Cruising cheaper than a nursing home?

[Stevekiel]

Has anyone else seen this?

 

About 2 years ago my friend and I were on a cruise through the western Mediterranean aboard a Princess liner. At dinner we noticed an elderly couple sitting 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 the two of them. I asked our waiter who the couple was, expecting to be told they owned the line, but he said he only knew that they had been on board for the last four cruises, back to back. As we left the dining room one evening I caught their eye and stopped to say hello. We chatted and I said,

 

"I understand you've been on this ship for the last four cruises".

 

The woman replied, "Yes, that's true."

 

I stated, "I don't understand" and she replied, without a pause,

 

"It's cheaper for us than a nursing home."

 

So I gave this careful thought and decided that 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:

 

Gratuities which will only be $10 per day. And the rest can be put into the slot machines. 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 everyday of the week)

 

Princess has as many as three swimming pools, a workout room, free washers and dryers, and shows every night. They have free toothpaste and razors, and free soap and shampoo.

 

They will even treat you like a customer, not a patient. An extra $5 worth of tips and your casino winnings will have the entire staff scrambling to help you. I will get to meet new people every 7 or 14 days.

 

TV broken? Light bulb needs changing? Need to have the mattress replaced? No problem! They will fix everything and apologize for your inconvenience. Clean sheets and towels every day, and you don't even have to ask for them.

 

I f 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 look for me on one of the upper decks with a drink in my hand.

 

~ Author Unknown ~

[tadjr]

Sounds about right. My friend met a lady on one of his cruises that had been on the ship a long time as well. They were doing a bridge tour and walked by her room (one of the suites) and the door was open. She saw them look in and said hi and invited them in. She asked them to stay a while and got them drinks and appetizers from the butler. She gets to meet new people, see the world and is waited on hand and foot instead of being in a facility where she is just "there". Why wouldnt you do this if you could afford it when you are older?

[Druke I]

This resurfaces every two weeks or so, in one form or another.

[Cachecara]

I had to chuckle when I read this post, as I am an RN, BSN who has worked in geriatrics at geriatric health care centers/rehab centers (it's not politically correct to refer to them as "nursing homes" any longer :) )for the past 15 yrs.

I guess that would work out great, retiring on a ship--as long as the staff could dress you, feed you, toilet you and pass your meds--and that's just the easy stuff I do as part of my daily routine. It's the extradordinary resident in a health care facility that can do these things independently--for if they were independent they wouldn't need skilled nursing would they? Just some of my thoughts after returning home from a hard days shift and working understaffed. :)

[tadjr]

Well, there is the normal "nursing home" and then there is the assisted living facility. My aunt just moved into one of those (she has her own apartment, but meals are done in the dining room and she has maid service if wanted) so I would venture a guess that the latter is what is being discussed. I know some people would consider her new home a nursing home (they do have a wing for those in the facility that need temporary assistance due to a medical problem), but its not a nursing home at all. There are so many alternatives out there now compared to everyone who could not live on their own for some reason being put into a full service nursing home.

[SS Cruise Lady]

In reading this thread it appears that some people don't realize that nursing homes today provide either short term rehab after a person has been in a hospital, or long term custodial care for people who are no longer able to live on their own due to serious physical or mental disabilities. People in the latter category are not in a position to spend their life cruising because they require continuous medical care. Cruise ships do, however, provide an interesting alternative for elderly people who are able to live on their own in an independent living section of an assisted living facility.

[dmarch@islc.net]

This is one of my favorite fantasies! Hey why wait. Sell the house, the cars, the toys. Get rid of all bills except X. I think we would actually save money.

[wander]

Over a few drinks one night about 18 years ago a good friend (we worked in healthcare) and I discussed the idea of having a true nursing home on a ship. Of course, the daily costs would far exceed those of such land based facilities, but it sounded good. After all, we thought, wouldn't you rather tell people "We sent Mom on a cruise" rather than "We sent Mom to a nursing home". (Yes, I know that nursing home is no longer PC, but 18 years ago is was still in common use.)

[momofmeg]

I had to chuckle when I read this post, as I am an RN, BSN who has worked in geriatrics at geriatric health care centers/rehab centers (it's not politically correct to refer to them as "nursing homes" any longer :) )for the past 15 yrs.

I guess that would work out great, retiring on a ship--as long as the staff could dress you, feed you, toilet you and pass your meds--and that's just the easy stuff I do as part of my daily routine. It's the extradordinary resident in a health care facility that can do these things independently--for if they were independent they wouldn't need skilled nursing would they? Just some of my thoughts after returning home from a hard days shift and working understaffed. :)

 

 

That was my thought too. Most people in nursing homes are there because they can no longer care for them selves-and I don't meaning cooking but as you pointed out dressing themselves and not having control of their toilet habits etc.

 

I know with my father who had alzheimers-we kept him at home until it became 24 hour a day care and it was impossible-as being mere mortals we still needed to sleep. I can't imagine cruise staff willing to take care of a person in his shape. (Unless he or she was tipped a WHOLE lot of money and I mean like at least 20 times the usual tip)

 

But if a person is well off and still able to do the basics for themselves but no loner want the worry of upkeep of a house and cooking meals why not live on a cruise ship.

 

By the way this same post I found at another messageboard (that is not related to cruisecritic) just a few days ago so I think the OP is making the rounds with this subject. I guess the OP is pretty bored.

