A $20 million penthouse on The World, a luxury cruise ship, has listed for sale

Travelling the world without ever having to leave home – a penthouse is for sale on The World, one of the most unusual neighbourhoods on earth aboard the biggest privately-owned luxury residential cruise ship at sea.

After 14 years, the owner of the three-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom home, who wishes to remain anonymous, is selling up – but only to reorganise his holdings into several smaller apartments on the ship for his grown-up family.

“The ship itself is a phenomenon but the community too is amazing; a group of people of all nationalities and age groups who all share a common passion for travel and adventure,” he says. 

“I’ve done the yacht thing and owned my own aircraft but I wouldn’t replace a home on this ship with anything. It’s a home on the most unique property in the world and you can’t put a price on the kind of experiences it offers. It’s the ultimate trophy property in the world right now.”

Being offered for around US$14 million ($20.5 million), with annual maintenance fees of up to US$1.4 million ($2.05 million), the newly-renovated apartment is on deck 11 of the 12-level The World, overlooking the bow. With the ship cruising around Australia over February and March this year, it presents the ideal opportunity for inspections.

The Norwegian-built yacht launched in 2002 with 165 apartments, ranging from studios to three-beds, and circumnavigates the globe every two to three years with the average occupancy at any one time between 150 and 200 residents, and 280 staff. 

Most of the owners – who have to possess at least US$10 million ($14.6 million) in assets and undergo background checks – spend a total of three to six months onboard, dividing their time between the condo cruiser and their other land-based homes elsewhere, according to business and family commitments and the voyage itinerary. 

Some, however, stay most of the year-round and, with six restaurants on board, six bars and lounges, a fitness centre, swimming pools, spa, a full-size tennis court, putting greens, golf simulator, library, cinema, games rooms, deli, medical centre, florist and chapel, there’s little reason to leave at any of 2020’s 100 ports of call.

Australian Trevor Rowe, the chairman of the ship’s community and chairman of Rothschild Australia, is in his seventh year in a large two-bedroom apartment and is on board nine months of the year on average. 

“To have a private dwelling at sea and to be able to travel without the congestion of ports and airports is simply extraordinary,” he says. “The crew make you feel at home, we have friends to stay and we undertake incredible expeditions as the ship is small enough to visit many places that larger vessels can’t.

“We also have lectures about the places we’re visiting and invite Nobel Peace Prize-winners on board to talk to us. It’s a great way to travel and to live.”

The home for sale has two interconnecting living areas, a hallway with a waterjet-cut marble Arabesque floor, floor-to-ceiling sliding doors to a veranda that wraps around the bow, a Macassar ebony bar and a faux fireplace surrounded by black and grey marble. There’s also a media room and state-of-the-art kitchen.

Sydney health and fitness professional Shannon Cleary lived on board for 18 months in 2011-12 and remembers it as an amazing experience. “You can’t fathom the decadence, the luxury, and the attention to detail of the service,” she says. 

“The ship has that wow factor, but living and travelling, it’s like you’re living in wow every day.”

aboardtheworld.com