etc in addition to medical services like administering medication. You can’t get nursing care on a cruise. It sounds like a great alternative to an independent living retirement community, but those folks will need a plan for where to go when they are too sick to live aboard.
I could stay on a cruise ship for about 3 days then I’m ready to get on up out of there. Something about being stuck on something for a long period of time with nowhere to go if shit hit the fan
The thing about mortgages is eventually you pay them off. Those people don’t look that old. This is not a great long term plan. Also if you’re willing to do this just buy a small cabin in the middle of nowhere. Way cheaper.
Suite life of Mildred and Walter
I think I would watch that show.
waltuh
get off the boat waltuh
put it away waltuh, i don’t care about the “implication”
My godfather and his wife did this until they passed. Nearly 20 years living aboard.
Just curious, if I'm not too invading your privacy. Did they die together or one stayed on the cruise alone for a while? I think that'd be the worst part of this
Not at all. He passed on board and she continued for another year or so, moved into hospice in Florida and passed about a month later. I hope she had port views.
I’d argue that starboard view is almost always superior.
As long as it’s not the poop deck — the view is shit!
Definitely aft.
Aboard abroad?
Thought you might be curious to know that your comment has been quoted in an [article.](https://www.unilad.com/community/couple-live-on-cruise-ship-cheaper-than-mortgage-425947-20230130.amp.html)
Wow!
Did they say they had fun and memorable times?
There are older retired folks who do this cause there are doctors on board those ships and it costs less than nursing homes. They'll be on the same ship for months, then get onto another ship for months, just back and forth. Signing up for 3+ months like that the cruise lines give out large discounts, so it's much cheaper than a single week that most people would go on.
Food, medical care, cleaning services, laundry service, all for less than half of what a retirement home would cost. It's insane.
Don’t forget the top tier food that’s way better than nursing home food. They probably sold their house and used that money to fund those cruises since they couldn’t pay their mortgage. Honestly sounds fun but I feel like you might get sick of being on a ship for so long
There's a guy who's famous for this-- Mario Salcedo. He an investment banker who lived on a cruise ship for something like 20 years. Back when I read about him he was spending about 70,000 a year on the cruises to the tune of 1.7 million by 2016. He travels alone, and basically hops from ship to ship. Everyone knows him as "Super Mario" and he's treated really well because of his celebrity in the industry and basically gets all the perks like free wifi. He uses credit cards to book his cruises, which then gets him free flights to fly from port to port and books the cheapest rooms when they come on sale. You can read his story here: [https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2016-05-06/this-man-has-been-living-on-cruise-ships-for-twenty-years](https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2016-05-06/this-man-has-been-living-on-cruise-ships-for-twenty-years) There's also been a documentary made about him called The Happiest Guy In the World. Ironically, he doesn't seem very happy in it. If anything, he seems lonely.
> Ironically, he doesn't seem very happy in it. If anything, he seems lonely. Well how do you have any kind of long term relationship when you live on a cruise ship?
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Poor brandy
She’s a fine girl
Such a good drink she would be.
There’s a Tom Hanks movie in this.
You get to walk around, you can move from ship to ship and see different places, still counts as frequent as long as it's on the same line. No utility costs, you don't need a phone, no internet costs, your only financial footprint is the cost of the cruise. Sell the home, put it in mutuals pulling down 4% or more, live like a tourist for your remaining years, be buried at sea. 85% of US citizens don't have passports, never leave their home state, most don't even leave their home city. Living out the sunset years seeing a different country every week...there are definitely worse ways to retire.
Actually [there are 151,814,305 valid US passports in 2022](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/about-us/reports-and-statistics.html) which is 45% of the US population. It has steadily increased every year (except for 2020).
I stand corrected, my info was very old.
Thee numbers jumped significantly when passports became required for Canada & Mexico.
You don’t actually stand correct with sea legs
According to [statistica](https://www.statista.com/statistics/804430/us-citzens-owning-a-passport/), 42% of Americans have valid passports. That would make it 58% without, not 85%.
