He has taken his lunch and dinner everyday at the same corner table now for thirteen years. Slim and distinguished, the passenger is lovingly known by the Seven Seas Navigator crew as “The Captain.”
Photo Credit: Forbes
Morton Jablin is 94 years old, sharp, and quite elegant-looking. So, why has he chosen to spend the last 13-years on a boat?
Photo Credit: By Bahnfrend – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
Jablin was born and raised in Brooklyn before he went abroad with the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence in WWII. After he returned to the States in 1946, he worked as a pharmacist, married his wife Charlotte and raised two children. He eventually started a successful lace-making business.
Throughout their marriage, Jablin and Charlotte traveled all over the world on various cruise lines. When Charlotte passed 13 years ago, Jablin decided to make his globetrotting full time and settled on the Navigator as his new home.
Living on the ship has allowed Jablin to keep a simple routine – one that ensures he knows where everything is, which is particularly important because he is steadily losing his eyesight and is now 90% blind. Other than the occasional doctor appointment, he no longer participates in shore excursions. “Charlotte and I had already been everywhere.”
His corner table in the Compass Rose Dining Room is permanently reserved for his daily lunches and dinners and is set for him exactly the same way for every meal.
Photo Credit: Regent Cruises
His suite has been customized to meet his needs, and he exercises daily by walking on a deck that is usually empty. Casinos aren’t his thing, but he enjoys the onboard musical performances.
Family visits him when the ship docks in Miami, and he can always call them on his cell phone. Although other passengers will sometimes start conversation, Jablin really considers the crew as his friends and family.
Photo Credit: By Dveking (talk) (Uploads) – Own work, CC0
Jablin summed up his life at sea this way. “I couldn’t achieve this lifestyle anywhere else. If I need a nurse or doctor, someone is in my cabin within five minutes. No matter what the time of day, if I need something, someone is here in 10-15 minutes. If I weren’t on this ship, I would have to have someone living with me.”
“Where else could I feel this secure and safe? Life on board couldn’t be better,” he said.
He kind of has a point, don’t you think?
