The man who spends 350 days a year on a cruise ship reveals what he does in 15 days on dry land. Granted the nickname “Super Mario” by the one ship's captain, Mario Salcedo quit his job at the age of 47 and has lived in the sea for 25 years, carving out a thousand voyages with the Royal Caribbean.
He spends around £81,000 a year on cruises funded through investment management work. Salcedo, a Cuban native, often chooses a cabin with a balcony and is given his own makeshift office for his height with the Royal Caribbean.
Despite owning a two-bedroom apartment in Miami, he only spends his time on the land if he is flying between ports or needs to visit doctors and banks. This means that it is not consecutive in his year, 15 days away from the cruise ship.
When he returned to the land, he said he liked to maintain fitness through “a lot of dancing and walking.” However, Salcedo admitted that he finds it difficult to walk in a straight line because he “lost the land.”
He told Cntraveller: While on the cruise ship, he works five hours a day and “enjoys” the rest of the day.
Salcedo has tried many cruise lines since his first cruise in 1997. He soon settled in the Royal Caribbean and lives on ships from 2,000 onwards.
He explained that living on a cruise ship is “the best lifestyle” because it is “zero stress.” Salcedo explained: “I'm used to being on a boat, so I feel more comfortable than being on land.”
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, he was forced to go for more than a year without going on a cruise ship. He used his time to keep in touch with the ocean using scuba diving.
Salcedo told Allthingscruise: “I didn't cruise for 15 months. It was disastrous to not know when the ship would cruise again. My first cruise was on July 2nd this year.
His 1,000th cruise was a 3,286-seat explorer of the sea. I left Miami on January 5th this year before visiting Panama and the Southern Caribbean.
