These luxury liner homes sound interesting for those who love travelling by sea.   Good news.  Looks like first class service is coming with it.   - 太太

A Life of Ease on the high seas

Celebrities like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Madonna and Roger Moore are rumoured to own penthouses. If you have a net worth of at least US$5 million (S$8.25 million), you can live among such company when you buy an apartment on The World. 

This is a US$360 million cruise liner buoyant with 165 super-luxurious apartments, from studio to three-bedroom units.

Four renowned interior designers lent their signature styles to the design of the ship's two- and three-bedroom apartments. The living (above) and dining areas (below) pictured here were given cherrywood finishings by interior design firm Yran and Storbraaten for a maritime feel.

About 150 residents on the 43,000-tonne ship - reportedly the first of its kind - sail to various destinations worldwide regularly from where it is registered in Nassau in the Bahamas.

Of course, you can choose to come and go as you please. After all, the ship, launched in Norway in 2002, is owned and managed by the residents.

And you can get a close-up look of The World when it makes its maiden two-day call here in February. It was supposed to dock here in April last year, but the plan was scuttled because of Sars.

Even before the ship comes in, the rich and famous were already invited to a cocktail launch at The Regent Singapore on Thursday and Friday. It was attended by members of the media, travel agents and a handful of expatriates.

Mr Richard Davey, general manager of sales and marketing for Asia-Pacific at Cruise Travel Professionals, the sales agent for the ship, told Life! that about 30 apartments are still up for sale.

The price? About US$650,000 and up for a studio or two-bedroom apartment. The three-bedroom units are sold out.

$8m entry fee

The money buys a lease which expires in 2052. Maintenance fees a year are estimated at between 5 and 6 per cent of the sale price. 'We're not selling this as an investment so we don't want people who don't have the money to be getting in over their heads,' said Mr Davey. That's why residents must have a net worth of US$5 million.

Instead, he hopes to attract 'people who are looking at living a lifestyle' on the ship that includes treatments at the Clinique La Prairie spa, shopping at jeweller Graff and leisurely swings at a mini golf course.

Prospective buyers must submit a list of their assets, which can be verified by both their own and The World's accountants and lawyers.

 

At The World, which is about half the size of the popular Superstar Virgo run by Malaysia's Star Cruises, occupancy rarely goes above 200, and there are no hoi polloi Vegas-style cabaret shows and buffets.

Asked to confirm if celebrities are indeed residents, Mr Davey said vaguely: 'Our policy is not to confirm who our buyers are.'

But he did add with a chuckle: 'I will say that Mike Tyson is not a resident. We don't have residents with criminal records.'

Singaporeans have not yet put their money into The World, but interest is growing, says Mr Davey. If you want a sneak preview of what living on the high seas is like, you can rent apartments - starting at US$550 per person per night.

 

Short-term cruises in March and February to destinations like Penang, Phuket and Yangon, for a minimum of six nights, are being marketed now.

The ship, however, has not always had a carefree life. It was originally owned by Norwegian cruise magnate Knut Kloster Jr, former chairman of the famous Royal Viking Line and Norwegian Cruise Lines.

His grandiose plan to travel around the world without ever leaving home faced turbulent waters when, by late 2002, about 30 apartments, each worth at least US$2 million, remained unsold.

Construction had started in 2000. Eventually, the ship was launched without full occupancy. The media has, till today, labelled the ship a white elephant.

In late 2002, it started allowing tourists to come onboard for short-term stays reportedly to make ends meet - much to the dismay of its permanent residents. They complained to the media that the original promise of exclusivity had been scuttled.

Mutiny of the bounty

In October last year, they bought over the ship from Mr Kloster for a reported US$71 million. While this was widely reported as a 'mutiny' - a case of fed-up residents taking matters into their own hands - Mr Davey claimed the contrary.

'The fact that they exercised the option to take ownership speaks volumes about the way they love the ship,' he noted.

New purchases and short-term rentals, which Mr Davey said are now 'on target', go towards paying off the mortgage that the residents took on the ship.

