Could you retire on a cruise ship?

The idea of retiring on a cruise ship is appealing – all the benefits of a retirement village, with an ever-changing assortment of seaside locations to visit.

It sounds fabulous, but is this a practical and financially viable retirement option? REDnews investigates.

Try a long cruise before you sell the house

Before you sell the house and book your tickets, you need to consider whether the cruise retirement lifestyle is right for you.

“I’ve heard of the odd couple doing it, but it’s extremely rare,” says Robbie Bell, Retail Manager at House of Travel Alexandra. “I love cruises and they can be fantastic value for money. The food is very good and the service is five star. You’re really looked after. But as much as I love it, I wouldn’t want to be on a cruise ship for years at a time.”

His advice is to try out a long cruise, 70 nights plus, before you commit to a life at sea: “Personally I wouldn’t like being at sea up to 10 days in a row, especially if the weather is rough. And once you’ve done the round-the-world itinerary once, it could be a little bit repetitive by the third year.” 

What would it cost to retire on a cruise ship?

You can find cruises that start from around $200 a night, says Bell. In theory, if you could line up consecutive cruises at that rate for a whole year, you’d be paying $73,000 in total. Double that for a couple: $146,000. That is a sharp deal on an interior cabin; for a luxury experience you can expect to pay a lot more.

However, it would take considerable planning to cover most nights of the year, and you might need to fly to departing ports. Plus, there are other costs to think about, says Bell: “If you have to purchase a drinks package, that can be expensive. Also, onboard wifi can cost an arm and a leg – you’re almost always out of a country’s wifi area. I normally wait until we get to land to go online.”

In contrast, if you own a mortgage-free home, as an individual you can live on $36,000 to $43,000 a year for a ‘no frills’ retirement. It’s even more cost-effective for couples, who can live on $44,200 to $51,000 – that’s just $22,100 to $25,000 per person. It’s not possible to live on a cruise ship that cheaply.

Is it cheaper than a rest home?

This Australian couple says their cruise ship retirement is “much cheaper” than going into aged care. This might be true in select circumstances, but it’s not a fair comparison. Aged care in New Zealand starts from around $73,000 a year per person, rising to $116,000 for premium accommodation. This cost typically includes visits from a doctor or nurse and most medications, plus all your meals and laundry.

A cruise ship isn’t set up to provide the kind of medical attention you’ll get in an aged care facility. The staff aren’t there to cater to health issues; it’s not aimed at those who can’t live independently.

“If you’re on a cruise and something happens and you get sick, they can’t make an emergency stop when the ship is two or three days away from land,” Bell says. “They have to send a helicopter to you in the middle of the ocean, and that can come with astronomical costs. Because of that, if you’re elderly, the cost of travel insurance on a long cruise can be very high.”

Maximum frills retirement: buy a berth

If you really want to go all-in on the cruise experience, you can buy a berth on a Storylines ship. A 21m² ‘global residence’ costs around US$1 million (about NZ$1.6 million) and you’ll pay an annual living fee of US$68,500 (around NZ$111,100). Your new home will tour the world and you’ll never need to cook or do laundry again.

But even if you choose a ‘maximum frills’ cruise ship retirement, there is one final consideration: how will you visit your family and friends? A cruise ship retirement might mean factoring in regular trips home to visit friends or grandkids and maintain your all-important social network. Plus if you have a pet in your life, unfortunately they won’t be welcome on a cruise ship.  

“Cruising full time is probably not a practical retirement plan,” Bell adds. “If you can afford to do a couple of shorter cruises a year, while being retired in your own home, I think that might be the best of both worlds.”

Exchange rates and costs as at September 2024.