I sold my home to live on a cruise ship full-time… but it is not as glamorous as you might think
A woman who sold her home to live on a cruise ship full-time has lifted the lid on the shocking downsides to life at sea.
Sue Barr, from New Jersey, spent more than 30 years working as a photographer across editorial, portrait and fine art.
And while her career was successful for many years, she began to accumulate debt in her 60s.
‘My debt was overwhelming, and all I wanted to do was travel, but I couldn’t get out from under it,’ she explained during a recent chat with the Daily Mail.
‘Every time I had a little extra money, it wasn’t enough to actually make a dent. It felt like playing whack-a-mole.’
She had finally salvaged enough to book a trip to Costa Rica when the furnace blew in her home, so she had to cancel the trip and instead use the money to fix it.
That was when she realized that being a homeowner was no longer helping her, but it was actually stopping her from achieving true happiness.
‘That was the moment I realized it was time to sell the house. I didn’t know what came next, but a friend who worked as a sommelier on cruise ships seemed to have the life I craved,’ she shared.
Sue Barr, from New Jersey, sold her home to live on a cruise ship full-time, and she lifted a lid on the shocking downsides to life at sea
When she landed a job as the master photographer on the premium luxury cruise line Princess Cruises she envisioned delicious food, days in the sun and a chance to travel the world
‘I started searching cruise ship jobs, my algorithm took over, and suddenly Master Photographer roles started appearing in my feed. So I applied.’
To her surprise, Barr was offered a contract as the master photographer on the premium luxury cruise line Princess Cruises.
She ultimately sold her home along with most of her belongings and set sail on a new endeavor that she thought would be a dream come true.
She envisioned delicious food, days in the sun and a chance to travel the world.
However, Barr quickly realized that working and living on a cruise ship is not as dreamy as she expected.
First, she said her living quarters were far from glamorous as she was assigned ‘a bottom bunk in a windowless cabin where she couldn’t even sit up in bed.’
‘Crew spaces were not maintained the way guest areas were,’ she added. ‘Our mini fridge didn’t work, hot water issues sometimes triggered fire alarms and we had random inspections by officers.’
She said the work itself was ‘less about creative talent and more about sales and staying strictly on brand.’
She said the work itself was ‘less about creative talent and more about sales and staying strictly on brand’
She was forced to work seven days a week ‘with very little downtime’ and didn’t get to explore the cities that the boat docked in much
She was forced to work seven days a week ‘with very little downtime’ and didn’t get to explore the cities that the boat docked in much.
‘Every third port we were required to stay on board, and even when we were allowed off, we often had to wait hours for guests to disembark before we could explore,’ she shared.
In addition, Barr said much of her downtime ‘was controlled’ and ‘socializing felt nearly impossible’ due to her busy schedule.
She also discovered that ‘life on board runs on an hierarchy,’ as she explained: ‘There is a ranking system for everything you do. I didn’t fully research what that meant until reality hit hard.’
‘Everything is regimented, from how you work to how you move through the ship,’ the photographer stated.
‘Maritime labor laws are very different from American ones, and you live where you work with little separation or privacy.
‘Even getting around the ship was physically demanding. Guest elevators were off limits and crew elevators were usually jammed with food carts and cleaning crews, so I spent months power-walking up and down ten to 15 flights of stairs in business casual with camera gear a few times a day.
‘Between the hierarchy, the sales pressure and the physical grind, it was a humbling adjustment for someone used to creative autonomy.’
‘Every third port we were required to stay on board, and even when we were allowed off, we often had to wait hours for guests to disembark before we could explore,’ she shared
In addition, she said much of her downtime ‘was controlled’ and ‘socializing felt nearly impossible’ due to her busy schedule
As for the food, she said it was ‘designed for an older demographic’ which meant ‘minimal seasoning.’
‘After a while, everything on the buffet started to taste the same,’ she admitted.
The one upside? Financially, she said her life improved immensely because ‘her biggest expense’ disappeared – her home.
Room, board and food were free and ‘while the pay wasn’t high,’ she wasn’t spending much money.
In the end, Barr reminded others who long to live at sea that it while it may seem like a fairytale, the reality is very different.
‘My advice to anyone considering this life is to go in clear-eyed. This isn’t a vacation,’ she urged.
‘It’s hard, structured work. But if you need financial stability, can live small and don’t mind giving up control, it can be a viable reset.’
