Villa Vie Residences

[rebeccalouiseagain]

2 hours ago, Travel_Around_The_World said:

Not sure if this link works on here.

https://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/CorporationSearch/SearchResultDetail?inquirytype=EntityName&directionType=Initial&searchNameOrder=VILLAVIERESIDENCES P230000626800&aggregateId=domp-p23000062680-4e1131bb-424b-4beb-8fef-fd6a225987f1&searchTerm=Villa vie residences&listNameOrder=VILLAVIERESIDENCES P230000626800

 

 

 

I guess people can pick their poison pill (Delaware or Florida) 😅

 

(j) It is agreed by and between Resident and VVR that all claims, disputes, and matters whatsoever arising under, arising out of, or relating to this voyage agreement shall be litigated in and before a court of competent jurisdiction located in Wilmington Delaware or Broward County, FL U.S.A. The Agreement provides for the exclusive resolution of disputes through individual legal action on the Resident’s own behalf instead of through any class action. Even if the applicable law provides otherwise, Resident agrees that any lawsuit against VVR whatsoever shall be litigated by Resident individually and not as a member of any class or as part of a class action, and Resident expressly agrees to waive any law entitling Resident to participate in a class action. 

 

 

Even though it says that on their VVR website- someone I know researched the company and this is what it says Registered Agent and underneath it reads Trust Company of the Marshall Islands.

[Travel_Around_The_World]

39 minutes ago, rebeccalouiseagain said:

Even though it says that on their VVR website- someone I know researched the company and this is what it says Registered Agent and underneath it reads Trust Company of the Marshall Islands.

Where does it say "Trust Company of the Marshall Islands". Not in the Florida docs. I don't have access to the Delaware docs. I am not paying money to see expanded docs.
The file attached are the Articles of Incorporation from the Florida Dep of Corporations. Accessible to anybody. State of Florida requires that corporations have to list and register if they act on behalf of another company, if they are subsidiaries of another corporation or are controlled by another corporation. 

 

 

VVR Articles.pdf

Edited 22 hours ago by Travel_Around_The_World

[rebeccalouiseagain]

My source sent me a screen shot- so can't link it to this but it reads the following...

 

Entity # 12513

Villa Vie Residences Incorporated

Entity Type Corporation

Active

28 March 2024

Name: THE TRUST COMPANY OF THE MARSHALL ISLAND INC.

The trust company complex Ajeltake Road, Ajeltake Island

Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands MH96960

[rebeccalouiseagain]

4 hours ago, Travel_Around_The_World said:

Well, Mike and Cathy are not wealthy, at least were not until recently. It would be interesting to know who these people are and if they were already with him during his Greek Yacht sales scam. 

 

The most important thing is to make sure that at the time of contract signing certain conditions were in effect which then retroactively were changed. If that happened then there should be no problem finding an attorney and file an immediate lawsuit. Since it is a Florida company it is as easy as walking to the courthouse. And it should be done before the ship leaves the Florida area (i.e. The Bahamas).

The previous poster was referring to the "founders" who own cabins on the ship but have also been suckered into investing in the venture.  They think they are "special" because of course Mike made them feel that way.  Suckers.

[Travel_Around_The_World]

1 hour ago, rebeccalouiseagain said:

My source sent me a screen shot- so can't link it to this but it reads the following...

 

Entity # 12513

Villa Vie Residences Incorporated

Entity Type Corporation

Active

28 March 2024

Name: THE TRUST COMPANY OF THE MARSHALL ISLAND INC.

The trust company complex Ajeltake Road, Ajeltake Island

Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands MH96960

Villa Vie Residences Incorporated would be the Delaware registry. The Florida one is Corp rather than Inc.

Wouldn't surprise me since Delaware companies are often used to shuffle money around and often used for money laundering. 

Where does the screenshot come from though? The Delaware website?

[rebeccalouiseagain]

No someone I know researched the company and came across this.

[chengkp75]

The Trust Company of the Marshall Islands is basically the Marshall Islands Registry for ships.  This intimates to me that while the Braemar was transferred to VVR as Bahamian flag, VVR intends to reflag to Marshall Islands.

