A woman who sold her worldly possessions to sail without a destination has some thoughts on the whole cruise experience.
While some people choose to rent or buy a home on land, one woman is sailing the seas on a 15-year cruise.
Sharon Lane booked her spot at the Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship in mid-June, having sold all of her things to buy a cabin.
The 77-year-old planned to do this for a long time, and now that she has finally put her name down on a place to live onboard, she’ll be able to spend over a decade stopping off at numerous destinations and travelling the world.
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Aboard the Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship, she’ll meet new people who are on the same life journey, and to her, it is an interesting prospect.
“I buy the cabin, I live in the cabin, and that’s it. And then there’s no end,” Sharon told CNN.
Using her life savings to buy the cabin, she was due to set sail in September 2024. One thing she’s looking forward to is the fact that there are domestic services available on the ship, allowing her to not have to worry about the little things.
“I don’t have to do my laundry anymore. I don’t have to do grocery shopping. Living on the ship is much less expensive than living in Southern California," Sharon said.
For many, it’s a better option than living on land, with Villa Vie Residences' CEO Mikael Petterson telling the outlet: “We have a very diverse community including a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a White House chief of staff, an astronaut, and many scientists and doctors onboard who share their knowledge and experiences.”
If you also like the sound of it, you need to know that it’s not as cheap as it sounds.
The lowest costing inside cabin is £93,000 to live in for 15 years with an additional monthly fee of £1,495 per person if you’re opting for double occupancy.
It’s also an extra £2,180 if you’re buying a single occupancy, which is quite a lot of money to pay every month for 15 years.
But within that price you’ll be able to be fed, receive drinks, alcohol when you dine.
You’ll have Wi-Fi, weekly cleaners coming in, bi-weekly laundry services, medical visits and even 24/7 room service.
You can even buy a cabin and rent it to others, making you some sort of sealord (because landlord can’t apply here’).
Sharon is hoping to stay out for the entirety of the journey, adding: "There’s no end. Sure, in 15 years… but in 15 years, I’ll be ready for a home… Or maybe, at the end, I’ll go on their next ship… I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it."
There is a downside though, as Sharon did not set sale on time after the cruise was delayed by four months and was stuck at Belfast’s port.
The Villa Vie Residences' Odyssey finally left Northern Ireland on 30 September 2024, and its 125 passengers, which are mostly North Americans, headed off before coming right back again.
As reported by the BBC, its return to Belfast was due to some missing and unsigned paperwork.
So, that was a rough start.
Topics: Travel, Cruise Ship
Britt Jones