Spending a vacation on board a cruise ship is a tourist option increasingly in demand even by travelers high purchasing power. However, Mario Salcedo, a millionaire who made his fortune in finance, decided 26 years ago to turn his daily life into a vacation. Since then, he has been linking cruise trips turning these giants of the sea in your home.
However, this life of luxury aboard some of the largest pleasure ships has taken its toll on him: he has lost “his land legs” and is no longer able to walk in a straight line when he arrives in port.
Always live on vacation. The millionaire of Cuban origin counted in 2019 to The New York Times He was never interested in starting a family, so his life on land only consisted of working and working. So one day he decided to leave his apartment in Miami behind and embark on a cruise.
The experience impacted him so much that since then he has been combining one cruise with another and now his house has several decks, swimming pools, dance floors and some fleeting neighbors with whom he socializes whenever he can. After being a regular among the passage of the Royal Caribbean companythe crew already knows him as Super Mario. “I don’t have vacations. People come here to spend vacations. Not me, I’m here to live my life,” explains the millionaire.
Life on board. The millionaire investor uses a reserved table on one of the cruise ship’s decks where a handwritten sign reads “Super Mario Office.” Obviously They do not refer to the Nintendo characterif not to the place from which the millionaire sits every day for a few hours in front of his laptop to telework. In this way he has paid for the more than 1,154 cruises he has completed in his life on the high seas.
The millionaire claims to dedicate between 70,000 and 100,000 dollars a year for his travels. The millionaire counted on an interview for Condé Nast magazine, who booked an inside cabin without a balcony, because “I don’t do anything in my cabin except shower, get dressed and sleep,” he explained. The rest of the day he could be found in his “office”, socializing with other travelers or dancing in one of the ship’s dance rooms. To avoid having to constantly change cabins, Salcedo plans it 150 reservations in advance, linking one voyage to another.
The worst thing about living on a cruise ship is getting to port. Everything would indicate that the biggest cost of living on a cruise ship is money. However, for “Super Mario” the greatest sacrifice is going ashore. After more than 25 years rocked by the sway of the waves on the best cruises, the millionaire has developed a rare disease called landing disease.
This is a rare disorder that affects the vestibular system of the ear which affects balance giving a constant sensation of movement even when you are stable and motionless on dry land.
It is popularly known as “earth legs.” Usually, this is a disorder that lasts at most for a couple of days, but when your life takes place on the high seas, and you only spend a total of fifteen days a year on land, the disease becomes chronic. “I have lost my land legs. I sway so much that I can’t walk in a straight line. I am so used to being on boats that I feel more comfortable than on land,” he said in his interview.
Doesn’t usually go ashore. There is no doubt that Mario Salcedo is like a fish in water on board a cruise, so the few times he goes ashore he does so to take a plane to take him to his next cruise, when they dock in Miami to check that everything is still in order in his apartment or when he has to make arrangements with the bank or medical visits.
Luckily, except for his problem with balance when he steps on dry land, the millionaire in his sixties is in good health. A key factor for “Super Mario” to continue his adventure on the high seas, given that shipping companies prohibit that a person who requires constant medical care comes on board.
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Image | Royal Caribbean
A version of this article was published in 2026
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