No Nursing Home for Me!

[PMARSHALL]

I received this by e-mail today and thought it was something to think about.

 

 

About 2 years ago my wife and I were on a cruise through the western Mediterranean aboard a Princess liner. At dinner we noticed an elderly lady sitting alone along the rail of the grand stairway in the main dining room. I also noticed that all the staff, ships officers, waiters, busboys, etc., all seemed very familiar with this lady. I asked our waiter who the lady was, expecting to be told she owned the line, but he said he only knew that she had been on board for the last four cruises, back to back.

 

As we left the dining room one evening I caught her eye and stopped to say hello. We chatted and I said, "I understand you've been on this ship for the last four cruises". She replied, "Yes, that's true." I stated, "I don't understand"

and she replied, without a pause, "It's cheaper than a nursing home".

 

So, there will be no nursing home in my future. When I get old and feeble, I am going to get on a Princess Cruise Ship.

The average cost for a nursing home is $200 per day. I have checked on reservations at Princess and I can get a long term discount and senior discount price of $135 per day.

That leaves $65 a day for:

 

1. Gratuities which will only be $10 per day.

 

2. I will have as many as 10 meals a day if I can waddle to the restaurant, or I can have room service (which means I can have breakfast in bed every day of the week).

 

3. Princess has as many as three swimming pools, a workout room, free washers and dryers, and shows every night.

 

4. They have free toothpaste and razors, and free soap and shampoo.

 

5. They will even treat you like a customer, not a patient. An extra $5 worth of tips will have the entire staff scrambling to help you.

 

6. I will get to meet new people every 7 or 14 days.

 

7. T.V. broken? Light bulb need changing? Need to have the mattress replaced? No Problem! They will fix everything and apologize for your inconvenience.

 

8. Clean sheets and towels every day, and you don't even have to ask for them.

 

9. If you fall in the nursing home and break a hip you are on Medicare; if you fall and break a hip on the Princess ship they will upgrade you to a suite for the rest of your life.

 

Now hold on for the best! Do you want to see South America, the Panama Canal, Tahiti, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, or name where you want to go? Princess will have a ship ready to go. So don't look for me in a nursing home, just call shore to ship.

 

PS And don't forget, when you die, they just dump you over the side at no charge.

[spongerob]

Just like clockwork!

[coiran]

It seems to be a weekly post thing - Oh well! I just hope people don't get the idea that a cruise ship can replace a nursing home.

 

Ron

[LARGIN]

geezzz not again... :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

 

A Carnival cruiser, first post on the Princess Board..

Should have posted it on the Carnival Board. Maybe they like this kind of repeated stuff..

[Terre]

Well, Patti, it's the first time I've seen it, and I enjoyed it!:D

[Pam in CA]

And to repeat, I've chatted with the lady several times. Until this past May, she was on the Royal Princess and has since moved on to another ship -- not sure which one. She's NOT a little old lady with blue hair. :) "Elderly" is in the mind of the beholder. I don't think of 50s or 60s as being elderly.

[shellbeachjim]

And to repeat, I've chatted with the lady several times. Until this past May, she was on the Royal Princess and has since moved on to another ship -- not sure which one. She's NOT a little old lady with blue hair. :) "Elderly" is in the mind of the beholder. I don't think of 50s or 60s as being elderly.

 

She's certainly not a little old lady, not unless your idea of a little old lady has tatoos across her chest. The story I heard is that she and her husband owned the property in Santa Clarita, CA where Princess wanted to build their headquarters. As of this past May, she had more than 3000 sea days. Yes, she did have a few perks. The deck crew was instructed not to move the lounge chairs on the Sun Deck above her cabin until after 10am.

 

I'm with Pam, my idea of "elderly" seems to change as I get older!

[Pam in CA]

She's certainly not a little old lady, not unless your idea of a little old lady has tatoos across her chest.

Gee, Jim... I didn't see the tatoos! You must have gotten more up close and personal. :)

 

Actually, she's a relatively short, dark-haired lady who ate in the buffet for lunch every day and in the dining room at night. She appeared to be quite active and enjoyed meeting people on the ship since she wears a Staff badge that says something like, "Yes, I'm the lady with over 3000 days at sea." She doesn't hide or act imperious at all! She was very pleasant and friendly.

[shellbeachjim]

Gee, Jim... I didn't see the tatoos! You must have gotten more up close and personal. :)

 

Pam,

 

We saw them the previous time we were on the Royal in 2002. Trust me, they weren't hard to spot! :)

 

She had lunch regularly with Alan and Alana at the first table inside the Lido buffet. We never had a chance to meet her but she seemed like a real character.

 

Jim

[Pam in CA]

Do you know which ship she's on now? And what about Alan and Alana? Know where they've gone or are going?

[shellbeachjim]

Do you know which ship she's on now? And what about Alan and Alana? Know where they've gone or are going?

Pam,

Alan and Alana were taking a vacation and then are going to the Sea Princess. I talked to both of them and while the Regal was an obvious choice for them to go to because it was taking over many of the Royal's itineraries, the Regal was leaving the fleet soon too. They didn't feel like they wanted to be "evicted" again. By the way, they had calculated that they spent more than 10 years of actual time aboard the Royal.

 

I have no idea where the "lady of the ship" is going.

 

Jim

[Pam in CA]

Alan and Alana were great. They were more personable and concerned with people having a good time than J.J. They weren't just entertainers who showed up and performed but would go out and chat with people, find out how they were doing, and get to know them. Awesome... I hope I fun into them again.

[CaribbeanBlue]

Wouldn't the sailing ladies story make an interesting HBO movie?

 

CaribbeanBlue

 

http://www.*****.org

[Iamthesea]

I enjoyed the post also!

 

There is a gentleman that takes frequent cruises on the Celebrity ships as well. he is ederly! His duahgter drops him off for a week or two and then he stays with her and then back to the ship.

[PMARSHALL]

geezzz not again... :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

 

A Carnival cruiser, first post on the Princess Board..

Should have posted it on the Carnival Board. Maybe they like this kind of repeated stuff..

 

I guess next time I will do my homework before I post on the Princess board or maybe I will just stay with the Carnival board where the people are not rude. I thought it was cute and wanted to pass it along.