Posted on 02/14/2021 9:51:54 AM PST by sodpoodle
Cruise prices fluctuate wildly based on the time of year, the destination, and what type of room you're booking. But it's possible to find rooms for less than $100 per day per person. If you're living on a cruise ship full-time, $3,000 per month can seem expensive. Keep in mind, though, that you'll also be saving money in other areas.
For example, most food and drinks are included in your cruise fare. So unless you're splurging on specialty drinks or fancy restaurants, you won't need to budget much for food. You also won't need to worry about other costs you're used to paying at home, such as gas and other commuting costs. If you dive into the cruise living lifestyle headfirst and sell your home and car, you won't even have a mortgage or car payments to take care of. Even if you still want to have a primary address, you can downsize your home just for a place to crash between cruises (and even rent it out while you're away at sea). As a bonus, the extra money you'd save by selling or downsizing and/or renting it out can go toward your retirement fund.
The biggest benefit, though, is essentially treating your retirement like one long vacation. While retirement is already a permanent vacation of sorts, with cruise ship living, you no longer need to worry about housecleaning, yard work, or other chores that you'd still be stuck with at home. And as you age and those things become more difficult, spending the majority of your time on a cruise ship is likely more appealing than moving into an assisted living facility.
Cons: A potentially expensive retirement lifestyle Although cruise ship living has its financial perks, that doesn't mean it's always more cost effective than retiring on dry land.
One of the biggest considerations you'll need to make involves healthcare. Medicare doesn't cover healthcare expenses outside the U.S., although there are some exceptions if you need medical care aboard a ship. For example, you may be covered by Medicare if you incur medically necessary expenses while in territorial waters adjacent to the U.S. However, if you're more than six hours away from the nearest U.S. port, Medicare won't cover you.
You do have other options, such as a Medigap Plan or travel insurance, but it's important to do your research and talk to an insurance provider to make sure you're choosing the right plan for your situation. If you go without insurance, you could face some hefty medical bills in the event of an illness or accident. This is especially important as you age, because although they may be more affordable than nursing homes or assisted living facilities, cruise ships aren't equipped to provide specialized care.
You'll also need to iron out a few legal and financial details before you go, such as where your Social Security checks should be sent and how you'll handle your taxes, which will likely require the help of a financial planner. Plus, retiring at sea requires a lot of careful planning. You very likely won't find a cruise that will let you live on board 365 days a year, so you'll instead need to book many shorter-term cruises back-to-back. Expect to spend a lot of time researching the best deals and finding cruises that align with your schedule, then double-checking that all the dates line up -- the last thing you want is to mix up your arrival or departure days and end up stranded in a foreign country.
Retiring at sea isn't for everyone, but for the adventure seeker who is looking for an out-of-the-box retirement, it just may be the ideal way to live. Just make sure you do your research ahead of time and plan accordingly so that you can enjoy your retirement to the fullest.
If you are nimble on your feet, you can be a dance partner. I know a fellow who got several cruises comp’d if he would dance with the old girls.
nursing homes bringing sex workers to ‘manage’ the more randy men,
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Something positive to look forward to then
don’t forget ‘icebergs’ :O
Reminds me of the Twilight Zone episode where a pool shark dies and wakes to find himself in a pool hall with opponents. He starts playing and is shooting perfectly, never misses, wins every game. A man stands nearby observing the action. Eventually the pool hustler gets bored with his inability to miss or be challenged by his competition.
He tells the man observing, “I never expected heaven to be like this, it’s boring.” The man answers, “Who told you this was heaven?” and starts laughing maniacally.
That, I can handle.
This is OK for an extremely small segment of the population. Doesn’t deserve a full article. The people who can easily afford the $50 thousand or so per year don’t need to read an article on it.
You couldn’t pay me to get on one of those stupid floating cities
But that’s just me I’m a kayaker I like to paddle my own boat around
I’m with you ! For now have kids in school and have to make money
The mountain life is the way though !!
When we are on a cruise we get off ship pretty much daily. Excursions.
That's hilarious. The liability of a vacant property, the insurance on it...or "even rent it out" and have to pay a full time property manager the tenants can call after they damage the plumbing. Somebody to go through the constant hassle of extracting rent from these people and not quit suddenly while you're out in the doldrums of the mid-Atlantic.
Nah not that much although that would help. Could probably do $50k a year to cover a full year expenses. If you had a million bucks saved, it would generate 4-9% returns a year, plus SS, so multi- million would not be needed.
I saw a story on TV years ago about a 70-ish widow who booked a cabin on a ship 52 weeks a year. This ship may have been the Queen Elizabeth II....not sure.
One time, the ship was in port, in Hong Kong. Her family flew there to visit her.
Sounded like a good deal for her....lots of activities on the ship, visit interesting ports, and you never have to shop for food, cook, clean the dishes and pots and pans, etc.
Book the first flight out of there
Of course not, since it doesn't appeal to me anyway. 8>)
But like everything these days, it may currently be 3,000 a month but there is no telling what it might be 5 to 10 years from now.
“And what happens when the cruise line goes bankrupt (I guarantee they won’t tell you beforehand) and the lawyers and bankers kick you off the ship in some Third World hellhole because that happened to be the closest place to dock?”
That’s what high-end executive travel insurance is for. If you get stranded in some backward hellhole, you place an emergency call to your insurer. A skilled team of ex-rangers, navy SEALS and Marine force recon will fly in to rescue you. You just have to hope your insurance team gets to you before the unfriendly natives.
“I wouldn’t mind living on a cruise ship.”
I worked the Seattle-Vancouver-Alaska route for Norwegian after high school to pay for my upcoming university tuition. As a passenger, it was heaven. As a steward boy, great because the tips were damn generous and I got to put suntan lotion on really hot babes.
The worst part were the sleeping quarters. 4 dudes in a close space compartment sucks. There is NO privacy either. If you have sea sickness, it aint for you. One of my bunkmates became one of the biggest players in construction in Vancouver. I’ve said it before, Alaska is beautiful. Juneau, especially.
It still wouldn’t appeal to me even if it was one third of that price. A cruise is something I might do once for a couple of weeks or so. Any longer and I would get bored with it. But my wife wouldn’t do it at all as she fears drowning, or if rescued, having to survive in a lifeboat until rescued. 8>)
“”The Legend of 1900””
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That was an interesting movie.
It was very enjoyable, though tinged with regret.
Should you try this out, there is good money to be made by taking extended cruises and serving as a critic as to many facets of the cruises to various locations, services, etc. A close friend of my wife has been doing just that. We met her on an AmaWaterways river cruise in Europe, and they became close friends.
This story has been around for so long it put on Snopes over 15 years ago.
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