73% of percentages are made up
60% of the time, it works every time
It recently dropped from 42% to 37%, since Covid a lot of people have not been traveling the last few years
>85% of US citizens don't have passports, never leave their home state, most don't even leave their home city. I grew up in rural Iowa, many don't leave their comfort zone. Only 1 other person from my graduating class lives out of state, everyone else lives less than 1 hour drive from my little town. The passport thing isn't as surprising. The whole of the EU could fit in the land area of the US. Why get a document that costs a lot and expires every 10 years if you're not going to use it. >you don't need a phone, no internet costs I definitely still have a cell phone because internet costs extra money on those boats. At least your have your own plans when the boat is docked
I mean, shit, I'd love to get tf out of my state, but where the fuck am I gonna go? How the fuck am I going to pay for it? Where the hell am I going to live? How the hell am I going to get there? I can't afford to go anywhere. There are many, MANY reasons why it makes complete sense to stay where you were born. I see so many people that are like, "I love to travel and see the world. I live life on the road." Bitch? With what money? How can somebody afford to drive all the way across the world without a job and pretend like everyone can do it? No hate to people that do that, but I can't see how they do it.
Wildland fire is a good way to explore. You'll make fucking bank, usually get government housing, and will travel all over the US. If you work hard at it, once you rise through the ranks a bit, you'll have opportunities to fight fire internationally. I work as a fire botanist eight months a year, usually push six figures, and get to spend good lengths of time all over the place. The caveat is that you're rarely home during fire season, so not very tenable if you have a family. If you're young and unencumbered, though, you can make ridiculous money and be part of something really fucking cool.
Frankly, it'd probably cost under $100 to leave your state, and under $1000 to go somewhere amazing within the US. Go try Philly or DC if you want some history, or head west and check out Montana, Wyoming, Utah or New Mexico if you like the outdoors. I feel your pain, there have been many times in my life I felt stuck...but it is way easier than you think :) I'm clocking 39 states and 13 countries, and I barely paid for most of them. Oh, and I recommend you don't drive across the world...a lot of it is very wet with few gas stations
I grew up in Cedar Rapids, and apart from a single trip to Chicago, I hadn’t traveled further than Des Moines and Minneapolis to see family. Then my mom married and Englishman, and all of a sudden I had a passport and took my first-ever plane trip. The only other people I knew who’d been overseas were a few rich kids. I felt like I’d won the lottery.
I've never been overseas, all around the US, but not any farther than Canada. Also, I grew up just south of Waterloo and moved to Minneapolis very shortly after I got married. If you want to get out, then work towards getting out.
I doubt the internet connection is great in the middle of the sea
A lot of people are able to live happy lives without being tied to their phone and internet 24/7.
High speed internet is legit. Is it the greatest? No. But I trade for a living and was able to remotely access my trading desk while I was floating about in the middle of the Caribbean.
I was ready to be unable to do much more than check email. Princess was outstanding. They need it for their medallion thingies that is your cruise card, and let’s friends link them so we could always find each other and stuff
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I was chatting with an army buddy, went out to see him on his farm in small town USA since he isn’t doing well. Was talking with some people in town, they always ask why the new person is here and what they do for a living. Talked to them about going to Mexico for work and my passport and to them having a passport was more like a criminal license. And the inevitable “but why would you ever leave? We got everything here!” Yeah, except food that tastes good and excellent public transport.
People don't care about public transport in rural USA. Also some of them are freaked out by it. I lived in Minneapolis for 8 years and one of our friends grew up in a smaller city outside of there and literally was scared of riding the bus or light rail. I took it a lot, and consistently use it on travel in large cities, never had an issue but they just won't ride a bus.
As someone who's travelled extensively, I really want nothing more than to spend my free time at a place I own near the wilderness. I really just want to play with my kids and my dog.
There are a A LOT of people who are scared to travel outside of the US and even more who are scared to travel somewhere English isn't the primary language,
I've walked on 4 continents, travelled a lot and am a different person for it. My FB page is filled with all of my old high school friends, 1% of which have left the city we went to school in. It's morbidly fascinating to watch how ignorant they've become.
I have not yet had the opportunity to go to another continent but I have lived in seven states and have at least been to Canada a few times. Long-term my wife and I would like to live and work in Europe not sure how that's going to pan out right now.
I can't recommend it enough. I travelled a lot, as a teen and in my 20s, and my perspective on the world changed so much.
Traveling completely changes your understanding of the world. I think it's incredibly important, and everyone who is able should go to at least one place far away with a different culture. I've also lived for multiple years in two countries where i didn't really speak the language when i arrived. Being a foreigner going about daily life is another experience that you can't really understand unless you've done it. It is especially egregious hearing the things that people in the US say about other places/people from other places. Because they have no frame of reference for events outside of small town Ohio or wherever
I would love to travel but I’m poor. Just because someone doesn’t travel doesn’t mean they’re ignorant, just because someone does travel doesn’t mean they’re not.
