" The world's biggest white elephant?

By Natalie Clarke and Andrea Thompson, Daily Mail

It was billed as the ultimate status symbol: a floating tax-free city of luxury homes. Two years on, it threatens to sink those who came on board . . .

The plush corridors of The World are empty. A faint humming from an air conditioning unit does little to dispel eerie echoes of the Marie Celeste.

Only when a flabby American in Bermuda shorts and baseball cap ambles into view is one assured that the ship has not been abandoned by one and all.

A deep gloom pervades the ship. The atmosphere is funereal; you'll find more ambience in an out-of-season seaside resort. What on earth has happened to The World, this mighty emblem of wealth and prestige?

It is little more than two years since the ship was launched amid such proud fanfare. Built at a cost of £182 million, it was to be a kind of floating Beverly Hills for the super-rich, an offshore principality with opulent apartments, designer shops, spas and a deli selling the finest champagne and caviar.

It was suggested that it would be an international tax haven but, like so many of its attractions, the reality hasn't lived up to the spin. As far as British law goes, residents are unlikely to be able to avoid tax, even if they stay on board for the entire year.

However, the sales pitch was appealing: travel the world without ever leaving home. Millionaires and billionaires rushed to acquire a slice of this ultimate symbol of exclusivity weighing 43,500 tonnes, 644ft long, 12 decks high, with the only full-sized tennis court at sea, a running track and even a helipad.

It was to be the most luxurious floating resort on earth, catering to the whims of even the most demanding billionaire.

The men could amuse themselves on the golf driving range while their wives spent hundreds of thousands at Graff's, the jewellers, and pampering themselves in the spa, La Prairie.

The ethos was luxury and, most importantly, exclusivity. The ship was to call in at the most glamorous ports in the world, such as Monaco and Rio de Janeiro, and be feted wherever she went. It didn't quite turn out that way ...

After the initial fuss had died down, The World - dreamed up by Norwegian shipping magnate Knut Kloster Jr - sailed off into the sunset to begin its first circuit of the world.

Paradise beckoned, but on board, it was not long before the almost catatonic atmosphere of calm induced by the 'tasteful' cream, fawn and beige of the ship's interior gave way to mounting discontent among the residents.

The concept of The World, they had discovered, had a fatal flaw. ResidenSea, the company which owned the ship, had decided to allow the masses on board for package holidays. . ."

Rest of story at link:

quote:

---

Several interesting parts of the article:
As one retired New York advertising executive put it: 'How would you feel if you spent millions for an apartment and people who had spent a few hundred pounds had access to the same facilities as you?'

Another well-heeled resident, John Demartini, was driven to distraction by the 'day-trippers'.

'You would get to a port and 300 or 400 people would come on board,' he said. Mr Demartini, an author, tried to deal with the negative feelings this induced by taking advice from one of his own self-improvement books, Count Your Blessings: The Healing Power Of Gratitude And Love. But even this did not do the trick.

The sales director hazarded there were 100 people on board - maximum occupancy is 1,000-plus - though if so, they must all have been holed up in their apartments.

---

Thanks for the link, Colt. A very interseting article. For my 'observation' (from of the quay, ofcourse ) of the World when she visited Amsterdam a few weeks ago, see this link.

[ 08-09-2004: Message edited by: RobHolland ]