86-year-old woman lives full-time on luxury cruise ship


An 86-year-old widow has been living on a luxury cruise ship almost seven years, a decision she made after her husband died.

Lee Wachtstetter, aka Mama Lee, has lived aboard the 11-year-old Crystal Serenity longer than most of its 650-plus crew members.

Wachtstetter sold her five-bedroom, 10-acre Fort Lauderdale home and made the move permanent.

She and her husband went on 89 cruises during their 50-year marriage. He died in 1997 and since then she has just about tripled that number and has gone on 15 world cruises.
Asked how many countries she has visited, Wachtstetter said she stopped counting after 100.

Wachtstetter says she leads a “stress-free, fairy-tale life” that will cost her $164,000 this year.

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"That'll cover costs of her single-occupancy seventh deck stateroom, regular and specialty restaurant meals with available lunch and dinner beverages, gratuities, nightly ballroom dancing with dance hosts and Broadway-caliber entertainment — as well as the captain's frequent cocktail parties, movies, lectures, plus other scheduled daily activities." (Source: APP.com)

Three other women are also full-time residents of the ship, but none has lived the cruising lifestyle as long as Wachtstetter.

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