Villa Vie Residences

[Travel_Around_The_World]

1 hour ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

The key revenue issue is that The World doesn’t promise that the current annual fees will never increase, a promise I believe cannot be made by anyone in good faith.

 

It is impossible to make such a promise when you have absolutely no idea about inflation and what future costs of running and maintaining a very old ship and the future costs of fuel, earnings, supplies etc.  Anyone with a financial background (Mikael) making such a promise I believe is disclosing a lot about their intentions.  I’m amazed that anyone would trust and sink their savings into a long-term project like this having read that promise. The logic goes that if a single promise is made that clearly stinks should you not shrug and walk away immediately. 

 

I think most of us can work out that if the operation doesn’t fold, the future increases will be demanded and those that refuse will be offloaded. 

 

Jeff

 

Oh definitely. Increases have to be calculated in. 

[gkbiiii]

16 minutes ago, Travel_Around_The_World said:

Oh no. To make it feasible long term you have to built a new ship with modern technology. More fuel efficient. More energy efficient. That is more so important if you target a customer base with somewhat limited funds.

Notice The World and the future new wealthy ships, have a $10 million minimum net worth (you must prove liquid assets) and one new ship build, wants in excess of $28 million assets.

[broberts]

It seems to me that any venture proposing annual costs less than the cost of a year on a mass market ship is suspect.

[Charry_]

On 10/4/2024 at 11:03 PM, Leither said:

We sailed several times on the Braemar as was and it was a lovely ship, just the right size. Last time was in 2019 when we went through the Corinth Canal, a fascinating, memorable experience. We’ve only cruised with Fred Olsen but have never ever had to use a travel agent. Not sure what you mean about “few, if any, amenities” ; certainly it doesn’t have go-kart tracks, zip wires etc but then lots of us don’t want to cruise on this sort of ships.

Apart from that, this is a fascinating thread with several very knowledgeable contributors.

, 

I'm sure the ship was fine for a short cruise and that is what it was designed for. But living in a ship for years is a different proposition. Once you've bought into VV they have you- unlike a cruise line that relies on good word of mouth and repeat patronage. With VV you are stuck - you can't just say " well I won't sail with them again" and use someone else. You've spent hundreds of thousands.  The ship wasn't built for people to live full time - I mean an interior cabin as your permanent room? Seeing the same people every day of your life including those you don't like?  having to eat and socialise with them everyday? I think most people wouldn't like that- even avid cruisers like me- I love it, but I also like that the companies I cruise with have to keep up a certain standard- VV promises no fee increases for the life of the ship- what does that tell you? Either they are drastically overcharging OR they don't intend to be around for very long. I think the idea of a life at sea is wonderful, and on a ship that is designed for that, it might be a great lifestyle - but too many red flags and dodgy behaviour has it as a big NO for me. I respect others don't see it that way and want to purse a dream- but there comes a time where rational thinking has to balance that out. 

[PG_traveller]

I love cruising as much as anyone here, but at the end of my cruise I very much love returning home. To my own bed, my bathroom, my kitchen, etc. I can't imagine having to eat restaurant food every day, day in, day out. At minimum I would need a big enough room to accommodate a couch,  a balcony, Queen size comfortable bed (after the first night on board one of the vloggers reported that the bed was hard), mini kitchenette.

 

I'm an introvert, I can't handle being around people 24/7. I need my own living space.

 

I like the concept of seeing the world in a floating hotel, just not sure the reality would be for me.

[Travel_Around_The_World]

What did I just read? The passengers couldn't get off tthe ship in Brest but Kathy and Mike left to fly back to Florida? OMG!

[Leither]

12 hours ago, PG_traveller said:

I love cruising as much as anyone here, but at the end of my cruise I very much love returning home. To my own bed, my bathroom, my kitchen, etc. I can't imagine having to eat restaurant food every day, day in, day out. At minimum I would need a big enough room to accommodate a couch,  a balcony, Queen size comfortable bed (after the first night on board one of the vloggers reported that the bed was hard), mini kitchenette.

 

I'm an introvert, I can't handle being around people 24/7. I need my own living space.

 

I like the concept of seeing the world in a floating hotel, just not sure the reality would be for me.

From what I can see on the Odyssey website, the Ocean View cabins, sorry Villas, are little different to when we first cruised on the Braemar in 2015. Even some of the venues like the restaurants and bars have kept the same names and furniture.

I too like the concept of a world cruise but three weeks has been enough for us on the several cruises we’ve done, let alone 15 years. But then we’re not all the same.

[Papadog]

I just received a text from a family member on the ship .

quote ....We weren't able to get off ship. Now out of water. Toilets won't flush. A/C problems.

[Travel_Around_The_World]

8 minutes ago, Papadog said:

I just received a text from a family member on the ship .

quote ....We weren't able to get off ship. Now out of water. Toilets won't flush. A/C problems.

What? They can't get off in Bilbao either? 

No water either? What the heck.

