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Something for Everyone
By Rick Kahler MS CFP® ChFC CCIM
My family and I recently took our 20th cruise-ship vacation. Obviously, we’ve found that cruising offers something for each of us. Perhaps more medical professionals can too?
First Time
I was reluctant to go on my first cruise, both because I’m prone to motion sickness and because I couldn’t see why anyone would want to spend a vacation cooped up on a boat. I quickly learned two things that changed my mind. First, a number of drugs, patches, and shots are available to prevent or cure seasickness. Second, if you get bored on a cruise ship, it’s only because you choose to.
Benefits
A major asset of cruising is the 18 hours a day of tailor-made, supervised activities available for kids of various ages, even when the ship is in port. This allows parents plenty of time to tour ports of call unencumbered by cranky kids who couldn’t care less about museums or ancient ruins. Our kids are now old enough that they enjoy most of the shore excursions, but this still leaves them the option to opt out of any port that doesn’t call to them.
Bargains
Most people assume cruising with a family must be prohibitively expensive. We’ve found it to be a highly affordable way to vacation if you follow a few rules.
You can get some incredible cruising bargains, but it does take a little legwork. You will want to get on the email lists of the major cruise lines; my top picks are Cunard, Celebrity, Holland America, and Princess. They send out sales and last-minute offers continuously.
One of the best places to shop and compare deals is Cruise.com. However, when I’ve run into issues like an incorrect booking or an issue with the cruise company, Cruise.com wasn’t much help. I was left pretty much on my own to resolve the problems. I’ve found it’s better to shop the deals online with sites like Cruise.com or Cruisecritic.com, but to place the order with my local travel agent or directly with the cruise company.
Food
It will come as no surprise that one of the main features I look for in a ship is really good food. Many of the newer ships offer alternative dining rooms, where for an additional $25 to $40 per person, you can dine in true gourmet fashion. Some of the best specialty dining is found on Cunard and Celebrity.
Cost Balance
To balance the cost of my specialty dining habit, I select the least expensive stateroom, typically an inside cabin. It’s the same size as 80% of the cabins on the ship; it just doesn’t have a window. You can enjoy the same view—water and sky—from a lounge on deck while you relax with a cool drink. And the cheaper cabin leaves several hundred extra dollars to spend on food and shore excursions. For our latest 12-day cruise, our inside cabin cost $800 per person.
Rates
You typically get the best rates by booking the cruise as far in advance as possible. A small deposit is due upon booking but is totally refundable until about 60 days prior to the cruise date. Often, the prices rise the closer you get to that 60-day deadline, when the cruise must be paid in full and your deposit becomes non-refundable. If you are flexible, another great time to shop for cruises is about 30 to 60 days prior to sailing.
Assessment
A cruise isn’t what we typically think of as a middle-class family vacation. Yet when you figure in lodging, food, and admission fees for visiting major US vacation destinations, cruising can be just as affordable and just as much fun.
Conclusion
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Filed under: iMBA, Inc., LifeStyle | Tagged: Cruses for Doctors, rick kahler, vacations, www.KahlerFinancial.com |
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Travel
My wife and I love to travel, and as a result we’ve dragged our children around the world with us, starting from a very early age. Traveling with small children can be an extreme challenge, especially if parents might want to have an occasional evening or even a day way from the kids. Bringing a babysitter along on a family vacation is neither practical nor affordable for 99% of us.
That’s one reason we fell in love with cruising, especially when our kids were young. Not only did we find cruising a bargain for our family of four, there at our fingertips were continuous activities designed specifically for kids and a plethora of babysitters in the form of crew wanting to earn some extra money. This was a win/win, as both kids and adults had lots of options for time alone, time with peers, and time as a family.
Our kids have long outgrown the kids club and are too busy with their own lives to have much interest in international family travel. Even though they are tired of traveling the world, Marcia and I are not. In fact, we’ve even half-heartedly joked that we would love to make a cruise ship our retirement home.
Apparently that idea isn’t necessarily a joke, according to a December 2016 BBC article by Elizabeth Garone.
The article finds that number of people cruising, around 24 million a year, has almost doubled from ten years ago and most cruisers are over age 50. A growing number of these people are making the cruise ship their second home, and in some cases their permanent home. About 15 years ago we were cruising on the Queen Elizabeth when I noticed a cabin that had a rather permanent-looking name plate on the door. When I inquired about it, a crew member told me the occupant actually lived on the ship.
While the personal space on a ship can be a bit small—most cabins have around 170 square feet—the amenities are expansive. All the food you can eat, housekeeping services, internet, an ever-changing neighborhood, fitness gyms and programs, nightly entertainment, an opportunity for a vibrant social life, no home maintenance, and no driving required.
The cost can run from $100 a day if you shop the bargains to $300 a day if you really want to remain on one ship for an extended stay. That’s $3,000 to $9,000 a month for food, room, and transportation. This may sound like a lot until you start comparing it to the cost of an assisted living facility.
If you really love the lifestyle and are better off financially, you can make running away to sea a more permanent move. It’s possible to buy a residence on The World, which has 165 units costing $1.65 million for a studio to $15 million for a three-bedroom penthouse.
However, retiring on a ship isn’t all smooth sailing. Even though some of the amenities are to die for, you need to be healthy to enjoy them. The medical facilities onboard are limited, so an injury or serious illness can put you ashore in a hurry. You’d need to carry evacuation and additional medical insurance. You also could grow tired of the same menus every week, the same crew members, and the same ports. If you’re from a northern climate, you might even miss snow every now and then.
Like other retirement decisions, choosing cruising needs careful research and consideration. Before you sail into the sunset, discuss options with family members and financial advisors, and take several long cruises to make sure the lifestyle is what you want.
Rick Kahler MS CFP® ChFC CCIM
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