Woman pays $3 million to own house on luxury cruise ship

After years travelling around North America in a motorhome, adventurous retiree Debra Kilgore will swap her nomad life on land for a life at sea. 

The 63-year-old has bought a unit on a luxury residential ocean liner for $US1.9 million ($3 million). 

It’s a steep price tag to pay for a one-bedroom home, but for that amount the Arizona resident will soon spend every day exploring far-flung corners of the world. 

“Travelling alone allows you to be flexible,” she told Realtor.com. 

“You don’t have to stick to a plan. You can explore a destination at a different level by going off the beaten path and experiencing places that locals may recommend.”

Kilgore bought a unit on MV Narrative, a residential cruise ship owned by Storylines, in 2022 for herself and her nine-year-old dog, Choo Choo Bella. 

Her home is one of 530 units available on the ship, which range in price from $US875,000 to $US8 million ($1.3 million to $12.5 million). 

The cruise ship describes itself as a “luxury residential community at sea” with a vast array of amenities on offer. 

On board is a library, a microbrewery, a garden, three swimming pools, 20 restaurants, cinema, running track, bowling alley, vet clinic, barber, medical lab, and ‘global school’ for children. 

Everything from Botox injections to pickleball is available on the ship. 

But all these amenities come at a cost – in addition to forking out the initial purchase price for a unit, residents must pay an annual fee of up to $US245,000 ($385,000). 

For its maiden voyage, MV Narrative will undergo a “never-ending circumnavigation of the globe” that will cover six continents – polar regions excepted. 

Once the first voyage is complete, residents will collectively vote on future itineraries. 

While Kilgore is excited to travel the world on the cruise ship, she still owns two houses on dry land that she can use if needed – one in Arizona, and one in Hawaii. 

“I’m really looking forward to being on the ship by myself,” she said. 

“You can go anywhere you want and not worry about what someone else wants to do.”