Villa Vie Residences

[Travel_Around_The_World]

So, those two Villa Vie promoters looked at nother cabin. A couple bought three balcony residences and combined it into one apartment. Not a bad idea but on a 30-year old ship? 😆

If I use the straight up pricing ($299,999 per balcony) that is $900,000 for that place and monthly cost ($4000 per person times 3 cabins) of $24,000 per month I wonder what drugs they are on.
Even if they got a multi-cabin "deal" it is still too much in my opinion. Heck, even $8000 a month maintenance cost are too much on a 30-year old ship. 

The refurbishing cost must have been something else too. 😆
 

 

[VL1]

The cabins are tacky and shows it's age.  No way I would ever do this.  These people are nuts.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

That couple in the penthouse cabin (3 cabins combined) really look a huge leap of faith. For their sake- I hope they get some use out of that expensive cabin. 

[VL1]

It is 9/1/2024 and they have yet to sail or pass all the requisite certifications.  Just how long are people supposed to wait for this ship to sail?  I hope there are some good service stations along the way too

 

[Papadog]

4 minutes ago, VL1 said:

It is 9/1/2024 and they have yet to sail or pass all the requisite certifications.  Just how long are people supposed to wait for this ship to sail?  I hope there are some good service stations along the way too

 

 The latest update...........Sea Trials 9/2......Sailing 4 days after certification... But don't hold your breath.

[Zap Rowsdower]

Sea trials now rescheduled to September 4th

Edited September 2 by Zap Rowsdower

[VL1]

They will discover a new problem on sea trials.

I own a house that is almost 100 years old.  You have to be prepared for ongoing issues and overhauls.  My husband calls it the money pit.  But we have been here 35 years

  But you must sink time and money into it.  They are out of time and I suspect, out of money.  Also, if something goes wrong with the house, I am not in the middle of the ocean and the house doesn't sink.

Edited September 2 by VL1
Spelling

[chengkp75]

1 minute ago, VL1 said:

I own a house that is almost 100 years old.

Owned our 200 year old house for 43 years.

[VL1]

Then you know what I mean.  Putting in a new kitchen required revamps of electrical, plumbing etc.

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, VL1 said:

Then you know what I mean.  Putting in a new kitchen required revamps of electrical, plumbing etc.

Absolutely.  Just did the kitchen, plumbing and electrical run under the floor in a "crawl space" that was 8-9" from the dirt to the bottom of the joists.  Had to pull the entire floor (4 layers) out.  Worked on a few older ships as well, and its the same problem.

[Travel_Around_The_World]

6 hours ago, Zap Rowsdower said:

Sea trials now rescheduled to September 4th

🤦‍♂️

Mikael Petterson, the founder and CEO of Villa Vie Residences, told "GMA" the Villa Vie Odyssey is a 30-year-old ship. He said the ship made the trip to Belfast on its own power before other maintenance issues were discovered.

"The rudder stocks took six weeks to get done, and now we're dealing with a couple of other things," Petterson said. "But overall, I think three months is actually not that bad given the circumstances."

Petterson added that the ship's repairs are in their final stages, and said he expects the ship to depart the week of Sept. 9.

Report from Good Morning America

If I would have paid for a residence I'd be so mad at that statement. It was on him. He bought the piece of crap. He put it in drydock. He thought the drydock would only last 4 weeks. he always announced another departure date.

I would ask for my money back right now. he is a big talker and nothing else. 

Edited September 2 by Travel_Around_The_World

[Papadog]

 Does anyone know what he paid for that piece of crap?

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I read somewhere that it was 8 million.  I read 4 million was passenger money and the rest was financed.  I don't know if that ship actually sailed to Belfast either.  In all the photos of the ship sailing from Rosyth to Belfast there are tug boats attached.  So even his saying it was ever sailing on its own power leave me skeptical.  The delays and the boats ability to withstand the Atlantic Ocean give me pause.  It's going to take a beating and if the engine is 30 years old- will be a nightmare if stuck out in the Atlantic.  So I don't think this is going to set sail- because the inspectors aren't going to allow this.

[chengkp75]

The engines get overhauled (complete teardown and renewal of major parts) every 12,000 running hours, or about every 2.5-3 years, so they are essentially new every 3 years.  So, the engine condition should be okay.  However, with the 4 main diesel engines geared directly to the propellers (not diesel electric like modern cruise ships), any time they take a main diesel out of service for overhaul (which takes about 4 weeks minimum), that will directly affect speed.  And, given that she was lengthened by 100 feet, without increasing the propulsion power, she is underpowered (her sister ship, that wasn't lengthened is rated 2 knots faster).  Plus, they expect the ship to last another 15 years.  Gonna be a lot of "additional maintenance fees" for this condo!

[Papadog]

I'm looking at the schedule for the Caribbean...... Wouldn't want to be in that old ship in the middle of the HURRICANE SEASON !

