A man has lived on cruises for nearly 25 years. Mario Salcedo, a Cuban national, moved to Miami in America, with his family in the 1960s. Soon after arriving in Miami, he booked a cruise and fell in love with the experience. Known by staff on the ship as 'Super Mario', Mario recently completely his 1,000th cruise with Royal Caribbean while aboard the 3,286-passenger Explorer of the Seas. The ship, which departed Miami on January 5, spent 11 days voyage to Panama and the Southern Caribbean and held a special event for the occasion.
Mario previously told Conde Nast Traveler: "When I hit 45, I wanted to start a new chapter in my life travelling around the world — that was my vision.". Having tried a few different cruise lines, Mario went on Royal Caribbean's Voyage of the Seas in 2000 and since then, he has not been on another liner.
"Nothing could lure me away from them, because I get treated like royalty," he shared. Mario is now the highest-ranking member of Royal Caribbean’s Crown and Anchor Society, after he became the first cruiser to pass 10,000 points in 2022. Members each earn one point per night on a Royal Caribbean cruise, with an extra point per night for staying in either a suite or solo cruising in a double occupancy cabin.
To keep on top of his cruise travels, Mario schedules his trips two years or 150 sailing ahead, which helps him to stay in the same room for an extended period of time. However, with so much time on the sea, Mario revealed to All Things Cruise: "I’ve lost my land legs, so when I’m swaying so much I can’t walk in a straight line.".
