Cruising Around After Retirement

Around twenty-four million people take cruises each year. An earlier report showed that people love cruising around, especially after retirement. A quarter of the cruising enthusiasts are sixty or older, and over one-fifth are retired.

One of the main reasons cruises are popular with this age group is because they are taken care of at high standards. There is no need to do the cooking, cleaning, there are a lot of activities going on and there is plenty of entertainment.

Most people return home to their regular lives when the cruise is over. Lee Wachtstetter however never leaves the ship. She lives on board the Crystal Serenity permanently. She has been doing so for the past eight years.

She loves the fact that the doesn’t have to clean the house, shop, or cook. She can do what she pleases when she pleases and that’s very reassuring.

She talks to her family back home daily. She even talks to them twice a day, just so she won’t be there. Her late husband, Mason was also a cruise enthusiast. When he died, they had taken almost one hundred cruises together. His last words before dying were “Don’t you quit cruising.”

So the senior started to cruise frequently. Soon, she got tired of packing and unpacking so she sold the house she had in Florida and her car and belongings and did not look back ever since.

Captain of the Crystal Serenity, Birger Vorland, said that “she knows everybody and everybody knows her.” He also compared Lee Wachtstetter to a diva. She’s got her opinions and her day to day habits and she’s a great person.

Although many people of her age choose a retirement place, she doesn’t want to. She is a great-grandmother, but she doesn’t want to spend all the time she’s got with them.

Mama Lee, as she is known on the ship, has done over 240 cruises worldwide. She’s seen many ports. But for her, it feels like she’s seen it all. She loves the company and she loves the ship. She doesn’t get off it anymore.

The price tag for such an amazing adventure is around 175,000 dollars per year. The cruise director, Rick Spath sees himself as part of Mamma Lee’s family at sea.

The 86-year-old loves to dance and does so every day, around a quarter passed five.

Image Source – Wikipedia