An oft-debated selling point for prospective buyers is that the ship may be a tax haven for those who spend most of the year away from home. Mr Davey clarified that The World is not a domicile and tax laws in residents' home countries still apply.

'But if the fact that you are absent for a certain number of days in a year has tax implications in your domicile, then yes the ship can certainly 'help' somebody in that situation.

'But I find the residents don't talk about this - they come and go as they please.'

Despite the mixed views on the success of The World, the concept appears to have caught a second wave. Canadian company Four Seasons Hotels And Resorts engaged a Finnish builder in June to construct a ship named Four Seasons that will have about 100 residences.

The contract is valued at about 276 million euros (S$593 million) but construction will begin only after a certain number of residences are sold.  - by Sandra Leong     SINGAPORE STRAITS TIMES     27 Nov 2004

Home, sweet sea home

The idea of floating real estate is not entirely new and we have already had the Residensea project. The concept of seeing ships as floating estates of luxury apartments still takes some getting used to. The way these vessels are contracted and marketed is obviously still being developed.

Hence the latest order for Finland's Kaerner-Masa Yards (KMY) is 'conditional'. For an order to be conditional is not in itself that unusual, but the conditionality normally relates to something like government approval of a subsidy or export guarantees. In the case of the 42,500 gt ship to be built at KMY, however, everything hangs on the skill of the salesmen, or should we say estate agents, who must sell a certain proportion of the 100 'residences' before KMY will start the two-year task of building the ship.

According to a publicity statement, the ship will be 'branded, managed and operated by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts' and will 'feature approximately 100 spacious residences varying from 125 square meters to 320 square meters'. The statement does say the value of the contract is about 276 million euros (S$571 million) corresponds 'to about two thousand man-years employment at KMY and its suppliers and subcontractors'.

What the statement does not mention is the price prospective residents will have to pay for, effectively, leasing a one-hundredth of a very large and expensive ship. Nevertheless, the owner and builder are optimistic that the sales targets for triggering the start of construction will be met by July next year.

And the optimism does not stop there. The agreement includes an option to contract a similar vessel to be exercised during 2005, as soon as the sales targets for residences have been reached for the second vessel.

KMY says it has built more than 25 per cent of the world's modern passenger ship fleet, and 'enjoys an unprecedented on-time delivery record'. While nobody would want to dispute that, KMY does have a small problem. Very few people want to buy cruise ship newbuildings at the moment.

The yard only has one passenger project on hand for delivery after this year; a 135,000 gt giant for Royal Caribbean Cruises. More worryingly, it has only one other newbuilding to work on after the end of this year, an icebreaker for delivery in the middle of 2005.

In other words, MKY needs orders badly and might have looked a bit more kindly on the unconventional contract for an unconventional ship in the current market than three or four years ago when the cruise lines were almost queuing up to order ever bigger, more impressive and more expensive ships.

The yard is designing the ship and must have already done some quite detailed work. It would be interesting to know how much, if anything, KMY is staking on the project going ahead. The big question is whether residential ships have a real future, with enough demand to keep the workforces busy at the specialist passenger ship builders like KMY. If these two ships turn out to have been interesting oddities, then the cruise ship builders will still be in real trouble.

The people behind this project are, not surprisingly, highly enthusiastic. Chairman and CEO of Ocean Development Group, Kristian Stensby, said: 'The signing of this conditional contract with KMY and our agreement with Four Seasons are significant milestones in our plan to create a unique residential community at sea. The development in recent years of branded luxury residential resort communities has shown there is great potential demand for the unique lifestyle experience we will offer.'

Kathleen Taylor, president, worldwide business operations, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, added: 'We are excited to expand our residential portfolio with this new and visionary lifestyle product. The Four Seasons will offer our guests the opportunity to experience the Four Seasons lifestyle in locations where we do not currently have a presence, and will become a showcase for the highly personalised service for which Four Seasons is renowned.'