[Travel_Around_The_World]

6 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

The Trust Company of the Marshall Islands is basically the Marshall Islands Registry for ships.  This intimates to me that while the Braemar was transferred to VVR as Bahamian flag, VVR intends to reflag to Marshall Islands.

What would be the reason (if there is any)? I know most cruise ships are registered in the Bahamas. What would be the benefit of favoring the Marshall Islands over the Bahamas ?

Edited 7 hours ago by Travel_Around_The_World

[rebeccalouiseagain]

No idea. Maybe to be registered to the Bahamas, the ship has to pass certain certifications and you know how Mike avoids those.

[chengkp75]

43 minutes ago, Travel_Around_The_World said:

What would be the reason (if there is any)? I know most cruise ships are registered in the Bahamas. What would be the benefit of favoring the Marshall Islands over the Bahamas ?

Cruise ships are registered in Bahamas, Panama, Malta, and Marshall Islands.  All of these flags of convenience have little to no regulation.  They still have to meet the various IMO conventions, and are still inspected by class societies, but each registry offers different tax benefits, and corporate laws.  The Marshall Islands is the fastest growing registry, behind Panama and Liberia.  The Marshall Island corporate laws closely follow Delaware corporate law.

[Travel_Around_The_World]

Will be interesting what their short term plans are. Odyssey is still scheduled to depart its berth tomorrow. I assume to a different dock since the current dock cannot be accessed. 

Then loading stuff and passengers and by that time Isaac will have enough waves churned up to make for an interesting TA. 🤣

Edited 6 hours ago by Travel_Around_The_World

[chengkp75]

If they're smart, they will take the great circle route to Newfoundland, and then down the East Coast.  That route will take them at least 700 miles north of the northern edge of the storm cone, and probably no closer than 1000 miles from the storm.

Edited 6 hours ago by chengkp75

[rebeccalouiseagain]

They aren't leaving tomorrow

[Travel_Around_The_World]

32 minutes ago, rebeccalouiseagain said:

They aren't leaving tomorrow

No. Probably only a berth/dock shift. They have to load crap first, people boarding. If they do the shift tomorrow I would think they are ready by Monday to sail.

That's why I posted the track.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

All information is coming from VVR- so I'd take it all with a grain of salt.  The health and safety inspection may have been performed but there are always issues with both of those.  Not unusual, but they have to be taken care of prior to sailing.  Things as simple as having sneeze guards at the right height, proper temperature of the perishable goods, potable drinking water.  These things may or may not have been tested.  The crew has to demonstrate that they know what to do in an emergency.  Lighting has to be inspected.  There are a host of things that have to be performed prior to leaving.  Maybe they have been done- and maybe they haven't.  I read that there are three berths in Belfast for cruise ships and there are only a couple scheduled for this weekend.  There may not be customs agents available at the other berths- which is the hold up.  They also may not allow overnights in some of the berths- because that would require more manpower- customs officials.  Who knows?  The ship can't even be insured until all of the certifications are met.

Edited 3 hours ago by rebeccalouiseagain

[VL1]

I cannot see them sailing any time soon with so many life and safety loose ends.  Plus they won't be fully insured until that is done.

I predict there will always be something more that needs to be repaired or completed right up to the day they say they are bankrupt.

[MacMadame]

On 9/25/2024 at 11:58 AM, Travel_Around_The_World said:

I don't know if LAS would have ever functioned with the MV Gemini but we will never find out since big Mike made sure LAS is going to collapse and he will be celebrated as the hero who saved residential cruising. 

Sarcasm? Well, I laughed anyway.

 

22 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

I mean they set up a second failed project, with many buyers from the first.  It's like timeshare salesmen, who pray on current/past timeshare owners.

This is what I do not understand. If I had given money to LAS, I would *never* give money to VVR until they had proved themselves.

 

OTOH I do think the VVR people did a good job of getting out clean with Miray looking like the bad guys especially as a lot of the lies passengers were told came from people at that company after the original LAS people left.

