Seasteading Option 3: Dedicated Residential Cruise Ships
As we’ve covered previously, there are multiple “traditional boating” options to try seasteading. The most straightforward is just living on a sailboat, and another easy option is booking lots of back-to-back cruises on regular cruises.
There are a few mote options, slightly more novel, which might be even better solutions. One is the dedicated “Residential Cruise Ship” — MS The World by Residensea as the first example at sea.
These are basically something between a private yacht and a cruise ship. It’s a relatively small cruise ship (by modern standards), with a much smaller than usual number of cabins (165, vs. 5000+ on some of the largest cruise ships!), with each residence configured for longer-term living. Basically, a small co-op residential building vs. a megahotel.
The individual suites are decorated like apartments, more so than sea cabins. There are restaurants on the ship, and some other services, but it’s designed to cater to the permanent residents (who might not live onboard full time, but aren’t changing every week), so these are things like a grocery store.
Residensea The World is full, so it’s probably reasonably successful. Purchase prices were $800k-$7mm back in 2015, and there’s an annual maintenance fee of 10-15% of purchase price.
There are a few other projects in this space. Residensea is planning to launch more ships of roughly similar design, and a few other companies are working on things as well. One of the more publicized is Storylines. They seem to be building a much larger ship, with a larger number of individually smaller residences, allowing lower cost. There will be about 500 units on the ship, and purchase price markedly lower (with least options as well) — some reports of 12 year leases for approximately $300k, and a $2100/mo HOA/food/operations fee.
Overall, these are interesting options, especially for non-US citizens who want to travel a lot (limited to non-existent tax benefits to US citizens). They’re expensive, and until built and reliably operating at sea, a bit risky, and it’s hard to tell what the on-board community will be like. You’re giving up a good amount of flexibility vs. just booking cruises a la carte, but getting a much more acceptable residential experience. However, you don’t have the freedom or privacy of your own ship. I’d personally be a lot more inclined to the liveaboard sailboat option myself, but I think all three of these make sense for some people.