Man who's lived on cruise ship for 23 years breaks down real costs of living there permanently

A man who has lived on a cruise ship for almost all of the past 23 years broke down how much it was costing him to live life on the high seas.

Mario Salcedo decided at the age of 47 that he was going to hand in his notice and live on a cruise ship, eventually becoming part of the furniture to the point that the crew on board the Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas know him as 'Super Mario'.

He's not the only person who wants to be a landlubber no more, but some of those spend their lives on cruise ships because they married into the crew.

Instead, Mario pays his way onto a cabin on his favourite cruise ship and just lives there.

He explained that he couldn't go for the most luxury vessels as he had a budget to live on, and said that picking the cabin was a major component of working out how to do it.

'Super Mario' is a popular figure on board his cruise ship. (All Things Cruise)

Speaking to Alanna Zingano, Mario explained that on average his daily cost for living on a cruise ship started at about $100 (£78) but soon had costs piled on.

Most of the time he's cruising round the Caribbean, and warned that if you wanted to go and sail around more of the world you'd need to be expected to pay more.

The cruise ship resident also noted that the price really fluctuated depending on the seasons, and that loyalty schemes could result in the prices changing as well.

With higher costs, taxes and tips he said that he was really spending around $185 (£145) per day for a basic package without trips to shore or other add-ons that could be bought for the ship.

At the end of the year, an inside cabin with no window on pretty much the cheapest he could afford got Mario a yearly cost of $72,093 (£56,677).

He's been living on a cruise ship for years. (Andia/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

He also crunched the numbers on the same arrangement for a cabin with a balcony, and said it'd cost $101,258 (£79,606).

Meanwhile, if you wanted a junior suite for a year, he said it'd cost you $136,000 (£106,919), so the nicer the place you wanted to live on a cruise ship the more it'd cost you.

He then compared it to the cost of an assisted living facility, saying that it'd be cheaper to live on the cheapest spot on a cruise ship for a year.

Granted, these are the prices when he was talking about them in 2019, so it's likely that his costs have gone up since then.

Still, so have everyone else's.

It's not all sunshine and roses for Mario, however, as he revealed that he does find it quite difficult to be on dry land these days.