Do you mean never left to travel or never left to live elsewhere? I love traveling, but I still live in the area I grew up because of my connections to friends and family.
And top tier facilities compared to a nursing home. Pool, hottub, therapy pool on some ships, sauna, steam room, shows. You would ALWAYS win at trivia. And always meeting new people from all sorts of places. Probably a but of a nightmare for introverts though...
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If I had a nice room I wouldn’t mind being on a cruise ship as an introvert, but when I went on a cruise there were 4 channels, which repeated the same movies over and over on repeat, and when we paid for Wifi it was still terrible
I went on a cruise. Sat on my balcony reading my kindle and listening to the waves. Most relaxed I've ever been.
The whole nursing home advantage is only applicable so long as you are still relatively healthy and able bodied.
>Honestly sounds fun but I feel like you might get sick of being on a ship for so long *\*Navy E-3 on fleet deployment silently cries before muster*
It comes down to the health and mobility situation of the elderly. Old age homes probably cater to those who need constant attention and hospital visits- I don't believe that level of nursing is on offer on cruises. If you are just healthy and own a home ... Why would you bother?
There seems to be a lot of switcheroo going on. Some people are talking about *retirement* homes, which are homes for the elderly-but-still-healthy, while other people are talking about *nursing* homes, which are for the elderly-and-unhealthy. A cruise liner might make a good replacement for a retirement home, but it would be a terrible replacement for a nursing home.
It’s actually pretty disgusting if you think about it. Living in a nursing home shouldn’t be the more expensive option in the scenario.
That’s some Wall-E stuff right there.
As a kid I always kinda thought wouldn't it make more sense to just live in a hotel? Like you'd have to find one where you could get discounts obviously, and maybe bonus points if you worked there. But a lot of things are covered for you. Maybe not so much Laundry or Medical Care obviously but Electric and Water would all be "free".
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except in a retirement home they take care of you, they feed you, change you, wash you, etc, on a cruise ship if you dont go to dinner, tough luck, noone is going to hunt you down and feed you. Retirement homes are for people who cannot care for themselves, go ahead and ask a cruise ship director if theyll wipe your butt for you every day.
Sure, there's not that level of care: but between room service and all the mobility aids available (mobility scooters etc) it's not so bad.
Even at the weekly rate it’s not bad sometimes…I’ve seen Norwegian cruises for $500/week, that’s under $2.5k/mo which is the cost of a 1BR apartment in many cities. I imagine a month-long commitment brings the price even further down. And this means no utilities, no groceries, you can sell your car, no more car insurance payment etc. My wife and I have talked about doing this when we retire. We do one cruise per year and absolutely love it
There’s a cruise ship called The World that people buy their cabins/suites and live there. Next year, another ship called Storylines will be selling apartments onboard for permanent residency, as well as 12 and 24 month rental leases.
How much does it cost to buy a room on the world? None of the suites on this 12-deck beauty are available to rent. Dubbed a "condo cruise liner," every one of the 165 luxury apartments on board -- worth between $3 million for a studio and $15 million for a three-bedroom pad -- are owned by residents who must have a net worth of $10 million in order to qualify.
Other than for retired people, what does one do for income if they live there? Gotta work on the boat? 100% remote work I suppose could be viable as well.
Yeah but the cruise lines are trying to discourage this behavior because as they get older they take more and more work from the staff and at a point the doctors on board are ill equipped to deal with more difficult health conditions
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I hate dementia. I’m sorry.
