A second home by the sea?….Why not on the sea?!

For those who have ever struggled with the idea of spending all their hard earned savings buying a second home or using it all to travel the world, struggle no more, the answer is right here!

A very American term I know but ‘Condo Cruises’ provide the perfect solution. These are basically floating communities where you get to travel the world without leaving the comfort of your own home, you simply buy an apartment, move in and off you go.

I suppose the most famous (and currently only one) is The World, a luxury ocean liner which calls itself a ‘residential yacht’. People have been buying property on board since 2002 and due to the growing popularity of a permanent home at sea, more are in the pipeline.

The World has 165 residences ranging from studio apartments to three bedrooms, as well as a six bedroom penthouse suite. Apartments start at $1 million and reach up to $13 million and then there’s the hefty annual ownership charge (for maintenance, operations, crew compensation, and food and drinks), which, depending on the size of the apartment, can be another 10% or more of the purchase price.

However, residents of this “community-at-sea” collectively own the ship, and can thus choose their own itinerary along with the captain. This year, The World will stop at 104 ports in 30 countries, covering around 41,000 nautical miles.

One of the more mainstream cruise companies, Crystal Cruises just last week announced three new ships that will have up to 48 private residences for sale ranging in size from 600 square feet to a massive to 4,000 square feet, prices are not available as yet but rumoured to be in the multi millions. So while more mainstream, still not accessible to all, but you can see a trend developing here.

The World will soon be joined by The Utopia, a 200-unit condo cruise ship that will be almost twice the size of The World. Costing over $1 billion to build The Utopia will launch next year.

Another one on the way The Marquette, which will have 185 residences is currently 42% presold and expects to launch in 18 months. Its apartments range in cost from $327k to $1.2 million.

While apartments starting at $1 million on The World may sound a lot, most residents use these condos as second homes, and stay on the ship for a few months at a time, renting them out for the rest of the year at a tidy sum no doubt. For a second home it sounds like a brilliant idea to me!

Apartments on The Marquette starting at $327K, that’s just over £200K! Now I’m not sure about property prices in your area but £200K to reside and travel the world at the same time seems like an absolute steal to me! Where do I sign?

The only alternative to this kind of lifestyle is buying a yacht, which makes buying a condo on a cruise ship look like an absolute bargain, what do you think?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Bye for now.