California resident relocates permanently to a cruise liner, residing for fifteen years.
Revised Base Article:
Stepping onto the grand deck of the Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship, Sharon Lane felt a wave of exhilaration sweep over her. This moment, long-awaited and hard-earned, marked the start of a new chapter in her life.
"I'm finally living the dream I've had for years," she tells CNN Travel with a gleam in her eyes.
For Lane, a lively 77-year-old Californian, this isn't a fleeting cruise vacation. She plans on making the Odyssey her permanent home, sailing the seas for the next 15 years and exploring destinations ranging from Japan to New Zealand.
The Odyssey is a "residential" cruise ship, offering passengers the opportunity to purchase cabins rather than book a temporary stay. Cabins on the Odyssey are sold on a long-term basis, mirroring the estimated 15-year lifespan of the ship, which underwent a recent renovation from its three-decade-old roots.
"I bought the cabin, I live in the cabin, and that's it," sighs Lane. "And there's no end—at least that's the hope."
Residential cruises are a relatively new concept in the industry, and the Odyssey set sail smoothly up the US West Coast in September 2024 following several months of delay. Earlier attempts at establishing long-term residential cruises fell flat, leaving some passengers, including Lane, disappointed.
Life Afloat
Operated by cruise startup Villa Vie Residences, the Odyssey officially set sail in September 2024. Cabins are still available for purchase, with prices starting at $129,000 for an inside cabin for 15 years (in addition to monthly fees). These figures may not seem cheap, but they remain relatively affordable compared to The World, the only other residential cruise ship experience currently at sea, which caters to a more luxury market with a starting price of $2.5 million. Other residential ship projects are also in the works, such as NJORD, a self-described "exclusive community at sea."
Villa Vie owners can choose to rent their cabin to others, enabling short-term passengers to come and go from the Odyssey. However, most residents, according to the cruise company, have purchased their cabin with the intention of living on board.
"Most of our cabins are sold to full-time or mostly full-time residents," says Villa Vie Residences' CEO Mikael Petterson. "I only know of a couple of residents who have investment cabins that they actively rent out. Most rentals come from owners who decide to stay off the ship for a period of time."
Lane financed her interior cabin using her life savings, but she views this as a worthwhile investment. Food and soft drinks are included in residents' monthly fees, along with alcohol at dinner, Wi-Fi, and medical visits (but not procedures or medicines). There's also 24/7 room service, weekly housekeeping, and bi-weekly laundry service at no extra cost.
"I don't have to do laundry anymore. I don't have to do grocery shopping," says Lane. "Living on the ship is much less expensive than living in Southern California."
Entertainment on board ranges from a singing duo and pianist to professional dancers. Local performers are booked at ports of call, and residents are encouraged to host their own events at a regular "speakers' corner."
"Residents present every week," Petterson says. "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 that share their knowledge and experiences."
The Odyssey usually stops in each port for a couple of days, offering optional shore excursions for an additional fee. Over the course of its anticipated 15-year lifespan, the ship will continually circle the globe, calling at different locations with each circumnavigation.
Lane looks forward to the destinations, but considers the ship itself to be her favorite part of cruising. "My windowless cabin is simply for sleeping," she adds. "I like the ocean motion."
The eight-deck Odyssey can accommodate 924 people, but some cabins have been combined, reducing the total number to about 450 cabins. "Given the solo rate and that residents often travel away from the ship, we don't expect more than 500 residents on board at any given time," explains Petterson. "I find that delightful," says Lane. "It’s very roomy for the number of people."
Single travelers now make up "close to 55%" of those on board, according to Petterson, with 80% of Villa Vie Odyssey's owners hailing from the US and Canada.
As a recent addition to the on-board community, Lane is enjoying getting to know her fellow residents. "There's very, very few, if any, people on the ship who are not lifelong travelers," she says. "When you're with a group of people who think like you, life gets easier."
Early Hiccups
The Odyssey was originally slated to embark in mid-2024, but encountered several hurdles during the planning phase. Four months were spent stalled in Belfast, Northern Ireland, awaiting safety certification. When the vessel finally set sail, Villa Vie encountered several cancelled ports and itinerary changes, which sparked some disappointment among passengers.