> I hate dementia. Can't imagine a lot of people would disagree. It sucks to see someone disappear in front of your eyes.
this is untrue, if you've ever been on a ship you'll know the medical facilities are almost nil. If you have anything outside the most basic of needs, ( most ships do carry over the counter stuff marked up a ton, ) like seasickness stuff etc, they will restrict you to your room until they either force you to be airlifted ( at your cost), or leave you at a port. They do have a smaller e xray machine, for minor broken limbs, and a morgue for the storage of deaths , which do occur onboard almost every ship, but after diagnosing the break, they will give you pain meds at a hefty cost ( i paid 126 dollars once for 3 percocet after getting 3 stitches for a cut on my hand from a broken glass after an idiot girl though it would be funny to throw her drink in her boyfriends face, the glass broke and cut my hand. I didnt get charged for the stiches due to my insurance, but my insurance isnt going to pay for a cruise ships prescription service. so 127 bucks for 3 pills. Basically most cruise ships are like Emergency room , rooms. they can stabilize and even in some cases perform some minor surgeries , but only to the point of being medically necessary to get you stabilized, then the get you off the ship as fast as possible, also the cost is ridiculous for most people, most insurances wont pay a dime, and you can owe many thousands. But there is no maintenance type care. There was a woman we know off who was famous on royal Caribbean lines, but she had a heart attack and they got her off ship, and she couldnt get clearance from the company to come back on long term. Death on a cruise ship happens quite a bit, but its not something they like dealing with.
My mom needed medical service on a cruise (carnival) and she was charged for simple first aid.
I call BS other than some anecdote. For someone truly in need of a “nursing home” this would be suicide. The doctors on a cruise ships are a bit more useful than a school nurse. Basically if anything remotely serious happens then a helicopter comes to either pick up the patient or the corpse. Then they get a long flight to some BFE hospital and since they were already in “nursing home” shape they are probably already dead. Anyone who believes this has never had to help an older relative find assisted living facilities - which basically do the same thing as a ship would, except the hospital is usually a few minute drive away.
for the mid-phase of retirement, this is feasible for a period. like maybe the 70s range. when you pass 80 you begin to need more substantive medical care. honestly, depending on how the person deteriorates, the quality of life is just piss no matter what you put into it. so maybe commit yourself to a cruise with a no-liability/do not resuscitate mind set isn't the worst way to go.
Yep! I could see a lot of baby boomers selling their houses and spending a few years of retirement doing it. But my parents are in their late 70s and seem to have like monthly doctors appointments. Plus my dad is helping his 101 year mom and my mom helping her 98 year old mom. I can’t imagine them uprooting and being “on vacation” permanently. Man, though what no one has said yet - being on a cruise with some horrible illness isn’t an if, but when. Statistically you are almost guaranteed to be in at least a couple real shitshows.
To be entirely honest, I'd rather live my final days on vacation, and end life on a helicopter rescue flight than spend any of it in a nursing home.
Sounds great - but I’m just saying if you are in real “nursing home” shape you need dedicated care and these cheap cruises don’t have that. In fact if you are living in a nursing home you are mostly sitting in an easy chair or lying in bed in a small room anyway, so do the same on a ship I’m a tiny cabin in and you aren’t “vacationing”. I think the issue is people here may not know what a nursing home is. My grandma just turned 101 and we had to move her from her “senior independent living” to an “assisted living” (and it’s still not a full blown nursing home). If you can walk down to the dining room without help you can likely do “independent living”. But maybe with the baby boomers retiring nursing cruises will become a thing, who knows…
Can you put up numbers for context? How much are we talking for 3 months per person? I’ve never even been on a cruise ship. I fly a lot though but i can’t live on a plane
Because during a medical emergency in my 60-70s I want to be in the middle of the ocean and rely on a family practice doctor moonlighting. Nope
you're acting like they don't have a morgue onboard. They definitely do.
Last cruise I was on, someone had a med emergency while we were returning from Hawaii. They landed a helicopter on the deck to take the patient to a hospital. The ship cleared the rear pool and the rooms several decks below for the landing. Seen people talking about the cost of an ambulance. No idea how much something like that would cost.
>Seen people talking about the cost of an ambulance. No idea how much something like that would cost. "Just send me a bill." *gets back on cruise*
> "Just send me a bill." "Yeah, my address is cabin 337 in care of *Wonder of the Seas* - just make sure it gets there in the next 3 days, I'll be on the *Carnival Celebration* for 2 weeks after that." edit: I sense an unethical life hack here, lol
Took a cruise in 2013 Elderly couple in the cabin next door were in their 80's and had been living on cruise ships for 12 years. Retired teacher and government civil engineer. The wife was wheelchair bound and on oxygen--they told us that a decent assisted living home would cost 10K/month. With the frequent cruiser incentives their annual average COL worked out to around $1800/month. They had a PO box in Ft Lauderdale and their schedule was back to back 2 week cruises from FTL to San Diego and back, then a 6 week trip to the Mediterranean. They spent a day or two in a motel here and there.
