Could you live on a cruise ship?

I can see that if you are without personal care needs but don’t want other responsibilities, a cruise life would work very well. You wouldn’t have a home to run and more people to joke and laugh with. If you progress to having personal care needs I assume your cruising days are over…

Where do I sign?
Yes I would, providing good WiFi, a nice big TV and my PS5 or laptop. Much better than a care home. Fabulous food, no cleaning or gardening. Ditch the responsibility for too many possessions. No property to maintain. You meet lovely people, and some dickheads too, just like anywhere else. I’d like a layover in the UK every so often to see my children though.

Just the thought of it makes me shudder. Those huge great ships that just look like tower blocks of flats, nowhere to escape to, definitely not for me.

Well I have to agree that it would be better than a care home but for those not yet destined for a care home - I would rarely see my friends and family, I would miss all the family celebrations, I would miss the cycle from Spring to Winter in my home. Might be possible for a year I suppose, but all those things are far more meaningful to me than not having to cook and care for a home.

I’m in the camp of loving a cruise. We came back Sydney to Southampton after DH retired. It was wonderful. The ships doctor had been to school with my husband and gave him an article from the BMJ which said that cruising was cheaper than a care home. That was 20 years ago and I lobby for a cruise holiday every time DH talks of a holiday. On our first cruise we made friends with over half a dozen people who are still friends and we still meet up though one or two have dropped off their perches. We are going on a cruise next month which turns left out of Newcastle and goes round the uk to places we haven’t been to and are now too far to drive in one day whereas younger we would have got up very early and set out for the Scilly isles in a day. The other joy is packing and unpacking or the lack of it. I can’t stand beach holidays and do not lie by a pool. There are usually very good talks often excellent musicians and if you want a film night. I download books on my kindle although there is a library but I’m a bit iffy about well handled books. I once bumped into someone from a ship I was on in a bookshop and they had been sent to update the library. I gleefully guided their choice and had first picking of the new books which I had wanted but were still too pricy for my mean nature on kindle(99p max)
We stick to ships of less than 500 people and yes there maybe someone you take a dislike to but you probably never see them again unless on your table and then just ask to move. It’s only happened once and it was a rather unpleasant woman who objected to another ladies perfume. I also find that my DH actually enjoys the black tie evenings and so I use up my rather ancient evening dresses. As long as no moths fly out . As for the food I ask for half portions ,always choosing waiter service as I’m on holiday and find I lose weight round my middle because I eat carelessly at home . I’ve so fat never had a tummy upset but all the ships we’ve been on have had either wash hand basins by the restaurant or someone with a hand spray. If anyone was ill I would say unless sea sickness got them then they should scrub hands rather than wash them and stick to waiter service. And that’s on board life. The ports are usually lovely and a bit of research is a good idea. We generally book a taxi to meet us and know the route we want. Often have recommended individual taxi drivers to others having kept their names and cards.

Goodness that was long and no paragraphs.

Which companies have been the best stansgran?
And could you live onboard?

No l hate the thought of cruise ships. But l could live permanently in a nice, Adults Only, Inclusive Hotel. Somewhere warm..

Would have be older adults and have a heated indoor pool and spa.

AmberGran

I've read about a few people who do now. It costs them less than paying a mortgage and at least some of them work from the ship.

I've also read about people (Americans) who live in hotels. Some of the chains have apartments that are kept for visiting staff and if you ask you can apparently rent them out long term. Again people have found it cheaper than paying a mortgage. The hotels do the cleaning too. I don't think you can decorate or furnish the apartments, but you do get the use of the hotel amenities like pools.

My aunt worked in a local hotel and my cousin and I were sent to visit an old lady who lived there. She had sold everything after her husband died, and reckoned a hotel was preferable to a care home!
Now, we were about 16, and I remember the lady was interesting to talk to, as she had travelled the world with her seafaring husband, so visiting her was never a chore, but I don’t remember how we came to stop going. It also never occurred to us at the time how she would fare if she needed actual nursing care, say after being discharged from hospital. The self- centredness of youth, I suppose!

I am correct when thinking who may have started this thread! You don’t need a cruise Nana with the beautiful Queensland coast
This afternoon I have been looking up cruises again from Sydney as you also mentioned, the ship we both took at the beginning of this year but on different voyages was a fantastic ship.
However, although I have found the flight would not be that different from my last January flight to NZ. However, the cruises have gone sky high. Shame as it did give me a rest between the long flights.
The only other cruise I took was with my late husband when we took a three week trip to the Caribbean during the Christmas period, so that was also great.

