Wow! I highly recommend taking the time to read this one. It just keeps giving and giving the further you read. Unbelievable.
Oh man, I want to drop spoilers so bad, lol. Just read.
Damn I’m glad you said that. I wasn’t really interested in reading about people who would do this, but I went back, and what a total shitshow. Norovirus not required.
edit: also regarding the new company helping these people in need
Its website currently advertises “boutique cruise liners” selling duty free gold bullion, diamonds and gems onboard.
Where’s that tiny violin?
I can echo this 😂🤣 actually a decent article, with lots of info. And it's a rollercoaster, those poor idiots that bought tickets...
And the whole situation still has so much more to give as well.
It's a news article, not a tv show. There's nothing to "spoil" lol.
I disagree. What I was going to say would mess up the reading adventure of this article. It was so good I read it aloud to my wife. lol
I won't open any links unless someone let's me know what it's about in the comments, and it seems like something worth reading.
In other words, no "spoilers", no read.
3 different 'businesses' pushing long term cruises... none of which actually own ships. what could go wrong?
One norovirus outbreak would see to that anyway.
Floating shit prison.
I'll pass.
Some of the passengers who booked the 111 cabins sold are still in Istanbul, having made their way there ahead of the original departure date. Others say they have nowhere to return to, having sold or rented out their homes in anticipation of the round-the-world voyage, as well as jettisoning their possessions.
oof. Regardless of the class makeup of the passengers that fucking suuuuuuuuucks.
I think people who sold all their things to make this work couldn't have been too rich
Maybe boomers who planned to just die before the cruise was over??
Cruises are surprisingly cheap. Often considerably cheaper than a retirement home. Some people literally just take back to back cruises when they get old.
If it were a choice between some depressing elder care facility or cruisin and boozin til I go out for the same price, I know which one I'm picking.
I've been on a few cruises with both reputable companies; it's pretty fun. On one of them I met an older couple and a retired guy who are (unrelated to each other) living their retirement on cruise ships. They found it cheaper than living on their own, and there's laundry, food, and entertainment included. They stay on the ship between cruises, and when a ship goes in for maintenance they move to a different one. Honestly, it doesn't sound half bad.
Sounds great except for the absolutely massive environmental impacts
Doesn't seem that bad to me. It's not like they're the only ones on the ship.
They're retired, they won't likely be around for the aftermath of the environmental impact of that lifestyle
That's not better.
How is this cheaper?
Even with food and laundry included. What does this cost a month?
Old folks homes are routinely $5000/month (usually more) per person. That's without any medical services which cost more. Insurance refuses to pay for them.
Hospice homes are often $8k/month per person. They do charge your insurance. That's actually one of the reasons everyone's insurance is so damn expensive - hospice care is an incredible ripoff. Usually your loved one pays that rate, and they get seen by a doctor once a week and the orderlies and hospice workers see them for maybe 30 minutes a day. Those workers are paid less than $20/hr. The owners make incredible fortunes off of neglect.
I imagine it would depend on where home is to adjust cost of living. In the Northeast United States, just property taxes in many areas run north of $1000 a month with a paid off house, and/or rents are $2000 a month to just maintain shelter(not even heated or with electricity yet, or the side necessities such as insurance and a vehicle/transit pass). The Life at Sea cruise was $2500/month with food and drink included and supposedly competitively priced so I imagine deals like this are not too rare. A couple could spend 60k a year easily being homebodies or traveling the world with a staff available for their requests.
2500/mo!! Holy shit I could retire early.
I believe the route was planned such that wherever you go, the weather was nice. It sounded amazing to me: travel the world, no home maintenance, no car maintenance, no commuting, no packing/unpacking, food included.
Well yeah, we're melting all the sea ice so hitting up Antarctica would yield you a nice vista of flowers blooming. You could wear jorts and a Hawaiian shirt off the coast of what used to be permafrost.
He said that while the company had made the down payment for the ship, the investors “declined to support us further due to unrest in the Middle East.”
What a completely unpredictable, unprecedented turn of events! No wonder the investors pulled out!
It's like a reverse fire festival
Something that happened or was uncovered recently anywhere in the world. It doesn't have to have global implications. Just has to be informative in some way.
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