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Retirement Life On a Cruise Ship

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Colleen Sinclair Prosser, Attorney  A statement that I often hear while on a cruise is “Instead of living in an assisted living community, I will live my retirement years on a cruise ship.”  Although that is a fun idea, it is not very practical and does not work for everyone.  Let’s consider retirement life on a cruise ship.

On the plus side all your meals are prepared, your towels and sheets are changed every day, and your bed is made.  There is also plenty of opportunity to socialize and an abundance of entertainment.

However, there is not much room in the cruise ship cabins and the bathrooms are very small making it impossible to bring many of your personal items, or to accommodate visitors.

Another consideration is that there is a lot of movement on a cruise ship making it difficult to walk around if you have trouble with mobility.  Also factor in that the staff of the cruise ship is not trained in individualized care for older adults, such as help with dressing and bathing and assistance with taking medication.  And if you get sick on the cruise ship, the medical staff may not be trained to treat your particular health concern and you may end up off the ship in a hospital in a foreign country.

I think we can agree that most cruise ships are designed for short vacations and not for long term residential use, or for assisted living care in your retirement years.

However, there may be change on the horizon.  Recently I came across an article on the internet of a company that is designing a ship for long term residential use for elderly people.  The ship is to be staffed with over 12 doctors, 2 dentists, 90 nurses and other medical personnel to provide the necessary services for assisted living at sea.  However, like assisted living on land, should you need services that are not provided on the ship, you will have to move to a facility that will be able to administer the proper medical treatment.

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