Monday, April 1, 2024

3 Residents Share What It's Like to Live on a Cruise Ship Full-Time

living on a cruise ship

The routes that the Horizon sails would take you all across the Caribbean, from Cozumel to Aruba, from Curacao to Grand Cayman. Because it is a bigger and (relatively) newer ship in the Carnival fleet, you’d also have tons of amenities and activities on board, as well as a many restaurant options — including Guy’s Burger Joint. In other words, whenever you see a cruise price, double it right away for what you’ll really pay in fare. Of course, not everyone can run off and live on a cruise ship, but that doesn’t mean you can’t dream.

living on a cruise ship

You Can Live Permanently On A Cruise Ship! Here’s How Much It Costs

One of the first downsides is that living on a cruise ship can be fairly expensive. Tips, excursions, medical care, and premium dining options can quickly take a toll on your wallet. While some full-time cruise ship passengers prefer a go-with-the-flow approach to life onboard, others prefer to follow a structured schedule while living at sea. Routines can help ground people and give them a sense of purpose, whether they're retired or trying to do their job from an at-sea base. Note that Medicare typically does not cover health care expenses when you're outside the U.S. or onboard, so investing in a private health insurance plan or a travel insurance plan while cruising is advisable.

living on a cruise ship

Cruises

If your family wants to visit you, they'd have to pay for cruise fare for everyone. Shopping for Carnival's cheapest cruises on older ships, I could get the average below $50 per person per night in inside cabins and around $110 in balcony cabins, including port taxes and fees. That means your cruise fare could be as little as $18,250 per person per year. Other facilities, spread across 18 decks, will include 20 restaurants and bars, a 10,000-square-foot gym and spa open 24 hours a day, three swimming pools, a school, library, bank and office spaces. The ship will also have a theater for performances and movies, though unlike traditional cruise ships, extravagant entertainment won't be much of a focus, Punton told CNBC. Another thing that you’ll be making a dent in when you choose to live on a cruise is your belongings.

Understand Your Medical Care Options at Sea

To price what it costs to live aboard the ship, we took a look at sailings aboard a single ship from Carnival, which is known for being affordable. In this case, we priced a year’s worth of sailing for Carnival Horizon in 2024. We recently priced out the cost of living on a cruise ship for an entire year. Cruise Hive was established back in 2008 and among the earliest blogs in the industry. Since the start, it's been our aim to provide the latest cruise news covering all the major cruise lines.

You’ll also want to look at cruising with the cheapest cruise lines in the world, such as Carnival or MSC Cruises. I’ve taken cruises that cost as little as £40 ($50) per night with all meals included. For some, the best part of retirement is spending time with family — especially the grandkids. Cruise retirement doesn't rule that out, but it does make it a bit more complicated. It's hard to be the type of granny who can frequently babysit when you live on a cruise ship, potentially thousands of miles away from where the grands live.

Hotels With Cruise Shuttles For Every Major Port in America

An alternative to sailing on a traditional cruise line through your retirement years is to buy or lease a cruise ship cabin on a luxury residence ship. The most well-known of these is The World, but there's been recent buzz about startup company Storylines and its residence ship, MV Narrative, which is set to launch in 2025. Victoria Cruises Line is also planning to turn two refurbished vessels into residential ships for long-term living, with a proposed launch in spring 2023. To purchase a 237-square-foot inside cabin with a virtual window for the life of the ship costs $1 million on average.

What’s the Best Month to Cruise? Pros & Cons of Sailing Each Month of the Year

This year, Nolan left his cruise ship job to embark on a new journey in Los Angeles. He told BI he made about $4,000 a month working and living on cruise ships and said it was easy to save money because his rent and the cost of meals were covered by the company. If you choose to own a cabin, prices start from just $99,999, although there is then a monthly fee you need to pay on top of that. However, you can welcome guests to your cabin and only pay the daily port fees and gratuities for them ($33 per day), and what’s cool is you can rent out your cabin when you aren’t on the ship – making your money back. Most cruise lines offer rewards programs so the more you cruise, the cheaper it'll be to stay onboard. Mama Lee Wachstetter, 91, has lived on the luxury cruise ship Crystal Serenity for the past 10 years.

Cruise Ships Designed For Permanent Living

Just know that you’ll definitely need to open your wallet to live full-time in paradise. If this sounds like something you’re interested in, then this guide is for you. Keep reading and let’s take a look at this unique opportunity, what it’s like, and how to turn it from a dream into reality.

I Live on Cruise Ship Most of the Year for Free, What It's Like - Business Insider

I Live on Cruise Ship Most of the Year for Free, What It's Like.

Posted: Sun, 13 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Villa Vie Residences

And in most cases, you won't be able to rely on Medicare for your health coverage while out of the country. For that, you'll need a travel or ex-pat health insurance plan, with costs ranging from around a hundred per month to thousands, depending on your coverage specifics. Plus, your cruise retirement could be cut short at any point by health issues.

That's where sailing from a port like Miami -- which offers a lot of options -- can be beneficial to your pocketbook. But while it’s true that cruises are a great way to vacation, have you ever thought about living on a cruise ship full time? Choosing to retire on a cruise ship or to simply call a cruise ship home and live life at sea can be an extremely rewarding and unique experience. Business Insider spoke with three people with different experiences living on a cruise ship. They spent anywhere from zero to $30,000 a year to enjoy this lifestyle and lived at sea for up to 300 days within a year.

Wells expects to be one of the youngest adult residents on board — around 30 when he moves in. Residents will range from mid-life entrepreneurs to families with children, he said. There will be 11 types of residence on board, with the largest — "Global" at 1,970 square feet — on two levels, with up to four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large balcony, a dining room that seats six and a walk-in closet. If you have the ability to take a few weeks off here and there during the expensive times of year, it can lead to big savings.

It is possible to live on a cruise ship and there are several cruise lines that allow you to purchase an apartment onboard. Alternatively, you could book a series of short cruises on a mainstream cruise line. The best plan is to plan well ahead, starting with a few long cruises to make sure it's a good fit.

They won't hesitate to kick you off the ship if you need more appropriate care on land – and then you'd need to quickly find a new place to live while suffering from medical concerns. For purposes of comparing the costs to traditional cruise ships, the living fee in the inside cabin on MV Narrative is $85 per person per night and the one-bedroom suite is $152 per person per night. These figures are in addition to the upfront costs of buying or leasing. It’s no mystery that cruise ships are expensive, and if you’re planning to live onboard a ship permanently you need to be prepared for those extra expenses. Meeting with a financial planner can help you determine what you can afford and can offer you budgeting tips for keeping your finances in check while you sail.

Storylines, for example, is selling staterooms either for the life of the ship or for quarterly seasonal shared ownership. In addition to the initial purchase or lease cost, residents will pay an all-inclusive living fee per person per month that covers food and beverages, housekeeping, laundry, Wi-Fi, and, of course, fuel for the ship. Of course, when it comes to cruising for twelve months, you have an amazing number of options. From different cruise lines to routes, departure ports, ships, and even cabin types, there are a number of things that will have a big impact on what you spend. You should also note that most standard US insurance plans don’t work at sea.

Travel insurance for such a trip could be very costly indeed, and it is mandatory. For the Carnival price, I have used a typical 4-day cruise and included the cost of the Cheers drinks package and the premium WiFi packages. Otherwise, if you prefer the Voyagers Program, it works like any other cruise.

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