micky
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 5, 2013 16:54:17 GMT -5
Posts: 129 
|
Post by micky on Apr 14, 2022 10:31:17 GMT -5
Maybe I'm missing something. The one lady talks about how this is cheaper than assisted living but this isn't assisted living. This might work as long as you are healthy, have no mobility issues and don't need help in day to day life, and if you give up your permanent residence to do this and THEN need to stop cruising due to health what happens then? I hate cruises but this doesn't seem like a good alternative to normal retired living?
|
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Apr 14, 2022 10:42:35 GMT -5
Different strokes……
Not sure I would want to live on a cruise ship 365 days/year, but we will be getting onto the Viking Neptune in Dec and getting off in June. We spent 54 days on a back to back to back cruise last Nov/Dec to see if we were good with being on a ship this long. Even after this 54 days, it was hard to leave. We are doing 138 days + 29 days back to back, so 167 days.
If you are mobility challenged, it is a way of seeing a lot. The hardest part of travel for me is travel days, so this minimizes them.
|
|
|
|
Post by minnesotapaintlady on Apr 14, 2022 10:49:19 GMT -5
Well, it's kind of assisted living in that you don't have to cook or clean or do yard work and I imagine you get to know the crew pretty well and they are looking out for you. In your own home you could slip and fall and be lying on the floor for days until somebody finds you (hopefully before you die), but that wouldn't happen if you were on a cruise ship. But yeah, if you need help with meds or memory care, it's not an option for that.
As for what to do when you eventually do need to quit, well I guess you could just do regular assisted living at that point?
|
|
nidena
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 28, 2010 20:32:26 GMT -5
Posts: 3,584
|
Post by nidena on Apr 14, 2022 11:27:20 GMT -5
Different strokes…… Not sure I would want to live on a cruise ship 365 days/year, but we will be getting onto the Viking Neptune in Dec and getting off in June. We spent 54 days on a back to back to back cruise last Nov/Dec to see if we were good with being on a ship this long. Even after this 54 days, it was hard to leave. We are doing 138 days + 29 days back to back, so 167 days. If you are mobility challenged, it is a way of seeing a lot. The hardest part of travel for me is travel days, so this minimizes them. Have you ever been on a uniworld cruise? Those look amazing. |
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Apr 14, 2022 11:39:57 GMT -5
Different strokes…… Not sure I would want to live on a cruise ship 365 days/year, but we will be getting onto the Viking Neptune in Dec and getting off in June. We spent 54 days on a back to back to back cruise last Nov/Dec to see if we were good with being on a ship this long. Even after this 54 days, it was hard to leave. We are doing 138 days + 29 days back to back, so 167 days. If you are mobility challenged, it is a way of seeing a lot. The hardest part of travel for me is travel days, so this minimizes them. Have you ever been on a uniworld cruise? Those look amazing. No, no plans to go either. |
|
Deleted
Joined: May 7, 2024 21:34:29 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2022 11:58:06 GMT -5
Well, it's kind of assisted living in that you don't have to cook or clean or do yard work and I imagine you get to know the crew pretty well and they are looking out for you. In your own home you could slip and fall and be lying on the floor for days until somebody finds you (hopefully before you die), but that wouldn't happen if you were on a cruise ship. But yeah, if you need help with meds or memory care, it's not an option for that. As for what to do when you eventually do need to quit, well I guess you could just do regular assisted living at that point? That would be my concern- they're not equipped to provide more aggressive forms of assistance. I'd also wonder about medical facilities. If I had a stroke would they be equipped to treat immediately, since that makes such a difference in the outcome? Dental emergencies? What about routine tests such as mammograms? Do you schedule them at a particular port? Medicare does not pay outside of the US and my supplement pays only $50K lifetime outside of the US. I've never been on a mega-ship anyway- prefer under 100 passengers. |
|
movingforward
Junior Associate
Joined: Sept 15, 2011 12:48:31 GMT -5
Posts: 8,358
|
Post by movingforward on Apr 14, 2022 12:04:20 GMT -5
I actually met a lady on an Alaskan cruise a few years ago that had cruised for two years straight. She did go stay with her son a few days out of the year when she needed a place to go every now and then. For the most part though she went from one cruise to the next. This was the 3rd time she had sailed to Alaska. Her home burned in one of the California fires and she decided to live on cruise ships for a while.
She was not elderly though. She was 59 and retired early. She also had a heart condition and had received a heart transplant at some point in her life. According to her, she was unlikely to make it past 70.
