So how about spending your retirement living aboard a cruise ship? It could be a great way to spend your golden years - especially on a cruise ship like the Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) that has tip top service and circles the globe stopping in varied and exotic destinations. 89-year old Beatrice Muller has done just this, spending the past 9 years of her retirement living on the QE2, seeing the world and playing bridge. But with the QE2 being retired - and sent to Dubai - at the end of the year, she needs to find a new home:
Beatrice Muller, 89, formerly a New Jersey resident, decided to stay on the QE2 after her husband died during a cruise in 1999. This November, the ship is to become a floating hotel in Dubai, and Muller has no interest in a ship that does not move, The Times of London reports.You know what? I think Ms. Muller is really onto something. $84,000 a year for first class treatment and views of the far corners of the world? That's a retirement home I'm down with - and not a bad deal at all.
Muller pays about $7,000 a month to live on board, roughly what it would cost her for assisted living in Florida, she says, and enjoys being able to travel while playing regular games of duplicate bridge. She sold most of her belongings when she decided to move aboard.
"My sons are delighted I'm here and safe and out of their hair," she said.
I wouldn't want to be holed up in steamy Dubai either...so where is Ms. Muller going to go? She says her only real option is the Queen Mary 2 (QM2) which, like the QE2 is also operated by Cunard Cruise Lines. According their website the QM2 also ventures the world and is a newer ship to boot!
I hope they continue to treat her well and I hope upcoming QM2 visitors seek her out. If I ever take the trip, I'd love to play a game of bridge with her and hear about her travels (and I'll even learn how to play!).
9-year QE2 passenger seeks new ship [Reuters]
QE2 heads to Dubai in $100M deal [Guardian UK]
RMS Queen Mary 2 [Wikipedia]
How to play bridge [ACBL]
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