BBC

Monday, 2 July, 2001, 01:36 GMT 02:36 UK

A life on the ocean wave

A luxury cruise liner has become the permanent home of an elderly American woman after she worked out it would be cheaper - and a lot more enjoyable - than going into an old people's home.

Beatrice Muller, 82, had so many loyalty points from cruises aboard the QE2 liner that turning her life into a floating holiday was the most economical option, she said.

She spends her time playing bridge, for which she has a fearsome reputation, and indulging in her favourite pastime - ballroom dancing with gentlemen hosts.

Mrs Muller said she and her husband of 57 years, who died two years ago, fell in love with the ship, enjoying five world cruises together.

Economical

She says that with no need to go shopping, run a car, or pay household bills, she gets better value in Cabin 4068 than she would in a nursing home.

"It costs me £3,424 ($4,848) a month. An average monthly bill in an old people's home in London would be £2,166 [approx. $33-3400], and the views wouldn't be half as spectacular," Mrs Muller told the UK's Sunday Express newspaper.

"The only trouble is making sure I don't eat too much of the lovely food," she said.

One of her sons will join her every Christmas and she keeps in touch with her family the rest of the year by sending emails from the ship's computer room.

She gets off the ship whenever it docks, some four or five times a week, to see the sights.

But she has told the BBC that the hobby she really enjoys is dancing with the quick-footed men employed by the liner to dance with single ladies.

"I'm having a perfectly delightful, wonderful time," she said.

-- Anonymous, July 02, 2001

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Blessing to this wonderful soul!!!!

-- Anonymous, July 02, 2001