Wake up in another country every other day... or the same shopping centre.
Woman pays £100,000 a year to retire on luxury cruise ship
Woman pays £100,000 a year to retire on luxury cruise ship
Woman pays £100,000 a year to retire on luxury cruise ship
Lee Wachstetter/ YouTube
Lee Wachstetter/ YouTube
Retirement is literally one big holiday for a Florida woman living on a luxury cruise ship.
Lee Wachtstetter pays more than £100,000 a year to live on board the Crystal Serenity - where she's been a resident for seven years and has become known by crewmembers as Mama Lee.
The 86-year-old sold her five-bedroom Florida home after her husband died to maintain her passion for cruising, reports USA Today.
During their 50-year marriage, Mama Lee and her husband went on 89 cruises together.
And now she lives in a seventh deck stateroom with restaurant meals and drinks as part of the package.
But the main reason Mama Lee chose the Crystal Serenity is because of its dancing programme.
"I enjoy dancing, and this was the best of the remaining ships that still use dance hosts," she explained to the paper.
"I dance every night for a couple hours after dinner, have been doing it for years. And I've also trained with the ship's dance instructors."
Prior to the Crystal Serenity, Mama Lee lived on a Holland America liner for three years, but when they announced they were stopping the dance host program she decided to leave.
The pensioner has visited more than 100 countries, and now usually doesn't bother to get off the shop when it docks - with the exception of Istanbul.
"I can't resist the Grand Bazaar," Wachstetter told USA Today. "You can find gorgeously regal or glitzy outfits there, perfect for formal or casual wear and not terribly expensive. I have to restrain myself every time because of my limited cabin space."
Istanbul's Grand Bazaar (AP Photo/Murad Sezer)Istanbul's Grand Bazaar (AP Photo/Murad Sezer)
Instead she spends most of her days doing needlepoint. "It's my second love, have been doing it for 50 years. I've even helped teach it to some passengers," she said. "Everything I make I give to crewmembers. Gives me great pleasure."
She meets lots of interesting people at dinner and said that she has made a lot of friends during her life at sea.
"All the time I've been here I have never had a sick day," she said. "I'm so spoiled I doubt that I would ever be able to readjust to the real world again."
Of course, Mama Lee misses her family - she has three children and seven grandchildren - but keeps in touch with them through Skype.
In fact, three other women also live on Crystal vessels but none nearly as long as Mama Lee, said Hubert Buelacher, Serenity's hotel director.
Lee Wachstetter/ YouTube
Lee Wachstetter/ YouTube
Retirement is literally one big holiday for a Florida woman living on a luxury cruise ship.
Lee Wachtstetter pays more than £100,000 a year to live on board the Crystal Serenity - where she's been a resident for seven years and has become known by crewmembers as Mama Lee.
The 86-year-old sold her five-bedroom Florida home after her husband died to maintain her passion for cruising, reports USA Today.
During their 50-year marriage, Mama Lee and her husband went on 89 cruises together.
And now she lives in a seventh deck stateroom with restaurant meals and drinks as part of the package.
But the main reason Mama Lee chose the Crystal Serenity is because of its dancing programme.
"I enjoy dancing, and this was the best of the remaining ships that still use dance hosts," she explained to the paper.
"I dance every night for a couple hours after dinner, have been doing it for years. And I've also trained with the ship's dance instructors."
Prior to the Crystal Serenity, Mama Lee lived on a Holland America liner for three years, but when they announced they were stopping the dance host program she decided to leave.
The pensioner has visited more than 100 countries, and now usually doesn't bother to get off the shop when it docks - with the exception of Istanbul.
"I can't resist the Grand Bazaar," Wachstetter told USA Today. "You can find gorgeously regal or glitzy outfits there, perfect for formal or casual wear and not terribly expensive. I have to restrain myself every time because of my limited cabin space."
Istanbul's Grand Bazaar (AP Photo/Murad Sezer)Istanbul's Grand Bazaar (AP Photo/Murad Sezer)
Instead she spends most of her days doing needlepoint. "It's my second love, have been doing it for 50 years. I've even helped teach it to some passengers," she said. "Everything I make I give to crewmembers. Gives me great pleasure."
She meets lots of interesting people at dinner and said that she has made a lot of friends during her life at sea.
"All the time I've been here I have never had a sick day," she said. "I'm so spoiled I doubt that I would ever be able to readjust to the real world again."
Of course, Mama Lee misses her family - she has three children and seven grandchildren - but keeps in touch with them through Skype.
In fact, three other women also live on Crystal vessels but none nearly as long as Mama Lee, said Hubert Buelacher, Serenity's hotel director.