Missed stop-offs in the Galapagos Islands, the Falklands in the South Atlantic, and Antarctica were predictably disappointing for many. Petterson attributes these cancellations to adverse weather conditions, logistical issues, and red tape in certain destination regions.
"Galapagos was not possible for us to go because we needed a 100% Ecuadorian crew," he explains. "Falklands was due to 50-knot winds."
Petterson says that in Antarctica, Villa Vie "did not get the certificates in time, and the weather did not allow for an exemption. We had some other missed tender ports where waves were simply not safe for tender operations."
Petterson believes these early challenges will be addressed as Villa Vie Residences gains more experience. He points to the big, grey elephant in the room: "We are doing something new, and there will be occasional challenges, but I think overall we are getting better."
The company is currently working on a custom walkway to link the ship and tender boats to reduce movement from waves and swell, which should help mitigate these missed ports in the future.
"We have a very capable itinerary planner who plans about a year ahead," Petterson remarks. "It is an extremely difficult task, as there’s really nobody who has done this sort of itinerary before, so it is challenging to understand all regulations in every region of the world. However, we are learning a tremendous amount."
To make up for the missed ports, a new segment has been added to the cruise, which offers "everything that was missed in 2024, including Antarctica, Falklands, Greenland, and northern Europe," according to Petterson. This will involve an extended stay in the Argentine port of Ushuaia, on the southern tip of South America.
"This time we are spending an entire month in Ushuaia, giving us plenty of opportunity to work with the weather to make sure we hit the Falklands and Antarctica," he adds. "We learned that the weather down there is highly unpredictable, so giving us this flexibility will ensure an amazing customer experience."
Lane is relieved to have missed most of the Odyssey's early drama and is confident that Villa Vie had enough time to "work out the kinks" by the time she joined in mid-June. "I don't want complications in my life—you know, I'm at a point in my life where I want simplicity," she says.
Setting Sail
Lane's journey to the Odyssey wasn't a smooth one. She was among hundreds of passengers who invested thousands of dollars in a three-year-long cruise voyage planned by a startup called Life at Sea. After repeated postponements, the project eventually collapsed, with the management company, Miray Cruises, never actually securing a ship to host the voyage. Lane received a refund, but had given up her rental lease, sold many of her belongings and moved into a retirement village in Orange County, California, where she felt stagnant.
"The whole two years I was there, I was looking for someplace else to go... I wasn't settled. I didn't feel settled. Because it wasn't the life I wanted," says Lane.
Lane wasn't aware of the progress with Villa Vie Residences until the Odyssey made headlines when it finally set sail in fall 2024. Her reaction, she says, was just two words: "Holy cow."
"I called them up and I gave them money the same day," recalls Lane.
Petterson, who worked for Life at Sea until a management schism, says about half of the passengers let down by Life at Sea have followed him to his new company.
"We have about half of them on the Odyssey," he says.
Those who purchase long-term cabins on Odyssey do have the option to sell up should circumstances change. Lane currently hopes to see out the full 15 years at sea, finally living her dream.
"There's no end," she says. "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."
"Being on a ship deck, that's my happy place," Lane adds. "Whenever the weather is good, I will be on that deck. And when the weather isn't quite good, I'll bundle up and be on that deck, because that is my happy place. You can stand there, you can sit there, you can chat with people, you can read a book. You have the ocean breeze, you have sea air."
- Sharon Lane, having purchased a cabin on the Odyssey, shares her excitement with CNN Travel about living aboard the ship for the next 15 years, exploring various destinations such as Japan and New Zealand, which aligns with her travel lifestyle.
- In contrast to other residential cruise ship experiences, the Odyssey offers a more affordable option for those seeking long-term travel, with prices starting at $129,000 for an inside cabin for 15 years. This specially designed ship, operated by Villa Vie Residences, caters primarily to lifelong travelers who prefer a nomadic lifestyle at sea.
