Even by the most outrageous, incredible standards you could ever think of, there's never been anything quite like the MV Narrative, billed as the world's biggest and fanciest luxury residence at sea: not a cruise ship, but a floating community with incredible self-sufficient capabilities and sustainable features.
MV Narrative, initially scheduled to set sail in 2019 and then pushed back several times, is now operating under a revised timeline for 2026. Storylines, the company behind the residential ship, insists that the delays, while unfortunate, would eventually become opportunity for change in the sense that the extra time gained would be used to further fine-tune the idea and thus improve the experience for the owners.
The result is that plans for MV Narrative, on which construction hasn't even begun yet, have ballooned to an incredible scale, offering more amenities and more features and further sweetening the pot for wannabe residents. That's no small thing, considering the idea being sold to them was already pretty incredible.
A dream ship like no other
MV Narrative is a vessel like no other, though you might occasionally come across comparisons to The World, the only other existing example of a residential ship. Unlike The World, which caters exclusively to one-percenters (one condition to even be considered as owner is a net worth of at least $10 million), MV Narrative is more on the affordable side, being tailor-made for digital nomads, families with children, retirees, and diehard cruise lovers.
Photo: Storylines
They still need to be well-off. Prices on the MV Narrative range from $1 million to $8+ million for lifelong ownership of an apartment, but the smallest cabin can also be enjoyed on a limited lease (say, 12 or 24 years) for half of the price of buying. A rental scheme should also be announced soon, which would make the MV Narrative experience even more inclusive, price-wise.
That's just money that goes towards ownership. To actually live on this ship, you'd have to pay an additional annual fee starting at $2,600 per guest that includes everything from food and beverages to insurance, healthcare, or daily massages, if that's what you have in mind for the rest of your days.
The MV Narrative is a gigantic vessel: 741 feet (226 meters) in total length, with a beam of 98 feet (30 meters) and an interior volume of 62,000 GT spread across 18 decks. It offers 540 residences in total, with over 450 crew onboard at all times, offering all manners of services to the owners, from dining to healthcare and education.
Photo: Storylines
Think of a cruise ship designed for extended cruises, multiply it by a hundred and spread the experience over six decades, and you get the MV Narrative. This monstrous vessel isn't a floating city, like a cruise ship is, but a floating community where every aspect of everyday life is taken care of, whether we're talking wellness, health, nutrition, education, or leisure.
Amenities mentioned in the press so far range from helipads and interior marinas where owners can park their own boats to 20 restaurants, bars, and clubs. MV Narrative would also have a microbrewery, a hospital and several pharmacies, the world's first internationally accredited floating school, a pet exercise area, a post office, golf simulators and cinemas, an anti-aging clinic part of the world's largest floating wellness center, hydroponic gardens and a farmers market, you name it.
MV Narrative would use hybrid engines running on traditional fuel and liquefied natural gas to meet environmental standards, ban single-use plastics, and employ countless other measures to offset its carbon footprint.
Again, that's no small thing, considering the plan is to circumnavigate the globe for 3.5-4 years before setting off again in a never-ending cycle – the most idyllic life at sea, with leisure travels and extended port stays, and maximum comfort onboard. Storylines founder Alister Punton estimates that MV Narrative will stay afloat for the next 60 years, maybe close to 100 years with the right maintenance, but have no home port, so it'll sail non-stop.
Photo: Storylines
Doubts over the future of MV Narrative
All this sounds great on paper, and that's the biggest issue with MV Narrative: it exists only on paper. Despite the initial promised launch in 2019, the ship has blown through several deadlines, while Storylines international offices shattered one by one, investors began pulling out, and construction repeatedly failed to start.
The latest progress update is that Croatian shipyard Brodosplit, which filed for technical bankruptcy at the beginning of 2022 in the aftermath of Russian sanctions, will lay the keel in the summer of 2024 and effectively start construction in 2025. A possible delivery could take place in late 2026, but it'll be another while before the ship is ready to welcome the first owners onboard.
One problem with that is that many won't or can't wait until then. As revealed in a recent investigation by one U.S. trade publication, several owners have already backed down because they feel they might not reach the launch because of their advanced age. One of them has passed on already.
Early investors and countless former employees went on the record with their belief that MV Narrative is, if not one huge scam, at least an impossible dream. Like all impossible dreams, this vessel will never be.
Photo: Bodrosplit
It's not just that founders Alister Punton and Shannon Lee have zero experience in shipbuilding or the cruise industry but more than plenty in failed businesses and lawsuits, or the fact that the only capital Storylines ever had was the $1.5 million it raised from friends or family in 2017, or even the fact that the less likely the build becomes, the more incredible amenities they pile on.
The worst part seems to be that the entire Storylines team seems unable to coordinate and plan for a project of this magnitude. That they stand accused of lying to the future owners who rushed to put in a 10% deposit on an apartment about their money being in escrow when it isn't. That they stand accused of mishandling payments to their own employees as a way to silence the criticism. That no one in the industry believes such a ship could be built or, if it were, that it'd be able to do what Storylines says it'll do.
In September, a small number of future owners started to receive their contracts, which will require a further, non-refundable 20% of the apartment's final price. Storylines says that once it has some $70 million in cash, the actual construction on MV Narrative will begin. Where it plans to get the other $830 million, it doesn't say, but it already sounds like all this is enough to get some buyers to jump ship. Pun intended.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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