Another chance to live on a cruise ship

Residential Cruise Line intends to build the largest residential cruise ship to date. To do so, it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Aker Yards to build its new ship, the Magellan. If you want to own a piece of a luxury vessel, now’s your chance.

When completed, the Magellan will be 60 percent larger than any other residential cruise ship. Its luxury residences and penthouses can be fully or partially owned or rented from the original owners. The ship will feature a retractable marina, a helicopter landing pad and two private helicopters, a 450-seat theater, six restaurants, an observatory (complete with astronomer), and a golf simulator.

The company’s website lists the Magellan’s round-the-world itinerary, beginning in May 2009. The ship will circumnavigate the globe every two years and call at more than 150 ports.

It’s hard to imagine what living on a cruise ship would be like. Would you constantly feel like you’re on vacation? Is it similar to a retirement community but with healthier and richer neighbors? I guess that if you start to feel pent up in your cruise-ship penthouse, you can always spend some time on land and rejoin the ship at a later port-of-call.

If you’d like to live on a cruise ship, full-ownership prices for the Magellan start $1.875 million (600 square feet) and go up to $8.94 million (2,881 square feet). For the price and size of your onboard condo, I’d equate the experience to buying an apartment in Manhattan.