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Interesting Article about 1 person's upcoming solo adventure

Lois R

By Lois R,
in Solo Cruisers

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Lois R Great Review Rare

Lois R

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I was just cruising (solo as I always do) and was sitting in the airport and saw this article about a gal and her upcoming adventure as a solo cruiser.

See the link below:

 

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/cruise-ship-three-years-mv-gemini-passenger-perspective/index.html

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Lois R Great Review Rare

Lois R

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23 minutes ago, shorne said:

Did they say a discount for single travellers? I'd bet that it's a «discount» off the rate for two.

 

A trip of that length poses practical problems galore. How would one get visas?

 

From what I can see, she seems to have everything she needs. Why would she need visas? Doesn't a passport have everything she needs.  I have read about people living permanently on cruise ships. Never heard about visa issues. 

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Dancer Bob

Dancer Bob

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Many, many unanswered questions I came up with in only a few minutes of consideration:

The biggie- she hasn't talked to her daughter/grandsons-

Residence- if she doesn't use their address, where will she be resident?

Power of attorney in the event of incapacity?

 

Also- as a teacher, does she have a defined benefit pension which allows her to budget? Other sources? My guess is she'll need an after-tax income of 60K- 90K. Obtaining cash in foreign ports if her bank denies her card?

 

Visas-obtaining visas for 375 ports could get very complicated shorne and I seem to think alike. Yes, US citizens DO need visas for many countries!!!

 

Medical insurance- she's boasting about her pre-existing conditions. Does her pension have an insurance benefit?

 

Be interesting to know the contractual obligations for all this.

Edited by Dancer Bob
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shorne

shorne

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5 minutes ago, Dancer Bob said:

Residence- if she doesn't use their address, where will she be resident?

 

Good question. As a matter of law, she will retain her current domicile until she establishes a new one. She stated in that article that she plans to return to her place of domicile after the cruise, and she won't be able to establish a new domicile during the cruise, so that should settle that: her domicile will remain the same.

 

5 minutes ago, Dancer Bob said:

Power of attorney in the event of incapacity?

 

As a lawyer, I would indeed recommend that anyone leaving on a trip of that duration give someone power of attorney. Incapacity isn't the only issue: there might be practical matters, such as legal or financial ones, for which an attorney could be useful, especially if the person herself could not be reached (and I would not bet on access to the Internet or to telephones for the whole of a cruise). While she is at it, she should have a current will prepared and expect to stick with it for the duration of the cruise. Has she even thought about the possibility of dying while away? I doubt it.

 

5 minutes ago, Dancer Bob said:

Visas-obtaining visas for 375 ports could get very complicated shorne and I seem to think alike.

 

Visas usually cannot be arranged more than a few months in advance. Arranging one typically requires production of one's passport, something that would be impossible to do during the cruise unless one attended a consulate, embassy, or other designated office (more easily said than done, especially since many of those offices require an appointment and may serve only people from certain countries in the vicinity). I suppose that the organisers of the cruise contemplated this difficulty, and maybe they have a solution, but I cannot imagine what it is.

 

5 minutes ago, Dancer Bob said:

Medical insurance- she's boasting about her pre-existing conditions. Does her pension have an insurance benefit?

 

Rather than boasting, she should have sought medical advice about the wisdom of travelling for so long to places varying widely in temperature and humidity, many of them (including the open sea) having limited access to medical services.

 

At her age and with her medical conditions, she may find it difficult to arrange travel insurance. This is something else that she probably didn't consider.

 

5 minutes ago, Dancer Bob said:

Be interesting to know the contractual obligations for all this.

 

Yes, indeed, and I don't believe that she did adequate research in the space of a few hours. I would have recommended that she consult a lawyer before committing herself.

 

People easily think about the glamour of a trip such as this. Few think as carefully as you about the practical side of it.

