Vacation Home vs. Cruise Cabin: Which is Your Best Getaway?

By Chris and Michael from ChartingOurCourse.com

For the past year, many conversations about residential cruising, especially regarding the Villa Vie Odyssey, have started with one question: "Is living on a cruise ship cheaper than living on land?" We're here to tell you that this might be the wrong conversation. Today, we want to reframe the entire discussion. What if we look at a Villa Vie cabin not as a replacement for your primary home, but as the ultimate alternative to your traditional vacation home?

We’ve learned a lot exploring the Villa Vie Odyssey as a vacation alternative, and if you're interested in residential cruising or simply a new way to vacation, our insights might surprise you.

The Traditional Vacation Home Dilemma

The dream of a special getaway—a villa in Portugal, a place in Mexico—is compelling. However, the reality of owning a second home often kicks in quickly. You're faced with HOA fees, taxes, maintenance, and security concerns when you're not there. Even the simple act of getting to and from your "relaxing" vacation spot can be a logistical headache. As we've experienced, you buy a place to escape stress, but you often end up with a second job as a property manager. And let's be honest, repeatedly visiting the same spot can get a little boring after a while [02:15].

High-end traditional travel, where you're constantly jetting off to different locations, comes with its own set of challenges: immense planning, time consumption, and often, significant expense. The traditional vacation model can feel broken—too restrictive, too expensive, or just too much work [03:21].

Our Mexican Vacation Home Wake-Up Call

This wasn't just a theoretical problem for us. Shortly after retirement, we fell in love with an incredible house in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. We went through the entire process, made a full-price offer, and even tell the full story in one of our DC Hidden Gems YouTube channel videos. In the end, they went with another offer, and at the time, we were devastated.

But funny how things work out! A few weeks later, the sting of losing the house was replaced by an overwhelming sense of relief. We realized that while the house would have given us fantastic memories, it also would have anchored us to one single spot [04:39]. This was a true wake-up call, clarifying what we truly wanted: adventure and to see the whole world. No great house anywhere could make up for that [05:03].

A Cruise Cabin as Your Ultimate Vacation Asset

This experience got us thinking: What if the greatest value of the Villa Vie Odyssey isn't just as a replacement primary home, but as the ultimate disruptor for second homes and vacations in general? That's when the numbers and the lifestyle benefits get really interesting.

Cost Comparison: Land-Based vs. Sea-Based Second Homes

When you compare the cost of a land-based second home versus a cabin on a residential cruise ship, the picture changes significantly. A land-based second home involves property taxes, maintenance, and potential management fees. Plus, you still have to pay for flights, food, and activities when you actually visit. This à la carte approach makes it difficult to predict true costs [06:54].

With the Villa Vie Odyssey, you have an upfront purchase fee and a monthly fee that includes most of your travel, accommodation, meals, much of your alcohol, and even internet. This provides a fixed, predictable package for the duration of your contract, making budgeting for your getaways much simpler [07:51]. While high-end timeshares might seem similar, many only prepay for the room, leaving you to cover food and activities, and their maintenance fees often increase over time [08:24]. The Odyssey offers a fixed monthly cost for these inclusions, offering greater financial clarity.

Important Transparency: It's crucial to understand that buying a cabin on the Villa Vie Odyssey is not a traditional real estate transaction. You're buying a right to occupy a cabin for 15 years or the life of the vessel, not a deeded piece of property you can easily sell on Zillow. This is an illiquid, depreciating asset—you're investing in a lifestyle and vacation experience, not a property expected to appreciate [09:20]. Additionally, as early adopters of a startup, there are inherent financial and operational risks and changes you'll need to be flexible with [11:05].

Healthcare and Community Considerations

Beyond the financials, personal realities must be weighed:

• Healthcare: The ship's medical center provides basic and emergency care, but it's not a floating hospital [11:26]. Comprehensive international health insurance, especially for evacuations, is a non-negotiable must-have.
• Community: An instant social network is a huge benefit, but you need to be honest about your personality. Living in an enclosed community requires comfort with navigating social dynamics, as we discuss extensively in our book, "Hidden Gems Guide to Residential Cruising." It's a rich community, but understanding yourself and how you interact within such a dynamic is key to enjoying your "vacation home" at sea [12:32].

Gaining Back Your Most Valuable Asset: Time

When you reframe your cabin on the Villa Vie Odyssey as a lifestyle asset, you're pivoting beyond a simple dollars-and-cents conversation. You're buying back your most valuable and non-renewable asset: your time [13:32]. Think about it: hundreds of hours spent researching and booking flights, hotels, and logistics are simply eliminated. That time is put back into experiencing travel instead of planning it. This shift truly flips the entire vacation paradigm on its head in a great way [14:00].

You also instantly become part of a ready-made global community of like-minded travelers. Unlike isolated trips or condos, you always have someone to share a meal with, explore a new port, or simply enjoy a conversation. This alleviates the potential isolation of traditional travel [14:22].

The Villa Vie Odyssey also offers a professionally curated itinerary that spans years, taking you to premier destinations and, sometimes, to incredibly unique, off-the-beaten-path locations you would never meticulously plan to visit on your own [15:13]. These "hidden gem" stops, like our visit to Icy Straight Point, Alaska, often become the most memorable parts of the adventure, offering unexpected magic and beauty.

Our Choice: Roots on Land, Wings at Sea

For us, Chris and Michael, we've chosen a unique hybrid. We've decided to keep our land home in Washington D.C., a city we love, allowing us to maintain roots and see friends and family. But our second home, our getaway, is our cabin on the Odyssey. This arrangement gives us the best of both worlds: roots on land and wings at sea [18:56].

We initially started with a smaller interior cabin, but as we embraced this lifestyle, we realized we wanted more, leading us to upsize to a larger cabin. We also appreciate the flexibility of being able to rent out our cabin when we leave the Odyssey for extended periods, providing some income to offset expenses [20:26].

What do you think? Does a residential cruise ship as a primary home or a unique vacation home alternative resonate with you? Let us know in the comments!

Sources:

• Better to Own a Vacation Home or Buy a Cabin on Villa Vie? - YouTube

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