Stansgran

Goodness that was long and no paragraphs.

Ha! I usually scroll past if there are no paragraphs as it looks too overwhelming to read. But I did read and enjoy yours and in fairness you did manage one paragraph.

I’m with you WithNobsOnIt.
I like to be on terra firma .

I once went on a boat trip to Santorini’s which lasted hours and it drove me up the wall. I could probably go to something like a silent retreat for a while or live on a remote farm in the middle of nowhere but the thought of being stuck on a ship makes me feel claustrophobic.

I wouldn't mind it, but can think of things i would rather spend my money on.
I can see why it appeals to others though.

But references to it as an alternative to a care home seem a bit naive to me. My mum has had to go into a care home within the last year, and although she is in many ways one of the more 'able' in the home, there is absolutely no way she could cope on a cruise ship. People going in care homes generally seem to need some level of proper personal care, and i can't see how that possibly could be catered for on a cruise ship. But for people not quite at that stage, but considering some type of retirement home, where they will need no longer have to cook or clean, I can see how it might appeal.

I have done 1 cruise and it was fabulous but surely to live on a cruise ship would be great to start with but it must get monotonous all the time. I think I would miss my dog and everyday routine

Not for me. I’m claustrophobic. I have to know I can get out or off in a certain time period. My absolute maximum for a plane flight is 4 hours but more comfortable with 2-3 hours.

I heard a woman talking about it years ago on radio 4 - it was cheaper than a private care home, a Dr was on call, there were classes, dances, shows, a library, familiar staff, new people to chat to, interesting places to visit. She visited family a couple of times a year - Christmas etc - and could keep in touch with everyone she wanted to easily at all times. I thought it sounded great if you have the money, Similarly some people live in a hotel, rather than own a flat etc.

I wish there was a like button.

No, never ..

I remember, from quite a few years ago, a report of an old lady who lived entirely on a cruise ship. When asked she said that the cost of living on-board was cheaper than a retirement home and she got to meet interesting people all the time. Maybe a similar, but better, solution would be to sell up and put the proceeds in a savings account. Having got rid of all the stuff you don't need then just rent a nice suite in in a hotel and you've got your accommodation, mixture of people coming and going and you're not stuck on board a ship until you get to dry land.

Its never appealed to me but I guess at first it would be good. To me living in a cabin would be like a studio flat. Surely though these ships go on a loop? So every few weeks or so the food would be the same, then the entertainment and the destinations? At least at home even though its a communal garden its lovely to sit out, my neighbours are lovely plus all the dogs have a ball together. Nice as it is to have luxury shops, pools, etc it would surely get boring after a long time?

grandMattie

Never. My worst nightmare!
Imagine never being under a tree, hearing the babble of the proverbial brook, children’s happy shouting when playing or coming out of school, dawn chorus…
Never seeing a field of corn, a wood full of bluebells. Oh no, not for me.
Terracotta for me, as 2Jags John Prescott famously said. 😂

GrandMattie - No - Prescott didn't say "terracotta" as a malapropism for "terra firma". That was Del Boy. The Daily Mail had to apologise way back in 2014 for this but the damage was done - a bit like Marie Antoinette and the cake story.

One thing about cruises is they can take you to some very, very remote and uninhabited islands in the Pacific. I love that and we always walk a couple of kms or so and get a nice little cove all to ourselves. Most just seem to hang around the nearest beach in view of the ship. Lovely memories of palm trees, calm seas and beautiful fish, turtles etc. I suppose if you were permanently onboard you might take that for granted but we haven’t reached that stage !

I believe there was a Lady who spent years on the old QE2... She sailed with them all the time it was her "home". No idea what happened to her once it was paid off?

I personally met a lovely older man who constantly cruised, he told me he had no family, wife passed away, no children or siblings just a few friends. He said his estate will just go to Charity as he didn't have anyone to leave it too, so he was going to spend most of it, but I remember he said he wasn't ready to go to a Care home.
He was fed, entertainmented, people to talk to,. All his needs completely looked after.
He did had a home base but he said he was there only a few weeks a year.
It is cheaper than a 5* Care home and more fun.

Couldn’t think of anything worse,but I have only been on a cruise once,they are not for me.