 

 

Edited October 6 by Travel_Around_The_World

[Papadog]

9 minutes ago, Travel_Around_The_World said:

What? They can't get off in Bilbao either? 

No water either? What the heck.

 

 

 I don't know about Bilbao.. We will see when they get there..

[UKCruiseJeff]

They are not due in Bilbao until 7am tomorrow.

 

Jeff

 

 

[redfords]

46 minutes ago, Papadog said:

I just received a text from a family member on the ship .

quote ....We weren't able to get off ship. Now out of water. Toilets won't flush. A/C problems.

Between this and crossing to Bilbao on rough seas, this sounds like it has the potential to be a catastrophic situation worse than fyrefest. 

 

I hope they safely get across. 

[broberts]

10 minutes ago, redfords said:

Between this and crossing to Bilbao on rough seas, this sounds like it has the potential to be a catastrophic situation worse than fyrefest. 

 

I hope they safely get across. 

 

I suspect the ship hasn't paid for any shore services, hence the lack of water. Once at sea an appropriate distance from shore the ship should be able make fresh water.

[chengkp75]

13 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

I suspect the ship hasn't paid for any shore services, hence the lack of water. Once at sea an appropriate distance from shore the ship should be able make fresh water.

I would have expected them to fill up in Belfast before leaving, and then they were underway for about 24 hours (?) to Brest, and they could have been making water that whole time.  The ship only needs to be 12 miles offshore to make water.  And, buying water in port is one of the cheapest things around (though more expensive than making it onboard, of course).

 

This combined with a "bilge problem" leads me to think they had a blown out water heater that filled the bilges with fresh water, which would lead to:  no laundry, no hot water, no water, and a need to pump bilge water ashore.  This is not a good start to this operation.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Cash has to be the major concern.

 

They were “unexpectedly” 10m over the 10m startup budget excluding the published 13m Braemar purchase.  They have built up no operating cash reserves as no monthly cabin payments have been received. Some customers have also built up cash credits in lieu of expenses during delays. As a startup they have no credit record with any suppliers and there has been a unique well publicised adverse publicity with respect to their chaos and broken promises - all of which implies an extremely heavy cash requirement for all or for at least some required deliveries for fuel, port services and supplies etc. until they can become considered risk-free trustworthy  “account customers” - if that ever becomes possible.  

 

Who in the tight frame of mind will give them credit?

 

It really is a question of can they take-off before they run out of  runway? 

 

Jeff

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 6 by UKCruiseJeff

[as3369]

And to top it off, the Midlife Cruising YouTube channel issued a statement that they "may have to jump ship...praying for resolutions" and "Time will tell...getting nervous now"

 

They have always had a positive outlook...

[UKCruiseJeff]

It is odd that the last progress signal on the app was over 11 hours old. 

 

Jeff

[PG_traveller]

9 minutes ago, as3369 said:

And to top it off, the Midlife Cruising YouTube channel issued a statement that they "may have to jump ship...praying for resolutions" and "Time will tell...getting nervous now"

 

They have always had a positive outlook...

Where do you see that? I just looked on YouTube and their latest post on the Community tab doesn't say that.

[chengkp75]

3 minutes ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

It is odd that the last progress signal on the app was over 11 hours old. 

 

Jeff

What app are you using?  Marinetraffic uses land based AIS, so if the ship is more than 20 miles from the closest AIS station, there won't be an update.

[Port2PortX]

11 minutes ago, PG_traveller said:

Where do you see that? I just looked on YouTube and their latest post on the Community tab doesn't say that.

I looked for that earlier as well and did not see that in their latest update which was yesterday I believe?

[Giovanni66]

For now it looks like Mike and Cathy took off to Florida. They will be overseeing the operations and will be in close contact with residents and crew....

 

I understand that they left with 125 to 150 passengers. The numbers do not add up based on their published monthly fees.  For a ship like that think of OPEX per day is the region of $ 70k.  Now if you add the CAPEX .... Remember, they financed their ship partly with loans that have first liens on the vessel....

 

I understand that the class did not certify the ships potable water system. The issue of hot water for shower etc may be that they are short on fuel to burn the boilers.

 

As for passengers shore permit in Brest... it looks like they are short on cash to pay for the passenger services required by the port. These can be arranged within short notice...

 

Im afraid that management couple left before the plug gets pulled..

Edited October 6 by Giovanni66

[as3369]

14 minutes ago, PG_traveller said:

Where do you see that? I just looked on YouTube and their latest post on the Community tab doesn't say that.

 

[UKCruiseJeff]

I wish all this sounded better.  

 

It must be something important if it takes BOTH Mikael and Kathy off after a couple of days together at the same time. 

 

 

[Leither]

21 minutes ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

It is odd that the last progress signal on the app was over 11 hours old. 

 

Jeff

Yes, I was wondering why that was.

[redfords]

5 minutes ago, as3369 said:

 

This is brutal. This is fyrefest x 1 million