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After her husband died of cancer in 1997, a Florida
woman decided to honour his wishes and live on the sea... permanently.
Lee Wachtstetter, 86, sold her five-bedroom Fort Lauderdale home and
moved to a stateroom aboard a luxury cruise ship.
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The widow, who often cruised with her husband during their
50-year-marriage, lived on a Holland America Line ship until it
discontinued its dance host program.
She then moved on to the Crystal Serenity and has been living on the
1,070-passenger ship for almost seven years.
Since setting saii, Mrs Wachtstetter has completed more than 200 cruises
- including 15 round-the-world trips - taking in more than 100
countries.
Some of the ship's 655 crew members took to calling her Mama Lee and the
nickname has stuck. |
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'Nobody can pronounce my last name anyway, so it's fine with me,' she
told the Miami Herald.
Mrs Wachtstetter rarely goes ashore but does keep in touch with her
family via computer, visiting them when the ship docks in Miami.
She misses her three sons and seven grandchildren, but says 'they have
families of their own and do what's right for them'.
'The day before my husband died of cancer in 1997, he told me, "Don't
stop cruising." So here I am today living a stress-free, fairy-tale
life,' the widow told the Asbury Park Press |
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'I enjoy dancing, and this was the best of the remaining ships that
still use dance hosts. My husband didn't dance, just didn't like to, and
encouraged me to dance with the hosts. I dance every night for a couple
hours after dinner.'
She believes that living on the Serenity this year will cost her around
$164,000. That price includes her room, meals, beverages, dancing
programs, entertainment, movies, lectures and cocktail parties with the
captain.
In addition to spending time dancing and taking part in other scheduled
activities, Mrs Wachtstetter devotes some of her hours to doing
needlepoint work in the ship's Palm Court lounge.
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She's been doing needlepoint about as long as she's been cruising and
gives everything she makes to the Serenity's crew because it gives her
'great pleasure' and they are 'almost like family now'.
Don't expect to see Miss Wachtstetter back on land to celebrate her 87th
birthday in May - or any other subsequent birthday for that matter.
She says she isn't sure if she would ever 'be able to readjust to the
real world again' because she's spoiled and that the 'crew members bend
over backwards' to keep her happy.
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