Buying your own stateroom aboard a luxury cruise ship sounds crazy, but if you are the adventurous type who’s immune to seasickness, this may be the perfect opportunity for you. Who wouldn’t want to spend their days basking in the sun and traveling the seven seas without having to worry about it ever ending? Imagine making a ship your permanent residence: you receive 24-hour cruise ship service, you can give a friend a week-long spa vacation, rent your room out to make a few extra bucks, or start your retirement living in style.
Cruise ship condominium ownership does not necessarily mean making the sea your new home, although some ships do offer permanent residency. Others are similar to a timeshare. Unlike timeshare vacations, however, where you can only use the condo a few weeks a year, you can make use of your spot on the ship at any time you wish. Living on a luxury cruise ship is also better than having your own yacht because the economy of numbers aboard increases passenger safety and lowers the cost per person.
Living on a luxury cruise ship is an opportunity only few people have. Those few have their own steward and housekeeper, breakfast in their stateroom and everyday access to the ship’s dining room, cafeteria and pool. Other ship amenities available for use are water sports, a library, casinos, spas, and jogging tracks; everything you would expect from a first class cruise vacation.
The idea of developing luxury cruise ship condos mainly came about with the vast increase in ship size over the years. New cruise ships today are enormous, weighing as much as 150,000 tons (that’s larger than some air craft carriers) and holding as many as 3,000 passengers and 1,000 staff employees. The result of this new trend is out-of-work cruise ships that were built earlier and are significantly smaller. There’s nothing wrong with these ships, but they simply can’t compete with these more modern monster ships. So some developers came up with a way to put these slightly used cruise ships back to work by converting them into condominiums.
These condos provide their passengers with the same comforts offered by the more modern luxury cruise ships. Almost all include high speed Internet and cell phone service, allowing those who work from home to work from ship. Despite the discount on the ship, prices are still pretty steep. Those interested can end up paying as much as $2 million for a 1,100 square foot stateroom condo aboard a cruise ship. Some start out for about $70,000, and all offer financing. Residents are also required to pay additional operating costs to keep the ship maintained.
You can find luxury cruise ship condos on real estate websites and online property listings. You can buy or rent a condo from the actual owner or from the cruise ship company; although you might get a better deal from the former. It’s almost worth the money when you think of waking up to a new view every two or three days. It’s like moving your home from port to port.
By Kelley Caner