Up next in 10
The Dark Side of Living on Cruise Ships: By Those Who’ve Done it!
5K views
Apr 13, 2025
For many people, the idea of living part, or full-time, on cruise ships sounds like a dream-like paradise. But having spent time closely following several people that have recently tried it, I saw the harsh reality is that dream comes with some darker aspects, nightmare challenges and unexpected problems. Things I think you need to know about. In another video (https://youtu.be/qlV2QabCRkQ ), I looked at the options and what it REALLY costs to live on cruise ships today but in this, I pull back the curtains on the downsides. Channels mentioned in the video: • 30 & A Wake Up: https://www.youtube.com/@30AndAWakeUp • Poverty to Paradise: https://www.youtube.com/@PovertyToParadise • Grounded Life Cruises: https://www.youtube.com/@GroundedLifeCruises • Fraser At Sea: https://www.youtube.com/@FraserAtSea For bonus & exclusive content (including videos, articles, eBooks and more) become a channel member or patron: --------------------------------------------------- * Patreon Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join Check out my cruise-themed T-shirts and products: --------------------------------------------------- * TeePublic Store: https://tipsfortravellers.dashery.com * Teespring Store: https://tips-for-travellers-youtube.creator-spring.com * Fourthwall: https://gary-bembridge-1-shop.fourthwall.com Book Cruise Port Excursions
View Video Transcript
0:00
for many people the idea of living part
0:02
or fulltime on cruise ships sounds like
0:05
a dreamlike paradise but having spent
0:07
time closely following several people
0:09
that have tried it I saw the harsh
0:11
reality is that dream comes with some
0:14
darker aspects nightmare challenges and
0:16
unexpected problems things I think you
0:19
need to know about welcome aboard I'm
0:22
Gary benridge in another video I looked
0:24
at the options and what it really cost
0:26
to live on cruise ships today but in
0:28
this I pull back the curtains on the
0:31
downsides to do this I closely followed
0:34
people living on regular cruise ships
0:38
that included Mario saletto known as
0:41
Super Mario who's lived on Royal
0:43
Caribbean ships for years and years
0:45
Kevin of the 30 and a wake up YouTube
0:48
channel lenel of the from poverty to
0:51
Paradise Channel Robin allei of grounded
0:53
life Cruisers and Fraser of Fraser at C
0:57
YouTube channel the first problematic
0:59
thing all spoke about which is easy to
1:02
underestimate looking from the outside
1:04
is the repetitiveness and boredom of
1:07
living on regular cruise ships again
1:10
everybody spoke about this issue and
1:12
none seemed to have foreseen it to live
1:15
on cruise ships at a decent cost means
1:17
cruising where it's least expensive that
1:19
means most focus on cruising in the
1:22
Caribbean but in this region the ships
1:24
basically repeat the same itinerary
1:26
every seven or 14 days living on a ship
1:31
means you largely keep going round and
1:33
round to the same ports which gets a bit
1:37
tiresome also the way that cruise ships
1:40
work is because most people are only on
1:42
for seven or 14 days or even less
1:45
everything is done in rotation the menus
1:47
and the food repeat as do the Shows
1:50
Daily program activities and so on
1:53
everybody talks about this for example
1:55
Robin Ali of grounded life Cruisers
1:57
spoke about how they found living on
1:59
ships in the Caribbean so repetitive
2:01
that they had to shake things up and
2:02
added in reposition cruises when they
2:04
were available because they tend to also
2:07
be good value so budget worked out they
2:10
then also started moving between cruise
2:12
lines to get different experiences so
2:14
they would switch between Carnival
2:16
Norwegian and Princess Cruisers I also
2:19
discovered there were issues with
2:21
well-being at times when you're actually
2:24
living on cruise ships I heard all
2:27
speaking about periods of loneliness and
2:29
homesickness especially because most
2:31
we're doing it solo of course when we go
2:33
on a cruise we love being surrounded by
2:36
and meeting people it's very social and
2:38
we get to make new friends however when
2:41
living on a cruise ship people are
2:43
coming and going roughly every single
2:47
week therefore it's really difficult to
2:49
build friendships and relationships and
2:52
people living on ships are also far away
2:54
from their friends and family and so
2:56
they're missing out on being part of any
2:58
family events or developments they're
3:00
good or bad some of those I've followed
3:02
have also spoken really frankly about
3:05
this particular issue for example lenel
3:08
of from poverty to Paradise has made
3:10
videos on this issue including one
3:12
entitled revealing the secret of living
