Aussie seafarers reign as The World of ResidenSea due for Sydney berthing

The luxury cruise ship, the World of ResidenSea arrives in Sydney next week after visiting Milford, Doubtful and Dusky sounds in New Zealand.

And with more Sydneysiders than ever now among the privately, proud owners on the 12-deck, 196-metre vessel that first set sail in 2002, and officially sold out four years later.

Continuously sailing the seas, and docking where the owners’ corporation want: that's life aboard The World, the still-unique floating permanent home to wealthy residents.

Owned by those who live on board, The World circles the globe every two to three years under the Bahamas flag with the 43,524-tonne ship travelling at a maximum 18 knots.

Australians, especially Sydneysiders and Gold Coasters, are seriously over-represented among the owners, which might explain the frequency of the trips Down Under.

The World docked in Melbourne. Courtesy of Wikipedia/Creative Commons.

This time matriarch Ros Packer will be at home, overseeing the last of her renovations. It was a gift from son James.

The local Sydney Rothschild Australia executive chairman Trevor Rowe has been among the recent buyers. He'll possibly get slightly obscured glimpses of the ship when it berths at White Bay from the recently acquired 22nd floor Observatory Tower apartment which cost him and wife, Janine $1.94 million after selling in Mosman last year for $3.3 million on Parriwi Road. Not sure what ever happened to his 100 footer, the good ship Lady Janine which replaced his earlier stink boat, Mabuhuay. 

Prestige Darling Point property developers Bob and Margaret Rose will no doubt be aboard, and get terrific views from their porthole especially when it is relocated at the Point Piper buoy mid-May, as was initially scheduled but now not to take place. The couple typically spend three months aboard. Not sure which side of the ship the Roses are, starboard or port, but of course on a prior Sydney Circular Quay berthing, The World reversed out of Sydney Cove and swung around between the Opera House and Waruda Street Wharf at Kirribilli, returning to the dock to equalise viewing opportunities for all its owners.

Other Australians who've owned on The World included the late engineer Bob Sparke from Belvedere estate at Burradoo in the NSW Southern Highlands. Sparke's acquaintanceship with mining tycoon Gina Rinehart had blossomed and they regularly followed the sunsets from a ninth-floor apartment. Gina, who of course can’t help working, has had government ministers aboard for dinner.

Motivational speaker John Demartini and his late wife, Australian astrologer Athena Starwoman, outlaid $3 million on their glamorous cabin, a one-bedroom apartment into which they moved after selling their Trump Tower apartment, unnerved after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Bill and Imelda Roche, the developers of the Hunter Valley gardens estate, one of Australia's largest privately owned gardens, have long enjoyed their stern apartment on The World, although it was quite a surprise to see them counted as crew in the ship’s manifest when it left Port Melbourne last time in 2012. Formerly of Nutrimetics fame, the Roche's had made the priciest acquisition among the handful of initial Australian buyers for their eighth-floor apartment, possibly until the recent Packer family double apartment purchase.

The Scottish-born Levin Wine founder David Levin, and his Australian wife, Lynne, were also aboard in 2012. David Levin, owner of The Capital Hotel in London, started growing his own grapes in the Loire Valley, France in 1985 to produce his own private label wines for his luxury hotels and restaurants. The Levins were great mates of the late Len Evans and during their numerous trips to Australia they were introduced to many advances in viticulture that they've now adopted at their Loire vineyard.

Fitness First founder Tony de Leede, and co-owner of the Komune resort near Keramas, one of Bali's most renowned surf breaks, wasn't shy about his ownership, though Title Tattle gleans he may have sold. But as its many owners don't wish to be named as owners, ascertaining continued ownership is a little tricky.

So we wonder who bought from the late Sydney stockbroker Michael Toltz.

Richard Penn, the one-time Gutbuster entrepreneur, and his wife, Heather, are among the reputed owners who can access the facilities that include two pools, a tennis court, virtual golf, gym, library, chapel, deli and even House of Graff jewellers.

From NSW's Southern Highlands, Ken and Susan Cooper, who own the Sutton Forest, Rotherwood estate are among the owners too.

Built at a cost of US$262 million, The World was conceived in 1997 by Norwegian shipping magnate Knut Kloster jnr, whose father started the Norwegian Caribbean Line in 1966.

The idea was to establish an exclusive floating resort whose residents would circumnavigate the world, visiting desirable destinations and attending global events.

Initially boasting a one-to-one guest/staff ratio, the ship's exclusivity stemmed from the original requirement that owners have a $5 million-plus net worth. It is now a net worth of at least $10 million required to join The World, to ensure not only the capability to purchase, but to honor all commitments, even in uncertain economic times. It means that, collectively, all residents can breathe easy, knowing that all of their neighbors are able to keep their end of the bargain. 

So the World is viewed by some as an inviation-only Noah's Ark for the filthy rich. Two letters of recommendation from existing residents onboard The World other than the seller are required before buying approval is given. 

Apparently the average annual combined stay is four months, but a few residents remain on board all year. When it comes to whether there are tax advantages of being a resident onboard The World, the response is that each potential buyer is advised to consult his or her own advisers regarding questions of tax and domicile. 

After Sydney it's off to Brisbane around May 19, then Hamilton Island, Port Douglas and Cairns, then north east over to the Solomon Islands before PNG, East Timor and West Timor, then a lengthy Indonesian sojourn including Bali and Surabaya and Krakatoa.

Plenty of Americans were the early buyers including Jim Blair, a retired Silicon Valley property developer, and William Scott, a retired New York adman. Switzerland-based American Anne Weedon, one of the first to buy a cabin on board the ResidenSea, launched the ship with the champagne bottle in 2002 in Venice.

