A floating apartment. A residential yacht. A vacation home that travels the globe.
The World, a luxury liner, has many descriptions, but “cruise ship” is just not considered one of them, said resident Jim Minarik.
“The one thing that is similar between the world and a cruise ship is that they float on the water,” he said. “If our ship was a cruise ship, there’d probably be 1,500 passengers. Once we’re really busy, we’ve got between 200 and 300.”
The World has 167 privately owned apartments, starting from 290-square-foot studios to three,240-square-foot four-bedroom residences.
Minarik and his wife bought their apartment in 2020 with plans to spend one to 2 months a yr on the ship. Nonetheless, he said, they now spend as much as half of the yr on board.
Many residents bring their very own furniture and employ interior designers to brighten their apartments.
Source: The World
“We just found we love a lot concerning the community, the best way of travel — it’s totally leisurely and comfy,” he said. “You are constantly seeing something recent.”
Minarik said the couple were so enamored by the onboard experience that they eventually bought a second, larger apartment on The World, keeping the primary apartment for family and friends.
Life aboard the ship
Like many cruises, The World has multiple restaurants and bars, yoga classes and a gym, two pools, a medical center and round the clock room service.
However the similarities mainly end there. For starters, on this ship, the owners call lots of the shots.
“It is a democratic society on board,” said Residential Director Eddie Wong. “They vote on things just like the itinerary, they vote for refurbishments on the ship,” in addition to its board of directors.
An outside pool sits quiet while The World was docked in Singapore in May 2024. On average, there’s around 150 residents on the ship, although this number can double during expedition trips and year-end and faculty holidays, said Residential Director Eddie Wong.
Source: CNBC
Itineraries change yearly, Wong said. The schedule for 2026 has been finalized, he said, and includes stops in Antarctica, French Polynesia and Easter Island, the latter of which he called “one of the vital sought-after locations on this planet.”
The World docks in around 100 ports per yr, stopping for 2 to 5 days, fairly than just a few hours, said Wong.
“We’ll pull right into a port, just like the Amalfi Coast,” said Minarik. “We stay for 3 or 4 days, so we may not even get off on the primary day … we’d just go off for dinner.”
The World creates photo books after its expedition trips, which in 2024 includes trips to Antarctica, Australia’s Kimberley region, Papua Recent Guinea and the Solomon Islands, Wong said.
Source: CNBC
Several owners live to tell the tale the ship full time, but most come and go as they please, he said.
After cruising from South America to South Africa, Minarik said, he and his wife disembarked in Cape Town and went on safari for 2 weeks, before heading home to Orange County, California. The chums they were traveling with caught back up with the ship, which by that point had moved up Africa’s west coast, he said.
The residents of The World
Many house owners are North American, said Wong. “But we’ve got residents from around 20 different nationalities … we’ve got a variety of Australians on board” too, he said.
Minarik, the previous CEO of a big consumer electronics business, said owners have all had some level of monetary success.
“That is only a fact, but what’s really interesting is everybody has a fantastic story,” he said.
Purchase prices for residences range from $2.4 million to $15 million — a figure which does not include quarterly maintenance fees, which might be around 10% of the acquisition price annually.
Maintenance fees include $33,000 price of food and beverage credits aboard the ship, but in addition they pay for crew, renovation and maintenance to the ship, which has a full-sized tennis court.
Source: The World
Yet money is just not an enormous topic aboard The World, Minarik said.
“There’s definitely no keeping-up-with-the-Joneses because whether you are a multi-millionaire, there’s loads of billionaires,” he said. “So what you speak about is your love of travel and the experiences.”
He said considered one of his friends from the ship is an 82-year-old guy who gives “extra money than I could even imagine” to charity. What do they speak about? “Diving,” said Minarik.
A Champagne bar arrange on Antarctica’s Penola Strait.
Source: The World
Potential buyers are vetted, Wong said. Along with financial and criminal checks, he said, buyers need two letters of advice from an existing resident.
Every yr, about 10% of residences go up on the market, an organization representative told CNBC Travel.
The typical length of ownership is seven to eight years, Wong said. By that point, owners have seen many of the world several times over, he said. Others leave to be closer to specialized medical care or to spend more time with family.
Minarik agreed that the largest downside of ship life is time spent away from his children and grandchildren. He said he and his wife plan their lives to balance their love for family and exploration.
One other drawback? Minarik said he cannot bring his dogs on board.
But “if I used to be to provide you with anything apart from you may’t have your pets and your loved ones, I’d be making stuff up,” he said.
Only ship of its kind?
Wong said that while other corporations have tried, The World remains to be the one ship of its kind.
Residents can cook of their apartments using groceries bought in ports or in a store on board that stocks produce and gourmet items.
Source: The World
The MV Narrative, an upscale residential ship being built by an organization called Storylines, has been hit by several delayed departures. Originally planned to set sail in 2024, it’s now scheduled to start out cruising in 2027. The ship is larger than The World, with plans for 500 rooms to accommodate around 1,000 people.
One other residential ship, Life at Sea, was canceled in November 2023, the identical month it was scheduled to first set sail. Some travelers had reportedly sold their businesses and houses before learning that the corporate behind the cruise, Miray Cruises, had canceled the three-year voyage after failing to secure a ship.
