Social isolation boosted the search for a better quality of life and established the remote work model, which allowed people to be productive anywhere in the world. To take advantage of this trend, Storylines is launching a set of luxury residential cruise ships, offering a “more affordable” opportunity of living on a cruise ship for an extended period of time— or even permanently.
Options include fully furnished one to four-bedroom residences, as well as two-story studios and penthouses. Rooms are available as outright purchases, although a limited number of 12-year and 24-year leases are also offered.
The idea of living on a cruise ship may seem absurd and only for wealthy people, but with a growing number of people interested in sailing with their families, the project is slated to attract clients from all over the world. Units start at the equivalent of $400,000, plus an annual fee ranging from US$65,000 to US$200,000 to cover maintenance and food services. For some, it is the most affordable way to live on the high seas.
This new business model intends to shatter the current scenario where only billionaires who own private jets and mansions would be the only ones to afford the ships. The World, for example, offers vessels for over $2 million. In business since 2002, the largest private residential vessel holds the first floating tennis court and a wine cellar with a capacity of 12,000 bottles.
On the ship Utopia, the cheapest of its 190 houses costs$3.9 million, while on the Somnio, also scheduled to debut in 2024, units start at $11 million.
Storylines said that its floating residential cruise ship is designed for people who are keen to having group experiences.
“An MV Narrative resident is someone who seeks adventure, but within a sense of community,” Storylines CEO Alister Punton told CNN.
Unlike traditional cruises, in which the passage through tourist attractions can last only a few hours, the stops made by the floating condominiums are longer and, therefore, more profitable. It is no exaggeration to say that the initiative has been successful: most of the 547 homes have already been sold.
According to Punton, the ‘houses’ will receive an all-inclusive life at sea with a host of impressive amenities in return. The vessel is expected to feature 20 restaurants and bars, a microbrewery and three swimming pools, as well as a library of 10,000 books, a cinema, a state-of-the-art wellness center, a bowling alley and a solar-powered restaurant with a hydroponic garden.
The MV Narrative ship begins with a 1,000-day maiden voyage across six continents in late 2024, with the ship spending an average of three to five days in each port.
“What a typical cruise line can do in a month or three weeks, it will take us three to four months to do,” Punton said.
