Who wants to live on a Residential Cruise Ship

[rebeccalouiseagain]

There have been a lot of comments made about Residential Cruise Ships being the wave of the future.  I'm trying to get a gage as to whether people honestly want to live on a cruise ship.  If it wouldn't cost you any more than it costs for you to live how your are living now- would you sell your home to live on a cruise ship for say the next 10 years.

 

My answer is no.   I like cruising but would miss my family too much.  

 

How about you?

[walkingsoon]

I suspect that there is a huge market out there. Just look at how many people are 'full-timers' in RVs (1M+). Quartzsite in the winter is an amazing scene. I also run into lots of people who are cruising 200+ days of the year or more.

 

I'd keep my relatively modest home and view a residential cruise ship as a second home, probably on it about half the time - just as I did with my fifth wheel. I couldn't afford the World, but could do VVR as described and could even stretch for something in between.

 

The attraction to me is the itinerary pace and focus on travel. I also see advantages to realigning space on board away from pure temporary vacation use. I don't need quite so many bars or big production shows. I like fine food as much as the next person, but the high end touches on the ultra luxury lines don't mean much at all to me. The size of the ship and the ability to pull into different ports is what matters. Villa Vie actually checked a lot of boxes for me.

 

Looking again at RVs in Arizona, consider how many Class A's that cost $400K four years ago are now gathering dust in a long line at a dealership getting pennies on the dollar. That's financial potential right there. I would think that existing cruise companies could tap into that demand for long term retirement travel, get their actuaries to work and put together interesting multi year packages. Imagine something realistically priced, with some similarities to VVR's Odyssey and Endless Horizon offerings, but planned and backed by, for example, MSC's parent company. 

[Travel_Around_The_World]

I would but not VVR like. More like The World but affordable. It basically has to be apartment style and balconies only. I am sure it can be done but it requires someone taking a shot at it and seeing it as a long term investment. It can be less luxurious than the The World. 

VVR is totally overpriced for what they offer. $5000 a month for two people is a lot for a tiny room with a tiny window. That's 60k a year. If you include all your perks you can probably cruise cheaper for a year with regular cruise lines. For 5k a month I need at least a bedroom, living room and decent sized bathroom. Nothing big or fancy. 

 

It is a concept which could work but it would require some investment. Instead of a secondary condo I could buy into that concept. 

 

The problem was and is we have people trying to do it who have no clue how to. They couldn't manage food trucks much less a project like this. 

Edited Tuesday at 04:26 AM by Travel_Around_The_World

[sandiego1]

I could do it for 4-6 months at a time. We live on the opposite coast as family so we don’t get to see them more than 3-5 times/yr. During the off-ship months, I’d want to spend time with them. But my spouse isn’t as interested in that lifestyle as I am.

 

I looked at Storylines a few years ago as we have good friends that purchased a cabin (they eventually bailed and got their $ back but unfortunately are in Belfast waiting for VV). However, at that time we were doing a 7-figure gut remodel of our condo. It didn’t make financial sense to buy a cabin while we were doing that project. And now I’m glad we didn’t!

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Thank you for the responses.  The World only has one ship in their fleet, which indicates to me that the concept wasn't wildly successful.  Had it been there would have been more.  Residential cruise lines probably break even- is a guess.

[LewiLewi]

11 hours ago, walkingsoon said:

I suspect that there is a huge market out there. Just look at how many people are 'full-timers' in RVs (1M+). Quartzsite in the winter is an amazing scene. I also run into lots of people who are cruising 200+ days of the year or more.

 

I'd keep my relatively modest home and view a residential cruise ship as a second home, probably on it about half the time - just as I did with my fifth wheel. I couldn't afford the World, but could do VVR as described and could even stretch for something in between.

 

The attraction to me is the itinerary pace and focus on travel. I also see advantages to realigning space on board away from pure temporary vacation use. I don't need quite so many bars or big production shows. I like fine food as much as the next person, but the high end touches on the ultra luxury lines don't mean much at all to me. The size of the ship and the ability to pull into different ports is what matters. Villa Vie actually checked a lot of boxes for me.

 

Looking again at RVs in Arizona, consider how many Class A's that cost $400K four years ago are now gathering dust in a long line at a dealership getting pennies on the dollar. That's financial potential right there. I would think that existing cruise companies could tap into that demand for long term retirement travel, get their actuaries to work and put together interesting multi year packages. Imagine something realistically priced, with some similarities to VVR's Odyssey and Endless Horizon offerings, but planned and backed by, for example, MSC's parent company. 

I totally agree. I would love to have a home at sea and travel the World. I wouldn’t need glitz and glamor, just a comfortable place to sleep and dine. I still believe that this is possible in spite of the problems that we have seen with the VVR.

[Travel_Around_The_World]

2 hours ago, rebeccalouiseagain said:

Thank you for the responses.  The World only has one ship in their fleet, which indicates to me that the concept wasn't wildly successful.  Had it been there would have been more.  Residential cruise lines probably break even- is a guess.

Not necessarily.  It can be a success with only one ship. As long as they have a managed turnaround of residents only one ship is needed. Only time a second ship would be needed is if the waitlist would dramatically increase (in numbers and wait times). 

If they build a second ship just because and can't sell it all they would be forced to water down the product to make it feasible. 

[MacMadame]

I was very attracted to the 3-year world cruise concept. I would have to sell everything to afford it so it wouldn't be a second home for me but my only home. However, we have lots of pets that wouldn't be allowed on the ship so it wasn't practical for us. Also, Mr Mac isn't on board with traveling full-time.

 

I looked at VV's prices and figured I'd buy a cabin, cruise for 3-4 years, then sell it back to the company (which they guarantee to take it back for a specific percentage of purchase price). 10 years would be way too long. Also, what are the chances that the company would still be around 10-15 years from now?