If you’ve been lucky enough to experience a luxury cruise ship — with all-inclusive fine dining and opportunities to explore historical port towns — you probably never wanted to go home, right?
Well, one Miami-based cruise company, Storylines, is building a luxury ship that can be your home — you can purchase a luxury apartment onboard and sail indefinitely around the world with your family.
That’s a cool idea although residential cruise ships aren’t a new thing — The World has been sailing since 2002, and the invite-only super yacht, Somnio, will set sail in spring 2024.
But here’s what is new and exciting: it’s going to be the first residential cruise ship to offer a worldschooling education program for kids.
The cold water and the big picture
It’s a luxury ship, so most families would balk at the hefty several million dollar price tag it would take to own one of their apartments.
For that reason alone, it’s easy to miss the big picture of a worldschooling cruise ship — after all, families who can afford this lifestyle could probably afford any type of education for their kids.
But the fact that a cruise ship is even thinking about education signifies an important shift in perspective on how our society approaches school and learning. Families of all socioeconomic classes are now rethinking the idea of traditional education and opting for out-of-the-box learning opportunities instead.
The ship
This new vessel, dubbed MV Narrative, is slated to embark on its first round-the-world journey in 2025.
It features 547 residences ranging from fully furnished studios as small as 237 square feet; one to four-bedroom apartments; and even two-story penthouse suites that can be as big as 1,970 square feet.
Of course, Storylines bills the ship as more of a “lifestyle choice” than a cruise, so it’s designed with comfort in mind. Residents will have access to all the comforts of home such as 20 different restaurants, pools, a bowling alley, a movie theatre, gyms, a wellness center, and a micro-brewery. That’s in addition to more practical amenities like a post-office, hospital, and a bank.
The itinerary
A sample itinerary on the website shows the ship slowly making its way around Italy’s coast spending about one to four days in each port starting in Rome, making its way through Naples, Venice, Sciacca, and Marsala, among others before heading to Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Albania. After that, the ship would head to Greece for 24 days before leaving for Turkey.
“What a typical cruise line might do in one month or three weeks, we will take three to four months to do,” Storylines CEO and co-founder Alister Punton told CNN Travel, adding that the residents “have opportunities to have input into where the ship goes next.” That means there are some “resident choice days” where the residents will be able to vote on where the ship goes next.
Show me the money
While this lifestyle is not cheap, it will be the cheapest residential option available. The World, which is the current cheapest, starts at $3 million.
Comparatively, pricing for the MV Narrative starts at $1 million for a studio, and you can pay as much as $8 million for a two-story penthouse suite. For a two or three-bedroom apartment, which would accommodate most small families, you’d expect to pay anywhere from $3 to $5 million dollars. Ownership lasts for the “lifetime of the vessel” which the company estimates to be 60 years.
You can purchase one of these apartments outright, just like you would a house, and can rent it out when you’re not using it.
After the initial purchase, residents must then pay an annual fee — ranging from $65,000 to $200,000 to cover living expenses such as all meals, amenities, and maintenance. After that, residents can finally put away their wallets for the year as most things onboard are covered by the fee.
Worldschooling at sea
Because of its slightly lower price tag, the Storylines team is expecting more families onboard the ship compared to other residential cruise ships. And to accommodate families, they built a worldschooling program.
“The main draw for these families is learning all around the world. They understand the importance of a global understanding and real-world learning,” says Punton.
Right now, they’re expecting 50 students between the ages of four and 17.
The vessel will continuously circumnavigate the world; stopping for a few days at each port along the way. That experience alone would be a fantastic educational experience for any student.
“Our private residence ship is in port for a few days then moves on to a nearby port for a few more days, staying in each geographical region for about three months. This enables [students] to experience the real culture of the region,” he says.
“We also promote authentic cultural experiences by taking culinary classes, attending cultural events and festivals, getting involved with local school groups, participating in pickup sports, and we have active community outreach/volunteer programs as an integral part of our youth education.”
But the team has gone a step further and put together a more formal, project-based curriculum for students who live onboard. The school is even accredited, so students will have an easy time transferring their grades to traditional schools when they’re done with seafarring life.
Teachers at the school have the flexibility to design the curriculum to meet the students’ needs and to accommodate special requests like specific learning goals and accommodations for students with learning differences.
Classes will take place twice a week and students will do projects about the destinations they’re visiting; these projects span multiple subjects such as math, literature, and history.
“They’ll be learning about the Paleolithic period when they’re in Africa, the Neolithic period when they’re in the Middle East, ancient history in Egypt, the middle ages in Europe, and the early modern period while exploring Central America.”
There’s also a lot of free-time built in, so that students can pursue individual interests — such as one of the many clubs, workshops, and mentorship programs offered on the ship. Many of these opportunities are hosted by other residents.
“The children on board are part of an extensive community of very learned and experienced people; these are highly successful entrepreneurs and professionals from every field imaginable. Almost forty percent of the adults on board have expressed an interest in participating in youth education by hosting workshops, giving lectures, teaching classes, doing private tutoring, coaching sports, being mentors, and leading outings and clubs.”