How Much It Costs to Live on a Cruise Ship For a Year

Table Of Content

• Godmother Named for Biggest Ever Princess Cruises Ship
• People who live on cruise ships full time share how they do it: 'It's not just for retired people'
• What It’s Like Living on a Cruise Ship
• Seattle Begins Milestone Alaska Season With Norwegian Cruise Line Ship
• Watch: How 30,000 meals a day are made on the world's largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas
• Bottom Line: It's a Wonderful Life at Sea

Life at Sea’s three-year cruise remains cheaper, and you get more included, but it depends on whether you like the idea of cruising with a more established mainstream cruise line or taking a punt on something new. You can even pay monthly if you prefer, with financing options starting at $5,227 per month – a figure that may be within reach for many digital nomads. Guests had already travelled to Istanbul for the departure, and are now facing a wait for refunds. The company has promised to repay guests but using monthly installments, which suggests the money may have been spent – hopefully everyone gets their money back. You also have the option of leasing a residence on the yacht, if you can’t afford to buy one outright. This means you can pay yearly fees at a much more reasonable five-figure sum, but the downside is that once your 12- or 24-year lease is finished, you don’t own the residence.

Godmother Named for Biggest Ever Princess Cruises Ship

If you’re wanting to live on a cruise but aren’t ready to permanently sell your home or transition away from life on land, snowbird cruises are a great choice. These cruises allow you to set sail for the winter months but return to shore for the spring and summer. The days of grocery shopping, meal planning, prep and cleanup are over. Cruise ships offer a variety of dining options and cuisines for all dietary needs. Special diets are accommodated, and staff typically go out of their way to make sure passengers are satisfied. It can be lonely living on a cruise ship, away from friends and family, so be sure to make time to socialize.

People who live on cruise ships full time share how they do it: 'It's not just for retired people'

Jack Nolan, a musician from England, lived for about seven years as a guitarist on cruise lines and shared his story with BI. The best option is to choose one of the specialist cruises aimed at residential guests – such as the MV Narrative from Storylines. These offer the comfort of a long-term solution, while being more affordable than the ultra-luxury MS The World. You’ll need to look into long-term health insurance, so that you have cover should anything go wrong while you’re sailing, and this is likely to be significantly more expensive than regular travel insurance. Normal travel insurance isn’t going to cover you if you decide to live on a cruise ship.

What It’s Like Living on a Cruise Ship

Prices start at $89 per person, per night and there are a range of itinerary options from 35 days up to 120 days, with the option to combine any that you like. The ship will sail a leisurely itinerary, cruising the world slowly to allow guests more time to explore in port (and to be more environmentally friendly, burning less fuel at slower speeds). The World is the largest private residential ship on the planet with 165 residences. It has 106 two- and three-bedroom apartments, 19 one- and two-bedroom studio apartments and 40 studios.

Man faces aftermath of living on a cruise ship for 23 years - Supercar Blondie

Man faces aftermath of living on a cruise ship for 23 years.

Posted: Thu, 16 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

The higher your status when you retire, the more perks you start out with – though you'll quickly climb through the loyalty ranks if you sail on the same line for an entire year. All that puts the minimum for a couple or a single traveling alone (which requires single supplement charges in double occupancy cabins) just over the $50,000 per year mark. Noticing that large ships tended to be scrapped, Punton and co-founder Shannon Lee saw an opportunity to redevelop them instead. "This is probably the first time ever that there is even the ability to have a standard job and even consider working and living from a floating apartment complex," Wells added. Wells — whose job at Meta's augmented and virtual reality division, Reality Labs, is fully remote — plans to continue to work U.S.

Seattle Begins Milestone Alaska Season With Norwegian Cruise Line Ship

We make sure cruisers are fully prepared for their cruise vacation with tips on ships and ports.Millions of travelers rely on Cruise Hive in the United States, Europe, Australia, and around the world. There are a few downsides to living on a cruise and being aware of them is important for staying comfortable and enjoying life at sea. Outside of seeing new places and getting a taste of adventure, there are also some practical reasons why you should choose to live on a cruise. Life on a cruise can actually save money because you don’t have to worry about purchasing food, paying for gas, or covering other land-based expenses. If you truly plan to retire at sea, you'll need to rehome your animal friends. If you can't live without a furry companion, a permanent residence at sea might not be for you.

Watch: How 30,000 meals a day are made on the world's largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas

"It's an alternative to that second home in Florida, or someone who would like to live at sea full time, as a lifestyle." Try a longer-than-a-month "grand voyage" or world cruise, or simply book a few back to back, to test the waters and see if full-time cruising is for you. Oceania Cruises even offers a 116-day Snowbirds in Residence package where passengers spend the winter cruising and then return to their land life for the spring/summer months.

Since there is limited space onboard cruise ships, you won’t be able to bring all your personal items with you. That can mean either downsizing or renting storage space on land where you can store your extra possessions. Speaking of health, you’ll need to consider how you’re going to stay healthy while living on a cruise ship. Cruise ships generally have a doctor onboard but visits to see them are costly, and they don’t offer most dental treatments. If you can invest in ownership or lease of a stateroom, your cost per night (beyond your purchase or rental price) can be lower than cruising traditionally.

Notably, this figure is about 35-40% higher than the roughly $145,000 we calculated for the same ship when we last ran the numbers in 2023. So for a fare that’s $599, it will actually cost $1,198 based on double occupancy. Even if you are sailing solo (unless in a solo cabin), you will still have to pay this “double” charge. But anyone who has been on a cruise knows those headline prices are just the start of what you pay. In fact, in our opinion it’s a bit disingenuous of the cruise lines to advertise those prices.

But for the sake of comparison, let’s look at the estimated costs of living aboard three residential cruise ships, three traditional cruise lines and the new three-year world cruise. The cost of buying an apartment on a residential cruise ship is between $1 million and $14 million. In theory, you could cruise on traditional cruise ships for around $35,000 per year, if you choose a basic cruise.

However, all that fine dining and rich cuisine will quickly go to your waistline if you’re not careful. To call one of these ships home, you’ll be expected to pay anywhere from $352,000 to $36 million. On top of that, residents are required to pay yearly maintenance fees as part of their budget. One of the biggest benefits of living on a cruise ship is that you get to explore the world – and we literally mean the world.

But if you fancy it, there are plenty of cruise ship jobs with no experience needed. For Royal Caribbean, I’ve used an average 7-day Caribbean cruise, plus the costs of the Deluxe Beverage Package and the Voom Surf + Stream internet package. The costs for each option is based on the cheapest accommodation using reported figures. There was one more option – and this was designed as a middle option between traditional cruising and residential cruising.