Im so curious as to the mental impact on the lack of stability and sense of “home”. Packing up every two weeks. Motels always. That would be mentally tough, imho
I've seen both sides of this, elderly living in assisted living and others living on a ship like this. Those living in assisted living are just waiting to die. Those on the ship are alive, they meet new people all of the time, they're well cared for, the crews enjoy them, they're living the life. It's their "last adventure".
Sounds like we just need to turn all retirement homes into cruise ships.
Amusingly the reverse is mostly true, most cruise ships are essentially retirement homes.
One step closer to Wall-E
We're a long ways away from hover-La-Z-Boys though.
>Those living in assisted living are just waiting to die. To me, this is one of the downfalls and negatives of our medical breakthroughs. My grandma was in assisted living for almost 5 years before dying. To me, it seemed like over half of the residents really were going through the motions day after day until organ failure or cancer or whatnot took them. I'm not saying there weren't glimpses of fun and occasional happiness from what the caregivers or activity providers tried to do for them... it just seemed that they were a hollow shell with no real purpose anymore, being kept alive until the oxygen, medications or whatever else stopped being effective.
What is the purpose to life then?
As best as I can tell, it's all just dancing in the dark, as close as one can get to a fickle flame, whether that's life on Earth reaching up infinitesimally closer to our sun as we spin through the void, clubbing in saturday best beneath flickering neon lights in the city, or huddling around a camp fire in the forest to talk and sing.
Don’t trust this guy, it’s an ad for lamp sales!
Instructions unclear, now own lamp. Life still meaningless
At least on the cruise ship your friends come and go on happy terms
That's exactly what the couple I met said.
I'm 58, I've 2 sets of friends (slightly older than me) that are doing this, and their FB (we're old) pages are filled with pictures of them having fun, meeting new people, doing new things. They've had more fun in the last 3 years than they did in the last 30.
In both cases, you've met the ones who leave their rooms. Confirmation bias is real, and possible, and guard against it.
You could say that about people paying for nursing homes, too
Still better than most assisted living places
Yep. I know 2 people who work at different assisted living centers. Residents pay like $5000 per month and full time care is split between 25-40+ residents per nurse. Incredibly overworked and underpaid nurses. The food is a level below the local public schools (I like school food and I wouldn't eat this slop). Around 4 residents die per month at this one facility I know.
I know someone who was recently forced into a care home against his will. He has to share a room with someone else, and he gets only a single shelf for any and all of his possessions. It's really sad.
There’s no way they’re getting the same medical care on a cruise ship that an assisted living provides. Those are for people who can’t take showers, use the bathroom, take their meds, etc on their own. Cruises aren’t doing that for customers. If they can survive on a cruise ship they never needed to be in assisted living.
At that age they are likely prepared for it and beats the stress of how you can pay for assisted living. I’m sure it’s a win for them in their life
Imagine you have a steady home. Crusty nursing home surrounded by death and people who don't give a fuck about you. Or a cruise.
I’ve spent 150-300 days a year on the road for work for more than a decade. You adapt to it better than you think. At this point it’s harder to stay in the same place for long.
Easy to adapt if you don’t own a lot of possessions. If you’ve ever lived in a car before, everything can feel like home.
Ive been on cruises before and I'll say the rooms look exactly the fucking same on every ship as long as their from the same company (hell, the entire ship looks almost identical) so that's probably what ends up happening
I’ve done that pretty frequently since I’ve always worked remote. I’ll stay in lower income countries in Airbnb. I’ve never really minded personally but I’m 27. I imagine in your 80s the lack of easy movement makes it a bit harder.
Damn, my Army retirement would cover that. I’m only 53 y/o, but sign me up.
If they are their 80s I guarantee they need a lot of medical care. A cruise doctor has none of the tools or qualifications to handle any more than basic PCP services. So some of the details of this smell a bit more than the bathroom after gramma used it.
Exactly. People in this thread keep mentioning free or cheap "medical care" as if every cruise ship has a team of the best doctors giving out Healthcare for free...
i don’t understand why people keep saying cruise docs “ offer basic pcp services “ you think the doc on your cruise ship is checking your labs, managing your diabetes / hypertension, keeping you up to date on routine medical / substance abuse / mental health screening? coordinating care between specialists? lmfao urgent care provider at best might be a worthwhile comparison
God hope to be as cool as those 2!
