Villa Vie Residences

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Yes- I surmised that LOL

[broberts]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz048d74n55o.amp

 

[Travel_Around_The_World]

How long will this forth and back now last?

[UKCruiseJeff]

1 hour ago, Travel_Around_The_World said:

How long will this forth and back now last?

 

Until they remember to untie to the mooring  hawsers. 🙂

 

Jeff

[as3369]

5 hours ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

It’s great to see that the dream has started for those patient people.  I really hope it meets their aspirations completely and that there are no further disappointments.  

 

I find myself wondering how long it’d be before I was offloaded due to me shouting at some of these people who I fear will be running around all areas, all day with their cameras doing shouty blogs. I think it will soon detract from the intimate private ambience many are looking forward to. 

 

Jeff

Truth, but apparently these residents have alot more patience than I do.  When I was a child, my 3rd grade teacher told my parents that I "would never be anyone's doormat."  I would love to live on a ship, but the Villa Vie wouldn't be my ideal choice.  Good luck to all of them and I wish them a safe journey!

[Travel_Around_The_World]

It's like the good old fashion cruises to nowhere. 🤣

[as3369]

Yesterday I was watching MidLife Cruising YouTube channel live streaming the boarding.  While I noticed that the passengers and crew appeared elated to be on the ship, the same wasn't true for the CEO and COO.  If you watched did anyone else notice that Mike & Kathy were seated alone at the bar?  Body language is a real thing and their demeanors indicated that something is off.  

 

I will give them credit for one thing... they definitely have developed alot of public interest in this story.  Only a couple of hundred people are actually invested in this ship, but there are 1,000s of people interested in the story!

[MacMadame]

One of their certificates is only good until Oct 2nd according to something posted above. That's tomorrow. Could that be why they are not actually sailing away but anchored offshore?

[UKCruiseJeff]

30 minutes ago, as3369 said:

I would love to live on a ship, but the Villa Vie wouldn't be my ideal choice.

 

It has always seemed to me that “wishful thinking” can always nudge conclusions that are convenient in order justify what one wants to believe in order to support decisions we would like to make. 

 

I have never bought the idea that these extremely small cabins (“Villas”) are merely a place “to sleep” because the rest of the ship is your “living area”.    I think the reverse is true.  I think this is for many extremely self-delusional, 

 

On a cruise of this length you could argue that you need much more private space than normal to escape your other travellers for much needed peace and privacy.  And this is true even if you have a great partner you share with. You need a place for some solo quiet time.  I think many may find this unworkable whatever they might have thought when they were in “buying mode”. 

 

When we looked at The World many years ago we realised you had to have a pretty large suite for that reason and they were sadly not cheap.  

 

Jeff

[as3369]

3 minutes ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

 

It has always seemed to me that “wishful thinking” can always nudge conclusions that are convenient in order justify what one wants to believe in order to support decisions we would like to make. 

 

I have never bought the idea that these extremely small cabins (“Villas”) are merely a place “to sleep” because the rest of the ship is your “living area”.    I think the reverse is true.  I think this is for many extremely self-delusional, 

 

On a cruise of this length you could argue that you need much more private space than normal to escape your other travellers for much needed peace and privacy.  And this is true even if you have a great partner you share with. You need a place for some solo quiet time.  I think many may find this unworkable whatever they might have thought when they were in “buying mode”. 

 

When we looked at The World many years ago we realised you had to have a pretty large suite for that reason and they were sadly not cheap.  

 

Jeff

Personally I would be happy with 500-600 ft.  I grew up in a 900 sq ft house in Key West with 5 people and 1 bathroom.  

 

But 130 sq ft??   Uh.... NO!

[UKCruiseJeff]

3 minutes ago, as3369 said:

Personally I would be happy with 500-600 ft.  I grew up in a 900 sq ft house in Key West with 5 people and 1 bathroom.  

 

But 130 sq ft??   Uh.... NO!

 

I know that some have bought kettles, but a life without being able to make a sandwich or a bagel or warm up a sausage roll for thirteen years would make me walk the plank. Or my wife would push me ….

[as3369]

1 minute ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

 

I know that some have bought kettles, but a life without being able to make a sandwich or a bagel or warm up a sausage roll for thirteen years would make me walk the plank. Or my wife would push me ….

Maritime safety will not allow for cooking surfaces in cabins on this ship.  This was never built to be a residential ship.  We were watching the couple that bought 3 cabins and turned it into a 2 bedroom/2bath suite.  Even though it was nice, my hubby noted that the lack of a proper kitchen wouldn't work for him.

 

The World ship was built as a full-time residential ship.  They have induction cooking in their cabins which is permitted because they have fire doors.  At one point someone burnt toast in their apartment and all of the fire doors went into action!

[UKCruiseJeff]

3 minutes ago, as3369 said:

Maritime safety will not allow for cooking surfaces in cabins on this ship.  This was never built to be a residential ship.  We were watching the couple that bought 3 cabins and turned it into a 2 bedroom/2bath suite.  Even though it was nice, my hubby noted that the lack of a proper kitchen wouldn't work for him.

 

The World ship was built as a full-time residential ship.  They have induction cooking in their cabins which is permitted because they have fire doors.  At one point someone burnt toast in their apartment and all of the fire doors went into action!

 

The couple that expanded three cabins have an area they have called a bar I believe.  It does have a fridge/freezer and I wondered whether they might use it as an undercover kitchen. 

 

The World does have induction cooking and full ovens and microwaves  but of course they also have the advantage of restaurant delivery food as well as a decent deli with fresh bread.  

 

They also have a rule that curtails blogging/photography to protect privacy which I suspect many might regret they haven’t introduced onto VVR!  There were some squealing aging toddlers last night on some of those blogs.   I think it has become something many of us might be following with some morbid interest. 

