This couple is bouncing from cruise to cruise because it’s cheaper than paying to live in a retirement home.
Australian retirees Marty and Jess Ansen have booked 51 cruises, one after the other.
And while jumping from ship to ship sounds like an option for only the rich and famous, these Aussies say they’re actually saving money.
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The retirees have been living on board the Coral Princess cruise ship since June 22.
When one leg of the cruise ends and everyone else returns to their normal lives, Marty and Jess stay where they are.
“We’re on board longer than anybody else. The wheels change over, but we stay on board,” he told A Current Affair.
This is because the couple cleverly managed to book themselves back-to-back legs on the same ship.
And while they lap up the good life, playing table tennis and sitting by the pool, the retirees say they’re doing it on the cheap too.
On board these cruise ships, the food and entertainment is all-inclusive, so they don’t find themselves forking out extra for Friday date nights.
And they’ve all but forgotten about chores too.
“We don’t know how to wash up anymore, we don’t know how to make a bed because we haven’t done it for so long,” Marty said.
And because they basically live on board the ship, the couple says the crew treats them like VIPs.
The crew knows them by name and pulls out all the stops to celebrate their birthdays and anniversaries.
In fact, they’ve been on board the Coral Princess for longer than the ship’s hotel manager Ren van Rooyen.
“We always make a joke that I go away and I come back and it’s like coming to see my family… they’re like my second mum and dad on board,” van Rooyen said.
With another eight months still remaining of their current cruise, Jess and Marty say they have no plans to return to dry land.
Once this cruise ends, the couple will then embark on a year-long trip on board the Crown Princess.
