Are residential cruises an opportunity for travel advisors?

Travel Weekly

2 days ago

A small but intriguing part of the cruise business may be set to grow after another residential cruise company has appeared, promising consumers they can buy a cabin and live year-round at sea.
Founders of residential lines said they are optimistic about the success of this sector. They point to cruise lines sailing longer world cruises as a trend in their favor. Improvements in high-speed WiFi and consumers' flexibility in working from home are trends supporting this niche product.
But some travel advisors said they are hesitant to sell space on residential cruise lines, noting a lack of trade inclusion in the lines' sales strategies and high-profile but troubled product launches.
Several residential cruise lines have carved out a space in the industry. Perhaps the best known is The World, a luxury condominium ship that has been in operation for more than 20 years.
The newest brand in the market is Crescent Seas, which was founded by former Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings chairman and real estate developer Russell Galbut. He plans for the line to begin sailing in December 2026 on the Seven Seas Navigator, which will be chartered from Regent Seven Seas Cruises and renamed the Crescent Seas Navigator. Crescent plans to expand the fleet a year later by chartering the Oceania Insignia from Oceania Cruises.
Both ships will undergo $50 million refurbishments, and three more vessels could be announced over the next five years, Galbut said.
Sales for residences on the Navigator, priced from $750,000 to $8 million opened in April. Condos on the Insignia are priced from $650,000 to $10 million, with sales opening this summer.
Another line, Villa Vie, uses a former Fred. Olsen ship and offers the opportunity to buy or rent a cabin or buy a seasonal ownership membership.
Other brands are in the works, including Storylines, which is building its own ships.
Some launches have been messy and failed. In 2023, Life at Sea Cruises canceled its voyage two weeks before embarkation, saying the purchase of a cruise ship fell through shortly before its sail date, according to media reports.
Owned cabins were even part of a model for a planned Crystal Cruises ship, but that version of the line ceased operations before the vessel could be built.
Carlos Edery, CEO and co-founder of Luxury Cruise Connections based in Miami Beach, said he has noticed a growing interest from affluent clients in living at sea year-round.
Nonetheless, he remains wary. "The recent struggles and delays seen with ventures ... have made us cautious about recommending such investments until we see consistent, successful operational execution," he said.
In the case of Crescent Seas, travel advisors are built into the sales structure. They can earn a commission when selling a residence or when booking their clients on shorter-term voyages when residents taking a break from the ship opt to make their cabins available to rent.
"There's a lot of logic why a travel agent would want to be involved with us," Galbut said, although he declined to share what the commission rate was.
Real estate agents, yacht brokers and private bankers could also sell commissionable space on these ships, he said.
Alex Sharpe, CEO of Signature Travel Network, said there is a lot to like about the Crescent Seas project, but he stopped short of saying he envisions selling it.
"There are certainly earning opportunities, but at the same time, it is not what a typical travel advisor does, so it would likely be more specialized and, for us, will require more research and deliberation," he said.
Dennis Nienkerk, a luxury advisor at Dallas-based Strong Travel Services who worked in commercial real estate for more than 25 years, said he knows people who owned condos on the World, and he would welcome the opportunity to sell units on the Navigator.
Villa Vie founder and chairman Mikael Petterson said he was looking to better incorporate advisors in his product to sell world cruise segments on the ship. The Villa Vie Odyssey is 74% booked, which leaves room to sell segments to traditional cruisers, he said.
Petterson, who was managing director of Life at Sea Cruises, isn't surprised that another residential cruise line has entered the market. If anything, he's surprised there are not more.
"World cruises are getting longer and longer," he said. "The option of living onboard with high-speed WiFi, the flexibility of people working from home -- all these factors come together and make residential cruising that much more feasible."
That doesn't mean it is easy.
Petterson launched the Odyssey from Belfast, Ireland, in September following a four-month delay due to inspection issues associated with the ship, which sat in dry dock before returning to service.
Now Petterson is looking for a second ship, and he said he hopes it will come with a smoother launch. Earlier this year, he said he was "knee-deep" in negotiations for a ship currently in operation that contains no more than 600 cabins.