NEWS AND VIEWS: Holly Hennessy, 68, from Florida, is cruising with her cat, Captain the Cruising Kitty on the Villa Vie Odyssey, a 425-cabin cruise ship which was originally due to set sail on May 30 but had to remain in the dockyard at Belfast for repairs until yesterday.
Hennessy sold her own boat and a summerhouse in Wisconsin to fulfil her dream of cruising around the world with her cat, buying a balcony cabin for $329,000 (£247,000).
It’s described as a perpetual cruise. The passengers are going to live on the ship for 15 years as I understand it. They circumnavigate the world stopping at 425 ports in 147 countries before repeating the loop for the next 15 years.
The point of this short note is that Ms Hennessy decided to live on a large boat with her cat for perhaps the rest of her life. It’s an idea that perhaps has crossed the minds of some cat owners with enough disposable income.
Some people do retire on cruise ships because they found it cheaper to do so than to go to a retirement village home. They effectively buy the cabin as if they are buying an apartment but they happen to be on a large ship. And of course you have all the food you need on tap and a maid service to change your bedclothes and hoover your cabin on a daily basis.
How does a cat feel about this? Is it a good idea from a domestic cat’s point of view? I think that’s a valid question. Obviously, for a cat this is equivalent to being a full-time indoor cat in a home in suburbia. With a difference because you are living near a lot of people and there’s more human activity with associated noise. Not great for a cat. However…
I can imagine Ms Hennessy leash training her cat and taking her kitty on walks around the deck when the ship is cruising through the sunny Mediterranean or the Caribbean. That does conjure up quite a nice picture. It depends upon the individual cat. He or she has got to be okay with the sounds and sights of living on a cruise ship which no doubt they will become accustomed to fairly quickly but they got to be confident to adjust to this unusual lifestyle.
Associated post: Why it is easier to take a dog on holiday than a cat!
