In a growing trend, retired cruise ships are being turned into non-stop homes at sea for well-heeled travelers. The latest is even more absurd than the last.
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Sail Forever, I Guess
Victoria Cruise Lines announced the use of a retired Holland America vessel for use as a never-ending cruise. The principal, I think, is for global wanderers to sail around the world constantly with the comfort of a large cruise ship. However, execution and costs may be lacking.
Before proceeding further, I implore you to see this Yahoo! article with a ton of images. Without seeing the images, it’s hard to really get a picture of the state of this ship. If you’re picturing something like the Seabourn Antarctica product you’re sorely mistaken.
Entry-level 226 sq ft interior rooms consisting of a small sitting area, two twin beds (can be pushed together to make a queen bed, yay), and a bathroom starting at $8,000/month with a 37-month commitment and a deposit of $30,000. Larger 1700 sq ft penthouse suites are sold out at the moment and run $35,000/month plus an $80,000 deposit.
The vessel will vary its ports of call to continually offer “residents” a new experience, stopping in port for 1-7 days each.
The first sailing is to depart from Fort Lauderdale in May and all services like laundry, turn down, maid, food and drink are included.
Victoria Cruises is marketing this as affordable which is questionable for a number of reasons. It is affordable if pairing major long-haul voyages and considering the time involved, but comparable long-term sailings use modern amenities and equipment. Is it affordable or is it cheap? And is any trip cheap at a minimum of $296,000?
Floating Retirement Home
The product is being branded by some as a floating retirement home, and the term suits. The vessel, built in 1996, is showing its age. The oldest confirmed resident is 90 years old.
The elderly would appear to be the core demographic. The vessel is a way for those who aren’t finished wandering to continue their expeditions around the globe while maintaining creature comforts from their floating residence. When compared to other retirement home products, double occupancy at $8,000/month doesn’t seem wildly expensive, especially considering the extras that are included.
What Could Go Wrong?
If a vessel is out at sea in ports around the world continuously for more than three years per term, and the core market is elderly residents, what capabilities would the vessel have to treat health concerns onboard? Heaven forbid one should perish at sea, what would become of their remains and its transport home? If a hospital stay is required while in port in Morocco, would one then presumably fly to rejoin their vessel in its next port? Are there legitimate safety concerns about a vessel that’s been out of service?
What seems to be even more vexing to me is the lack of escapability. What if you despise your neighbor in the next cabin? How many nights can you go to dinner with the same people?
Conclusion
It seems like a recipe for disaster. Unlike Storylines, which doesn’t yet have a launch vessel built or date set, the product is not luxurious. Interior rooms for the voyage start at just under $300,000 for the minimum commitment period, while Storylines luxury studios which are actually sold not leased start at $1 million. Victoria’s Majestic 37-month lease is substantially less money but comparatively, very expensive for the product. The vessel screams destitute, and I can only imagine the quality of catering when everything is included for $133/night. This model was intriguing at first but has quickly moved to absurd.
What do you think? Would you spend 37 months at sea? Would you spend 37 months at sea in an interior stateroom?
I’m not a big fan of cruising in general. The only benefit, I guess, is for people who don’t like to pack/repack when traveling but then couldn’t they bring along a butler to do that and other tasks for them if they have $30,000/month at the top end? At the low end, $8000/month means they live like someone at an airport hotel with little room to store their belongings begging the question: Why not just live out of a suitcase then?
Eight grand a month to live in an interior closet sized room? And have no control over where you go? I fear some elderly folk are being put into storage by evil relatives.
Have they not heard of nursing homes?
Have they not heard of nursing homes?
Yes, I have. My mother was in one for three years. That is the last place I want to be. Cruising during ones final years seems like a good way to go out.
For $8k a month, I could just book regular cruises and have a better experience.
