We’ve spent 18 months living on ships after booking 51 cruises… it’s cheaper than forking out for a retirement home
A COUPLE revealed they spent 18 months living on ships after booking 51 cruises as it was cheaper than retirement home fees.
Marty and Jess Ansen, from Australia, spent a year-and-a-half in the sea while saving money on their rent.
The couple said they had missed cruising the oceans after the pandemic hit and the industry was brought to a standstill.
Since then, the pair have spent most of their days on a cruise ship, preferring the lifestyle to the one they would otherwise have on dry land.
Marty and Jess revealed they have been aboard the Coral Princess ship since June 2022, A Current Affair reported.
According to Marty, he told his agent to book whatever became available – which is how the couple’s cruise got to be so long.
He said: “We’re on board longer than anybody else. The wheels change over but we stay on board.”
The sea-loving pair have become so accustomed to their cruise life, that they’ve fallen into a daily routine aboard the Coral Princess.
They even spend an hour daily playing table tennis with each other.
“We do it together and we have a lot of fun,” said Jess.
Not only are the couple saving money on the fees they would be paying to a retirement home, but they also don’t need to shop for food.
Their meals are included in the overall price of the cruise – as is housekeeping.
Marty said: “We don’t know how to wash up anymore, we don’t know how to make a bed, because we haven’t done it for so long.”
He also joked that the couple now has to “stay on board just to stay alive” as a result of the lack of responsibilities they now have.
The couple have called the ship home for so long now, that even the staff and crew members surprised Jess as she celebrated her birthday last month.
Jess said they now welcome the different captains on board as they have been living on the vessel for so long.
The ship’s hotel manager, Ren van Rooyen, has been on board the Coral Princess for less time than Jess and Marty.
He said: “We always make a joke that I go away and I come back and it’s like coming to see my family – my mum and dad again. They’re like my second mum and dad on board.”
Marty and Jess have eight months left on board the Coral Princess but revealed they are already planning on doing another trip around the world before leaving.
Then, they have plans to take a year-long cruise aboard the Crown Princess.
It comes after a man who spends 300 days of the year living on a posh cruise ship revealed that the overall costs aren’t as high as you might expect.
Ryan Gutridge started living on Royal Caribbean cruise ship in 2021, after realising he could work remotely from the seas due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A woman also told how she lives on a cruise ship full-time after leaving home at 19 – and she doesn’t pay a penny of rent.
Antonia Cole shared how she has worked aboard cruise ships for two years and says she is living her “dream life.”
And an American revealed how he bought an entire apartment on a cruise ship as it’s cheaper than a home.
Austin Wells, from San Diego, was one of the first to buy the studio flat on the new MV Narrative – a mega cruise ship with 500 private rooms and apartments.