Can I Book a Year-Long Cruise on a Major Cruise Line?

There are lots of cruise fans out there. Who can blame them? It’s close to being the perfect vacation model, all food is included as well as accommodation and transportation from one city to another, and with shows, a pool (or more) and endless lounges, you’ll have a hard time finding a boring moment, unless you really want to. With as many cruise fans, how long they stay on board is mostly determined by how much free time they have in the year. Of course, work and studies, as well as many other aspects of their life can “get in the way” of how much cruising they would really like to do.

Then, there’s the lucky few who, having achieved economical independence, or found a way to work from anywhere, allow themselves to cruise on a permanent basis (I know, I felt it while typing, too awesome).

While there are a few cruise lines that offer world cruises for a set amount of time, generally in periods of months, and even a cruise ship you can buy an condo in, most cruise lines limit their voyages to a specific length, from point A to point B, and you wouldn’t expect them to go beyond 3 weeks at the most. For those of you who think that’s not even close to enough, and were thinking of a more lengthy stay, there are still options, mind you, with limitations and possible compromises.

If what you have in mind is a regular cruise line, you would in fact have to book each voyage pretty independently and consecutively. This wouldn’t necessarily mean a substantial decrease in the price, if any at all, but there is no law that would prevent you from doing it, except for a very specific case we will come back to.

A possible compromise in this scenario would be keeping the same room. Depending on how far in advance you reserve what will be your home away from no home, you might luck out and be able to stay in the same room. And yes once you have secured a room, you “own” it. The only thing that will send you packing is if you choose a room that was already booked before you did. Finding a room that will remain available for a long series of voyages might prove to be an exhausting task. Then again, the person helping you book this cruise will for sure be happy to assist, as such a transaction will result in great earnings to them.

Of course a benefit of staying in the same room, aside from not having to pack and unpack, has the added bonus of getting to know the people who will be at your service, and that can have a lot of perks on its own, however, I do recommend setting boundaries early on, as it’s human nature to get too familiar, even with paying guests. This is just to avoid any kind of misunderstandings and have a clear idea of how the daily interactions will be.

Another thing to take into account is the times when it will be mandatory for you to leave the ship, mostly for immigration processes which don’t require you to pack anything.

Now, there are a few things that could cut your set of cruises short. Unless you neglected to plan it properly, a drydock could be scheduled during your cruise, even last minute! Which would mean the end of your cruising experience. Other things to be on the lookout for is gaps between cruises, which generally happen when the cruise relocates. This is where the law I mentioned before comes into effect. I’ll keep it simple. If you embark in a US port, regardless of how long after or why, you won’t be able to end your cruise in a US port, whether they’re the same or different. This is due to a cabotage law called Jones’ Act. And even if you’re not in violation of it, the cruise line has established days when no guest can be on board, in which case you’ll have to leave and rejoin in a different city.

Another aspect of what will be your life for the length of the cruise is the itinerary, and while most ports in the world are exciting, you must do your research and be ready to repeat cities often. Although, these are also a great opportunity to stay onboard and enjoy the ship and have it all to yourself.

Finally, there is always the chance that a specific voyage or voyages get canceled due to different reasons, like weather, mechanical, health or others. This, of course, was the case with all cruises on the planet when Covid hit. Not that it happens often, but still worth keeping in mind. – ThatGuy (onboard)