July 19, 2024 • By Dennis Beaver
If you enjoy taking cruises, and are at or approaching retirement age, chances are you’ve seriously considered the possibility of living on a cruise ship instead of moving to a retirement community.
And that is exactly what New York attorney and author Peter Antonucci did in 2014, purchasing a $1.6 million apartment on The World, a residential cruise ship, and spending six years traveling the world in the company of some of the wealthiest people on the planet.
He has written several best-sellers inspired by his years at sea, the most recent, Tides of Betrayal.
Things to Consider
I asked his advice for anyone curious about buying into a residential ship. He listed these important factors:
(1) How old is the ship?
Many 20- to 30-year-old cargo vessels are being reconfigured as residential ships. With boats and airplanes, the thing you always ask about is engine hours, similar to miles on a car. Safety and a ship’s age are inextricably related, no matter how good the maintenance.
(2) Conduct in-depth due diligence.
The average person who is not using attorneys or accountants is often unable to perform an adequate due diligence on a ship and be comfortable. If I am going to spend $400,000 for an apartment on a ship, I want to know if it is a viable investment.
You wouldn’t buy a house without an inspector!
Often the financials do not include such things as fuel costs and port fees, which can exceed $40,000 a night. So, if they don’t have or fail to disclose operational expenses, including port charges, how much of any one destination will you be able to actually visit and get to know?
It is important to understand that unlike residential ships, virtually all cruise ships must spend as much time as possible at sea. There are rules about not opening the shops when docked, the sale of alcohol, gambling — they have to be at sea to make their money.
The typical cruise yields little cultural enrichment because so few hours are spent at any one port, as contrasted with several days for a residential ship.
(3) The Boredom Factor
If your ship makes a repeat circuit — Caribbean, Greek Islands, Western European countries — how many times do you want to visit the same places over and over again?
(4) Available medical services
It must have a doctor who is either a GP or certified in emergency medicine.
(5)What level of quality can you afford? Holiday Inn or Ritz Carlton?
You are not going to get Ritz Carlton service and attention to detail at Holiday Inn prices, so that is a huge consideration when looking to purchase an apartment on a ship.
Pluses and Minuses
(6) The more you travel, the more enlightened you become.
Becoming immersed in other cultures is life enriching and leads to more intelligent, respectful conversation about other religions, life styles, expanding one’s horizons, and discovering that people basically aren’t all that different.
(7) You are not going to be there when and if:
— Something serious happens to a family member.
— There are weddings and graduations, unless you plan ahead and have the means to fly back and forth.
— You are going to miss your friends. Skype and Zoom? Unless these are offered free or at a greatly reduced cost, internet charges are prohibitive and often slower than dial up.
Who is not Well-Suited to Reside on a Ship?
(8) A residential ship is a small community floating around in a steel can.
It gets to be gossipy, petty, like the cliques in high school. To some extent, it is like being in a fraternity or sorority where you need to get along with most people. A residential ship might be compared to a condo, but a ship is small and when you walk out of your apartment, you are still on the ship, unlike a condo.
Someone who is unadaptable is not well-suited to life on a ship, as a lot happens beyond their control, such as the weather. Certain ports at the last minute are difficult or impossible to enter. If you can’t deal with change you’ll have a problem.
Or a person with a chronic health issue or who does not want to admit it winds up in deep trouble.
Who is Well-Suited for Life on a Ship?
(9) A person in good health, with a great sense of adventure is ideal.
Someone curious about the world who can let things roll when they are in a less than ideal situation — in terms of weather, and people.
Antonucci concluded our interview with this caveat: “Living on a ship can take a real toll on your terrestrial friendships and relationships.”
Tides of Betrayal makes you a fly on the wall of the fictional people living on a residential ship. You get to know them. I’ll bet, that no jurors ever fell asleep in any trial where it was “Peter Antonucci for the defense.”
Dennis Beaver Practices law in Bakersfield and welcomes comments and questions from readers,
which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993,
or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1 – at – Gmail.com.