“The real question is, especially if you decide to camp out on a ship going to and from the Caribbean, is how often can you hear ‘Cheeseburger in Paradise’ – can you listen to that every day for a year?” quipped Rob Hart this week when discussing the growing trend of year-round cruising.
“If you don’t like it, turn off your hearing aids,” said Cindy Richards, editor in Chief of SheBuysTravel.com and Hart’s recent guest on WBBM Newsradio’s the Noon Business Hour.
All jokes aside, the cruise lifestyle is picking up quite a bit of steam, according to Richards. Hart noted that the trend has typically been associated with retirees, but Richards said younger generations are also ditching their land-based homes to take on the seas.
“You know, digital nomads,” are making the move, she told Hart, especially “now that they’ve improved Wi-Fi on ships – even in the middle of the ocean, you can get decent connectivity these days.”
When it comes to whether living a life of poolside lounging and restaurant-quality meals, Richards said it all comes down to math. Well, math and your tolerance for waves, being around other people, Jimmy Buffett tunes and a few other details.
For retirees, the cruise ship numbers have been looking more attractive than staying in nursing homes or assisted care facilities. For others, the cruise costs might actually look more attractive than the pile of bills they’re currently dealing with.
“You have to sit down and you have to say: “Okay, how much would it cost me if I had a mortgage payment and a car payment and insurance and taxes and food and entertainment and all the things that you get on a cruise ship?’” said Richards. She said those who are considering it should sit down and make a spreadsheet of their costs versus the price of staying on all-inclusive cruises.
Hart pulled up some figures of what things might cost for those who decide to take on the sea-faring life.
“You could do it for roughly $1,000 a week for one stateroom with just two people… if you play your cards right as far as specials are concerned. And you weigh $52,000 a year in housing costs versus what you would be paying on land, it would make a lot of sense,” he said.
Specials could be key to making constant cruising especially cost-effective, Richards said. She also said sticking with the same cruise line helps, so people should test out a few before they sell their home.
“Sticking with the same cruise line or cruise company helps you because, you know… their frequent flyer programs, their frequent cruiser programs, and you get all kinds of perks and price discounts and early bird specials and things like that, that you could take a take advantage of... your points and you can parlay that into a massage once in a while or a free week on a cruise ship,” Richards explained.
She even shared an example, the first cruise ship resident Richards ever met, a 95-year-old widower. He didn’t plan on becoming a year-round cruise guy, but that changed when he went on a cruise that he initially planned on taking with his wife. He liked it so much that he kept-reupping.
“Sometimes his cruise cabin was booked,” she added, but “the crews knew him and loved him so much that they would just go in and pack up his room and move him to the new room while he sat by the pool and they would set everything up for him because they were taking such good care of him on the cruise ship.”
Hart also had a brush with the year-long cruiser community recently.
“I managed to see this in the wild, Cindy, not too long ago. It was on Facebook and it was a connection on that particular platform talking about their neighbors who really are doing the retirement at sea. And it can be fairly competitive,” he said. Hart called the trend a “distant relative of the hotel guys” – celebrities such as Harry Caray and Telly Savalas who were known for living in hotels.
“I cruise a fair amount, and I can't remember the last time I was on a cruise ship where I did not run into someone who was basically living on the cruise ship,” Richards added.
Besides the cost, Richards also warns people to make sure they are cut out for life at sea before diving in. People who are especially attached to their things, furniture, collectibles, etc. might want to go a different route.
“I wouldn't recommend this to someone who’s never been on a cruise ship,” she said. You don't want to get out, you know, sell everything you own and then book it for a year and find out you get seasick. That would be a real drag.”
Instead, she recommends trying a few out with some research vacations.
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