A married couple booked 51 cruises in a row as they claim that living life at sea is cheaper than a retirement home. Marty and Jess Ansen embarked on their marathon journey last June when they boarded the Coral Princess . In the subsequent year and a half they've spent their days dancing, eating, making "friends for life" and seeing the world.
The couple joke that they welcome the captains onboard rather than the other way round. Marty and Jess, from Australia, have become like "celebrities onboard", according to manager Ren van Rooyen. Others joining the ship for shorter cruises request to meet the duo, whose story has been inspiring people in their home country for the past 455 days.
Marty says that they're going to have to stay onboard a cruise ship of some kind for a while as they've become so accustomed to life at sea that they no longer know how to make a bed or cook a meal, he joked to A Current Affair. The retirees have been cruising for decades, but decided to go full-time after the Covid pandemic. Having felt like they missed out on several years of fun amid the strict Australian lockdown, they hatched a plan to spend their days on holiday.
"Eventually I said to my agent, 'Look, whatever comes, book it' and that's how it got to be such a long cruise," Marty said. The duo have all of their meals included in the ticket price, and manage to skip daily chores thanks to a team of onboard staff who clean their room. They say that the lifestyle is cheaper than them checkin.