The Villa Vie Odyssey will spend that time going round and round the world, stopping off at glamorous ports across the globe. Among those onboard in Californian resident Sharon Lane
A woman plans to spend the rest of her life on a cruise ship.
The moment that Sharon Lane stepped onto the Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship in mid-June, she felt full of joy and relieved. The 77-year-old had been plotting to exchange her life on land for life at sea for a long time, and has now signed up to spend at least the next 15 years on the ship.
The Villa Vie Odyssey will spend that time going round and round the world, stopping off at glamorous ports across the globe. The ship is not like a typical cruise liner in that most passengers are long-term residents. Very few hop on for a quick jaunt around the Mediterranean, instead signing up for good, or at least the estimated 15-year lifetime of the vessel.
“I buy the cabin, I live in the cabin, and that’s it. And then there’s no end,” Sharon told CNN. She used her life savings to buy the cabin last year and, after a delay of several months, set sail on her new life at the end of September 2024 when the Odyssey cruised through her hometown of San Diego.
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For Sharon, she was tempted by the chance to see the world, but also to meet intriguing people. Villa Vie Residences’ CEO Mikael Petterson explained: “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’re interested in joining them, then the good news is that there are still cabins available. The bad news is that they don’t come cheap.
The lowest cost accommodation is an ‘inside’ cabin that is going for $129,000 (£93,000) for 15 years, with an extra $2,000 (£1,495) per person monthly fee for double occupancy, and $3,000 (£2,180) for single occupancy. If those prices stay the same, a single occupancy cruiser would fork out £392,400 in cabin fees alone across 15 years.
The figure is low in comparison to the World, however, which is the only other cruise ship currently at sea. Prices for that begin at $2.5 million.
Included in the deal are food and soft drinks, alcohol at dinner, Wi-Fi, medical visits, 24/7 room service, weekly housekeeping, and bi-weekly laundry service.
“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.
Villa Vie owners can rent their cabin out to others, which means short-term passengers can still come and go from the Odyssey.
The Odyssey usually stops in each port for a couple of days, where optional shore excursions are organized for an additional fee. The eight-deck Odyssey can accommodate 924 people, but it has been reconfigured and streamlined to a roomier 450.
The voyage did not get off to a smooth start, as the ship became stranded in Belfast for four and a half months last year. The Odyssey arrived in the Northern Ireland capital back in May 2024 to be outfitted before it was scheduled to sail off on the 30th of that month.
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Unfortunately, due to issues with the rudders and gearbox, the vessel ended up staying put for four and a half long months. On September 30, by which point spring and summer had given way to early autumn, the Odyssey and its 125 passengers set sail. However, it didn’t get very far, docking just a few miles outside of Belfast while a few final pieces of paperwork were completed.
Finally, on October 3, the ship set sail, to the great relief and joy of passengers who will likely never forget the bumpy beginning of their once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Unfortunately, this was far from the end of their troubles…