3:14
alone on a cruise ship and another
3:16
exposing the Dark Side of living on a
3:19
cruise ship while Fraser of Fraser C
3:22
posted on social media and spoke about
3:24
it in live streams he also made a video
3:27
entitled living on cruise ships dealing
3:29
with with homesickness addressing this
3:31
topic as well I've heard many people
3:34
saying living on cruise ships would be a
3:35
great retirement option particularly as
3:38
an alternative to going into assisted
3:40
living centers however I heard firsthand
3:44
this is something the cruise lines do
3:46
not want people to do a few years back I
3:50
had dinner during a cruise with the
3:52
hotel director and I asked him about
3:54
someone that I'd heard was actually
3:56
living on the ship that I was on and had
3:58
been for some time he told me that they
4:01
were working to tactfully get the person
4:03
to leave the ship the guest was getting
4:05
older frailer and increasingly expecting
4:08
and demanding more help and Care from
4:10
The Crew He said crew ships are not
4:13
designed for assisted or help with Care
4:15
Living but they're for shortterm
4:17
vacation rental they're not set up for
4:19
people to live permanently and they
4:21
don't really want people living on ships
4:23
because it's not what they're desired
4:25
for cruise ships regular cruise ships
4:27
are not retirement homes and they don't
4:29
have the medical the care facilities or
4:32
the support now I found health issues
4:34
also weighed on some of those people I
4:36
followed Beyond this all were younger
4:39
they were healthy and they didn't have
4:41
any ongoing medical issues this is
4:44
really important because the medical
4:46
center is not only costly but it does
4:49
not provide care for ongoing health
4:50
issues and it's designed to basically
4:53
just deal with immediate injuries or
4:55
small medical flareups it also will not
4:58
offer Pharmacy services to fill any
5:00
regular prescriptions it's also really
5:02
important to consider that if you're
5:04
living on a cruise ship and have a major
5:06
injury or significant illness occur
5:08
suddenly you'll be disembarked into
5:10
Medical Care in the closest port
5:13
wherever in the world you are another
5:16
medical challenge we living on cruise
5:17
ships is that there is no dental care on
5:20
regular cruise ships as as people I
5:23
follow noted when they had an issue you
5:25
a crack tooth a filling Fallout or
5:26
simply a toothache they then had to find
5:29
Emer Mercy Dental Care in a port with no
5:31
assistance from the line because they
5:33
actually don't have local dentists to
5:35
refer passengers to it could mean that
5:38
you were then navigating a dental system
5:40
in a foreign language and also where you
5:42
might feel a little bit less comfortable
5:44
with the practices in that country but
5:46
there is another challenging and costly
5:48
matter when it comes to health that all
5:51
of them spoke about and had to factor in
5:54
or found that overcoming the hurdle of
5:56
getting insurance to cover lengthy
5:58
periods living at Sea was was not simple
6:00
at all and but having it was essential
6:03
for all the reasons I've mentioned
6:05
earlier about health it's not easy to
6:07
get insurance for long trips based on my
6:09
experience also trying to do that but
6:11
listening to those people that have
6:13
followed living on cruise ships most
6:15
insurers only insure people for trips of
6:17
around 60 days and some for up to 90
6:20
days and premiums are high Kevin at 30
6:23
and a wake up and Fraser at Fraser C
6:25
spoke about this issue on insurance at
6:27
some length Fraser solved the issue by
6:30
breaking up his living on ships after 60
6:33
to 90 days each time with short periods
6:35
off the ships usually going back home
6:38
partly to break up his trip and attend
6:40
some family events but this also meant
6:42
he could buy insurance to cover 60 or so
6:45
day trips at a time he did stress anyone
6:48
planning to live on ships to budget for
6:50
this as long trip insurance is very
6:52
costly his annual costs were well into
6:55
four figures and he's a young fit and
6:58
healthy guy in terms of more unexpected
7:00
consequences that everybody raised I
7:02
want to cover a few that really stood
7:04
out for me first cabin issues most spoke
7:08
about having issues with their cabins at
7:10
various stages of living on ships in the
7:13
video that I made around how all of
7:15
those that I followed were able to make
7:17
living on cruise ships affordable is the
7:19
fact that they cruised in inside cabins
7:21
and booked guaranteed FS which meant
7:24
they did not get to choose their cabin
7:27
and its location or reported on some of
7:30
their trips they had less than ideal
7:32
cabins Lyell of from poverty to Paradise
7:34