The Colorado-based health-club industry and software entrepreneur, Richard Reed headed the residents' committee after paying US$21,000 per square metre for his 126 square metre apartment. Any buyers of the what were the initial 50-year-long leaseholds must prove a net worth of US$5 million and have no criminal record. 

The residents comprise around 130 families from 19 different countries – from North America (49%), Europe (36%), Asia, Australia, South America and South Africa (15%). The current average age is around 64 years with many owners still actively involved in their own businesses.

Back in 2003 its wealthy apartment owners were beginning to mutiny, as The World was overrun by rowdy short-stay tourists invited aboard by the ship's financially challenged operator to help fill the many unsold apartments, given 88 apartments had been retained as rentable guest accommodation.

Apparently the last straw for the owners aboard was when 20 top-selling Ford Australia dealers dressed in their company-logo T-shirts partied aboard during its 2003 Sydney docking.

Soon after things changed with the militant owners making it pricer with $1,000-plus a night voyages, and with a six-day minimum which helped clear the renting riff raff from the ship. But even that pricier rental option has now gone - around the time the last of the 165 lavish apartments with decor by Juan Pablo Molyneux and Nina Campbell were sold to private owners, after the 88 syndicate stock finally sold. The initial mix was 106 two- and three-bedrooms units, 18 one- and two-bedroom homes, and the 39 studios.

Wirg paying guests are no longer taken, the only way aboard now is as an approved potential buyer. 

And that will currently cost anywhere between US$800,000 to $7.7 million (plus annual maintenance fees pay annual fees of 10% to 15% of the purchase price).

The initial sales were anywhere from $20,000 to the $42,000 a square metre mark. In 2002 Americans Robert and Janet Sabes paid US$2.8 million for a 134 square metre, two-bedroom, two-bath unit on the World in 2002 but the best the 73-year-old Las Vegas-based restaurant developer, whose latest project is a vodka ice bar in Manhattan, and his wife could do on their 2008 exit was around the same price.

In 2011 there were 19 residences sold. The World suggest residences purchased in 2002 aboard The World for $2 million have generally held their value, and some have increased in value. They suggest similar travel experience, with the same level of luxury lodging, dining, private car service and first-class flights could cost upwards of $500,000 over a six to nine month period. 

HE SAID:

I was aboard The World of ResidenSea the first time it sailed into Sydney Harbour in 2003, bunked down in a 30 square metre studio apartment among the then $850 a night paying guests. Yes down on the lowest deck, but it was classy as the comparable cruise liners would offer berths to approximately 1,200 travellers over the same ship dimensions.

I enjoyed the cruise, albeit on the rather quick Melbourne to Sydney voyage. Back then I recall the familiar faces among the owners included the language translation business entrepreneurs Nicola Chapman and Andrew McLeay – who played the doctor in the murder mystery night during that cruise. Hardly the monotonous atmosphere that Margie (below) suggests. And I see Thomas McAlpin, now president of The World, spent 14 years at Disney Cruise Line, responsible for the successful launch of Disney’s entry into the cruise industry, so surely he'd ensure The World was entertaining for residents, as required when they'd read the 4000 books in its library. 

And there'd always been something onboard that would capture my inquisitive attention. Indeed I'd love to get to the bottom of the 2012 preliminary court case, Overseas Ventures versus ROW Management, Ltd., d/b/a ResidenSea Management, Ltd., and Shetland International Investments, Ltd, a Switzerland company. Overseas Ventures owned adjoining apartments 601 and 603, and after failing to sell them together thought they'd just sell 603 for US$1 million, only to find the buyer, Shetland International Investments, Ltd had actually bought both apartments.

There's yet to be any competitive ship launched, though often envisaged. There's Four Seasons Oceans Residences, which had asking prices between US$3.8 million to US$39 million, but never floated further than the concept and a few now abandoned off the plan sales. I also recall the Orphalese, which was set to combine 200 private residences, plus 265 suites for cruise passengers, a project by Don Allen, who has since filed for bankruptcy with the project which has now been relabelled utopiaresidences.com with a scheduled 2016 launch by entrepreneur David Robb. Forbes magazine had put the initial revised launch by Robb as being in time to see the running of the Melbourne Cup 2013. Don Allen had it scheduled to launch in 2008, with the name inspired by Kahlil Gibran's book The Prophet about a prophet who ironically spent twelve years waiting for his ship to arrive in the city of Orphalese to return him to his home. There was also the Magellan, the time-share floating ship of Randall B. Jackson, an Arizona real-estate tycoon who envisioned fractional ownerships, but it has yet to come to fruition, seemingly sunk in the sands of its 2009 United Arab Emirites marketing campaign.  

Down the track I'd worry about buying on the World now given it's presumably depreciating at a rapid rate given the limited life of any cruise ship. And then there would be the latent issue of just where it would spend its final landlocked years. Lastly the average length of time to sell an apartment is around 12 months. 

SHE SAID:

Although The World sails to fascinating places, holidaying on the same ultra luxurious and extremely large ship with the same uber well-heeled crowd, year in year out, would be too confining and one dimensional for me. Variety is the spice of life, and with money to burn, I’d instead opt for voyages on a wide range of vessels offering soft-adventure journeys in all corners of the world. 

My bucket list of boating excursions includes:

• Mekong River Cruises (which sails small and beautiful teak boats along the Upper Mekong river through Laos),
  
  
• Compagnie du Ponant (a fleet of four luxury vessels drawing a decidedly European crowd),
  
  
• Star Clippers (a tall ship line with vessels driven by the power of winds and currents),
  
  
• Fandango (a deluxe barge cruising the Canal du Midi across the Languedoc from the Lauragais valleys to the Minervois wine region in France)
  
  
• and Nomads of the Seas (aboard MV Atmosphere for wilderness fly fishing excursions in Chile and Patagonia).