----

People have talked about how the financial model doesn't work and this was obvious but I'm not sure it was so obvious. First of all, there were a very limited number of cabins at the lowest price point. Most people were paying more than that, sometimes much more. Second, permanent residents were not 100% of the ship. People buying segments were something like half of the ship (I think) and those prices could change with every booking just like a typical cruise.

 

Btw, there are a number of industries that charge a monthly fee that they swear won't be raised over time. The way they work is;
1) The fee is raised for new customers so there is more money coming in even if earlier customers aren't paying their way anymore

2) They charge a lot for add-ons and even sometimes they make things add-ons that used to be included (cruises do this also)
3) Quality of the service goes down as the money doesn't go as far

Since those industries are still in business, I don't think it's unreasonable to think VVR could do those things too and stay in business. I think their problems were bigger than that and mostly centered around not having a ship and then buying a ship in bad condition which I am sure played havoc with their budget.

This is not to say their business model was perfect and absolutely would have succeeded. But if they had bought a better ship and had sailed within a month or two of the original date, I think they would have been okay for a while even a couple of years. And, they could always find another company to buy them out and that company could offer the existing cabin owners a new contract with less favorable terms (something that also happens with industries with a similar model).

[Giovanni66]

22 hours ago, Giovanni66 said:

I've been in the business for many years. I've seen sharks and pirates, success and failures. This is something new !. I feel sorry for the people that took the bait.

Anyone with basic critical thinking skills would have found out the other failure of the CEO and the human drama behind it. The Turks owners the Gemini, Mirai,  came public (1*) about the, then, frm. CEO. They had agreed to buy a ship from AIDA. When they went to Germany to buy the ship there was no money in the account, the sale failed and the ship was snagged by Celestyal. The rest is history.

 

They announced the bought the ship in December of 2023 and would depart in May 24'. The ship would be redecorated by Tillberg etc... Then they started promoting the venture in CNN, CNBC, and the rest of the corporate propaganda media.

 

The ship was not bought until in April of 24. Then they announce the will depart in May ! Who takes a 31 Year old ship in cold lay up after 4 years and thinks will sail in a few weeks ? Hello ??

 

It seems that none of these outlets did any basic due diligence before pushing it to their audience. Now to the ship it self. They never did proper a inspection. This would involve the ship to be dry docked for a hull and tank inspection. One of their Youtube parrots made parallels with buying a house only to tear the plasterboard away and discover the damage. and that all start ups like that are like that. Come one Mates that ludicrous !

 

A proper inspection would entail to examine all tanks, not those offered by the shipowners to see only... inspection of rudder and propeller sharts. etc..
Engines should be also inspected etc.. To blame Fred Olsen for selling them a ''lemon'' and DNV for doing FO favors etc.. does not look good..

 

Now on the ship it self,It's a compact vessel that has was desined for 7 day carribean cruises. It does not behave well in bad weather due to its shallow ,to its proportions, draft (5,4m) and is under powered. It was extended in 2008 and there was rumor that there ware cracks in the joint. It also vibrates excessively in the aft. Look at the video to see a scene at the gala. Use your head phones for the 30 sec part !

 

 

The reason ship cannot sail in USA is that needs to meet USPH requriments among others. The bonds are not req. unless operating out of USA.  The China 30 Year rule is for inland vessels and does not apply.

 

The financial model is bogus. False promises sold. Cult like environment and disciplinary action for anyone trying to question what happens with their investment..

Recipy of sucess !

 

Btw nice to ''meet'' you.

Just my 2c !

 I relation, to Miray please see my post.

[Travel_Around_The_World]

44 minutes ago, MacMadame said:

Sarcasm? Well, I laughed anyway.

Definitely, it was sarcasm but that's how Mike and Kathy thought.

[Travel_Around_The_World]

12 minutes ago, Giovanni66 said:

 I relation, to Miray please see my post.

There was never any money in the account. Mike completely overinflated the booking numbers. 

[Giovanni66]

by the way the DNV issued short-term certificates. These include the PSSC. The conditions were cleared too. This means they might get full certs soon.

 

Here's the link for class cetrs: https://vesselregister.dnv.com/vesselregister/details/17173