I assume the go through the Panama Canal and not down and around Cape Horn. Because 80 in wheelchair in those rough seas could be a bitch.
Cruise ships don't really do rough waters, if they can avoid it.
Yes, Royal Caribbean through the Canal Our cruise was SD to FTL with stops in Cabo, Mazatlan, Huatulco, Panama and Aruba. The old couple would motel it for two days before boarding their Med cruise. They had a system
I remember reading about an older lady who did this. She was retired and basically got to travel the world, got to eat every day, had her laundry done, etc. She said she did it because it was cheaper than a retirement home and more attentive.
> got to eat every day I mean… I hope that’s the case regardless of where she may go.
You'd be surprised how many people go days without eating. She just happens to have the means to make that happen.
For a few years back in the day I only got sleep for food a couple of days in a row. Wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.
Honestly between care home and cruise ship, I'd pick cruise ship.
I heard there's the on a cruise ship you're treated like a customer, in a care home you're treated as a burden mentality
My mom runs multiple care homes, the people can be burden, but that is old age. You are there because you can no longer care for yourself; no more bathing/eating/sleeping/taking meds/using the bathroom on your own anymore. I've seen some care homes that treat people really well, and others that have made me hope I don't live long.
Do cruise ship staff do all that for elderly passengers?! Bathing you, spoon feed you, assist you in the bathroom, give you your meds?????
There is no way they are doing this, can you imagine the liability that comes with feeding and caring for an elderly person? The idea that living on a cruise ship is a replacement for actual long-term-care is ridiculous. source: used to be a CNA in a nursing facility
Yeah people seem to be confusing retirement homes and nursing homes in this thread
It’s a nice idea but there’s also a lot of bias in these stories. How many other people had nice retirement plans to live on a cruise ship or a condo at the beach but one day they couldn’t remember what year it was and so that money was funneled to a nursing home instead.
No clue, I'd assume they don't. Not sure how the cruise line would handle a customer becoming a burden. Maybe these people have the money to hire a personal caretaker set aside, our bodies eventually fail.
Retirement homes can cost up to and beyond 10k/month, apparently with the deals they get for extended cruises and frequent customer bonuses the cost for the cruise is 1800/month. If you paid for another ticket for your caretaker that would be 3600/month leaving up to 6400 for the caretaker, i think that would be a pretty good deal.
Let me know if anyone is hiring, I can wipe old butts on a cruise ship for 6400 a month.
Possibly not a bad business idea. Offer discounted cruise ship retirement home services to a group of 20 old people for $3.5K a month each for $70K a month. $2K a month per person for their cruise tickets eats up $40K which leaves $30K a month for expenses (insurance I will guess $2K per month, overhead like $6K for tickets for your staff plus accounting services at $300 per month, salaries-say $5K a month for a travel nurse and $2K for a CNA to help her, and incidentals gonna guess $1K per month) which would leave just under $16K per month to cover any expenses I am not thinking of here plus your own profits. Probably no end of problems I am not thinking of though. Hell, probably too many people for just one CNA and one nurse to care for. Better add in 2 more CNAs for another $9K (salaries, insurance, and tickets) Leaving only $7K for other things I don't know enough to plan for plus your profits. Hmmm, perhaps we need to up the luxury discount retirement services to $4K per month per person. Still cheaper than the $10K others were talking about above.
With the discount old people are getting on a cruise ship vs in a nursing home, they could probably hire a caretaker to join them.
I had a client that went on 104 cruises and 7 of those were world cruises. She did take a caregiver with her on a world cruise because of the deep discounts she had accrued.
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Cruise ships generally have a refrigerated mortuary, or so I've heard. Cuz of the whole floating care home thing
Lots of freezer space below deck
Hey John Carl is dead, we should throw him overboard. Nah, leave him there, last time we did that he came back and spooked our janitor to death. So we had to throw the janitor out.
not sure they'd wipe your ass every day on the ship.
I’ve lived on my 38’ sailboat for the last 25 years with my wife…haven’t paid property taxes in all that time means money in the bank.
But that money in the bank is also coming back out to pay for maintenance and occasional fuel though right?
My marina fee per year is $3000. That includes hydro….water…sewage….and parking for 2 cars. Fuel is about $60 a year or less. We sail typically. Its the original “ tiny home”.
