Danielle & I took our first cruise in 1996 – a week in the southern Caribbean aboard Carnival’s Inspiration. We were immediately hooked and have taken over a dozen more since then, but never longer than 8 days at a time, which always seems too short.
So when we started planning our mini-retirement, taking a looong cruise was high on the list from the beginning. Sure, they have cruises that go all the way around the world, but we knew that wouldn’t work because:
- those cruises usually only last 3 months or so & cost nearly our entire budget; and
- they’re always on smaller ships with nothing for the kids to do (I guess there aren’t quite enough families taking trips around the world – yet.)
Eventually, we decided to start our adventure by living on a cruise ship for 12 weeks. We’re sticking with the Caribbean for seasonal and financial reasons, and just to keep it from getting too monotonous, we’ll split our time between 3 ships: Freedom of the Seas, Emerald Princess, and Carnival Valor.
When we thought about how to tackle Europe & the Mediterranean, cruising seemed like a good fit, too: we can pay for our food & lodging in US dollars & only have to unpack a couple of times. We can even take a cruise from South America to Europe in the spring. So, we booked a transatlantic cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Splendor of the Seas, to be followed by cruises aboard Brilliance of the Seas & Ruby Princess. Over 2 months these cruises will visit all the Mediterranean highlights from Barcelona to Istanbul, plus northern Africa and Egypt. Cool!
Of course, these cruises will make our world tour a bit more expensive than most, but it’s what we want to do. Plus, starting out in familiar territory with meals and lodging all taken care of for the first 3 months should make the transition to vagabonding a little bit easier, especially for the girls. And it will be FUN!!!
Weeks ago when our trip was still a secret, I was having lunch with a couple of clients when the subject of cruising came up (it often does).
One of them said to me, “Marc, I could see you living on a cruise ship someday.”
Well, as a matter of fact, so can I! 😉
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Congratulations on taking the plunge. Our family is in the process of doing something similar. We are also selling everything we own and starting our around the world backpacking adventure next Monday, August 25th. Visit our site at http://www.cooneyworldadventure.com Happy Travels and Best Wishes from the Cooney Family.
I am seriously considering doing this for at least a year. My only concern/problem is that I must continue doing my work and the only drawback is the need for unlimited internet. Hmm…working on that issue. My husband has retired young and has no strings that tie him down (other than dogs which I will gladly allow to be kept by relatives!!). I would appreciate your insight and any thoughts you have thus far with your experience. I also have considered writing a book about my experiences and wonder if I can make my travel tax-deductible doing so. Since my work time will be done on ship and this is the location of my home business at this point, wonder if I can claim office space/costs?
I wish you the best and ADMIRE you doing so with the kids. We are both 52 and children are grown, so this is “our time”…one benefit of starting so young!
Hi Jane,
I’m not really qualified to answer your tax questions, so I’ll focus on your internet concerns:
If by ‘unlimited’ internet you mean ‘free’, it MIGHT be possible to negotiate something with the cruise line – I know Princess has hosted bloggers with large followings on special “press trips” and given them free internet in exchange for publicity.
But cruise ship internet is always limited in the sense that it’s pretty slow and intermittent. As far as I know, Skype is blocked on all the major cruise ships. We dealt with this by doing most of our internet-intensive work ashore at internet cafes and Starbucks – just like the crew does.
If you have any more questions, you can email me: marc {at} 4suitcases {dot} com
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