 

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jimdee3636

jimdee3636

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In a way, I admire the woman's optimism and sense of adventure. But, as others have already pointed out, there are potential problems here, some of them major ones. Aside from the ones mentioned, the ship is over thirty years old. What will happen if it breaks down? The owner seems to be a Turkish-based "one off" cruise company, so it's not as if they have a replacement ship at the ready if lengthy repairs are needed. And what if the company itself goes out of business?

 

And how about trip insurance? Assuming you could even get it, you'd probably have to pay for the whole three years' worth of coverage in advance. The cost would be astronomical.

 

I truly hope it all works out for the woman, but there are a lot more negatives than positives here.

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Lois R Great Review Rare

Lois R

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Just because they were not part of the article does not mean she has not given thoughts to those issues........boy, this is a tough crowd.  I just thought I would post the article as a solo cruiser. Maybe she has given thought to all of the items everyone has brought up.. Since we don't know her, who are we to judge it all so negatively.

 

I remember reading and seeing a story about a woman who actually lived on a cruise ship permanently.  She had the means to do it and the staff treated her better than her family. I saw it on 60 minutes a few years ago. I can't remember which cruise line though but I do recall the story.

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shorne

shorne

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3 hours ago, Lois R said:

Maybe she has given thought to all of the items everyone has brought up.

 

She would have to be an uncommonly quick thinker to have done her alleged research and worked through all of those issues in the space of a few hours one evening. And the article shows no evidence of her having considered any of the issues that we raised: she even boasted about significant health-related problems and said that she planned to manage them by staying on the ship in places such as Antarctica. (Unless this is a very small ship, it won't be able to stop in Antarctica anyway.)

 

But I'm not allowed to burst anyone's bubble; I'm just supposed to be on call when everything goes to hell and the self-styled victim complains bitterly about eventualities that were altogether foreseeable.

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shorne

shorne

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5 hours ago, jimdee3636 said:

What will happen if it breaks down? The owner seems to be a Turkish-based "one off" cruise company, so it's not as if they have a replacement ship at the ready if lengthy repairs are needed.

 

Even a new ship would require maintenance. Is the intention to run this ship continually for three years straight, without ever maintaining it? Somehow that doesn't strike me as prudent. Or are the passengers going to be dumped unceremoniously in various hotels somewhere for a few weeks while maintenance is performed?

 

And sending a replacement ship, if one were available, might take weeks. What then?

 

5 hours ago, jimdee3636 said:

And what if the company itself goes out of business?

 

Another good question. I'd want to know who exactly owned this outfit and how the satisfactory completion of the cruise was guaranteed. Has she noticed the choice of forum and choice of laws in her contract? She might have to bring legal action in Türkiye if this went sour.

 

Even on a more mundane level, there is a real chance that this cruise could become boring and tedious: same cramped room, same repetitive food and entertainment, same eight-hour stops in miscellaneous ports, same limited facilities, same people, same practical difficulties with administrative matters and staying in touch with friends. It may be just the thing for some people, but the decision should be made soberly, not «in a heartbeat». Again, I'd recommend taking legal advice.

 

This lady thinks that her family would try to talk her out of doing this. Maybe she should have listened to their opinions before committing herself. Now she finds herself hiding from them because she knows that they will disapprove—probably in part because of the state of her health. That doesn't bode well.

 

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shorne

shorne

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That's $56k per year, all paid in advance. For a tiny room. I'd bet that that little room, in which one would have to store clothes for climates ranging from scorching to frigid, would feel like a coffin after a couple of months.

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Dancer Bob

Dancer Bob

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See Three-Year Cruise thread on Ask a Cruise Question board. I wonder how much money she lost? And neither article fact-checked the solo cost.

Contrast that with the Never Too Old thread, many months of planning for a one-year cruise.

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journeymore

journeymore

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On 4/23/2023 at 8:17 PM, Lois R said:

 

I remember reading and seeing a story about a woman who actually lived on a cruise ship permanently.  She had the means to do it and the staff treated her better than her family. I saw it on 60 minutes a few years ago. I can't remember which cruise line though but I do recall the story.

I remember the story it was pre Covid. I wonder what happened to her. 

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