Sudden Media Interest Gets Much Wrong About Full-Time Cruising

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Day 11 post-cruise, 2024 Majestic Japan

Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024; Galveston, Texas

I knew something was up when in the course of an hour or two I started getting notices of a few dozen new subscribers to my blog. I hadn’t published a post in several days, so this was unusual activity.

Brandi — a car-club friend in Colorado whom I hadn’t talked to in years – solved the mystery when she posted on Facebook that she saw an article and photo of me on the U.K.’s Daily Mail website.

Neither my sister nor I had every talked to the Daily Mail, which is obvious from the article’s inaccuracies, non-sequiturs and unrelated photographs lifted from my blog.

Let me back up. Last spring, the public relations team at Holland America wrote a post for the company’s blog about the three sisters who travel together on world cruises. It highlighted that Eloise, Elaine and I couldn’t agree on which of two 2025 grand cruises to take, so I’m on one and they are on the other.

That led to a modest amount of interest by reporters and freelance writers, and we have done a half-dozen interviews over the last few months. Some reporters focused on Elaine and me selling our houses to mostly live on cruise ships. On my recent Japan cruise, I had dinner with a freelance travel writer interested in the story, for example.

Most of the articles haven’t been published yet, but last month Business Insider posted its article online. Like most credible publications, Business Insider fact-checked the information we gave them, and while some of the reporter’s other sources didn’t tell the full story, by-and-large the article is accurate.

I’m guessing the Daily Mail saw that article and put it through a re-write – perhaps using artificial intelligence. Like much of the site’s click-bait content, the Daily Mail article got a lot wrong.

No one contacted us. As a result, a lot of their assumptions about our costs of cruising are far from accurate (I wish a year of cruising just cost $50,000). Oh well – if they are going to publish my financial information, I prefer it to be wrong.

They found a 10-year-old post on this blog about the economics of cruising economically, which will probably mislead some readers as it is well out of date.

As a result of these inaccuracies, the most entertaining part of the article is the 700+ comments – mostly by U.K. readers. Many question what we will do when the money runs out or we become too sick to cruise. They typically apply reasoning based on the U.K.’s pension and health care rules and seem to assume that the money from selling my house 10 years ago (which the Daily Mail dug up) is my only asset.

Nah. The numbers don’t add up. Being “debt free” as in you’ve paid off your mortgage, does not equate to being able to spend 50k a year on cruising. Unless you have an income of 50k a year. Maybe you live your dream for 5 years and spend 250k doing it. But what happens when age and infirmity steps in? And you’ve sold all your assets. And the cruise ship kicks you off because they can’t cope with your infirmity? And you don’t have any assets …..

We realize that we are fortunate to have the financial means to do this. My sisters and I worked hard for decades and lived fairly frugally, saving a lot. We budget carefully and will most likely cut back on cruising at some point. Then I will be very happy living in a tiny apartment, as I did for a couple of pre-pandemic years in Chicago. The trade-offs are worth it to me. But it isn’t for everyone.

Not every comment was negative. Several had replies more like this:

Good for them, I think it’s a great idea and definitely something I’d consider if I was in their position. I love cruising and life onboard suits me perfectly.

After a career that started as a newspaper reporter and editor and then in public relations, it’s been fun to dip my toe back into the water. This week I talked to a reporter for AARP Magazine. Who knows what request will come next.

Meanwhile, I’ve packed a lot into this two-week break from cruising. New dental crown (I call it a coronation.) A couple of hours with my hair stylist (cut and color). Routine medical tests. Shopping for a couple if items to fill wardrobe holes. Lunch with friends, from those I haven’t seen in months to one who was on this Japan cruise with me.

During 45 hours in Fort Smith at my sister Eloise’s house, we ate pizza twice at my favorite restaurant there (the ship’s pizza is not to my liking). And I swapped out a bunch of clothes for my next seven months of cruising. Of course I had a Texas-shaped waffle.

Now I’m in Galveston to visit my other sister, Elaine. At a local brewery, we watched our Kansas City Chiefs go to 8-0 for the season. We checked out the Regal Princess, which was towed into port last week after an engine fire.

Thursday I leave for Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to board Holland America’s Volendam for a 42-day cruise to the Mediterranean.