Well, perhaps residential ships will do all this but to succeed the project will surely mean tapping into the pockets of the super rich in a big way. It would be interesting to know the comparative costs of owning a bit of a 42,500 gt ship and of owning a 'modest' - if that is the right term in this context - private yacht. Presumably that is the area into which these new nautical estate agents will have to venture. I am waiting for the cold call.      - by David Hughs     SINGAPORE BUSINESS TIMES      17 June 2004

The 640-foot ResdenSea houses 110 dwellings

The World of ResidenSea is the world's first ocean going luxury residential resort. It is a home like no other, a floating community created exclusively for the most stimulating and discriminating of world travelers. It is a temple in Thailand, a sea-swept summer in Newport, a journey through the ancient Greek Islands, New Year's Eve in the South Pacific, a home of your own in every major port in which you have ever wanted to live. It is the most extraordinary global itinerary ever charted—a course that will always find you in the perfect place at the perfect time.

All the Time in the World to Explore the World

The World of ResidenSea has just embarked on a continuous circumnavigation of the globe in pursuit of natural, historic, and cultural attractions. From the sapphire blue of the oceans, to the turquoise green of legendary seas, to the colorful ports of call, your private terrace aboard The World offers you a new view each time you step out. You will enjoy approximately 250 days a year in port, with extended stays for in-depth explorations and such special events as the Cannes Film Festival, Carnival in Rio, theater in London, and regattas in Sydney. Your traveling home provides the essence of elegance and excellence in its amenities and services. It is an international country club equal in every respect to the exclusive private clubs of the world, offering every social and recreational opportunity you enjoy on land.

The 640-foot, 12-deck ResidenSea houses 110 luxury dwellings of various shapes and sizes, from two-bedroom condos to 3,000 square foot floating mansions. Each unit has its own living and dining rooms, a fully appointed kitchen, multiple ensuites, and an outdoor terrace. There are several contrasting floor plans, colour schemes, and interior designs -- everything from traditional coziness to sleek modernism to colonnaded Eurotrash.

The vessel's onboard amenities include two pools, restos and cafés, a theatre, fancy shops, and a golf centre with simulated games at top international courses. There's also a retractable marina, so you can zip off in your personal launch if the company of your fellow millionaire exiles starts to grate.

Residents are permitted to rent out their dwellings when not aboard, helping to defray the somewhat titanic price tags, which start at US$2.25-million. Approximately one quarter of the ship's units are still available.      -Nicholas Dinka   National Post    5 Apr 2003 

(OSLO) The World, the first cruise ship to offer permanent residence for the seriously wealthy, is letting in the plebs to make ends meet after many of its luxury apartments failed to attract buyers.

Hit by the global slowdown, The World's owner, ResidenSea, has been left with 30 of its 110 apartments unsold, according to Norwegian daily Aftenposten.

The lukewarm response is a major financial blow considering that the dwellings are priced at between US$2.2 and US$7.5 million.

The vessel's 88 guest suites are also empty much of the time, prompting a decision to cut prices, the paper said.

Some suites are now on offer for a mere US$225 per night, well within the reach of the not-so-super-rich. ResidenSea describes the price as an 'incredible promotional daily rate', pointing out that it includes food, alcoholic beverages, tips and port tax.

According to Aftenposten, several of the on-board apartment owners want to pull out of the project, worsening ResidenSea's financial position.

Launched at the beginning of the year for an investment of US$265 million, The World boasts a helicopter landing pad, two swimming pools, a tennis court, four restaurants and a miniature golf course.

Aimed at a wealthy clientele, tired of taxis and hotels and with time on its hands, The World floats permanently between the grand meeting points of the jet set.

It anchors in Cannes for the Film Festival, Monte Carlo for the Grand Prix and Rio for the Carnival, stopping off in between in the Norwegian fjords and Saint Petersburg.

ResidenSea said its bargain rates were for a limited time only. 'Do not delay. These will not last long,' it warned. - AFP   - Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.   28 Nov 2002 

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