The Storylines residence cruise ship start up is targeting a 2026 start up with roughly 50 percent of its staterooms sold, said Alister D. Punton, CEO and co-founder.
“We have made some adjustments in our deck plans and the ship will now feature 530 residences,” he told Cruise Industry News. “Sales have been strong, with residences currently priced from approximately $1 million to $8 million. Regarding lease terms, we currently have mostly life of vessel terms remaining (the company previously offered shorter terms such as 12 and 24 years). We also have our fractional offerings, allowing buyers to participate in a shared purchase.
The fractional shares are for 25 percent, allowing up to four residents to share a luxury residence and we’ll be introducing 50 percent co-ownership as well. The starting price for a 25 percent share is $598,000 for the lifetime of the vessel and $26,700 for quarterly all-inclusive living fees.”
Punton and team plan to run the company from the ship once operations get going, and currently has a land-based office in Miami, with the vast majority of the 50-person team working remotely.
The company is still evaluating whether it will run its own technical and hotel operations.
“We are still evaluating possible partners that we plan to engage for the ship’s operations” Punton added. “This will be published at a later stage. We can state at this time that we will use established, reputable crew agencies for providing the most experienced management and crew onboard.”
The ship, which is set to be built at Brodosplit in Croatia, will run on LNG and feature the latest green technology, including waste heat recovery, cooling recovery from the LNG and high efficiency solar panels for two farms producing food for the farm-to-table restaurant onboard.
“We have had quite the variety of buyers – from retirees, including people who gave up living on land and plan to live permanently at sea, to working professionals and entrepreneurs, to families with young children and teenage children,” Punton continued. “Since our ship is designed with the best technology to enable remote work, as well as the first-ever globally accredited floating school, the lifestyle onboard the Narrative makes it easy for families and younger professional buyers to travel the world while still participating in school or their jobs. Our buyers currently range from their 20s to their 80s, and many have found kinship among the Storylines community already.”