[turtlemichael]

I guess that would work out great, retiring on a ship--as long as the staff could dress you, feed you, toilet you and pass your meds

 

You mean the butler in a Sky Suite doesn't do that? Not even if your pre-tip? :D

[momofmeg]

Well, there is the normal "nursing home" and then there is the assisted living facility. My aunt just moved into one of those (she has her own apartment, but meals are done in the dining room and she has maid service if wanted) so I would venture a guess that the latter is what is being discussed. I know some people would consider her new home a nursing home (they do have a wing for those in the facility that need temporary assistance due to a medical problem), but its not a nursing home at all. There are so many alternatives out there now compared to everyone who could not live on their own for some reason being put into a full service nursing home.

 

True this exists now but these facilities also have attached to them a nursing facility. My friend's aunt lives at one. The aunt did live with my friend but every winter she would get very sick and needed 24 hour a day care most of the winter and as my friend still works (she is only 52-not old enough to retire so she has to work) my friend could not continue to care for her.

 

So her aunt has her own "apartment" sort of a one room studio type apt. with sort of a kitchette a mini fridge, coffee pot and micro wave and her own bathroom. But she takes her meals in a dinningroom for the most part. To live there she has to be well enough to walk to the dinningroom.

 

Whens she gets sick she is moved to the other half of the facillity which is a nuring home-when she is well enough she is moved back to her "apartment". The aunt hates the nursing facillity and has begged my friend to let her move back-the poor thing, my friend hates it-but she can't-as she could just not care for the aunt when the aunt is ill and work both. The aunt would like to stay in her "apartment" and someone come and care for her 24 hours a day when she is ill but this is not feasable-as these type of facillities have to turn a profit and they could not with indivual 24 hour a day care.

[Stevekiel]

It is just a dream. We all know it would not be logical to think this would be possible. But, it sure would be nice!

[SS Cruise Lady]

True this exists now but these facilities also have attached to them a nursing facility. My friend's aunt lives at one. The aunt did live with my friend but every winter she would get very sick and needed 24 hour a day care most of the winter and as my friend still works (she is only 52-not old enough to retire so she has to work) my friend could not continue to care for her.

 

So her aunt has her own "apartment" sort of a one room studio type apt. with sort of a kitchette a mini fridge, coffee pot and micro wave and her own bathroom. But she takes her meals in a dinningroom for the most part. To live there she has to be well enough to walk to the dinningroom.

 

Whens she gets sick she is moved to the other half of the facillity which is a nuring home-when she is well enough she is moved back to her "apartment". The aunt hates the nursing facillity and has begged my friend to let her move back-the poor thing, my friend hates it-but she can't-as she could just not care for the aunt when the aunt is ill and work both. The aunt would like to stay in her "apartment" and someone come and care for her 24 hours a day when she is ill but this is not feasable-as these type of facillities have to turn a profit and they could not with indivual 24 hour a day care.

 

You are describing a "continuum of care" community that includes separate facilities for independent living with a la carte services such as dining, housekeeping, etc, an assisted living facility, and a long term care (nursing home) facility. However, there are also many stand alone assisted living facilities that are not associated with a nursing home. There are also many different types of assisted living facilities, as well, and the one that is a best fit for a person at a certain point in time may or may not be part of a "continuum of care" community.

[Oliver Sudden]

:eek: A big fat MAYBE here.

 

Just remember, cruise costs are based on double occupancy. It might work for a couple, but never work for someone who is alone.

:confused: What about medical insurance? Medicare doesn't cover when outside the U.S., and the fees for the trip insurance are not small potatoes.

 

:p Just a dream! A nice one at that.

[sweetcat]

We discussed this exact issue with the cruise director during our Cruise Critic party. Celebrity and the other lines are not supporting the idea of living aboard one of their ships. They found they had to cater too much to people who wanted something different each week. They wanted new entertainment, new food, etc. Plus the cruise lines were not making any money on these individuals. They make money on booze, souveniers, extras, shore excursions, etc. So they are actively discouraging this type of activity. Interesting discussion.

[DancerOT]

AARP had an article in their magazine about a year ago about this very topic. It is an interesting topic to discuss. An alternative to people who want the "different each week" is to go on an around-the-world cruise. As a medical professional, I can see this being a viable option for the type of elderly person who is mostly independent except for a few things such as inability to drive (this truly limits independence), decreased desire to or inability to cook for self, and inability to perform household cleaning activities. This group of people is often referred to as "well elderly". There was actually a very good research study published in JAMA a few years ago called "The Well Elderly Study". It looked at ages and functional abilities of this group of people, as well as why they belonged in this group. So keep on discussing...it is interesting to read.

[mrs66]

This is a nice thought, but I don't think you can really compare the price of a cruise to the cost of nursing home care. The $200 a day that was cited is for an actual nursing home and would provide for significant medical and nursing assistance (bathing, dressing, meds, mobility issues, etc) - not the kind of services you generally find on a cruise ship. A cruise ship would be more like a "congregate living" situation (less services even than assisted living), and these facilities are much less expensive. My grandmother lived in a really nice place with a beautiful one bedroom apartment, all meals, and household support (cleaning, laundry) and it only ran her about $70/day.

Now, if you were financially well off and could hire a nurse to travel on the cruise with you, I could see how that could appeal to a lot of people .... sounds like a good retirement to me! :)