May 14, 2024
12/1/23 Will the third time be the charm?
But alas, I heard about one other company who was trying their hands at an affordable Residential Cruise Ship. I apprehensively decided to try one final time, to make this dream travel plan a reality. This time I am pinning my hopes on a new American company out of Florida, cruise capital of the world. It's a husband and wife CEO /COO couple who have both worked in the industry for years and it turns out that they were involved with both Storylines
and Life at Sea, as partial joint ventures, but severed both those relationships when they saw problems, with both firms, early on. There company is Villa Vie Residences (VVR), and their concept too, is to purchase an existing mid size cruise ship and retrofit it for residential living before setting sail May 15, 2024 from Southampton, England.
VVR's
sales model is a little different than the other two failed enterprises. You can buy your unit on the Ship upfront for 15 years ( the anticipated remaining life of the ship) or you can just buy the segments of travel you are interested in. There are 17 segments, that make up the full 3.5 year circumnavigation of the World. The segments are geographical based - so you can focus on only those that appeal to you or the time period, as they vary in length. As an owner you can rent out your unit when you are not using, either thru VVR
or on your own, like an Airbnb, or even exchange it through a House Share program. If you do segments, you pay as you go.
Needless to say, I proceeded cautiously to evaluate the options and signed a non disclosure agreement in December, to be able to have my financial advisor review along with me all the company specifics. After careful consideration, I have chosen to purchase a unit, a balcony cabin, in the middle of the ship, on the starboard side of deck 6. Unit 6065 and am again preparing to pack it all up and trust that this third time will truly be the winner!
Making coconut cream is such a big part of the Samoan culture I feel compelled to share the 4 step process we were so nicely shown. Every Samoan young and old takes part in this tradition, it is an intrigue part of their everyday lives.
The tour today was focused on the National Park but we also got a lot of insight into American Samoa's history and current day life. Our guide was Nini and she is a college student studying accounting and finance and works as a part-time guide.
Today we took the National Park of American Samoa Tour. It's a unique park - the only one south of the equator and where the U.S. Government doesn't own the land. Efforts to establish the Park go back to mid 1980 over concern about the decline of fruit bats and wanting to protect the tropical rainforests. On October 31, 1988 Congress established the NP of American Samoa. In 1993, a complex arrangement for a 50 year land lease years with seven villages and the Samoa government was signed. We got lucky with our tour - we were expecting an open air bus, but because we were a small group, we got a plush air conditioned van!