PHOENIX, Feb. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Randall B. Jackson, chief executive officer of Residential Cruise Line Ltd. (RCL), announces the Company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (M.O.U.) with Aker Yards to build the world's largest residential cruise ship, the Magellan. Aker Yards, a part of the Aker Group, is one of the largest and most renowned shipbuilders in the world.

"We selected Aker Yards as our shipyard of choice for their proven track record of building world-class, sophisticated and innovative ships," said Randall B. Jackson. "The Memorandum of Understanding is our first step in building the most luxurious residential cruise ship ever built."

Designed by the internationally acclaimed Norwegian firm of Petter Yran and Bjorn Storbraaten Architects A.S., the Magellan offers fractional and full-ownership of luxuriously appointed residences and penthouses as well as such unprecedented amenities as a full-service retractable marina, on-call private Bell 429 helicopters, a 450-seat satellite broadcast capable theater and 24-hour on-call concierge service to name just a few. Private residences on the Magellan range in price from $1.875 million to $8 million for penthouses and from $156,250 for fractional ownership residences.

The finalization of the project is subject to the completion of the financing. For more information about ship specifics and fractional ownership opportunities, call 480-497-8833 or visit the Web site at www.residentialcruiseline.com.

It is interesting to note that they issued this press release in 8 different languages...don't see that very often.

quote:

---

Originally posted by joe at travelpage:
Does the world really need another residential ship?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:

Yes! The 'World' had sold out of cabins when I tried to buy one!

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ernst:
What BTW happened to our friends who wanted to present thier 'new' ship February 2007 in San Francisco?

---

I think you mean Condo Cruise Lines. They now show the itinerary for thier ship beginning in July. The featured ship appears to be the same but for some reason it seems to be taking them longer than originally planned...

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ernst:
Interesting - is the vessel actually appearing in any schedule of any of the given ports?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ernst:
Interesting - is the vessel actually appearing in any schedule of any of the given ports?

---

They say they are going to be in Los Angeles October 4th and 5th yet the LA port schedule doesn't show them. Maybe they will just show up and hope they can dock...

I sent a message through their web site asking for an update on the ship and schedule. I will let you know if I hear anything.

I would say if someone does have 6 million to drop on a floating apartment I would wait and see if there is a re-sale of any of the apartments on the World and not go for the new one.
a few reasons,
1. the people at the World have been doing it for a while now and have worked out a lot of the problems.
2 the new one sems to be a bit too big with a few too many people on board.
3. the world is like an exclusive club, all the people onboard know each other and know the crew. total residents about 210 and total crew approx the same.
4. the residents on the World also own the company that owns the ship, so you may have a little more say in what goes on.

No, one would have to expect that such an expense will not be returned in the future. Having said that, if you had enough money so that it didn't matter, more power to you!

quote:

---

Originally posted by LeBarryboat:
I would think it would be a more desireable option to live in one of the grand suites aboard QM2 for 100 days rather than a smaller, less prestigious vessel like the World.

---

I don't think you can compare THE WORLD to QM2. Apples to oranges. I'm also not sure I would call THE WORLD less prestigious than QM2. One is a cruise ship and the other is a true residence.

Buying an apartment on THE WORLD means sharing your public space with only a few hundred other fellow residents. On QM2, it would be with over 2000 strangers. On THE WORLD you have your own full size apartment, complete with your own furniture, art, dishes, personal effects, etc. not to mention a complete working kitchen in your apartment. A suite on QM2 will have nothing personal except your clothing, and certainly no full size kitchen. Lastly, on THE WORLD your fellow passengers are also fellow owners and you all share long term financial interests in the ship and it's operation. Your neighbors are probably like-minded people in the same income bracket. On QM2 you are sharing the ship with people from various income brackets and no real vested interest in the ship and it's upkeep. Most will be onboard for a week or so then never seen again.

A ship which is top of the notch today can easily be outdated soon - remember how the introduction of balconies made nice ships look bad - who knows what comes next.