I found it very intriguing. I have even thought about doing something similar to this at some point in my life. My biggest problem would be the small cabins and I'm not sure I could afford a suite for year of my life. I'm guessing you get some pretty good deals if you take a lot of cruises  . I'm not a huge cruise fan (though I really enjoyed the Alaskan and Hawaiian cruises I took) but I definitely see me taking more of them as I age. It's a great way to see lots of places and easier on an older body. The food is decent, you have entertainment, a gym, etc.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Apr 14, 2022 12:06:55 GMT -5
Well, it's kind of assisted living in that you don't have to cook or clean or do yard work and I imagine you get to know the crew pretty well and they are looking out for you. In your own home you could slip and fall and be lying on the floor for days until somebody finds you (hopefully before you die), but that wouldn't happen if you were on a cruise ship. But yeah, if you need help with meds or memory care, it's not an option for that. As for what to do when you eventually do need to quit, well I guess you could just do regular assisted living at that point? That would be my concern- they're not equipped to provide more aggressive forms of assistance. I'd also wonder about medical facilities. If I had a stroke would they be equipped to treat immediately, since that makes such a difference in the outcome? Dental emergencies? What about routine tests such as mammograms? Do you schedule them at a particular port? Medicare does not pay outside of the US and my supplement pays only $50K lifetime outside of the US. I've never been on a mega-ship anyway- prefer under 100 passengers. They can handle many emergencies. I know I saw a woman with a fractures wrist that was casted. My experience with the medical facilities was when I acquired an eye infection in the first few days of the cruise. A doctor’s visit, oral and topical antibiotics cost about $160. While I was there, the facilities were quite comprehensive. Viking ocean isn’t a mega ship, it only holds 930 passengers, which is really the max. |
|
Deleted
Joined: May 7, 2024 21:34:29 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2022 12:20:52 GMT -5
They can handle many emergencies. I know I saw a woman with a fractures wrist that was casted. My experience with the medical facilities was when I acquired an eye infection in the first few days of the cruise. A doctor’s visit, oral and topical antibiotics cost about $160. While I was there, the facilities were quite comprehensive. Viking ocean isn’t a mega ship, it only holds 930 passengers, which is really the max. I guess I'm fixated on a stroke because BF's brother had a transient ischemic attack on a Caribbean cruise- not sure which line- and they got him to a hospital in St. Kitts that provided not much more than 3 squares and a bed- no Wi-fi, no TV, definitely no PT. He'd lost his ability to read and needed a wheel chair. BF had to fly down and accompany him back home- brother was unmarried and no one else in the family had a current passport and the ability to drop everything and go. Apparently there was some travel insurance but it wasn't great. |
|
souldoubt
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 4, 2011 11:57:14 GMT -5
Posts: 2,745
|
Post by souldoubt on Apr 14, 2022 12:41:15 GMT -5
We've been on a few cruises in Europe and there was additional insurance for purchase that would get you back home if needed. Obviously the other alternative is if you had some such type of insurance coverage personally that covered international travel related emergencies. If you didn't have one of those set up then it was clearly stated you were responsible for getting yourself home. They aren't going to leave you somewhere with no medical care but the quality you get is a roll of the dice.
Assisted living isn't cheap but even just senior living in some areas can be quite pricey. My wife worked at one such facility with both assisted and senior living. I know this example isn't indicative of facilities across the country but when we're talking not state run facilities in our area they aren't cheap. If you're in relatively good health and enjoy cruises then it's not a bad option but it's definitely not a long term option once your health starts to decline.
|
|
CCL
Junior Associate
Joined: Jan 4, 2011 19:34:47 GMT -5
Posts: 7,601
|
Post by CCL on Apr 14, 2022 12:44:41 GMT -5
They can handle many emergencies. I know I saw a woman with a fractures wrist that was casted. My experience with the medical facilities was when I acquired an eye infection in the first few days of the cruise. A doctor’s visit, oral and topical antibiotics cost about $160. While I was there, the facilities were quite comprehensive. Viking ocean isn’t a mega ship, it only holds 930 passengers, which is really the max. I guess I'm fixated on a stroke because BF's brother had a transient ischemic attack on a Caribbean cruise- not sure which line- and they got him to a hospital in St. Kitts that provided not much more than 3 squares and a bed- no Wi-fi, no TV, definitely no PT. He'd lost his ability to read and needed a wheel chair. BF had to fly down and accompany him back home- brother was unmarried and no one else in the family had a current passport and the ability to drop everything and go. Apparently there was some travel insurance but it wasn't great. That's the kind of thing I would worry about, too. I can't imagine there would be an MRI machine on a cruise ship. I've taken one cruise, loved it and plan to take more, but on hold due to Covid. I'm not willing to sail across an ocean. I want to stay closer to land. |
|
|
|
Post by minnesotapaintlady on Apr 14, 2022 13:13:00 GMT -5
Well, to be fair, you could have a stroke on a cruise ship just going on a 5 day excursion. I would think cruise ship medical personnel would be used to dealing with a lot of things with all the elderly on cruises.
|
|
