A Melbourne startup, Cruise Retirement Ltd founded by former Ramsay Healthcare executive Christian Bannard is entering the challenging business of residential cruising.
The company is targeting the 50-plus age group who like to travel extensively by offering them an alternative retirement lifestyle – the right to buy a 20-year lease on a cruise cabin.
The ship, Enchanted Explorer, currently berthed in Mexico is about to relocate to shipyards in Curacao to be refurbished as a floating residential apartment for grey-haired cruisers.
“We are progressing well with our planned timelines, with the ship to be rebuilt to our unique specifications with a view to making her far more suitable for perpetual Around the World voyages and long-term residency.
“This next phase of our evolution will include final configuration of our residence layouts and public areas which will all be specifically designed to suit your requirements as a community; we are doing this to ensure you’ll enjoy your home while travelling the world in comfort,” Mr Bannard said in to note to potential investors.
By buying a 20-year lease of a cruise cabin, mature cruisers are essentially purchasing “an alternative lifestyle in retirement.”
“Our pricing is set to such a point that it is affordable for the majority of middle income earners looking at retirement options,” the company’s website said.
Cruise Retirement was founded five years ago.
Some 500 potential investors have been selected to become the company’s “in-house advisory committee.”
They have been asked to answer questions on how they would like apartments to look like, including colour scheme, layout, culinary expectations, services, amenities and pricing models.
“Your opinions will matter and in a non-binding way, you get to tell us exactly what you want when you look to becoming a resident onboard a Cruise Retirement vessel,’’ Mr Bannard said.
In the questionnaire, the residential cruise ship will have a range of apartments from an inside studio stateroom with virtual portholes to a three-bedroom Grand Suite residence. Investors are asked what purchase price they would consider with five options – from $150,000 to $300,000; $300,000 to $500,000; $500,000 to $650,000; $650,000 to $900,000 and upwards of $900,000.
Investors are also asked whether they would purchase a residence, participate in a timeshare or rent.
The Enchanted Explorer is expected to have restaurants, cafes, library, card room, theatre, beauty salon, swimming pool, virtual golf simulators and practice nets and fully staffed medical facilities.
Longer, multi-month cruise packages are offered by other lines.
Oceania Cruises launched a Snowbirds in Residence program last year to attract retirees who want to escape the cold and go for months-long voyages in the Caribbean. Then there’s the super-luxury The World, an opulent apartment cruise ship which is privately owned by its millionaire resident cruisers.
This is the old Belorussiya with a flat bottom. I hope it does well, but i wouldn’t go anywhere near it and I worked it.
Hi Joe and Carol,
Great question! We got in touch with Cruise Retirement for you and they have given us the following answer:
“We charge additional monthly service fees for Residence cleaning and maintenance per residence and also a fee per person, per month for food. These residence service fees are also to maintain communal public areas. Essentially it’s similar to an apartment model with a Body Corporate type fee arrangement as opposed to a traditional cruise business model. Our residences are fully serviced and also fully furnished on purchase so residents are essentially able to move right in with just a few suit cases and personal effects, rather than furniture moving costs.
Should a resident decide at any point to sell up their residence onboard, there is a residual value in the residence, with the residence able to be resold to another party, with the resale price based on the original purchase price, then deducting a flat annual depreciation amount of 5% per annum from the initial purchase price paid.”
We hope that helps. You will be able to find additional information on their website or get in touch via their contact page: https://www.cruiseretirement.com/
This sounds too good to be true!
I would be interested in renting, because like a lot of 60 somethings there’s not a lot in the super account. Any ideas about costs involved for long term rentals.
I would love to do this might as well pay the cruise line rent !.? E
Hi Joe and Carol.
Sounds like there are ongoing fees to me.
Have a look at their website here https://www.cruiseretirement.com
This sounds great as just come off a 75 day cruise
Would that price be per cabin or per person ?
Very exciting
Having bought the lease on a cabin/suite, would that include all the usual benefits of a cruise, including cleaning and meals? Or would there be additional costs like in a retirement village? We are 69 and 72 and would reckon a 20 year lease might see us out!
Joe and Carol