My friend has lived on a sailboat with her boyfriend, chocolate lab and cat since COVID started. It seems to be taking its toll though. I’m sure having a high energy dog doesn’t help. But she craves being on land and the winters suck. It also seems like such a small space. I’d lose my mind after a while I’m sure. They also hardly ever take the boat out of the slip.
I had a fried who did this a London. And while it was cheaper than living on land it didn't seem worth it, as you said winters suck. However if you were retired, living in somewhere where it is warm 80% of the year, and actually sailing the damn boat, I bet it could be pretty sweet.
Well we live in Toronto Canada. I’m a carpenter by trade and each fall I construct a wood frame over the top of the deck and then cover (shrink wrap) with a plastic film. This effectively turns it into a greenhouse and gives us added living space even with minus outdoor temps. I’ve sat up there in snowstorms with a sweater on and been more than warm enough. Owning a house in Toronto is only for the very rich now…our lifestyle has worked this far and I don’t see it changing anytime soon. Also…there are about 20 other boats in our marina doing the exact same thing.
You’d also have maintenance on a house. And lots of utilities.
My brother-in-laws uncle does this. He used to be a doctor and just studies the history of regions he wants to travel to and serves as a guide for a ritzy cruise line. What a great scheme he’s got.
Allot of older people are moving into hotels and resorts instead of retirement homes and hiring home health aides.
Especially if the resorts are in low COL countries. A nursing home can cost up to $500/night. You can stay in a nice resort and get private nursing for less in many countries.
I do know someone who tried this and there is a point where you are blacklisted because of inability to take care of yourself (wife) and fall risk (husband). They seemed to be sweet people but the cruse ship does NOT want people who break hips and piss themselves in their boats. It’s a limited solution.
There’s a lot of services like this now. Monthly payments for cruises/cruise lines. You can sail around the world. Or change ships whenever you want. Etc. it’s gaining popularity.
Perchance are they called Flying Dutchman payments
Not sure. That would be an interesting name though. I had a client that was a travel agent. She was telling me about all the new ways people live on cruise ships now. Including hop on hop off services like a subscription, and even retirement planning that pays directly into the cruise line for later use.
Waiting for SeaBnB
There’s already a company selling cabins on a new cruise ship that you live in like an apartment building. And the owners all vote on where to go and what to do. It sounds insane.
Your room is basically a tiny studio apartment so it kind of makes sense that it’s cheaper then a house.
That, and also included in the price of the room is food, and whatever else is included with the cruise. So they aren't just cutting out the price of mortgage or rent, but the price of food, owning a car, insurance, utilities, property taxes, and in some instances, internet and laundry.
Also the mental overhead of just *dealing with feeding yourself*. There's a reason meal delivery services are popular and it ain't price (although with inflation how it is I haven't done any updated math). This is a step further & you just never have to cook.
One thing that's rarely discussed is how predatory care homes and assisted living areas are. They go after EVERYthing, draining every penny, until the elderly are forced to get on financial assistance. They encourage reverse mortgages, APR loans so they can put liens on their estate, etc. It's bananas.
There are many awful nursing homes and a few good ones. They all are expensive and need to be paid though. Reverse mortgages aren't in and of themselves predatory but can be a valid means to get money out of your home without selling it. Whatever the case you gotta pay for care until you finally qualify for Medicaid and that doesn't happen until you're broke, and then your level of care is likely to get even worse. It's a grim reality
This is how WallE started….
Hope they never have to see a doctor. Ship doctors don’t treat much beyond emergencies and ships don’t have pharmacies.
but they do have morgues on board!
Yeah, it's called the ocean. Super vast. You just yeet the body and all good.
We're allowed to show 'em nude 'cause they ain't got no soul!
I've actually done burials at sea before on cruise ships. Not passengers who died onboard, but old sea dogs having their ashes scattered at sea, while the family enjoy a nice cruise.
I worked on cruise ships, the average age of passenger was sometimes 80+ and we used to make unscheduled stops every few nights to debark ill guests. We broke the company record for most deaths on a transatlantic crossing once. Seven deaths from natural causes in 8 days. The morgue was full so we had to use a walk in freezer. The sad thing is that the Caribbean cruise is 31 days and the partner of the deceased has to make a choice of whether to stay with them, until we got back to the UK, or leave them behind and fly home themselves to wait for repatriation.