@DaninMCI. Well to me a “better experience” might be never ever having to go on another cruise! I’ve been forced into them since childhood and as an adult by corporate “rewards”. More like corporal punishments. As a sailboat owner I still couldn’t enjoy the Windstar cruise! But each to their own
I’m chuckling because this reminds me of the line in Airplane where the mental institution patient is screaming at the high cost of a bed “The man is clearly insane!”
Indeed, the high price is to share a nurse and nurse’s aid who services them for about an hour a day so for 30 hours of care, or about 4 nurse-days comes out of that $8,000. I wonder how much of that is due to licensing fees, etc.
A private cruise ship isn’t going to provide daily nursing services particularly for high maintenance care.
Yep. You got it. Both of parents were in MoCo private nursing home about 80k per year each at that time. In also provided additional care. I loved my parents but it was a difficult journey. And I saw things over those years. Enough “children” that would have put their parents adrift not to deal with them. But out in international waters, well . oh well
You are so far off base. You have never been on a cruise ship and paid $8,000 a month for two for cruising. You don’t know what you are talking about.
I’d suggest you post more interesting articles on travel: lounge, hotel, destination reviews.
Your last 3 posts are really boring
I agree, I usually avoid visiting on Sunday since Mathew doesn’t post; Kyle’s posts are boring, inconsistent and poorly written. Sorry Kyle, it’s not personal.
It looks like a Red Lion Hotel turned into a cruise ship.
What sort of a refund do you get when the boat is adrift without power and you’re crapping in a bucket?
This is a very odd question about a refund, out of nowhere, based on nothing.
Your Red Lion reference may or may not be spot-on. It is a cruise ship turned into a cruise ship. Your point?
An interesting concept that might be worth trying out. I’ve been on many cruises, both shorter and longer, and in those cases I was only in my cabin when I was asleep. On these cruises there were many family travelers with children. I have read the Victoria Cruise webodal and it seems that they only allow adults on the ship. This is a good idea and I vote for it.
Also I read on their website that the minimum rental period is 6 months. In this article it says that the minimum rental period is 37 months. I’ve also read on the website that the longer you rent, the more discount they give on the rent. I found a rental rate calculator on the website that shows a price much cheaper than the $8,000 you read in this article.
I think that the writer of this article has not read the website; only skimmed it.
When the first “houseboat” project was launched, MS WORLD, I read about it with interest, but unfortunately for me it fell into the unaffordable category. A few months ago I read about STORYLINES. This project seemed very novel. I spoke to the sales people and wondered about the possibility of embarking on such a maritime adventure. I just read about the opportunity offered by Victoria Cruises a few days ago and it caught my attention. For me it is very important to be able to travel at a good price. Also, not having to pay in one lump sum several months in advance seems like a good thing. If it is true that the ship stays in each port for several days, this is again a very good thing. I have found that usually the cruise arrives in a port in the morning; the passengers quickly rush through all the sights and then continue on their way in the evening. I’m an active retiree and like to cruise at my own comfortable pace. Such an opportunity to spend more time in a port is worth thinking about, as it would give me more time to explore the area.
The concept is good, but more information needs to be obtained before booking.
I like the idea. I love cruises, but they all do the same thing and it’s a bit boring. It’s a shame that I’m not retired yet, so unfortunately I don’t have time to try it, but I really like what this company promise.
Let’s correct the mistakes about the cost. If the author did some homework about the loyalty program he would have seen the different tiers for cost. The top tier for 2 people per month is $4,799. $80 pp per day is CHEAP for cabin, 3 meals and tips, entertainment.
The cruise line isn’t marketing it with any loyalty program savings, I’d love to include a link that corroborates this if you have one. Further, that represents a 40% discount, so I would be shocked as to whether or not it really is offered as such.
I have been cruising for over 50 years and also looked into Victoria Cruise. You don’t have any facts right about your absurd assessment of this idea. Learn your facts before you make any statements. You are 80% wrong on all your facts. Contact me if you are interested in the real facts about this ship and cruising in general.