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Considering Retirement on a Cruise Ship By Sarah Maple

December 17, 2009 | Hotels, India, Travels

Considering Retirement on a Cruise Ship By Sarah Maple

I have made the decision to move out of my beloved London townhouse and take up residence on a cruise liner. I was briefly thinking about moving into a hotel for a while but then I would only have the extra benefit of housekeeping and a resident restaurant. I would still be stuck in the same god awful place enjoying the miserable weather and I would only really have one room to enjoy it from.

Don’t misunderstand, I love London and if I was younger then I wouldn’t even consider living anywhere else. The vibrancy and energy of the city is really hard to beat but for an old girl like me, sometimes city life can be a bit too much to bear.

Since my husband died I don’t get out as much as I used to. Even though all my friends and family are still around I feel like this huge house is too big to live in all by myself. Besides, my children are all grown up and most of them now have families of their own. Luckily they have good careers that provide a disposable income so I’m not worried about them not being able to afford to come and see me in my new ship.

I have chosen a Mediterranean cruise ship so that I’ll never be too far away from England. I will get a nice mix of weather, not too cold and not too hot. I am far too old to be flying around all over the place; what with the risk of DVT I think that sailing is the only alternative and an attractive one at that. I am not sure whether or not to switch my home insurance to…ship insurance but I suppose that’s something I still have to look into.

I have been inspired by the story of Bea Muller, an 86-year old widow who has been living on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2 since the start of 2000. After her husband sadly passed away on a previous cruise she decided to sell her houses and just keep on booking cruise after cruise. Now she gets to enjoy shows every night, dancing, leisure facilities, room service, excellent food any time she likes, a computer centre and hundreds of more small luxuries like a library.

The cost of living on a luxury cruise liner compared to a care home is surprisingly close. In fact some cruise liners actually fare a lot better in some cases. With all the extras you get on a cruise and the fact that you are treated like you’re a holidaymaker instead of an invalid it’s a no brainer.

I am sure some cruise liners aren’t too happy about this getting out after all they are doing to try to make cruises appeal to the younger market. The last thing they want is a ship full of resident oldies making themselves at home. That’s why I am getting in early!

So to quote one of my favourite wartime songs;

Goodbye Piccadilly, farewell Leicester Square…it’s so far away to sunny cruises and my heart’s right there.

Sort out home insurance at http://www.confused.com/home-insurance