[as3369]

42 minutes ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

 

The couple that expanded three cabins have an area they have called a bar I believe.  It does have a fridge/freezer and I wondered whether they might use it as an undercover kitchen. 

 

The World does have induction cooking and full ovens and microwaves  but of course they also have the advantage of restaurant delivery food as well as a decent deli with fresh bread.  

 

They also have a rule that curtails blogging/photography to protect privacy which I suspect many might regret they haven’t introduced onto VVR!  There were some squealing aging toddlers last night on some of those blogs.   I think it has become something many of us might be following with some morbid interest. 

From the layout of their bar area, I think they are much more interested in Happy Hours than dinner!

[Giovanni66]

The ship is a joke. It is designed for short term cruises. These cabins are very small and will fill up with staff quickly.  Inside cabins look like cupboards.

 

As for cooking appliances these cannot be used in cabin. Fire detection and special fire fighting are required and additional fire protection. Coffee makers are ok. 

 

There should be on each deck a small pantry (kitchen) that could  be used by their clients with items like hot water boiler, toaster, microwave oven, induction plates and a cummonal fridge / freezer (for larger items bought in port etc..)

 

Also there should a a launderette on each deck. (there is only 1 with 10 machines)

 

The ship it self looks very tired and there was no effort made to make appeal fresh and comfortable. Carpets are old and stained.

 

 

 

 

[gkbiiii]

On 9/30/2024 at 3:57 PM, rebeccalouiseagain said:

This isn't good at all.  Mike and Kathy have lied to them at every turn- claiming they simply didn't have a berth- no mention about the conditions imposed.

The other lady who was thrown out, has been interviewed by local Irish media, stating she is in negotiations with VV, to reinstate her.  In my opinion, she should "take the money and run!"

[Giovanni66]

29 minutes ago, gkbiiii said:

The other lady who was thrown out, has been interviewed by local Irish media, stating she is in negotiations with VV, to reinstate her.  In my opinion, she should "take the money and run!"

That's weird. Some would think to stay clear from this venture after being kicked out ''following formal complaints and votes by the founding founders...

 

[Giovanni66]

Did the cruise start ?

[Travel_Around_The_World]

46 minutes ago, Giovanni66 said:

Did the cruise start ?

Floating offshore.

[Travel_Around_The_World]

55 minutes ago, Giovanni66 said:

That's weird. Some would think to stay clear from this venture after being kicked out ''following formal complaints and votes by the founding founders...

 

VVR is negotiating (if they actually do) in a dishonest way. They hold her stuff hostage and they know she got nowhere to go since she sold everything she owned. 

 

Personally I would not want back on that ship after that experience. I would restart my life small and try to rebuild. She will live her life under the microscope always with the threat hanging over her head that she could get kicked off again over miniscule reasons.

[UKCruiseJeff]

17 minutes ago, Travel_Around_The_World said:

VVR is negotiating (if they actually do) in a dishonest way. They hold her stuff hostage and they know she got nowhere to go since she sold everything she owned. 

 

Personally I would not want back on that ship after that experience. I would restart my life small and try to rebuild. She will live her life under the microscope always with the threat hanging over her head that she could get kicked off again over miniscule reasons.

 

It seems to me that she is between a rock and several hard places.

 

In her current situation she is being accused of being in breach of her contract and presumably VVR are going to be reticent to return her cash voluntarily.  If they reverse their decision and allow her back but she refuses then they arguably keep the cash because the cruise is still hers. If she does return then they (“The Clique”) might claim that they “have bent over backwards” to “help her” but they could then contort a fresh breach and offload her again asserting that she had two chances and breached the contract twice.  

 

It seems to me that whatever she does she will have to work extremely hard to get her funds back and it may prove expensive because VVR are incentivised to play hardball and show that they are not an easy “date” in order to keep all other “difficult customers” in line. 

 

Jeff

[gkbiiii]

How are they going to continue to sell cabins under these restrictions?

[UKCruiseJeff]

4 minutes ago, gkbiiii said:

How are they going to continue to sell cabins under these restrictions?

 

You do not need a particularly high percentage of the world’s population to be trusting and gullible and be overtaken by sweaty bad judgement to buy what is left. 

 

They only need to sail for a month or three with the daily blogs and the rest of the cabins could be sold rapidly. 

 

Jeff

 

 

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 01:33 AM by UKCruiseJeff

[gkbiiii]

Just now, UKCruiseJeff said:

 

You do not need a particularly high percentage of the world’s population to be trusting and gullible and be overtaken by sweaty bad judgement to buy what is left. 

 

 

Even if somehow they do manage this feat, how to they remain profitable?  They have very few revenue sources monthly, so how will they break even?  The new upcoming luxury mega-ultra yacht, will charge people, at minimum $10 million and $300K annually. 

[UKCruiseJeff]

19 minutes ago, gkbiiii said:

Even if somehow they do manage this feat, how to they remain profitable?  They have very few revenue sources monthly, so how will they break even?  The new upcoming luxury mega-ultra yacht, will charge people, at minimum $10 million and $300K annually. 

 

They do not need to.  

 

If it’s a scam then as soon as they have sold as much as they can then they contort insolvency, they pull the shutters down, sell the assets at a knock down price to “another  company” and walk away. And possibly “restart” with the same ship. 

 

If it’s isn’t a scam then they demand higher monthly fees on the basis that if they are not secured then they go on and do as above. 

 

Finally, this has nothing to do with “profit”  It is all about “cashflow” and how you secure, grow and retain and use other peoples’ cash  and divert it to your own pockets.  

 

They really cannot lose at this unless they try to.

 

Jeff

Edited Wednesday at 01:55 AM by UKCruiseJeff