When retired showbiz publicist Patti Mostyn, 81 isn’t in “dry dock” at her Sydney home, she’s on the high seas. Over the last decade, she says she’s spent a total of five-and a-half years cruising at an estimated cost of “probably over a million dollars”. And she’s just one of many. According to the Cruise Lines International Association, 1.3 million Australians took an ocean cruise in 2024 with Australia currently ranking as the fourth-largest cruise market in the world after the US, Germany and the UK.

Some opt to live semi-permanently on the high seas. Last year, a Florida-based cruise company launched a floating-home model that offers its passengers a three-and-a-half-year voyage – on a loop. Its cheapest fares, for the over-90s, start at $150,000, while spritely 50- and 60-somethings

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