Floats My Boat
Meet the man who calls a cruise ship “home.”
Meet the man who calls a cruise ship “home.”
Morton Jablin lives a simple life. He wakes early, showers, dresses, has breakfast, and begins his day. He for his evening meal. He’s not much different than you and me, with one exception: Morton Jablin lives on a cruise ship.
For the past 15 years, the 96-yearold retiree has called Regent Seven Sea Cruises’ Seven Seas Navigator home. Jablin isn’t cruising’s only resident. There’s Mama Lee Wachtstetter, author of I May Be Homeless But You Should See My Yacht who has lived on Crystal Serenity the past decade. And “Super Mario” Salcedo, who spends most of the year on Freedom of the Seas and the rest on what he calls his “week off” or “vacation week.”
I once spent 100 days living on a ship traveling throughout Europe. Still, I often fantasize what it would be like to trade in my modest Big Apple crib for an even smaller living space on an even longer voyage. When I learned that I would be traveling with Jablin during a recent New England/Canada cruise, I was determined to find the retiree-turned-full-time- cruiseship- resident. I mean, just imagine being lulled to sleep by the soothing sounds of the ocean and gentle swaying of the ship every night ... and being awakened by some exotic location’s sunlight pouring into your cabin each morning?
And then imagine no grocery stores or housekeeping or gas stations or mowing the lawn or making your bed or ….
All in the Family
When I first met the charming and congenial Jablin in the ship’s lounge, he was excited to tell me that he believed we were related. According to Jablin, his father’s mother was Mary Jacobs from Brooklyn. My grandparents, last name Jacobs, were also from Brooklyn. “I think we’ll find out we’re 18th cousins before we’re though,” Jablin says.
While discussing our surnames and potential shared ancestry was interesting, I was more intrigued in learning about the man so many call Captain.
“They used to call me Grandpa,” he says, “but they call me Captain because I achieved the rank of captain in the Navy, World War II. Being in the Navy had a big impact on my life; it’s where I first fell in love with the sea.”
Jablin credits the Navy for offering guidance and direction in his life. When he returned to the States in 1946, he worked as a pharmacist, then founded a successful lace- making business. When Jablin retired in 1989, his grandson took over the family business, which continues to thrive.
“My wife and I loved cruising, and though we didn’t live on the ship, we spent six to seven months a year traveling,” he says of retirement life. “When my wife Charlotte passed away in 2005, I decided to stay on the ship.”
Life at Sea
Sitting with Jablin, one of my biggest questions was how he manages day- today since he is now legally blind due to macular degeneration.
“I only see shadows,” he says. “As a Navy man, I know my boundaries, and it's safety first. I know how many steps it is to my cabin, to the dining room. I know the carpeting and I know where not to go.”
While Jablin doesn’t leave the ship when it docks in ports anymore, he likes structure. “I like to maintain a schedule,”
he says. “I have breakfast in my cabin, I enjoy high tea in the afternoon, and sit at the same corner table in the dining room for lunch and dinner, where I eat dover sole each meal. I prefer to eat alone as I find it hard eating with others since I am not as neat as I once was due to my vision problem.”
According to dining staf f, Jablin prefers not to have flowers on the table since it reminds him of his wife. But the staff keeps everything in the same place on the table reserved for the “Captain” so he has no trouble finding anything during meals.
Jablin maintains contact with his family via telephone and visits from his family on board; his two sons, ages 65 and 70, sail with him for a month each year. While talking to the sharp, dapper man seated across from me, I wondered what the secret to his longevity was. Was it his diet? Exercise?
“Everything is genetics,” says the former pharmacist . “My father and mother lived until age 97, and my brother lived until 98.”
Words of Wisdom
When I asked staf f and crew about the man who lives on the ship full time, there was one word that was synonymous with Jablin’s name: “family.” As in, “he’s like family.”
And I was reminded that family comes in all forms. There is the family assigned to us at bir th, the family chosen for us, and the family we choose to join us on this journey. As for Jablin’s life- at- sea journey, I ask him what he would say to others considering the possibilities.
“I would advise them to do it 1,000 percent if they have the financial ability to do so,” he says. “This is a much better life than any senior citizens home anywhere in the United States or anywhere in the world. They take marvelous care of you. If you need something, you have it in 10 minutes. You can have a doctor in your room in five minutes. This line, Regent Seven Seas, is a wonderful company. The people that work here are kind, considerate, gracious. They treat me like family. It’s a wonderful life.”
As I was leaving the ship, I glanced over and saw Morton Jablin walking back toward his cabin. I stepped out of the disembarking line and went to say goodbye, and without missing a beat, he said, “Ah, it’s my cousin!
“I hope we’ll sail together again someday.” I hope so too.
"The people that work here are kind, considerate, gracious. They treat me like family. It’s a wonderful life."