A man who spends 350 days a year on a cruise ship has revealed what he does on the 15 days he gets on dry land. Mario Salcedo, who was given the nickname of "Super Mario" by one ship captain, quit his job at the age of 47 and has lived on the ocean for the 25 years since, clocking up 1,000 voyages with Royal Caribbean.
He spends around £81,000 a year on cruises which he funds through investment management work. Mr Salcedo, from Cuba, often opts for a cabin with a balcony and, due to his stature with Royal Caribbean, is sometimes given his own makeshift office.
Despite owning a two-bedroom apartment in Miami, he only spends time on land if he is flying between ports or needs to visit the doctor or the bank. This means his 15 days a year away from the cruise ship are not consecutive.
He said that when he does get back on land, he likes to keep his fitness up through "lots of dancing and walking". However, Mr Salcedo admitted he finds it difficult to walk in a straight line because he has "lost his land legs".
He told CNTraveller: "I do lots of dancing and walking. I only put on a couple of pounds when I'm on land eating at McDonald's and Burger King." While on the cruise ship, he spends five hours a day working and "has fun" for the rest of the day.
Mr Salcedo went on his first cruise in 1997 before trialling a number of cruise lines. He soon settled on Royal Caribbean and has been living on their ships almost continuously since 2,000.
He described living on a cruise ship as "the best lifestyle" as it's "zero stress". Mr Salcedo explained: "I'm so used to being on ships that it feels more comfortable to me than being on land."
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, he was forced to go over a year without going on a cruise ship. He used the time to scuba dive to keep in touch with the ocean.
Mr Salcedo told allthingscruise: “I didn’t cruise for 15 months. It was miserable not knowing when ships would cruise again. My first cruise back was July 2 this year on Freedom of the Seas. Perfect name – Freedom.”
His 1,000th cruise was on the 3,286-passenger Explorer of the Seas. It departed Miami on January 5 earlier this year before visiting Panama and the southern Caribbean.
