Couple who lived on a cruise ship for 500 days reveal the hardest part of life on board
A couple who sold 31 cars, ditched their Hawaii home, and swapped land life for the open ocean have hit a major milestone: 500 days of living full-time at sea, and they've got a lot to say about it.
Lanette Canen and Johan Bodin, originally from Maui, document their lives aboard the Villa Vie Odyssey on their YouTube channel Living Life on a Cruise.
In their latest video, the pair reflected on what it truly means to call a cruise ship home, the highs, the lows, and the things nobody warns you about before you hand over your house keys for good.
The couple purchased their cabin on the residential cruise ship before it even launched, locking in a monthly fee of around $3,500 for two people.
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Anyone buying in now would be looking at a minimum of $4,000 a month: a figure that, remarkably, covers food, drink, housekeeping, laundry, WiFi, gym access, entertainment and gratuities all in one.
When you stack that up against mortgage payments, car insurance, utility bills and the general chaos of modern life on land, it actually starts to sound pretty reasonable.
In 500 days, the pair visited 53 countries and clocked up nearly 170 ports of call: from Belfast to Bora Bora, through fjords, across the Pacific, and now sailing the Australian coast between Townsville and Sydney.
What's the hardest part of living on a cruise ship?
You might think that it's the size of the cabins. Their cabin comes in at around 144 square feet: enough room for a bed, not much else.
But Lanette and Johan say that's never really been the issue. The pair had already downsized five years before boarding, living in a small one-bedroom unit in Maui, and had spent years working alongside each other.
The transition to a compact cabin, in their words, wasn't a huge leap.
And despite spending 500 days in the same small room together, they're quick to note they're still together, together.
Space on the ship itself helps. When they need breathing room, there's the observatory, the library, the business centre, the Palms lounge. Plenty of spots to retreat to when cabin fever threatens.
The hardest part, as it turns out, is far more human than logistical: missing family.
"That's number one," Johan said plainly. Lanette agreed, noting that FaceTime helps keep them connected - but it doesn't replace a hug.
The pair have made trips back to see kids and check on parents, and say they want to aim for at least twice a year going forward.
One of the stranger adjustments they've noticed, is losing track of 'traditional time' (Living Life on a Cruise)
How much does it cost per month to live on a cruise ship?
Here's where it gets interesting. Despite the upfront cabin purchase and monthly fees, Lanette and Johan say they're spending less than they did when they lived in Maui. No car payments, no home maintenance, no Homeowners Association fees (HOA) fees, no traditional vacations, it's all folded into a single monthly cost. They also hold on to their travel miles and points for special excursions; a highlight trip to Bora Bora cost them just $180 each in points rather than cash.
Lanette still runs a marketing business for an auto glass company remotely from the ship, and Johan keeps busy too. They describe themselves not as retired but 'rewired', still working, still earning, just doing it somewhere between Fiji and French Polynesia rather than a home office in Hawaii.
What is different about living on a boat?
One of the stranger adjustments, they say, is losing track of traditional time. For the first six months, Lanette says she always knew what day it was. Now? Not so much. Life is organized around sea days and port days, and weekdays have largely become irrelevant.
They've also built a community on board. Crew members feel like family, their steward Sammy leaving the ship was treated as a real farewell, not just a staff changeover. Fellow passengers have become close friends. It's less like living in a hotel and more like living in a very well-catered village that happens to move.
The pair have left the ship behind only a handful of times, a week in the Galapagos (the ship couldn't access it due to flag regulations), three weeks in Phoenix to see family, and a stint in Sweden with friends. Otherwise, the Odyssey is home.
Discussing whether the couple would make the move all over again if given the chance, they said they would 'without hesitation'.
Despite the distance from loved ones, the limited space in the cabins and the occasional port-to-port exhaustion - Lanette and Johan say the slow pace, the community, and the daily ocean views make it all worthwhile.
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Topics: Travel, Cruise ship
Thomas Bamford