For nearly two decades, Jeff Farschman has enjoyed leisure cruises to exotic ports of call.
Unlike many of his fellow cruise passengers, Farschman lives at sea. Half of the year is spent traveling the world's oceans and waterways. Although he still keeps a physical home near where he grew up in Delaware, Farschman is now part of a growing cohort of older people who are on cruise ships.
Farschman said that he has been cruising for seven to eight months a year.
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When he first started cruising, Farschman didn't think he'd live on a ship. When Hurricane Ivan hit in 2004, the former vice president was stuck on a Caribbean cruise.
He explained that the hurricanes ruined his original plans and that he ended up completing six voyages in a row.
Farschman now organizes his life around his time at sea, keeping his periods brief. When the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shut down all cruises from the U.S. during the coronaviruses outbreak, retirees-at-sea found themselves back on dry land.
For Farschman, that meant 19 months, including the winter, his longest period on the beach in nearly two decades. After major lines established clear Covid health protocols, serial cruisers were the first back on board. People like Farschman say they feel safe while cruising.
Holland America Line offers “grand” voyages lasting months. Here, the line’s Westerdam sails in Alaska.Although there are no hard numbers, retiring on a cruise ship is gaining in popularity despite the industry tumult caused by the coronaviruses crisis.
Lee Wachtstetter wrote a memoir about living on cruise ships after her husband died. Farschman chronicles his sea-faring ventures on his website, which he said became so much more reliable thanks to on-board wi-fi.
Tara Bruce, a consultant and creative brand manager at Goodwin Investment Advisory Services, said that the internet on most vessels is strong enough to support a business.
With cruising, you cover all of your living expenses — food, housing, entertainment — in one place.
It makes sense to retire on a cruise ship. cruising has always appealed to older travelers. More than 50% of the people who took a cruise in the year were over 50 years old, according to the Cruise Lines International Association.
Seniors need a lot of things in order to thrive, and cruise ships offer many of them: organized activities, a decent level of medical care, and a built-in community of like-minded travelers.
Retiring on a cruise ship can be economically sound.
Bruce said that with cruising, you cover all of your living expenses in one place. The cost of a luxury liner can go up to $250 per day, but it is far cheaper than assisted care or other types of senior living.
The on-board credits for premium meals, drinks, spas and other activities can easily reach hundreds of dollars per voyage, Farschman said.
A recent shift toward longer, more elaborate cruises has aided the rise of the Retire at Sea movement.
Holland America offers a 71-day Grand Africa Voyage itinerary that stops in 25 ports in 21 countries and a Grand World Voyage that stops in 61 ports in 30 countries, totaling 127 days at sea.
Colleen McDaniel, editor-in-chief of Cruisecritic.com, explained that they are typically comprised of several segments with extensive times in each port. With careful planning itineraries can keep you at sea for a long time.
Eric Elvejord, Holland America's director of public relations, said that the back-to-back so-called Collectors Voyages include discounts of 10% and 15%.
The World, described as “the largest private residential yacht on Earth,” calls at Villefranche-sur-Mer on the French Riviera.Although few cruise lines specifically target retirees, specialty agents are waking up to this lucrative demographic.
CruiseWeb, based in Tysons, Virginia, launched a Senior Living at Sea program that both builds out retiree-specific itineraries and helps clients manage their lives back on shore. Beyond booking cabins, CruiseWeb handles issues such as shore transfers, ship-switches, visas and insurance.
CruiseWeb senior marketing and operations coordinator Michael Jones said that they have clients that have been on board for over a year.
The arrival of fully residential ships like The World and the soon-to-debutMV Narrative, from Storylines, is perhaps the most notable component of the retiring at sea movement. The former includes 165 individually-owned on-board residences, while the far largerMV Narrative is set to hit the high seas in 2023 and offers 547 one- to four-bedroom apartments.
A limited number of one- to two- year leases start at $400,000, while the average price of a Narrative unit is between $1 million and $8 million.
Monthly or annual costs include fuel, port fees, taxes and house-keeping.
By David Kaufman. Kaufman is a writer.
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