Bon voyage!
Life on dry land always seemed to leave Mike Soroker, 80, thirsty for more.
And so, after taking just four cruises with wife Barbara, 75, and loving them all, the restless retirees made a dramatic decision — to buy a condo on a cruise ship and enjoy their final years sailing around the world.
But the couple will be left to cool their heels on the dock for a little while, yet — their new floating home, Storylines’ MV Narrative, is currently under construction, only to set sail in 2025, and that’s if all goes according to plan.
Once completed, the 547-cabin ship is scheduled to spend three years slowly circling the globe, stopping frequently and allowing for multiple days at a time in every port.
“Relaxing adventure” is the vibe the open-minded octogenarian is after, he recently told Business Insider.
“We’re not going to be pressured to run to every place around the world. But we want the chance to see these places, while we’re still alive and healthy enough to enjoy. That’s probably the number one thing we’re most looking forward to,” Soroker said.
The initial downpayment on the couple’s dream life was $60,000.
The payment secured the Sorokers a $2.5 million, 720-square-foot cabin on the 18-deck ship, with three pools, 20 restaurants, a microbrewery, and a 10,000-volume library.
According to Mike, they’ll end up paying roughly an additional $130,000 annually in maintenance and service fees.
“We worked all these years, building ourselves up,” he said. “It’s time to reap the rewards.”
Soroker said he’s most excited to get to know the Middle East and see Antarctica, while his wife is looking forward to visiting Asia, a place she enjoyed spending time previously.
But beyond the actual travel, the opportunities to make new friends — something he says they’ve experienced on previous voyages — is what interests them most.
“We love it. We are talkers,” he said. “We love sitting at a restaurant, turning to the table next to ours, and talking to them. We’ve made fast friends. When you’re on a ship, it’s the same kind of folks there for the same reason.”
And while the couple has their family’s blessing — “They love it and want to make sure they can visit us on the ship,” Soroker said of his two fiftysomething children — there are definite hurdles to overcome, especially at the couple’s age.
“We want to make sure we can still get access to medications. So initially, we might be on land 30% of the time. I contacted my insurance companies to see how I can live on the boat. I’ve been in touch with the doctor who’s going to be on the boat,” the go-go golden-ager told a reporter.
The couple will sell their New York apartment, and use their Boca Raton home as their temporary anchor. And while being at sea is “probably our long-term goal,” Soroker says, there’s no rush. The ship isn’t ready yet, and always there’s a chance something could go wrong in the meantime.
“Some folks like myself who have already put money down, of course, want to know how secure that is. If it falls apart, I’m not worried. [Storylines] basically said that worst case, you get your money back,” he said.
“When we built our dream house … it took us three years. So, I don’t worry about timelines. I just hope that I’m still alive.”
Not that he’s planning on going anywhere.
“Each year that goes by, I just feel younger. My wife and I have a great partnership. I feel like we can do almost anything. I’m very, very lucky.”
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