Interesting Concept ~ Cruising vs. Assisted Living

[HeatherInFlorida]

Thumbing through the AARP Bulletin, an article "Cruising Through Retirement" caught my eye. Seems there's an M.D. with the idea of placing people on open-ended cruises instead of an assisted living facility.

 

This doctor and her colleague are calling the concept "cruise ship care" and wrote up the idea in November's Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. I thought the following stats were worth sharing:) !

 

Assisted Living

Meals Provided ... Optional

Housekeeping ... Optional

24/7 medical care ... No

Escorts to meals ... Optional

Staff-to-client ratio ... 1 to 10-40

Average cost/month ... $3000

 

Cruise Ships

Meals Provided ... YES

Housekeeping ... YES

24/7 medical care ... YES

Escorts to meals ... YES

Staff-to-client ratio ... 1 to 2-3

Average cost/month ... $3000

 

Their idea is that rather than tell a senior they have to go into assisted living, they could say "You are unable to stay in your home alone, so let's put you on a cruise ship in the Caribbean!".

 

Sounds like a plan to me!!!!!!!:D What do you all think?

[Orcrone]

I think I'm ready for assisted living NOW!

[Grumpy1]

What's that saying? Be nice to your kids...they will get to choose your Cruise Ship:D

[twoatsea]

:cool: dh & i are ready to sign up today!! this is so strange - in late october, as usual, we arrived in florida (disney area) from indiana for wintering in our rv. we are tired of the cramped space & looked for a seasonal rental. couldn't find any that satisfied us. sooo, we actually did consider spending the winter on hal! on one of our cruises last year, there was a retired lady who did just that. her schedule was that she stayed onboard for 3 weeks & then 1 week off, and repeated that thruout the winter. last year we did take 5 one week cruises & this year three, but decided we didn't want the entire winter onboard. one week at a time is about all we want. we like 1 week on & 3 weeks off. that allows us to get excited about the upcoming cruise. also, we have very little control when it comes to food so easily consumed - no shopping, no cooking, no cleaning up. we would eat ourselves to an early grave :eek: ! another reason why we need the 3 weeks off. anyway, we signed a 12 month lease on a one bedroom apartment.

 

however, when the time comes that we can no longer bicycle, walk several miles a day, go shopping, go to the movies, go to disney parks, travel in non-cruise ways, etc., we may want to spend our kids inheritance on an assisted living cruise! what a way to go!

 

may be one problem - $3000 month divided by 4 weeks = $750 a cruise for a single person. is that possible on hal? oh well, if not, splurge!

 

thanks heather for this interesting info - such great "food" for thought :) .

[ColoradoJuli]

Think medicare would be willing to supplement the bill or maybe get your insurance company to cover it? I really like the idea, but my kitty cats must be allowed to go with me :-)

[Oceanwench]

Sign me up!

[HeatherInFlorida]

I'm assuming the $$$ they quote is in a minimum cabin. Actually, $3000/month in an assisted living facility these days would be a very bare minimum. Obviously they would offer more costly accommodations. And they don't mention that while there is medical care available 24/7, it certainly isn't free! So they'd have to tweak it abit.

 

Plus I don't think our younger friends want to share their ships with us:D so they'd have to have special ships offering this service. But the fact remains there are a lot of "seniors" out there with a heck of a lot of money and how many among us wouldn't prefer being sailed around than sit in a little apartment in some assisted living community?

 

As you say, food for thought ...... and pretty tasty food in my view;) !

[bepsf]

I'm right there with you Heather!!!

 

I've heard stories of ladies who have spent years at a time aboard ship - there's the one who lived on Royal Viking ships for 14 years, and the one who currently lives on QE2. When the ship goes into drydock, she visits family in England and meets QE2 when it returns to service.

[mkk]

Yes..I have recently heard of this..

One couple we met on our last cruise said their mother-in-law was living on a cruise ship..cheaper than assisted living..lots more to do..all the comforts including a doctor etc...

Also..my DH says there is an article in this month's AARP bulletin about that very thing..I've yet to read it...But..I know I'd be willing to try living on a ship for awhile..when the time comes...

[jhannah]

The idea has a certain attractiveness. However, while you might find an occasional cruise for $100 per day, that certainly wouldn't be the norm year 'round. And yes, you'd have to add in the cost of medical care including administration of meds. And another thing; a cruise-bound person would be cut off from family and friends, and this isn't a good thing in the realm of elder care. Sorry to sound like a wet blanket thrower ... but there is still lots of "tweaking" to do with the concept.

[Esme]

There's a couple who sail on the Veendam out of Tampa one week on, one week off. Met them last Feb. when we were on board. They live in Tampa, so just drive to the ship, get on & stay a week, then back home for a week and back again. This goes on all winter.

 

Sign us up - cheaper than living in a retirement home here in Southern Ontario and much warmer - no snow. :D

[sail7seas]

I read the same article Heather and found it worthy of serious thought. We are no where near ready for anything like that but it sure makes alot of sense for folks like us who love being upon the sea.....who love the ships. It is a little 'pie' in the sky IMO but definitely is fun to think about.

[HeatherInFlorida]

....Also..my DH says there is an article in this month's AARP bulletin about that very thing..I've yet to read it...But..I know I'd be willing to try living on a ship for awhile..when the time comes...

mkk, I'm not picking on you, but did you read my OP? It was the AARP article that I'm talking about!:D You need a cruise;) .

[HeatherInFlorida]

The more I think on this, the more sense it makes. Obviously, you wouldn't be on the ship 365 days a year, but you would have an open-end cruise out of a certain port and could get on and off at that port as you choose. Maybe you could rent it as you would an apartment. Just as you would leave an apartment from time to time, you could leave the ship.

