We all wonder what our golden years will be like.
Will we live out our time in our homes? Or would living in a retirement home better suit our lifestyle?
But for one couple, after weighing the pros and cons, and the cost, they finally picked their retirement home: a cruise ship. And more than 2 years later, they have no plans on stopping anytime soon.
Marty and Jess Ansen have been married for 53 years. And up until retirement, the couple said they had enjoyed cruises. And after comparing the costs, the Ansens said that it was actually cheaper to live full-time on a cruise ship than to move into a retirement community.
“It’s our lifestyle,” Jess said. The perks, she said, make the cruises worth more to them.
“Where else can you go where you go for dinner, you go to a show, you go dancing?” Jess said. “Through the day, you have all these activities.”
The Ansens enjoy a drink aboard their floating ‘retirement home’. Photo courtesy of Inside Edition
Marty enjoys making “lifelong friends,” he said, while Jess enjoys the ballroom and hula dancing.
“Now, we don’t have to wash up anymore, or make the bed,” Marty laughed.
We don’t know how to make a bed because we haven’t done it for so long, so now we have to stay on board just to stay alive,” he said.
Their days are simple. They begin the morning by playing ping-pong, then relax on their balcony and enjoy a few beers while watching the view.
There’s no time to be lonely, the pair said – the entire crew has become their family.
“Everyone knows them around the ship, they’re basically celebrities onboard,” the Princess Cruise ship’s hotel manager, Ren van Rooyen, said.
The Ansens said that the cost of living on the cruise, the services they get (food, entertainment and room service), as well as the relaxing environment, made their choice a very easy one.
The Ansens , in the center, consider the crew of the boat to be ‘family’ to them. Photo courtesy of Inside Edition
“The cruise lifestyle is very efficient,” they said. “You don’t have to worry about paying for rent or a mortgage, getting groceries or doing your laundry.
We’re not young people. Cruising is much cheaper than going to a nursing home and means we can continue to travel the world.”
They miss their family, but they make time to see them at ports near their homes.
When their cruise is finished next year, the couple has plans to board the Crown Princess, a larger ship, and continue their retirement adventures.
“It’s a wonderful life,” Marty told the outlet.
The idea of retiring on a cruise ship is getting a huge boost, too. Life at Sea Cruises is offering a three-year voyage that will visit seven continents, 135 countries and 375 ports. The cost begins at $29,999 per year and can go up as high as $109,000 per year, depending on what rooms you choose, as well as what services you would like.
For a look at the Ansens’ unique retirement home, watch below.
