The World Cruise Ship

How much do you love cruising? Would you travel on a cruise for more than half the year? Or how about travel on a cruise permanently? If you’re interested in traveling while you’re still at home, try an apartment on the World Cruise Ship. That’s right, there is a cruise ship where you can travel by ocean forever and own your own cabin!

The first time I heard about the World Cruise Ship I was shocked that people actually wanted to have a permanent residence on a cruise ship in the first place. But I have to admit, I was also a little intrigued. And the more I thought about it the more I became curious about how the World Cruise Ship works. How does someone search out a permanent residence on a cruise ship? And do people stay the cruise full-time or do they fly back home to other residences? And where does the ship go to and how is it decided?

Well the answers are actually interesting and the more I read about the World Cruise Ship the more I really wanted to buy an apartment on it.

The World Cruise Ship basics

For basic background the World Cruise Ship or “MS The World,” was first thought of in 2000 by Knut U. Kloster, whose family had a history with cruise ships. It was built in Sweden but completed in Norway and residents bought their apartments in 2003. Each apartment was designed according to how the customer wanted it and some residents actually live on the ship full-time while others only part-time. All and all, there is 165 resident apartments ranging from studios to multiple rooms!

Features of the ship you might ask?

Well it’s not a typical cruise ship in terms of grand size. These days ships are built to tower but the World Cruise Ship only is 644 feet long and has 12 decks while the average cruise ship is around 900 – 1100 feet long and has 15 -16 decks. However because this is a residence it does have some unique features that most other cruise ships don’t have.

For one, it has the only full-sized tennis court at sea, which I would love! It also has a grocery store, deli store, a large living room, golf simulators, jogging tracks, gym, spas and other luxury amenities. Also unique is the fact that each room comes equipped with internet, which would make sense if you’re traveling for eternity at sea. To pass the time, many of the residents go to classes such as language learning, cooking, computers, dance, etc. A pretty nice way to pass time at what can be a long time before you get to the next port.

Where does the World Cruise Ship go?

Actually everywhere! According to the World Cruise Ship website they usually go to more than 150 ports every year! That is a lot to see. The ship sails to all continents and hits some really interesting ports of call. Maldives, Antarctica, Zanzibar, Monaco, New Guinea, Australia, Patagonia, French Polynesia, etc. Very few places are not accessible thanks to the ship being small and it can easily navigate to places that larger cruise ship couldn’t go. There is a short video on the World Cruise Ship website that is worth watching to get a better visual. Looks pretty awesome.

This video is a short compilation of all the recent expeditions, or mini guides, that the World Cruise Ship has done, and takes actual footage of the people who went on them. Some of the highlights looked like reaching the 80th parallel, sailing to Vanuatu, Antarctica, French Polynesia, Greenland, Seychelles & Madagascar, and the Northwest Passage which the World Cruise Ship became the largest ship to transit this route.

I looked into how the cruise ship decides where to go and apparently the residents “through their elected board of directors and a network of committees, offer guidance to the management about the ship’s itinerary, finances and lifestyle.” Meaning that the residents get to decide where the cruise goes and the ports that people want to see. Even how long the cruise will stay at a port, which about 3 days. That definitely distinct compared to the ordinary cruise ships where the itinerary is already made for you.

How much does it cost to even be on the ship?

Well it’s hard to find reliable information but I’m going to go off some pages I found while searching. If you want to rent an apartment (and yes renting is allowed) it’s going to cost you $1300 to $2300 a night.

Yikes! I won’t be on this cruise ship for the near future. But it seems that if you want to buy an apartment on the World Cruise Ship it’s going to cost somewhere around 2 million just for starters. And then on top of that there are fees to keep up the apartment which are in the thousands. If you want to rent for a month it will cost you somewhere around $20,000 dollars and buying anywhere from 600 thousand to 13.5 million dollars. So for the everyday person this ship is not even rent-able. But we can all dream right?

Some closing realities about the World Cruise Ship

It is actually one of the greenest ships sailing today, all thanks to the design efforts of the ship builder.

Has 5 restaurants and a cocktail lounge.

There is a movie theater.

The average age is 55 (damn) and is aimed for people who want to escape traditional life while looking for peace and serenity while traveling the world of course.

Residents get to explore some amazing parts of the world that would be inaccessible to most.

Explore a part of the world and then come back to wine, spas and relaxation.

I will need to find some serious money to get an apartment.

[toggle title=”To learn more about the World Cruise Ship” state=”close” ] http://aboardtheworld.com/

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20121005090108AAq0kfQ

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_The_World[/toggle]

images by: Vicki & Chuck, Jonathan