Ownership pricing and fees

[etoile]

Does anyone know what the pricing is for the apartments? I am looking into it for my in-laws. I seem to remember $1.2 million being quoted somewhere, but I think there are also annual fees, correct? Does anyone know about this?

[elfintech]

From an email I received earlier this year:

"They range in size from 337 - 3086 square feet and are priced from $825,000 - $7.6 million. ...

"Annual maintenance charges are about $167.00 per square foot. The commercial maintenance, which is paid quarterly covers the entire cost of running a 43,000 ton ship ie: fuel, port charges, wages of the crew, stevedoring, daily housekeeping, insurance policies on the ship and includes an accrual for dry dock where the ship is refurbished. On top of the commercial maintenance is an annual Food & Beverage charge which is $33,180. This can be spent in the restaurants, room service, take out from the restaurants, in the deli, for private parties etc. So if we look at the current apartments for sale at say an 'A' apartment (1106 square feet), the total annual charge is $220,596.

"'The World' was launched in 2002 and is the only privately owned self-contained luxury resort at sea. The ship has 165 residences, each combining the comfort of a private home, along with mobility, services and facilities of a luxury ship. 'The World' travels continuously around the globe, calling for extended stays in the world's most exotic locales. I want to stress that this is neither a time share nor a traditional cruise ship. Homes can be used 12 months a year, left vacant while you are away or rented out. Please note that the Board of Directors requires that our buyers have a minimum net worth of US$5 million. We do not allow pets."

Originally Posted by etoile

Does anyone know what the pricing is for the apartments? I am looking into it for my in-laws. I seem to remember $1.2 million being quoted somewhere, but I think there are also annual fees, correct? Does anyone know about this?

[etoile]

Hi there Thom! Nice to see you.

Thanks for that information! I'm not sure that my in-laws will make that $5M cut, unfortunately. Perhaps we can send them on multiple world cruises with HAL and Cunard instead, they'd like that...and it would probably be cheaper!

[stompy]

Originally Posted by etoile

...not sure that my [they] will make that $5M cut, unfortunately.

darn-i'm just $4,999,998.50 short

[bahrain_not_dubai!]

Im trying to convince my dad to buy an apartment on the World. Net worth shouldnt be a problem at $42,000,000 i guess he is luckier than most. But he is currently stuffed out of cash to burn with some recent investments. He was homeless for over 5 yeears- thats why he still isnt used to spending money and lives like he is on the streets. This year I finally manged to convince him to buy an acceptable car (Mercedes Benz CL 63 AMG), and although I think im gonna fail with getting an aparment on the world i wanna try to convince him to get on one of the luxury lines. I know he will be hooked once he gives it a try...

[etoile]

Homeless for 5 years and now he has $42M? What, pray tell, was his get-rich-quick scheme, and how can I get in on it??

[m4hami]

Originally Posted by etoile

Does anyone know what the pricing is for the apartments? I am looking into it for my in-laws. I seem to remember $1.2 million being quoted somewhere, but I think there are also annual fees, correct? Does anyone know about this?

I have heard that some cruise lines sell cabins to retired seniors on a full time basis ( kind of like a independant living retirement facility) to include medical care. You might check it out?

[etoile]

Originally Posted by m4hami

I have heard that some cruise lines sell cabins to retired seniors on a full time basis ( kind of like a independant living retirement facility) to include medical care. You might check it out?

I've heard about that too, I think there was a woman who lived full time on Cunard, and another on HAL. It's not quite the same arrangement as The World though, you have a cruise cabin, rather than an apartment.

[bahrain_not_dubai!]

Originally Posted by etoile

Homeless for 5 years and now he has $42M? What, pray tell, was his get-rich-quick scheme, and how can I get in on it??

Buying real estate in the middle east when land was 10 cent a sqaure foot and the place was basicly a wasteland is the way forward. 30 years later that 10 cent is 1000$ per sqaure foot! And i wont say its 'get rich fast' as 30 years is not fast. Howevevr I think the way now is to buy land in cheap places where no one is expecting any boom and sit back and watch the price go up. Khazakstan Azeribijan and most of the ex SSR's will be places to watch.

[nancygp]

Bahrain, for a 14 year old you sure are very wise!

[jp2001]

If I had 42 million $, I would definitely have an appartment on The World.

I even made plans and if I had "only" 8 million $, I would have a studio on this unique ship. It cost me only 2$ for a lottery ticket, once in a while, to dream and... you never know.

I also applied for the Receptionnist Position but they don't seem interested even if I have worked as a bilingual secretary for over 10 years, have a military background meaning that I'm used to work hard, to live in tight quarters and to work in a hierarchical environment.

Unfortunately, I never got a reply other than the automatic reply from the website. But I continue to try and I'm taking Spanish class (I'm already fluent in French and English), hoping one day my curriculum vitae will be good enough for Residensea to call me. I would work very hard to get the possibility to visit a new place, even for just a few hours every week.

[etoile]

I've done secretarial work before but unfortunately I don't have the organizational skills to do it well. I am fluent in English and American Sign Language, and can do rather well in French, but I agree with you that Spanish would be very desirable on board The World. I wish you luck jp2001!

[jp2001]

Thank you Etoile for your good wishes.

[seabreezer]

I don't see how a net worth of only $5 million would be enough to live on this ship with over $200,000 expenses per year. You still need to eat and maintain that net worth and these days that would be a challenge.

[ruffs]

If everyone pitched in and gave me the $5 million I would document how it could be done and everyone would know. I just want to help.

[Fisherlady48]

Originally Posted by ruffs

If everyone pitched in and gave me the $5 million I would document how it could be done and everyone would know. I just want to help.

chuckle chuckle

[CannonFodder]

For anyone interested in seeing what units on The World are going for (or at least the asking prices):

http://www.christiesgreatestates.com...lopment_id]=27

[seabreezer]

Wow, 26 units for sale. At least with that realtor. Isn't that about 20 - 25% of the total units? I doubt the owners are spending much time in them if they need to sell them. That could affect staffing and amenities onboard, I would think.

[CannonFodder]

Originally Posted by seabreezer

Wow, 26 units for sale. At least with that realtor. Isn't that about 20 - 25% of the total units? I doubt the owners are spending much time in them if they need to sell them. That could affect staffing and amenities onboard, I would think.

I wouldn't expect it to affect staffing and amenities too much. Don't forget, the maintenance fees must be paid whether anyone is using the unit or not (unlike a cruise ship). Also, those maintenance fees also include over $30,000 in Food & Beverage credit (noted in elfintech's post above) which I'm sure is "use it or lose it," so that's guaranteed revenue. In fact, lower occupancy would probably result in lower port charges, reducing costs somewhat. Besides, if need be, they can always raise the maintenance fees. If you can afford to buy a unit in the first place, what's another $10-20k per year?

From what I've heard, The World normally sails at roughly 25% of capacity (probably higher in Europe this summer, lower when transiting between the UAE (Dubai) and Egypt/Suez Canal due to piracy concerns).

I wouldn't be surprised if the transactions that occur are completed at a significant discount to the asking price. Of course, in the long run, those maintenance fees are going to be more than the purchase price in a lot of cases, and unfortunately, those aren't negotiable!

[orville99]

Originally Posted by etoile

Hi there Thom! Nice to see you.

Thanks for that information! I'm not sure that my in-laws will make that $5M cut, unfortunately. Perhaps we can send them on multiple world cruises with HAL and Cunard instead, they'd like that...and it would probably be cheaper!

A B2Bx52 on HAL in a balcony would go around $125k/pp, so I guess it could be done...