Cruises - The World Residences at Sea

Hello,

I am thinking about renting an apartment onboard for a few weeks next year. Has anyone had any experience with the World? I would appreciate any insight y'all have to offer.


Thanks.

There was a long discussion thread over on the Seabourn Cruise Critic BB. YOu can use the search function in the upper right hand corner and find it.

There was a long discussion thread over on the Seabourn Cruise Critic BB. YOu can use the search function in the upper right hand corner and find it.

I did a search and came pratically empty ( the search function on FT is probably the poorer feature of the site ). If you can post the link I would appreciate.

I did a search and came pratically empty ( the search function on FT is probably the poorer feature of the site ). If you can post the link I would appreciate.

I think he was suggesting a search on the cruisecritic.com site, although their search functions about as well as FT's does. However, they do have a dedicated forum for the ship at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=136

The only input I can share is second-hand. My office mate got married a couple of years back, and his wife was the executive assistant to a dot com big-wig. Said big-wig gave them a couple of weeks in the stateroom he owned on The World for their honeymoon as a wedding gift.

They had a great time, and definitely experienced something they'd never be able to afford otherwise. They did say, though, that the one drawback was that they never really felt "accepted" by the other guests onboard. They couldn't tell whether this was a class/snobbishness issue, or simply that they were only aboard for a couple of weeks and couldn't break into the cliques that had formed by others sailing for months or years together.

They did say, though, that the one drawback was that they never really felt "accepted" by the other guests onboard. They couldn't tell whether this was a class/snobbishness issue, or simply that they were only aboard for a couple of weeks and couldn't break into the cliques that had formed by others sailing for months or years together.

I've heard that's an issue on that ship as well. It would be similar to renting a place in a gated community for a couple weeks and trying to fit into the community that lives there. It's not a typical cruise experience because there are only a couple hundred people onboard and most of them are long term residents

I think he was suggesting a search on the cruisecritic.com site, although their search functions about as well as FT's does. However, they do have a dedicated forum for the ship at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=136

Thanks a lot!

Thank you for the insight. Quite the honeymoon!! Sounds like that being accepted in that exclusive setting would be challenging. However, Im not going to meet people (other than locals), more to just travel the world with some people I already know!

I think I am going to try and board ship!

Here's the link to the discussion to which I was referring. May or may not help.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1644861&highlight=residence+sea

Looks overpriced to me.. a nice concept to live on a ship but entry level at 600K plus 20K a month for food and fees? Plus the ownership is on a temporary and degrading lease status...

With those numbers, rental is going to run from 7K-15K a week, personally I would rather be on Seaborne for that price...

Looks overpriced to me.. a nice concept to live on a ship but entry level at 600K plus 20K a month for food and fees? Plus the ownership is on a temporary and degrading lease status...

With those numbers, rental is going to run from 7K-15K a week, personally I would rather be on Seaborne for that price...


You can get pretty nice staterooms/suites and great food, and superb service on luxury lines like Regent, Seaborn, Silversea etc....

Some itineraries are fantastic. A 30+ European in August 2013 on Regent visits some great places!

Just my 2 cents...

A few years back I tried to group 3 families together in order to jointly purchase an appartment but it fell through.

Know a fair bit about The World.

The key thing is that you have to choose your dates reasonably carefully as it can stay in one place for a few days and can be boring. Also - if the arrangements are the same you should get with your rate a daily allowance to spend as you like in any of the restaurants or the food shop. Some restaurants are closed during quieter times so you may not have the choice indicated on the brochures. As the owners pick up a stiff annual bill closing restaurants to save money isn't unpopular amongst owners. It isn't entirely impossible to be the only people in the restaurant as appartments have kitchens and The World also provides cooks to prepare food in your own appartment, or for the restaurants that are open - to deliver and serve. The appartments can be more pleasant than an empty restaurant .....

You can also find it quite dead as very few of the owners seem to spend all or much of their time on board. It's a big ship with few people even when full so it may feel at times ghost like. Because of this you should also think carefully about the level of entertainment it is realistic to expect.

You may also find people less welcoming than on say Silversea (I've spent a fair amount of time on SS) because whilst some owners may know each other well and have naturally and understandably formed cliques thay can be a little less welcoming to strangers and those just on board for a short time. You should also be aware that not all owners like the idea of having appartments rented - a privacy thing I gather - so it isn't impossible to encounter - although rarely - a degree of frostiness if they ascertain you are just on board for a short time. On a standard cruise ship you find people who know each other and form cliques but largely you are all in the same "boat" if you get the pun. When I was on board The Worldan owner took most of the residents to visit his vineyard for a day leaving the ship quite empty.

So you may find it alarmingly empty, staying for a long time at a single port and may be less of a good choice than say Silversea or Seabourn.

I don't mean to paint an overly bleak view about the possible downsides ....but it's important to understand the differences between this and a standard cruise - you could go and find it exactly to your liking. We were planning a month to six weeks at a time so it's entirely different.

I hope these thoughts are helpful ...... so good luck with your decision and report back and ask anything else.

The World has quite a history and the snob thing you feel on ship is real. That couple that whispered something that you thought was about you because you were a guest or renter was really about you.

Plenty of litigation and stories to read about the World between owners, owners, owners, original owners and new owners, etc. Fights about everything from expenses, costs, ports, travel itns, etc.

Dump your money on a luxury line and be treated like king/queen unless you want to buy a unit imho

I will say the world finds some cool spots to dock. Even in the USA they created a secure area in Portland and just docked along a public pathway in the city

....... summarised perfectly. :D^

Hello,

I am thinking about renting an apartment onboard for a few weeks next year. Has anyone had any experience with the World? I would appreciate any insight y'all have to offer.


Thanks.

Hi just noticed this thread, my husband and I sailed on Residensea Sydney/Cairns 10 nights (must be around 7 or 8 years ago) we enjoyed it but then again we like cruises that are not like cruises, ie no entertainment. Food was excellent however there was a distinct 'them and us' attitude from both crew and owners who resent their homes being intruded upon,heard one French woman even tried to confiscate someone's camera when taking a picture of the communal pool! Didn't bother us as we don't want to socialize but some may not like it, also you spend quite a few days in each port which can be good or bad depending on your expectations. Having said that this was some time ago and since we sailed management has changed. It is a unique experience though.