‘It’s the company’: The cruisy life of a retired showbiz publicist

When retired showbiz publicist Patti Mostyn, 81 isn’t in “dry dock” at her Sydney home, she’s on the high seas. Over the last decade, she says she’s spent a total of five-and a-half years cruising at an estimated cost of “probably over a million dollars”. And she’s just one of many. According to the Cruise Lines International Association, 1.3 million Australians took an ocean cruise in 2024 with Australia currently ranking as the fourth-largest cruise market in the world after the US, Germany and the UK.

Some opt to live semi-permanently on the high seas. Last year, a Florida-based cruise company launched a floating-home model that offers its passengers a three-and-a-half-year voyage – on a loop. Its cheapest fares, for the over-90s, start at $150,000, while spritely 50- and 60-somethings can weigh anchor for $605,000.

Mostyn prefers to spend a minimum of six months at sea every year. Having once managed the likes of Elton John (she was bridesmaid at his 1984 Sydney wedding to Renate Blauel), Fleetwood Mac, George Michael, ABBA, Rod Stewart and Tina Turner, Mostyn says the reason she likes long voyages is simple: “It’s the company.”

Grief-stricken after losing her husband, Eric Robinson, in 2015, a friend invited her on a world cruise; she hasn’t looked back. From the moment she steps aboard her vessel, Mostyn describes being transported to a universe of luxurious accommodation, glittering gourmet dinners (including inside the Palace of Versailles), fancy-dress parties and lazy days spent sipping cocktails poolside. She’s made friends while cruising, too, including British singer Elaine Paige and theatrical producer Sally Burton, the fourth (and last) wife of the late Richard Burton. Another fellow passenger, the wealthy American widow Stella Hilton (no relation to the famous family), has a plaque in her cabin declaring she has spent 3000 days at sea.

Many high-end operators go to extraordinary lengths to cater for their passengers, many of whom are single, wealthy, mature women. Among the services are “gentlemen hosts … hand-picked, refined and personable … available as dance partners, dinner companions and fascinating conversationalists”.

“It’s not for me,” says Mostyn, “but some of the ladies really enjoy it.”

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