The World: a floating city of millionaires
Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – Previous
expeditions have incldued Greenland and Antarctica -- where a member of
The World's staff is pictured serving champagne on ice.
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Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – In
2017, The World undertook a 22-day expedition of the Ross Sea, which
included 12 days in Antarctica. During the voyage, the ship broke the
world record for the most southerly navigation at the Bay of Whales.
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Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – Facilities on board the ship include two swimming pools.
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Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – Here, the main swimming pool is seen during daytime.
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Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – The World also has the only full-sized at-sea tennis court on the planet.
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Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – There
are six restaurants on board and a variety of bars. Chefs from each
restaurant source local produce at various ports and tailor their menu
to reflect the local cuisine.
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Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – Launched in 2002, The World is a billed as the largest residential luxury yacht on the planet.
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Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – The
concept of the ship is to "see the world without ever leaving home".
All of the properties on board are owned by residents, who must have a
net worth of $10 million.
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2 of 12
Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – This
year, The World has already sailed to Australia and New Zealand, as
well islands across the Southern Hemisphere. It is pictured here in
Sydney Harbor.
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Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – Residents vote to determine the route the ship will take each year. Here, the ship is seen in Cooper Bay, South Georgia.
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Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – During 2017, The World will also sail across Asia and the Americas via Hawaii. Here it's pictured off the coast of Indonesia.
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5 of 12
Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – As
well as the standard itinerary, The World also offers an expedition
program, which sees it travel to three remote locations each year
accompanied by experts in the region.
Hide Caption
6 of 12
Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – Previous
expeditions have incldued Greenland and Antarctica -- where a member of
The World's staff is pictured serving champagne on ice.
Hide Caption
7 of 12
Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – In
2017, The World undertook a 22-day expedition of the Ross Sea, which
included 12 days in Antarctica. During the voyage, the ship broke the
world record for the most southerly navigation at the Bay of Whales.
Hide Caption
8 of 12
Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – Facilities on board the ship include two swimming pools.
Hide Caption
9 of 12
Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – Here, the main swimming pool is seen during daytime.
Hide Caption
10 of 12
Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – The World also has the only full-sized at-sea tennis court on the planet.
Hide Caption
11 of 12
Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – There
are six restaurants on board and a variety of bars. Chefs from each
restaurant source local produce at various ports and tailor their menu
to reflect the local cuisine.
Hide Caption
12 of 12
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Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – Launched in 2002, The World is a billed as the largest residential luxury yacht on the planet.
Hide Caption
1 of 12
Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – The
concept of the ship is to "see the world without ever leaving home".
All of the properties on board are owned by residents, who must have a
net worth of $10 million.
Hide Caption
2 of 12
Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – This
year, The World has already sailed to Australia and New Zealand, as
well islands across the Southern Hemisphere. It is pictured here in
Sydney Harbor.
Hide Caption
3 of 12
Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – Residents vote to determine the route the ship will take each year. Here, the ship is seen in Cooper Bay, South Georgia.
Hide Caption
4 of 12
Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – During 2017, The World will also sail across Asia and the Americas via Hawaii. Here it's pictured off the coast of Indonesia.
Hide Caption
5 of 12
Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – As
well as the standard itinerary, The World also offers an expedition
program, which sees it travel to three remote locations each year
accompanied by experts in the region.
Hide Caption
6 of 12
Photos: The World: ship is 'most exclusive floating city'
The World – Previous
expeditions have incldued Greenland and Antarctica -- where a member of
The World's staff is pictured serving champagne on ice.
Hide Caption
7 of 12
Story highlights
- The World, a 644 feet-long white vessel, is the largest and probably most exclusive residential yacht on earth
- To buy a property on board, residents must have a net worth of $10 million
- The boat features the only at-sea full-sized tennis court in the world, as well as six restaurants, a spa and two swimming pools
Hong Kong (CNN)Stepping onto The World feels like boarding a 21st-century Titanic, such is its scale and grandeur.
Sitting
majestically in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor, this gleaming 644
feet-long white vessel is the largest, and probably most exclusive,
"residential yacht" on earth.
Home
to the world's only full-sized at-sea tennis court, a 7,000-square foot
spa and fitness center, and 12,000-bottle wine collection, this ship
has visited 1,213 ports and sailed 641,000 nautical miles.
This
year alone it has undertaken expeditions to two of the most remote
regions on earth -- the Ross Sea, in Antarctica, and Melanesia, near New
Guinea.
But don't get too excited.
None of the suites on this 12-deck beauty are available to rent.
Dubbed
a "condo cruise liner," every one of the 165 luxury apartments on board
-- worth between $3 million for a studio and $15 million for a
three-bedroom pad -- are owned by residents who must have a net worth
of $10 million. At least.
To get on board, you'll need an invite.
Since launching in 2002, The World has sailed 641,000 nautical miles.
A rough sailing
When The World was launched 15 years ago, it nearly floundered.
"Initially,
the ship was partially owned by a hotel company," Lillian Veri, a
Canadian who has owned a residence on The World for nearly 10 years,
tells CNN.
The
sixth floor of the ship, she explains, had initially been reserved for
hotel rooms, the rental income from which was intended to subsidize the
residential side of the business.
"Well, it just didn't work out that way," Veri says.
All interior designs for apartments on board the ship must be approved by a committee before being executed.
