Skip to main content

Live on a cruise ship forever for $99,999 with Villa Vie Residences

Enjoy retirement from the cabin of a cruise ship

By Amanda Teague Published October 6, 2025

Golden Passport by Villa Vie Residences — Villa Vie Residences

Ever dreamed of swapping your house keys for a cabin key? Residential cruise line Villa Vie Residences is making that fantasy a reality with its new Golden Passport, providing residences with a one-time ticket to a lifetime at sea. For as little as $99,999, travelers can secure their place on the Villa Vie Odyssey, a ship that circles the globe every 3.5 years, visiting 425 destinations across 147 countries.

The program is an offshoot of the company’s Endless Horizon residence-at-sea model, but this new version takes accessibility to the next level. Instead of buying a permanent residence, passengers can own, lease, or rent a cabin for life, choosing between Porthole and Ocean View options. The pricing depends on age. Seniors over 90 can cruise for life starting at $99,999, while younger retirees between 55 and 60 will pay up to $399,999.

Recommended Videos

For that price, residents get an entirely new way to live and travel. No mortgage, no property taxes, and no packing. When the itinerary ends, guests can simply start the journey again.

What’s included?

The Golden Passport covers just about everything you’d need for full-time cruising, including alcoholic drinks with meals, dining, housekeeping, laundry, and Wi-Fi. Villa Vie Residences also promises “no hidden costs,” meaning you won’t be hit with surprise taxes, port fees, or service charges.

And if you’d rather not sail solo forever, you can invite friends or family onboard for $129 a day, so your home at sea can easily double as a floating guesthouse.

Contributor

Amanda, an accomplished freelance writer from Columbus, Ohio, is a dedicated explorer of both the world and the written word…

Topics

Destinations

Culture

SailGP: The World’s Most Glamorous Sports League?

Formula 1 thrills, glamorous destinations, and plenty of Champagne.

Art, Water, Person

My dad is a diehard New England sports fan, and as a kid, I often worried I'd have to perform CPR on him whenever the Bruins, Patriots, or Red Sox were on television. As livid as a Viking berserker, the old man would leap off the sofa to coach Tom Brady from the living room or rain down curses upon the Yankees. Our cocker spaniel, Fenway, instinctively fled the room whenever my father reached for the remote. The stress of it all, plus the fact that I was missing episodes of South Park, soured me on professional sports.

I finally came around in my thirties, less for the sports themselves than for the spectacle and revelry. I can't name more than two Knicks players, but I had a blast watching the NBA Finals with my buddies at bars across New York. The nuances of Formula 1 are about as intelligible to me as multivariable calculus, but that didn't stop me from partying my face off on a press trip to the Miami Grand Prix. I also write about luxury watches, spirits, and travel—all of which dovetail rather nicely with grand athletic extravaganzas.

Travel

Savannah Beyond the Postcard

Take a look at one of the greatest southern cities from a different perspective.

Architecture, Building, Spire

Savannah is one of those cities that seems almost too easy to like. The live oaks are dramatic. The Spanish moss does exactly what it is supposed to do. The brick sidewalks buckle in all the right places. The houses look like they were designed by people who understood proportion, shade, and the value of a proper front step. Even the light seems to arrive with better manners than it does in most places.

I have a built-in advantage when it comes to Savannah. We have family there, so we have been back several times, not just once for the checklist version of the city. I have also done a photography workshop there, which is a terrific way to learn any city. You get up early, stay out late, and pay attention to alleys, doorways, ironwork, reflections, and the way a city changes when the tourists are still asleep.

Travel

I spent 72 hours in London with only a carry-on. Here’s how I did it in style

Luxury travel doesn't require a checked bag

London

Somewhere between the baggage claim carousel and the Elizabeth Line, I realized I'd already won. As passengers from my Norwegian flight to London crowded around the conveyor belt waiting for checked luggage to appear, I was already on my way into the city. Twenty minutes later, I was headed toward central London with nothing more than a carry-on suitcase and a backpack. I've become a bit of a carry-on evangelist over the past few years. Not because I'm trying to prove some minimalist point or because I enjoy seeing how few shirts I can survive with. I just genuinely think it's the better way to travel, especially for a long weekend in Europe.

My recent 72-hour trip from Copenhagen to London wasn't exactly a backpacker's itinerary. It included a stay at one of London's nicest luxury hotels, rooftop cocktails, dinners worth dressing up for, and plenty of walking through Soho, Covent Garden, and the rest of central London. Somehow, everything I needed fit inside my Travelpro Platinum Elite Slim Cabin Hardshell Spinner V2, with a backpack holding my flight essentials.