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The Dark Side of Living on Cruise Ships: By Those Who’ve Done it!

Tips For Travellers
Tips For Travellers
🥈Expert
👁️ 811K views📅 1 years ago⏱️ 11:40

Key Moments

Editorial Summary

The creator examines the various challenges and downsides associated with living full time or part time on regular cruise ships. By following several experienced travelers, the video highlights that the lifestyle involves significant boredom due to repetitive itineraries and rotating menus. Social challenges are also prominent, as the constant turnover of passengers makes it difficult to build lasting friendships, often leading to loneliness and homesickness. The creator notes that cruise lines are not designed for long term living or retirement, as they lack the medical facilities and support required for aging passengers or ongoing health issues. Medical care on board is limited to immediate injuries and does not include dental services or pharmacy support. Additionally, obtaining insurance for extended periods at sea is difficult and expensive. Logistical burdens include the constant need to pack and unpack while switching ships to maintain affordability, managing laundry without consistent onboard facilities, and dealing with the high cost of Wi-Fi. Finally, the video addresses cabin uncertainty, noting that budget travelers often receive inside cabins in noisy or inconvenient locations without the ability to choose their specific placement.

Written by TripBacon from this video's transcript.

How This Review Compares

This review's score for Royal Caribbean Group
Mild Gripe
All-time creator consensus for Royal Caribbean Group
A Nibble

This review is more critical than the all-time creator consensus.

What This Creator Said
Creator Warns AgainstFull Ship Review🥈Expert Creator
Caribbean

Source: Our analysis of the creator's lived experience, based on what they said in this video.

Creator's Key Takeaways

the harsh reality is that dream comes with some darker aspects nightmare challenges and unexpected problems

to live on cruise ships at a decent cost means cruising where it's least expensive that means most focus on cruising in the Caribbean

everybody spoke about this issue and none seemed to have foreseen it to live on cruise ships at a decent cost means cruising where it's least expensive

I heard all speaking about periods of loneliness and homesickness especially because most we're doing it solo

Creator's Tips & Advice

Budget for long trip insurance as it is very costly
Consider the logistical work of booking multiple cruises and changing ships frequently
Be prepared for limited connectivity and Wi-Fi costs
Understand that cabins are not guaranteed and may be less than ideal

🆕New to Cruising? This Creator Addresses:

Repetitiveness and boredomConsider reposition cruises or switching between cruise lines for variety
LonelinessBe prepared for social challenges as people come and go frequently
Health insuranceBudget for high-cost insurance as most insurers only cover trips up to 60-90 days

Questions This Creator Answers

QWhat are the downsides of living on cruise ships?
QHow do people afford to live on cruise ships?
QWhat are the health and insurance challenges?
QHow do people manage logistics and costs?

Topics Covered

Itinerary Route3 Sad BaconService Crew2½ Sad BaconSafety Medical4 Sad BaconWifi Connectivity3 Sad BaconValue Pricing2½ Sad BaconBooking Process1½ Sad Bacon
How to read the Trip Bacon Score
Happy Bacon — creators loved this aspect
Sad Bacon — creators took issue with this
Meh — no strong opinion either way

Scale: 0–5 strips in half-step increments. 0 = “meh”, 5 = “bacon bliss”. Aggregated from creator-review sentiment, weighted by channel expertise.

About our Bacon Score methodology

Video content sourced from the creator's original upload. Watch on YouTube