This used to be the “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” but oh how the tide has changed. Now you might want to consider living the rest of your life on a cruise ship, and you don’t have to be ultra-rich.
You can wake up to an all-you-can-eat breakfast, spend the afternoon with your toes in the pool, or tour a famous city like Rome or Athens. And at night, you can have a drink in the lounge while watching a comedy show or a favorite band.
This is the life of 28-year-old Austin Wells of San Diego. He told CNBC that he decided to rent an apartment on a cruise ship because it was cheaper than living on the mainland in Southern California.
“The thing that most excites me is I don’t have to upend my daily routine, in order to go see the world,” Wells told CNBC.
“I’m going from this model where you want to go somewhere, you pack a bag, you get on a flight, you rent a room, to now my condo, my gym, my doctors and dentists, all of my grocery stores travel the world with me,” he added.
Wells purchased the apartment on the MV Narrative which is now being built in Croatia and will set sail in 2025. According to Well’s math, it makes perfect sense. He bought a 12-year lease on the ship for $300,000, which is about $2,100 a month. Most apartments in San Diego cost more than that for rent. The ship charges an additional $2,100 a month for all-inclusive services, which include food, drinks, alcohol, gym membership, routine healthcare check-ups, onboard entertainment, and laundry.
Wells will pay as little as $4,200 a month to live an all-expenses-paid life. There’s no need to pay for a car or waste time shopping for groceries or traveling anywhere. He plans to work remotely and travel the world from the luxury residential cruise ship.
“What I’m probably most excited about is going to places that ships can only uniquely go,” he said, adding that the ship will go to “unique ecological parts of the world or beautiful dive spots that are a few miles off land or caves to dive through and the ship will do a number of overnight stays in those areas.”
Richard Burk and his wife, Angelyn, are living their best life hopping from ship to ship for around $100 a night, depending on the cruise. This couple in their 50s keep the cost of causing down through loyalty programs. They said it is the way travel in retirement that made the most sense.