has spoken in some videos about cabin
7:37
issues such as being near noisy venues
7:39
noisy machinery and just noise from the
7:41
people next door fras or phas at C made
7:44
several videos and posted often on
7:46
social media about some really unusual
7:48
and problematic cabins he was allocated
7:51
on some of his trips while he would
7:54
occasionally of course hit the jackpot
7:56
and get great cabins he also showed how
7:59
he had some of the smallest cabins ever
8:01
strange shapes and very challenging ones
8:04
too sometimes having to fight really
8:06
hard simply to change cabins it's
8:08
important to understand that you don't
8:10
have control of your cabins if you want
8:12
to be able to live on cruise ships and
8:14
do it in a really affordable way you'll
8:16
mostly be traveling on inside cabins
8:19
with a guaranteed fair and so it can be
8:20
a little bit stressful or at least
8:23
uncertain next in that video I made
8:25
around how to live at an affordable cost
8:27
and have variety everybody living on
8:30
regular cruise ships keeps jumping ships
8:33
and chasing the best fairs it means most
8:36
were jumping ships at least 25 to 30
8:38
times a year and all talk about how they
8:41
can actually basically be rather tiring
8:44
there's regular packing and unpacking
8:46
they need to travel with limited clothes
8:48
and possessions both because there's
8:50
limited storage and also to have less to
8:52
Lug around every week or so when you're
8:55
changing ships and ports but also I had
8:58
not really appreciated until study tell
8:59
us about the large logistical Challenge
9:02
and work it takes to live on regular
9:04
cruise ships this is because that moving
9:06
between ships is key to making it work
9:09
for cost and added variety of reasons
9:11
even for Super Mario who just lives on
9:13
Royal Caribbean ships he still has to
9:15
spend time looking and finding the next
9:17
set of cruises to go on comparing the
9:20
different sellings to find the best
9:21
price and the ones that fit needly into
9:23
his schedule now because both Kevin of
9:26
30 and a wake up and Lyell of from
9:28
poverty to Paradise
9:29
actually booked free cabins through
9:32
Casino offers to enable them to live on
9:34
ships really inexpensively they not only
9:37
have the logistics of making sure they
9:38
gamble at just the right level to keep
9:40
their offers but the logistics of
9:42
working out and booking them seem
9:44
enormous for example LEL has spoken of
9:47
booking 60 60 cruises to cover her year
9:50
living on ships that sounds like a lot
9:53
of work a slightly more light-hearted
9:55
but key one that everybody spoke about
9:58
is laundry not all cruise ships have
10:00
free to use guest laundries and sending
10:03
laundry to be done is costly and would
10:05
add significantly to the cost of living
10:08
on ships now some go to some rather
10:11
interesting lens to solve this for
10:12
example I love the fact that Robin Ali
10:15
of grounded life Cruisers admitted that
10:17
in a couple of ports they take their
10:19
dirty laundry off the ship to a local
10:21
laundr matat while fras at C would
10:24
actually book inexpensive airbnbs with
10:26
washing machines if you had a day or two
10:28
in between ships to do laundry it's just
10:30
something to consider talking of
10:32
managing costs many spoke about when
10:34
living on cruise ships it is
10:35
prohibitively expensive to buy the Wi-Fi
10:38
packages for the whole time you're
10:39
living on a ship because it would
10:41
dramatically increase costs several
10:44
including Lenell and Fraser said they
10:46
didn't buy the Wi-Fi package and relied
10:49
on free Wi-Fi when port and some ad hoc
10:52
day purchases when they really needed it
10:55
therefore many spent quite a lot of time
10:57
not connected which they did say was was
10:59
challenging at times because if they
11:00
were feeling a bit lonely had some
11:02
Logistics to do around finding future
11:04
bookings checking in for the next cruise
11:06
and so on it wasn't really ideal that
11:08
not being connected all the time also in
11:11
another form of connectivity those who
11:13
were big sports fans found the ability
11:15
to watch matches very limited or those
11:17
that wanted to keep up with their
11:18
favorite soap or show because the TV
11:20
channels are very limited on board but
11:23
taking all this into account I found it
11:25
remarkable and fascinating how all the
11:27
people I followed made living on regular
11:29
cruise ships possible and uncovering
11:31
what it really cost now you too can find
11:34
out all about that by watching this
11:36
video on how it's all done see you over
11:39
there
#Adventure Travel
#Aging & Geriatrics
#Cruises & Charters
#Honeymoons & Romantic Getaways
#Luxury Travel
#Seniors & Retirement
#Transportation