Retiring Abroad: Retiring on a Cruise Ship?

Retiring on a Cruise Ship?

We have all heard the story of the person who decides to sell everything and retire permanently onboard a cruise ship. As the story goes, after doing the math, it was cheaper to live on a cruise ship compared to a retirement home, not to mention the food being much better. But is this just an urban myth, or have people done this?

Well, actually yes. One person even wrote a book about her experiences entitled: ‘I May Be Homeless, But You Should See My Yacht’:

But really, would that be realistic for most people?  Maybe not, but it might be fun to think about.  Here are some of the benefits:

• Great meals
• Never having to cook again
• Room service, if you’d like
• Personal room attendant to make up your room every day
• Seeing the world, one port at a time, without having to fly to different destinations
• Fitness centre and/or walking track
• Entertainment in the evenings

There are some disadvantages to this lifestyle, however:

• Never having a place to call home
• Always being away from kids, grandkids and other family
• It would be difficult to have people come for a visit
• Sticking to a diet would be pretty difficult
• Travel health insurance could be quite expensive
• Going ashore could add to the living costs

Here are a couple of articles written on the topic.  Keep in mind, they are U.S. based, but nevertheless, the general information is very informative:

How to Retire on a Cruise Ship

Retire on a Cruise Ship With Less Than $1 Million

In reality, retiring permanently on a cruise ship is probably not realistic for most people.  But if you love the idea, there is always the option of ‘snowbirding’, cruise-style.  For example, stringing together a few longer cruises in the January to March timeframe could be a great way to cruise for two to three months, to break up those long Canadian winters.