In 2003, the business model changed. There would be no tourists on board. Just residents of a very high net worth.
It became -- and remains -- the only entirely residential cruise liner in the world.
All
residents are shareholders who vote on everything from the ship's route
each year, to the type of fuel used and the Christmas decorations.
"The
people who buy here are successful in one way or another. Lawyers,
doctors, architects, entrepreneurs," says Veri. "They have opinions on
how things should be run."
The change in business plan worked.
By 2006, all of the residences had sold out.
No place for Oprah
During CNN's tour of the boat's facilities, various residents float by.
Looking
like passengers of a regular cruise ship, they all cheerfully greet by
name our guide Lisa Spiller, who joined as residential director of The
World six months ago.
Everyone who
passes, I realize, is at least a multi-millionaire. Just how rich, I ask
Spiller -- who herself is dripping in what appear to be diamonds -- are
residents of The World?
She
smiles. "Let's just say the type of people who buy here have private
jets. They collect art. This is not their only residence."
The wrong kind of success, however, could see a wealthy candidate vetoed by the vetting committee.
"I
don't think that Oprah Winfrey would be allowed to buy here," explains
Veri, as we chat in her three-bedroom apartment. It boasts a wonderful
wrap-around terrace that today has an unobstructed view of the Hong Kong
Island skyline.
"There's a code of confidentiality and privacy ... We don't want paparazzi here. This (boat) is a refuge, a sanctuary.
"You will never find out who else lives here."
Inside one of the residences on The World.
Today,
142 unidentified families reside on the ship, who all have undergone a
strict vetting process before being allowed to buy. Roughly half of
those on board are North American, about 45 are European and another 20
are South African. The average age is 64 years old.
General
manager Sandra Mooney says that, on average, most residents spend about
six months a year on board the ship, which flies the Bahamas flag and
adheres to that country's rules when in international waters. Occupancy
peaks at Christmas, when many guests invite their families and friends
on board.
Still, a ship that was
built for 600 people, says Mooney -- hotel rooms have a higher occupancy
per square foot than residences -- only ever has 330 maximum on board.
Travel without leaving home
That The World is impressive there can be no doubt.
On
a clear night far out at sea, residents can choose to sleep under the
stars on a collection of "Bali beds." Each apartment receives
complimentary turn-down twice a day. Bvlgari toiletries appear in the
bathrooms as if by magic.
There is wifi coverage wherever the boat is, doctors on board, and even a pilates teacher on hand.
But
wouldn't individuals with such fabulous wealth, and who seem to value
privacy so highly, prefer to buy and travel on their own yacht?
The appeal, explains Veri, lies in the adventurous itineraries The World's staff put together.
"I don't have the creativity these people have. It's a lot of work to put all that stuff together."
By
the end of 2017, for example, the ship will have visited Vanuatu, the
Solomon Islands, Hawaii, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Canada, Alaska, Mexico and
Central America, rounding off in Miami.
Three
times per year The World undertakes "expeditions" -- voyages into
unusual destinations, which are joined by leading environmentalists and
academics, who through a series of lectures, forum breakfasts and field
trips stimulate educational discussions about the given destination.
The World in the Ross Sea.
"We
did, a long time ago, (a trip to) Madagascar," says Veri. "We had a
National Geographic photographer, an anthropologist, a marine biologist.
It's like being at a university for a week. That you can't get anywhere
else."
Plus, there's the sense of
community, says Mooney, recalling numerous parties the residents have
thrown on board for one another.
"We
feel this is our family, too," says Mooney with a sparkling smile, of
the relationship between the staff and crew. "We have our family at home
and we have our family on board. It's lovely."
The World is not enough
The World, it seems, is not enough. Other cruise ship operators are now eying a slice of the luxury floating city market.
Launching in 2021, The Utopia is a five-star residential cruise liner set to rival The World.
The Utopia ship
It
will have cost an estimated $980 million to build, according to its
owners, and its 190 residences will be listed for between $4 million to
$36 million. The ship's route will be tailored to tie in with key events
on the global calendar, such as Cannes Film Festival, Monaco Grand
Prix, the Olympics, fashion weeks, the Melbourne Cup, and Rio de
Janeiro's Carnival.
"Utopia will be
a place for annual meetings of first ladies, philanthropists, Nobel
laureates, festivals of thinkers, and missions where world leaders are
bringing together conservatives and liberals to solve pressing issues
and brokering peace treaties among feuding ethnic groups and cultures,"
The Utopia's PR team tell CNN over email.
Unlike The World, however, there will also be 165 hotel rooms on board.
An artist's impression of the finished The Marquette ship.
Launching
in 2019, The Marquette is a residential-only river cruise ship, with
apartments on board selling for the more modest price range of between
$310,000 and $1.9 million. The project was founded by David Nelson, who
has lived on a houseboat on the Mississippi river in the United States
for 29 years.
For Mooney, however, no ship will rival The World.
"People think of (The World) as a cruise ship," she says. "It's not."
The
World, she explains, is a unique floating city of like-minded
individuals with a passion for travel and learning, which over the
course of 15 years has become home to a bonded family. That sort of
chemistry is hard to replicate.
"You have to come on board. Within a short period of time you really feel the heart of soul of spirit of the ship."
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