SECOND HOME RENTING VERSUS CRUISES OR TOURS

Excerpted from my book: MAKE THE WORLD YOUR SECOND HOME which can be purchased by clicking the cover on this page.

This is another way to compare the value of renting a second home each summer. Lets compare renting for an extended stay of three months or more versus a comparably priced tour or cruise.

My rentals are for about 100 days and typically include all utilities,
local phone service, as well as cable TV and Internet
access. At the conclusion of the lease there might be a few hundred dollars clean up fee. That’s about $75 a day to be in your own place, at your own pace.

Compare that to European cruises, tours. I’ll use
Europe having stayed there for extended summer rentals
on three recent occasions. All prices are for two adults traveling together.

CRUISE: A quick scan of early booking for Mediterranean cruises in 2011 revealed the following:
• A low-level twelve-day cruise for two would cost* approximately $7,500.

• A mid-level twenty-one day cruise for two would cost approximately $8, 600.

• A high-level eight-day cruise for two would cost approximately $15,000.


*This includes travel insurance, meals and on board entertainment but not other costs such as excursions, beverages, options or upgrades. For the high-level cruise all costs, other than ashore options, are included in the price.

TOURS:
• BOAT. Stay one week on a twelve passenger barge, cruising the canals of the French
Burgundy region, fine meals, wines and local excursions for about $7,300.

• BUS. Join a Smithsonian-escorted coach tour of the Baltic countries for ten days for $7,800.

• RAIL. Take a fifteen-day escorted tour of Switzerland, using Swiss trains to get around the country staying in hotels, for $6,000.

Or a thirteen-day Berlin and Poland tour, again traveling between cities by rail, for $8,000.

COMPARISON

On a dollars per day cost, there is no argument that renting a home for several months maximizes the dollar value compared to cruises or tours.

The average daily cost of the rental is $75 (plus you food and beverage) versus $500-600 a day for cruises and tours. I admit it all depends on what you want.

For us, we would rather stay in our own place for fourteen weeks than on a programmed cruise or tour for fourteen days. We take many meals at home, Elysee likes to cook, experimenting with native cuisine. We do travel around, even taking long excursions, but at our pace and our design. I have an entire chapter on our excursions each summer. Check it out.