Can living on a cruise ship save you money?
HOUSTON - Ever been on a cruise and thought "I could live here?" More people are doing just that, living on cruise ships, traveling the world, and in some cases spending less money than they would be living on land.
We caught up with a Las Vegas family trying out life at sea.
Meet the family
Meet Christianne Klein, her husband Dan, and their 6-year-old daughter Livia. They're hopping aboard a growing trend. Living long-term on a cruise ship.
They're touring New Zealand and Australia for two months.
What they're saying:
The biggest benefit, Christianne says, is not having to cook or buy groceries.
"So much of our budget, we live in Las Vegas, is food. Food is a giant part of our budget. So knowing all those things are fixed, we’re on the Regent Seven Seas Explorer, and on Regent, everything is included," she said.
How does the cost of living compare?
So is life on a cruise ship cheaper or more expensive?
"It really depends on what you do and what your budget is. The way I lived in New York and Washington D.C., this is far more affordable," she said.
Since they'll be back in two months, they kept their home and cars. But some long-term cruisers sell or rent theirs out.
They did have to buy travel health insurance.
"I was concerned that was going to be a huge expense. But it wasn’t nearly as painful as we thought it was going to be," said Christianne.
They chose to add international calling to their existing cell phone plan.
"If we were to do this permanently, we would probably switch carriers. We would look for something that worked more in the area of the world we were sailing to, or international calling," she explained.
They're relying on the ship's Wi-Fi, as the couple both work remotely and post on their travel blog, FoodFamilyTravel.com. But they also cut some costs.
"We did cancel a lot of subscriptions. Sorry Netflix, you’re gone for a few months. A lot of the streaming services we canceled," said Christianne.
Big picture view:
Their advice to anyone considering a life at sea?
"You might want to take a one-month trip. See if you like it. See what you can live without Amazon deliveries for a month. That was another thing; we get a lot of Amazon. No problem, it hasn’t phased us at all," she said.
Average cost of living on a cruise ship
By the numbers:
Living on a cruise ship can cost anywhere from $30,000 to $100,000 a year, depending on your destination, cabin, length of the cruise, and amenities.
You can book repeated, successive trips on many cruise lines, but there are cruise lines designed for long-term living.
The Source: Information in this article is from long-term living cruise lines.