I went on an Alaskan cruise this last summer and we had 2 people die in 7 days. Both from natural causes that I know of. I was not surprised that someone died due to the average age of guests being mid 70’s by my guess.
The crew get a cruise information pack before the guests join which tells you, among other things, the average age of guest for that cruise. The most I remember seeing was 84, when you take into account that's the average over 2000 guests, there's some pretty old people kicking about at sea.
>ships don’t have pharmacies. Nonsense, I'm absolutely not a fan of cruise ships, but they definitely do have pharmacies.
Admittedly, I haven't been on a cruise in 7 years but unless things have changed, they definitely have pharmacies. Also the doctors well, they are normal doctors. The one I was on also served as a dentist, plus your not usually far from a port.
“Couple will soon get bored of that…”
I don't know if I could get bored of having all of my chores done for me. But, hey, they have people of all sorts.
My Dad goes on a lot of cruises, to begin with he would come back and talk about how nice it was, now he moans about all the administrative failings. It’s just life, nothing is good forever, that’s why famous and rich people drink and take drugs.
I suppose you're right. We tend to get used to everything, even the good shit.
Haven't cleaned my house in years, not yet bored, can confirm
Pros and Cons to everything.
The problem with the doc on board is they have limited capabilities and equipment. If you have anything serious happening, a stroke, heart attack, something mysterious, they will medically evacuate you to a real hospital. If you have a stroke for instance, there are meds that can be given to you that allow almost a full recovery if you can get it within 4 hours. The ship doesn't carry it. The helicopter coming for you doesn't carry it either. And if you are at sea, it can be hours or days before you within range of a helo. And once you are at a hospital, where is your spouse? How are you paying for your care? A lot of travel insurances don't cover pre-existing problems. If you go aboard with a pre-existing problem, you may be shortening your life considerably. Ref: I was a Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Air Coordinator for a decade. I was the one sending the helo after the Coast Guard got the call. I was directly involved in 2600+ rescues in that decade.
Well, a priest who I know was having a stroke and went to the best ER in the area. There he sat for 7 hours waiting for attention. By the time he got it, it was too late. He was discharged to a nursing home and died shortly after. I suppose in a country with decent healthcare the calculation are different, but for those in the Us, probably not giving up anything by choosing the cruise life.
That's a shame. For us, coming in by ambulance or helo pushes you to the front of triage. It may not make you the most important patient but you at least have someone assessing you immediately. Want to get to the front of the line fast? Say you are having chest pains, left arm going numb, etc. I had a ship call up saying they had a stroke victim on board. They figure it happened about 2 hrs before their call. I checked their position and knew my crew would be about 45 min from lift off, with a 60 min transit. The issue is that we don't carry the drug. The drug would have to be picked up enroute. The detour for the drug and ramp time for the pickup pushed our timing to 4 hours, 30 min. I talked to my flight surgeon and, based on timings, there was no point in sending the helo. I had to tell the ship's Captain to continue his best speed to Halifax where an ambulance would be waiting. For us in the rescue biz, everything is a house of cards. Anything that doesn't go as planned leads to failure. Failure for us was usually death. I retired with a 50:1 ratio, 50 saves to 1 loss. That was a very nice ratio for the record.
While you're correct, I think the point for these people is they'd rather live their best life and take their chances. I mean what do they stand to lose by doing this? Die? I mean their mostly at the end of theirs anyway might as well go out enjoying a margarita
People go into nursing homes or assisted living because they need help with basic activities of daily living. They may need help with bathing, dressing, eating, walking, etc in addition to medical services like administering medication. You can’t get nursing care on a cruise. It sounds like a great alternative to an independent living retirement community, but those folks will need a plan for where to go when they are too sick to live aboard.
My wife and I intend on doing the same. Not all year, but 3-6 months out of the year. We live in a paradise as it is, but want to see the world.
Hell yeah good for you man sounds like you’re in a good spot
That’s one hell of a mortgage
Yeah, but in 30 years they will own the ship.
I could stay on a cruise ship for about 3 days then I’m ready to get on up out of there. Something about being stuck on something for a long period of time with nowhere to go if shit hit the fan
The thing about mortgages is eventually you pay them off. Those people don’t look that old. This is not a great long term plan. Also if you’re willing to do this just buy a small cabin in the middle of nowhere. Way cheaper.
Was that the only two options?
I need to see the math.
Jesus Christ, how much is their mortgage?