 

As in many senior living complexes, there would be a certain number of rooms for visitors to book so they could join their loved ones. What better way to get your kids to visit? I'm telling you ... it's brilliant!

 

Let's face it, we're running out of room in urban areas to put up the number of homes that will be necessary as the baby boomers age and live to be over 100. There's a lot of ocean out there ... why the heck not use it? I'm telling you that if someone jumps on this right now there's a lot of money to be made. HAL, are you reading this?

 

If they packaged it well, I'd be first on line to sign up.

[bepsf]

There's one already packaged Heather -

 

Residensea's MS The World...

 

"Ownership opportunities for Studios, Studio Apartments and Apartments onboard The World begin at USD$725,000 for Studios, USD$1,247,500 for one bedroom apartments, USD$1,697,500 for two bedroom apartments and USD$4,170,000 for three bedroom apartments."

 

"With a minimum stay of only 6 nights, you can select in which port to start your voyage and when to end. Rental rates range from $1,000 to $3,400 per night, for two guests depending on your desired accommodation."

 

http://www.residensea.com/

[HeatherInFlorida]

Brian, I'm familiar with that, but it's not what I'm talking about. It's not just for "oldies". I've read about it and I'm forgetting the specifics, but I know it was quite different that what these folks want to do.

 

Plus, I can't afford it!;)

 

Correction: I just took a peek at the link ... really grateful for that, Brian. I'll call them tomorrow.

[sail7seas]

The more I think on this, the more sense it makes. Obviously, you wouldn't be on the ship 365 days a year, but you would have an open-end cruise out of a certain port and could get on and off at that port as you choose. Maybe you could rent it as you would an apartment. Just as you would leave an apartment from time to time, you could leave the ship.

 

As in many senior living complexes, there would be a certain number of rooms for visitors to book so they could join their loved ones. What better way to get your kids to visit? I'm telling you ... it's brilliant!

 

Let's face it, we're running out of room in urban areas to put up the number of homes that will be necessary as the baby boomers age and live to be over 100. There's a lot of ocean out there ... why the heck not use it? I'm telling you that if someone jumps on this right now there's a lot of money to be made. HAL, are you reading this?

 

If they packaged it well, I'd be first on line to sign up.

 

I wonder how much the government can 'muck it up'. They'll start throwing junk at us about such things as Passenger Carriage Act and violations of it. Then they'll have to find a way to tax us independently for finding a way around rotting in a land located assisted living. Then they'll probably deny Medicare or whatever just to be a teeny nasty.

[ekerr19]

It works for me! At $3,000 per month it's a STEAL - we could do it now and save tons! Oh wait, I guess I'd have to take the kids out of school.... darn! It sounded good.

 

We always planned to take the World Voyage when we retired. If we like being on a ship that many days, we might just be convinced to stay on year round.

 

Heather, thanks for giving us food for thought!

[HeatherInFlorida]

I wonder how much the government can 'muck it up'. They'll start throwing junk at us about such things as Passenger Carriage Act and violations of it. Then they'll have to find a way to tax us independently for finding a way around rotting in a land located assisted living. Then they'll probably deny Medicare or whatever just to be a teeny nasty.

Sail!:( ... just when I was having such a good time!!! You raining all over my parade!!!!;)

But you're right, of course. The government will most definitely "muck it up" .... unless they're happy to have us all out to sea!!!!:D

Laura! You can't bring your kids with you!!! Besides, they'll be grown and have their own kids before you're qualified. This is only for "oldies"!!!:p

[ekerr19]

Laura! You can't bring your kids with you!!! Besides, they'll be grown and have their own kids before you're qualified. This is only for "oldies"!!!:p

Oh Yeah...duh. I was having a moment. :D

[Krazy Kruizers]

I read that article as well.

Sounds like a great deal - but we aren't ready to do that yet.

I can remember when we had to place my mother in a personel care home - 15 years ago - it was only for a month - the price then for a single room was over $4000 - just for the one month.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Do you remember the woman who lived on the QE 2 for quite a number of years?

She had 2 rooms - brought her own furniture on board, etc.

Does anyone know if she is still on the QE 2?

[RuthC]

For years now I've thought the object of the game is to have your life run out the moment before your money does.

Wonder how long the money would last under this plan? Hum....

Jim, for people who live on cruise ships the staff and crew become their "family" and friends. Sure, the passengers change every cruise, but the staff is a constant. Relatives come aboard for a visit just as they would on land.

All in all a very good plan.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Do you remember the woman who lived on the QE 2 for quite a number of years?

 

She had 2 rooms - brought her own furniture on board, etc.

 

Does anyone know if she is still on the QE 2?

According to Brian's post above, yes she does! I didn't know about that. I just saw an ad on the CC ship review pages about "living on a cruiseship"; they give you info on how you can buy a cabin on some of the older cruiseships. I went to the site, but didn't take much time there. Besides, it's not quite the same as what we're talking about here.

 

Krazy, we're not anywhere near ready to do it yet either!!!:eek: But we're at the point where we can see the dark at the end of the tunnel:D .

[sail7seas]

I read that article as well.

 

Sounds like a great deal - but we aren't ready to do that yet.

 

I can remember when we had to place my mother in a personel care home - 15 years ago - it was only for a month - the price then for a single room was over $4000 - just for the one month.

 

We had to move DH's mother to such a facility last year. It is chokingly expensive month after month. It just about takes my breath away to think of the huge cost and wonder how in the world they substantiate it. But.......whaddyadonna do? If it's necessary there is little choice.

 

Not like the 'old days when the senior members of families stayed with the young 'uns. There are so many instances and cases where it simply is not an option in today's world. Wasn't an option for us for many reasons.