Storylines’ Narrative residence cruise ship project will be built at the Brodosplit shipyard in Croatia.

The company’s goal is to sell all of its 548 onboard residences by the end of 2022.

“We’re happy with (the response we’re receiving), absolutely happy with that. A lot of partners that have come onboard in the past weeks and months, both from an operational perspective and from a user experience perspective,” said Alister Punton, co-founder and CEO of Storylines.

The company’s residence at sea project – set to launch in 2024 – has primarily targeted U.S. residents.

“Europe is represented well (onboard), the UK, a lot of small countries that are just scattered throughout the world. Australia, New Zealand, Canada – those sorts of countries, with the U.S. being the main one,” noted Punton.

According to Punton, when the pandemic started and people had to work from home, many realized that they could work from anywhere.

In October, Storylines announced a reconfiguration of several smaller residences into 84 larger homes ranging from 909-1417 sq. feet, with purchasing options starting from $2,455,000 (other residences were available at prices starting from $297,000, but the cheapest have sold out now).

“(People who now work from home) start looking in that context, and they find Storylines. We built some new designs to cater to that kind of market: the professional couples, executives, familes and so on. These areas are now bigger, have good entertainment spaces. Some of them have bigger balconies and water view home offices, so you can sit there right up on your balcony, watch and do your work. It’s a very different type compared to the original types of residences we had out there,” Punton said.

Additionally, with the new floor plan designs, Storylines is also introducing a schooling program onboard the ship.

“We are introducing a schooling program because we do have a lot of families, younger adults with families – myself included, I will have two kids onboard the ship – they need to be catered for,” said Punton. “It’s a full community. It’s everybody and anybody in between.”

Two concepts resound especially with the Storylines project: wellness and sustainability. Not only will the Narrative sail on LNG, but it will also grow food produce onboard and convert waste to energy wherever possible.

“For example, gym equipment generates power,” Punton said. “Of course, that power is not going to drive the engines, but it may run some lights in the lobby or something similar. That may have a small effect on the overall energy usage, but it’s about the mindset as well, where people are well and know that they’re doing something good in this world.”