There is a movie called something like “The Happiest Guy In The World” about a fellow on a ship for several years. I haven’t seen the movie. But his happiness was reportedly slightly forced when insisting what a great time he was having and why.
We read, walk the deck, scan for whales and sea or shore birds, write, dance, and have conversations. YMMV.
We didn’t have AC the first over 20 years we lived here, and we didn’t even have heat, except for a wall heater, in our bedroom. Now there are so many hot days in a row that we decided it was worth getting.
I used to live in SW Louisiana, so I understand about heat and humidity.
It hadn’t even occurred to me… I could be stuck on a ship for three years with people who like to square dance!
I was picturing something like my one cruise (a nature trip): a quiet boat with a well-stocked library, calligraphy classes, high tea and tasteful chamber music.
But what if there were roaming polka bands in lederhosen (mit der yodeling, ya!)? Or nightly Battle of the '80s Garage Bands competitions? And shipwide Wheel of Fortune semi-finals (with overly-enthusiastic/overly-loud cruise guests)?
“Say, floatin’ friends, did we fail to mention the mandatory year-long Capture The Flag game?”
“Have a great three years, and don’t forget to tip the saxophone buskers!”
I can see it now:
Now hear this! Now hear this! This is the Captain speaking.
The naked paintball wars in the corridors will commence at 2000 hours. Today is even decks armed with red paint versus odd decks armed with blue paint.
The “No prisoners” rule is in effect.That is all. [CLICK!]
There is no chance I would ever do this, though I’ve never been on a cruise… I really like trips with museums and hiking and all that shit. Still, there are occasionally boardgame cruises, and you could probably get me to do one of those for three months if it went to enough interesting places.
I did a couple of solo cruises. I loved just sitting on the deck, reading or looking at the ocean. Oh, and drinking! I’d hang out at a martini bar for awhile then walk a bit and then stop at a beer bar for awhile.
I met a few women who were cruising solo, which led to other things to do.
When I took my son on an Alaska cruise he was ten. They had an activity program for kids which he absolutely loved. He’d hook up with them after breakfast and I wouldn’t see him again until dinner time.
Just a little update:
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/three-year-cruise-ship-problems/index.html
So, here they are, 24 days (depending on time zone) from launch, and they DON’T OWN THE SHIP.
A 20 year old previously owned ship, which they (incredibly optimistically) slated for 2 weeks of refurbishment prior to launching on the cruise on 11/1/2023. And after they were unable to complete the sale originally planned for the end of September, they now plan to do so on October 12.
Oh, and one other piece:
In a message to residents seen by CNN, Miray has said that anyone wanting to cancel at this stage will be refunded only 10% of what they’ve put into the scheme.
Scheduled residents report they still have no knowledge about luggage as well as arrangements for little things like transferring their prescription drug requirements as medical is supposed to be fully covered for the cruise.
I feel that best case they’ll be leaving late (of course, if at, but as I said, best case) with most of the cabins and facilities un-refurbished and customers will spend the first month or so spending a lot of time on satphones trying to make sure they’re getting their medical records, prescriptions, and the like transferred and stocked.
And that’s BEST case IMHO.
Well, I guess we’ve got our plot for the sequel to the Fyre Fest documentary.
yep, the thought of living on an old boat which was sold just weeks before (and lets be realistic: who’d do detailed maintainance on an elderly boat you are going to sell???)
… that does not sound very “aspirational”
I guess everybody who ever bought an older beater car knows what is next:
THE LIST OF STUFF NOT WORKING and needing overhaul!!
Even if the ship was seaworthy (I don’t doubt that) … the number of mundane problems will be huge (dripping faucets, toilets not flushing, A/C not working, … pool related things … pinkeye galore 
Band name.
Or a modern era Bond girl.
They should consider themselves lucky. They could have put their money in an apartment to be constructed in China.
Or Trump superhero collectibles.
Either that or a future episode of the Bright Sun Films youtube channel.
I wouldas long as i canget restraining ordersfrom 95 percent of the people I know
And the delays and deflections begin:
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/three-year-cruise-postponed/index.html
So for all the people who were already waiting and ready to go in Instanbul, well, better head to Amsterdam and hope it leaves as now scheduled on 11/11/2023… and I wouldn’t put odds on it.
But with less than two weeks to go before the scheduled departure date, Life at Sea cruises is navigating choppy waters – as it still doesn’t have a ship.
The company has now told passengers, many of whom have already paid tens of thousands of dollars, that they should prepare to embark on November 11 in Amsterdam – a three hour flight away from Istanbul.
In a statement shared with CNN, Life at Sea blamed the delay on “finalizing the funds transfer for the purchase” which it said was “taking longer than expected.”
It said it expected to complete the purchase within a week.
IE - they still haven’t purchased the (20 year old in the prior article) cruise ship, and even if they do today 10/20/23, they’d only have 3 weeks to fully refurbish it and make sure it was in ready to go in Amsterdam in 3 weeks.
I’d love to. But the Dachshunds and the daily Jeep ride in the desert would be a hard thing to deal with at sea.
If this was a 2-week cruise, this would lead to a bunch of annoyance and cancellations when the new schedule doesn’t align with folks’ vacations from work, etc.
For a 3-year cruise, lots of the passengers have done things like lease out their house, not renew their apartment lease, sell their cars, put their household goods into storage or sell a bunch of them, etc. In other words, upended their entire shore-side life to take this very long cruise. This is much closer to moving to a new continent than it is taking a vacation.
Those folks are facing a LOT of disruption and expense right now, and even more if this thing drags out on-again-off-again for a few months before finally unequivocally failing completely. Where and how do you stay for a month that’s not silly-expensive compared to your normal way of living?
Boy does it suck to be them. I’d also bet there’s no such thing as “trip insurance” for this.
I suppose the real lesson learned here is to not sign up for the first cruise of a new company. be that a long or short cruise. After they’ve done a few, and ideally have more than one ship in their service, sure. Before that, you’re really playing with fire to sign up.
True, but I was talking about this with one of my friends, and we’re both wondering if this is just the usual teething problems for a new company, or if the whole thing is, in the words of Top Gear, “Ambitious but Rubbish” from the get go. I mean, the company in question lost over half it’s “launch team” three months in to splinter off. And while the prices quoted were indeed (at least, the lowest ones much reported) were incredible, would even the higher options and full occupancy allowed any profit after purchase, refurb and operating costs?
Right now, I’m still leaning towards the group involved getting what they thought was a killer idea, getting just enough outside investment to make a run at it, and then bogging down in the details, burning through cash (their own, the investors, and likely the participants sadly), and now they’re trying to make it work at the last minute, before the lawsuits follow and all involved will be likely to get back pennies on the dollar.
My friend is more cynical, and is leaning towards it having been a scam of various flavors from the get go.
Anyway, @LSLGuy’s points stand: if a company is doing something for the first time, without the backing of a mature (financial or experience) partner, don’t be an early adopter unless you can afford the loss without problems.