‘Super Mario’ is famous for living life on cruise ships – here’s how to do it in Australia for $96 a day

  • Mario ‘Super Mario’ Salcedo has been in many headlines for his lifestyle of living full-time on cruise ships.
  • We break down how this can be done in Australia for as little as $96 per day.
  • Watch a rare interview with the cruise cult hero.

Mario ‘Super Mario’ Salcedo is famous for living for most of the year on cruise ships. The big question is, could this be done in Australia, and if so, how much would it cost?

The good news is that yes, this is possible in Australia. There are several ships that sail year-round in Australia, the most affordable options being the Carnival ships such as Carnival Splendor, Carnival Adventure, and Carnival Encounter.

How does it work? ‘Super Mario’ books cruises back-to-back on the same ship over and over again. You could also switch between ships, cruise lines, and locations, but back-to-back cruises is the way that involves the least hassle and is also the most efficient way cost-wise.

This process involves disembarking at and re-embarking at the end and start of each cruise for a couple of hours. But apart from this, the process can be relatively seamless and allow you to settle into a routine, despite a lifestyle where you wake up in a different city or part of the ocean every single day. 

Another benefit of sticking with the same cruise line is that if you’re committed to the lifestyle, you’ll quickly accumulate enough loyalty points to enjoy a range of perks. It’s also rumoured that cruise lines offer other incentives to those who commit to long-term sailing.

It’s unsurprising that the idea of retiring at sea captures the hearts of readers. It creates an image not only of life waking up in new places, meeting new people, and seeing the world, but also where cooking, cleaning, making the bed and more can become a distant memory.

You might assume that this is out of your price range. But it may come as a surprise that you can cruise year-round out of Sydney for well under $100 a day. By many measurements, full-time cruising can come out cheaper than the cost of living in Australia.

Carnival Cruises ship in Sydney
Would you live on Carnival ships?

How much does full-time cruising really cost?

To analyse the price of cruising full-time out of Australia, we looked at how much it would cost to cruise two months back-to-back on Carnival Splendor. This a huge ship filled with activities that are included in the cruise fare. 

Naturally, a cruiser will also want to get off at port and incur extra costs, but at a base-price, guests would be able to access gym and fitness services, activities like sports, movies, karaoke, trivia, and more, and a range of dining options, without incurring any extra costs. 

As an example, if you were to sail on Carnival Splendor from October 5 to December 4, here’s how much it would cost you. 

In total, you would sail on 10 cruises and you would visit places such as Melbourne during Melbourne Cup, Tangalooma, Moreton Island, Fiordland National Park, Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, Noumea, Lifou, Mystery Island, Hobart, Port Arthur, and more. 

Across the 61 days of cruises, if you purchase an interior cabin you’ll pay a total of $5886, with an ocean view cabin you’d pay $7454, with a balcony you’d pay $9986 and in a suite you’d pay $14,066. 

In terms of per-day costs, this comes out to $96.50 for an interior, $122 for an ocean view, $163 with a balcony, and $230 in a suite.

Per year this equals a total of $35,222 in an interior, $44,530 in an ocean view room, $59,494, and $83,950 in a suite.

These prices aren’t completely out of reach for some Australian families.

The website Expatistan estimates the cost of living for a single person in Australia to be $6081, which comes out to $199.90 per year, considerably more than the daily cost of an interior, ocean view, or balcony cabin. 

Of course, it’s not all as simple as this, things like shore excursions and specialty dining incur more costs on a cruise, and travel insurance would also be a significant expense. 

However, as any local would know, Sydney life can also cost exceptionally more than the estimate shows, particularly living closer to the inner city or having a more active or social lifestyle.

A rare interview with ‘Super Mario’

While Mario Salcedo swore off talking to larger media outlets, he did do an interview with ‘Royal Caribbean cruise director ‘Mitch Mitchell, a cruise podcaster and long-time friend of his. 

To get a look into what life is like at sea you can watch the below video for some insights.

He goes into the amazing background of his story, including taking 150 different cruises on 150 different ships before making up his mind to stick with Royal Caribbean. 

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