See the world up close and personal and yet never leave home — and, no, we’re not talking about an interactive trip on the internet..It’s the future for Austin Wells of San Diego, who laid out US$300,000 for a 12-year lease on an apartment on the MV Narrative, a cruise ship being built in Croatia by cruise line Storylines, that sets sail in 2025. .The MV Narrative, at 74-ft in length, will have 547 fully furnished rooms available for purchase or lease. It will feature high-end spas, movie theatre,, yoga sun deck, state-of-the-art fitness centre, art studio, even a bowling alley. .As a residential community at sea there will also be a library, post office, school and bank..On board residents will have a say in where the vessel goes, Storylines founder and CEO Alister Punton told CNN Travel.."What a typical cruise line might do in one month or three weeks, we will take three to four months to do," said Punton. “Residents have opportunities to have input into where the ship goes next." .Twenty-eight-year old Wells told CNBC he can make it happen because it’s cheaper than living onshore in Southern California and he gets to see the world. .“The thing that most excites me is I don’t have to upend my daily routine in order to go see the world,” he said. “I’m going from this model where when you want to go somewhere, you pack a bag, you get on a flight, you rent a room, to where my condo, my gym, my doctors and dentists, all of my grocery stores travel the world with me.”. MV Narrative living roomMV Narrative living room .Wells said the rough math for his plan makes perfect sense. .The 12-year lease comes to about $2,100 a month if he didn’t have to take out a loan. By comparison, most apartments in San Diego cost more than $2,100 per month in rent..The ship charges an additional $2,100 a month for all-inclusive services, which include food, drinks, alcohol, gym membership, routine healthcare check-ups, onboard entertainment and laundry..So, it could cost Wells as little as $4,200 a month to live an all-expenses-paid life. Plus, there’s no need to pay for a car or waste time shopping for groceries or traveling anywhere. It’s all on the ship..“You wake up every morning and have an all-you-can-eat breakfast. Spend the afternoon hanging out by the pool or touring a fantastic city such as Rome or Dubrovnik,” said Wells. “At night, have a drink in the lounge watching a comedian or a jazz band, then hit the sack and do it all over again the next day.”.Wells can work from the ship because his job with Meta is fully remote.. MV Narrative renderingMV Narrative rendering ."What I'm probably most excited about is going to places that ships can only uniquely go,” he said, adding cruise ships can travel to “unique ecological parts of the world or beautiful dive spots that are a few miles off land or caves to dive through and the ship will do a number of overnight stays in those areas.".Wells is an outlier in his choice of spending his time adrift, but not the only one..Australian couple Angelyn and Richard Burk are living their retirement years on the high seas, living on cruise ships because it’s cheaper than their mortgage..The Burks hop from ship to ship for around $100 a night, depending on the cruise. ."Cruise costs vary quite a bit, our goal is to average about $100 per night, for the couple, or less across an entire calendar year,” Richard told Upworthy.com, adding they keep the costs of cruising down through loyalty memberships..“We love to travel, and we were searching for a way to continuously travel in our retirement that made financial sense,” Angelyn told Australia's 7 News.. MV Narrative stateroomMV Narrative stateroom
