AN ADVENTUROUS voyager has embarked on an extraordinary 15-year luxury cruise circumnavigating the globe – and admits she may never go back home.
Sharon Lane, 77, is currently onboard the Villa Vie Odyssey – a mega 600ft vessel which is set to visit almost every holiday hotspot Earth has to offer.
The Villa Vie Odyssey is a mega 600ft vessel offering permanent cabins[/caption]
The residential cruise, which sells cabins on a permanent basis rather than for short trips, boasts lavish rooms which start at $129,000 for 15 years.
The ship has a jaw-dropping itinerary which includes 425 destinations across 147 countries – around 75 per cent of all nations on Earth.
Residents will be taken on trips which have been broken down into different segments.
One of the segments takes passengers across North America, while another will go across Japan and the Philippine Sea.
Residents will also enjoy trips to the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand, North Asia, South Asia, South Europe and the Mediterranean, among others.
This means cruisegoers on board the Odyssey are bound to encounter their dream holiday destinations across the planet as part of the breathtaking adventure.
Passengers also have to pay monthly fees which start at $2,000 per person – but this includes free food and soft drinks, alcohol at dinner, Wi-Fi and medical visits.
The huge fees also include 24/7 room service, weekly housekeeping and bi-weekly laundry – and Sharon sees this as a great bonus.
The California woman stepped onto the cruise earlier this month, and is now part of the immense journey which will last a decade-and-a-half.
She told CNN Travel: “I’m finally able to do what I’ve wanted to do for years.”
She spent her entire life savings to purchase her interior cabin – and said it was a good deal.
The only other residential cruise ship on the planet currently at sea, The World, has a starting price of $2.5million – making Sharon’s trip a relative bargain.
Cruisegoers onboard the Villa Vie Odyssey can also experience free entertainment, which include singers, dancers and personal passenger performances, Sharon said.
The ship also boasts a diverse range of community members.
Villa Vie Residences’ CEO Mikael Petterson said: “We have a very diverse community including a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a White House chief of staff, an astronaut and many scientists and doctors onboard that share their knowledge and experiences.”
And Sharon admitted she was enjoying mingling with the other residents.
She said: “There’s very, very few, if any, people on the ship who are not lifelong travellers.
“When you’re with a group of people that think like you, life gets easier.”
The Odyssey usually stops in each port for two days, where passengers can go on optional shore trips for an additional fee.
Throughout the 15-year journey, the ship will continually circle the globe, calling at various popular holiday locations throughout its voyage.
Sharon said she is looking forward to seeing each stunning destination – but admitted she is most excited to spend time on the deck.
Her windowless cabin will be solely for sleeping, while she enjoys holidaying and relaxing on the shore and on the ship’s decadent exterior.
The groundbreaking ship cam “technically” house 924 people, Petterson explained, but some cabins have been merged together, bringing the total amount of rooms to about 450.
The CEO said: “Given the solo rate and that residents often travel away from the ship, we don’t expect more than 500 residents onboard at any given time.”
Those who buy a long-term cabin on the Odyssey can sell up if circumstances changes.
But for now, Sharon is in it for the long haul, looking to live out the next 15 years at sea as part of her dream life.
“There’s no end,” she says. “Sure, in 15 years… but in 15 years, I’ll be ready for a home… Or maybe, at the end, I’ll go on their next ship… I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.”
Sharon explained that being on deck is pure bliss, and her “happy place”.
She said: “Whenever the weather is good, I will be on that deck.
“And when the weather isn’t quite good, I’ll bundle up and be on that deck, because that is my happy place.
The traveller added: “You can stand there, you can sit there, you can chat with people, you can read a book.
“You have the ocean breeze, you have sea air.”
The Villa Vie Odyssey will circumnavigate the globe[/caption]
