The CEO of Ocean Builders (Elwar) are there and made his comment to addressed some questions regarding the cabins prices, fees, and more.
I would like to see them consolidate multiple rooms (if someone was to buy multiple perhaps this could be an option) then the ship would be less crowded. Also, the cost might be down because not everything would be free like a typical cruise ship - you wont eat free all day long for zero cost - yes, they can have the food available but instead you now have to pay for it. They might not do all the room cleaning for free, you might have to do it yourself or pay them.
I see it less and less like a cruise ship and a instead like a small floating city idea.
Hey guys, yes it will not be so much like your typical cruise. We're even trying to come up with another term than "cruise ship" since it will be stationary. You will need to pay for the things you utilize on the ship (electric, water, food, entertainment, etc.). I agree, it is more like a very small town.
Many people think they would get bored quickly but you have to remember that when you are on a cruise, you're not working and you're scrambling to do every little thing during your one week that you can hardly take a break leaving you needing a vacation after your vacation when you get home.
But if you're working every day, busy, etc. things will become a lot less boring. As most people were stuck in their apartments for the past 6 months, if they were able to go out and go to a restaurant that would be a step up from the isolation.
I like to think of each cabin as your bedroom as suchmoon mentioned. The rest of the ship is your living space.
It will likely not be for everyone. That's why we're targeting young folks, perhaps fresh out of college or around there. When I lived in my first apartment it was just big enough for my bed. But I lived next to campus where I spent my day. It is certainly not a 3000 sqft McMansion so we're not targeting people that need that to be happy.
My goal is to keep the prices down. We want this ship filled quickly so we can buy our next one while the prices are low.
We are likely selling way below what they can go for but we're more enthusiastic about making this work than making big bucks. Every one of the investors could lose the money they put into this and not be too affected. We are in this for the bigger picture.
As for the idea of joining 2 or 3 rooms. We're working with the insurance company and will consult with the engineers but I am all for customers buying 2-3 adjoining rooms and opening some walkways. Our main engineer said it mainly depends upon if there is a bulkhead between the rooms, and we need to look into it more but at the very least, a door between rooms should be possible for most cabins. There are already several with that feature.
For monthly maintenance fee. That is something I am working with our ship management company, Columbia Cruise Services, to determine the monthly cost to maintain it. They have given me an estimate which is quite high but it is based upon a normal cruise. We are running the numbers and I believe we can get the number down to a reasonable amount so people can live there without needing to be super rich.
Part of that monthly maintenance will be covered by the rent we charge for the commercial areas. Bars, restaurants, shops, etc. Again, I want to keep prices down because I want people to live there so if you have to pay $50 for every meal it's not viable. To make up for no kitchens in the rooms we're giving all residents 20% off at the restaurants. This passes some of that cost on to tourists.
We'll have each restaurant have buffet options if people want to pay for a meal plan. My wife plans on opening a small Thai restaurant in the food court which will have a few items that would be on the buffet plan which she would be compensated for with her share of the meal plan payments. She would choose some more common foods as "all you can eat" while keeping some specialty/expensive items as optional pay-as-you-go items.
The ship is currently in the Mediterranean. Our engineer just left here (Panama) on Friday and will finally be able to board the ship in 2 days after a lot of travel and quarantines. He will stay on until we finish the purchase November 4th, then work with the new crew to sail it here to Panama where it will be anchored.
I hope Bitcoin enthusiasts come live on the ship and test out new tech in a micro economy where we can try new things to see how well it works in every day life.
Register online, auction begins November 5th.
https://ocean.builders/cruiseship
