In
Rick: “The plan to cruise full-time for a year arose during corona. I had just started my own travel company after working at TUI for six years as a cruise buyer. I worked at home a lot and thought: I don’t want to be stuck in this rut for another winter. So we thought about doing something with our passions: cruising, theme parks and Disney.”
Taric: “We first thought of spending the winter somewhere, in Orlando for example – there we did an internship together at Disney World and we even got married. In the end we decided to take a one year trip around the world on cruise ships with our two daughters, ages 3 and 1. I resigned from the secondment agency where I worked as a manager and am now content about our journey for Instagram and our website. For Rick, that is also advertising for his travel organization.”
Rick: „We do not want to be too commercial and therefore do not call ourselves influencers. But after two weeks of posts on Instagram about the Disney Cruise Line, we immediately sold five.”
Taric: „The days on the ship are dominated by work. I think in terms of content: how can I best show the cruise experience? We make excursions and on the ship there is also plenty to do with the children. Swimming pools, merry-go-rounds, sometimes a kids’ club. In between, we try to work as much as possible.”
Rick: „When we sit in the bar or lounge in the evening with our laptops open, other guests probably think: they are having the most boring holiday of their lives. But we like this very much. The four of us come to unique places, such as the Atlantis hotel in Dubai, and can spontaneously join a ship if a good last minute deal comes along. I think that is very special.”
Out
Rick: “Several times a month we get the question: how do you pay for all this? Then we explain that we continue to work and that through my contacts in the tourism sector we can often go on a cruise for a special rate. That makes a difference.”
Taric: “All food is included on the ship. I also spend a lot less money on clothes; you can take very little in your suitcase anyway. We were able to rent out our house in Oss, so we don’t have those fixed costs either.”
Rick: “Private finances are not our forte, I must say. When you travel, you pay everything by credit card, so we are sometimes shocked when the final bill arrives at the end of the month. Airline tickets in particular are extremely expensive these days.”
Taric: “And then all the commercial corona tests that you have to do before you can go on a ship. I think we have literally already spent 1,000 euros on that.”
Rick: “Fortunately, we have a stable financial background with a good savings account and a lot of equity in our house, so we don’t have to skimp on a few hundred euros.”
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