[Travel_Around_The_World]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

The engines get overhauled (complete teardown and renewal of major parts) every 12,000 running hours, or about every 2.5-3 years, so they are essentially new every 3 years.  So, the engine condition should be okay.  However, with the 4 main diesel engines geared directly to the propellers (not diesel electric like modern cruise ships), any time they take a main diesel out of service for overhaul (which takes about 4 weeks minimum), that will directly affect speed.  And, given that she was lengthened by 100 feet, without increasing the propulsion power, she is underpowered (her sister ship, that wasn't lengthened is rated 2 knots faster).  Plus, they expect the ship to last another 15 years.  Gonna be a lot of "additional maintenance fees" for this condo!

The biggest issue I have is that neither ownership/management nor technical advisor have a clue. In what world do you buy a 30-year old ship which was laid up for the last 4 years and think you can get away with a 4-week drydock and nobidy says "wait, stop it."

Before any sail date that ship need to undergo a full inspection, top to bottom and inside-out. 

But reading this....

 

1 hour ago, rebeccalouiseagain said:

I read somewhere that it was 8 million.  I read 4 million was passenger money and the rest was financed. 

.... it seems to be pretty clear that they had to announce a sail date in the near future. How else would you get customers to pay in full. Without the customers money there would be no ship.

 

[VL1]

The week of 9/9 is fast approaching.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Sea Trials were today.  They appear to be outside of the Belfast Basin and are doing manuevers.

[Zap Rowsdower]

5 hours ago, rebeccalouiseagain said:

Sea Trials were today.  They appear to be outside of the Belfast Basin and are doing manuevers.

Seems to be staying out there overnight, expected back into port tomorrow noon according to the harbour site. 

[chengkp75]

11 minutes ago, Zap Rowsdower said:

Seems to be staying out there overnight, expected back into port tomorrow noon according to the harbour site. 

Most newbuilds have multi-day sea trials, and if this ship has had 3 months worth of work done on her, it would not be unusual to take more than a day to test everything.  Would not be surprised to see another couple of days at dock after trials.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Here's a story on Fox News featuring some Villa Vie customers who aren't in the favored 'influencer special treatment' category:

Cruise passengers 3 months into expensive 3-year excursion still haven't set sail

Edited September 4 by Host Jazzbeau
link fixed

[Travel_Around_The_World]

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Here's a story on Fox News featuring some Villa Vie customers who aren't in the favored 'influencer special treatment' category:

Cruise passengers 3 months into expensive 3-year excursion still haven't set sail

That link goes back to the top of the page for me.

[walkingsoon]

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Here's a story on Fox News featuring some Villa Vie customers who aren't in the favored 'influencer special treatment' category:

Cruise passengers 3 months into expensive 3-year excursion still haven't set sail

Are the bloggers and vloggers really getting better treatment than the more reserved folk? Aside from the woman whose travel is restricted because of her pet, I haven't heard much bad firsthand from the other tenants. Even if there are NDAs in place, I would assume the most disgruntled would find a way to express their frustration.

I hope this business plan works, expands and is copied. Alternatively, I wish the existing lines would take a cue from them and use one of their smaller ships to mimic their very slow paced in depth itinerary. That's the real attraction for me.

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Personally I don't think this concept can work.  But even if it can, delusional entrepreneurs will not be able to make it work.  This project needed hard-headed cost analysis and deep due diligence; instead it got a Silicon Valley "fake it 'til you make it" publicity machine.  When you think of Silicon Valley pioneers, alongside Steve Jobs remember the ones who are now in jail. 

[rebeccalouiseagain]

1 hour ago, walkingsoon said:

Are the bloggers and vloggers really getting better treatment than the more reserved folk? Aside from the woman whose travel is restricted because of her pet, I haven't heard much bad firsthand from the other tenants. Even if there are NDAs in place, I would assume the most disgruntled would find a way to express their frustration.

I hope this business plan works, expands and is copied. Alternatively, I wish the existing lines would take a cue from them and use one of their smaller ships to mimic their very slow paced in depth itinerary. That's the real attraction for me.

 

A woman named Jenny- posted today on youtubes sites- including the one labeled "Scam Life At Sea Villa Vie" about her experience.  

"Villa Vie terminated my 3 1/2 year contract claiming I was creating a negative environment for the residence, they've provided no proof of this and a large number of the residents claimed otherwise. It was abrupt and unexpected and I now have nowhere to live as I was expecting to live on the ship for a minimum of three and a half years, this is also happened after I have been waiting in Belfast since May for this Voyage to begin. I am looking for legal representation"

 

Clearly they made an example out of her- so the other passengers are going to be fearful of speaking out.  Jenny has waited six weeks now for her cruise refund and even though passengers were given a Per Diem- apparently Jenny and others have NOT been reimbursed for those per diems. So if a passenger has been paying out of pocket for these 100 plus days- figure the passengers have spent a minimum of 10K on out of pocket living expenses (all of which was promised by VVR but will never be refunded IMO)