Villa Vie Residences: A Floating Home for the Constant Traveler
Villa Vie Residences: A Floating Home for the Constant Traveler
A dawn mist hung over Southampton last spring when the freshly refitted Villa Vie Odyssey cast off for what its owners call a “life without borders.” In the next 1,301 days the 24,344-ton ship will thread 425 ports in 147 countries, looping the equator, skirting ice shelves in Antarctica and lingering long enough—up to five days in each harbor—for residents to settle into local cafés as if they were neighbors, not visitors.
Where It’s Been so Far
The Odyssey’s opening months read like a European grand tour at sea. After inaugural calls in Brest and Bilbao, the ship nosed up the Guadalquivir for a two-day stay in Seville, then meandered south through Tangier, Casablanca and the Canary Islands before an Atlantic hop to Barbados. By January she was tracing the Amazon, and a scenic cruise past Antarctica’s Lemaire Channel gave residents a front-row seat to newborn icebergs calving into steel-blue water.
Where She’s Heading Next
Segment 5, now boarding, steams from Colón through the Panama Canal and up the Pacific coast—Acapulco, San Diego, Seattle—before a summer swing through the Inside Passage and onward to Japan’s northern port of Hakodate. The 105-day leg spans 41 ports at prices starting around $31,290 per couple. Later segments stitch together the Philippine Sea, Australia’s Top End and, eventually, a full circuit back to Europe, promising regular cameos by all Seven Continents.
Buying—or Renting—Your Place on Board
Villa Vie sells its cabins outright: an Interior Villa begins at $99,000, while a balcony-front suite tops out near $249,000. Owners pay monthly dues but may rent out their cabins when ashore. A more traditional cruise-style lease runs $89 pp/night for an interior room, $119 for an ocean view and $199 for a balcony, all-inclusive of meals, housekeeping, laundry and Wi-Fi.
For digital nomads (and the merely nomadic in spirit), the headline “Tour La Vie” package costs $159,999 for a four-year commitment—barely $109 per day—with shorter one-year stints from $49,999. At the luxury end, an “Endless Horizons” buy-in of $349,999 waives monthly fees for life, while a seven-day “Try Before You Buy” stay in an ocean-view cabin runs $2,100 solo or $3,500 double.
Is It Really Cheaper Than Life Ashore?
A couple taking the inside-suite route spends roughly $65,000 a year, including dues—comparable to renting a one-bedroom in London’s Zone 2 after utilities, yet the view changes from the Amalfi cliffs to the glaciers of College Fjord overnight. Independent round-the-world backpacking, by contrast, averages $25,000–$35,000 per person but drops most of the shipboard perks—three restaurants, business-class Wi-Fi, a medical clinic and twice-weekly housekeeping.
Life Between Landfalls
On sea days residents swap travelogues over cold-brew in the aft lounge, join a Spanish class ahead of Cartagena, or test recipes in the communal kitchen before a chef-led tasting menu pairs Pacific crab with Canary Island Malvasia. A pickleball court doubles as sunrise-yoga deck; in the evenings, a film series screens port-themed classics—Casablanca in, naturally, Casablanca. Extended port calls have already inspired impromptu resident excursions, from ballet in St. Petersburg to coffee-cupping in Puntarenas. villavieresidences.com
Bottom Line
Villa Vie Residences is neither a cruise nor a conventional condo; it is a passport-stamped riff on the co-living boom, priced to tempt retirees and remote workers who’ve grown restless on dry land. If the notion of watching the horizon unfurl like a slow-rolling news ticker appeals—and your sea legs can keep pace—the Odyssey may be the most cost-efficient address with a global ZIP code.