By Jack Cumming
It’s been some time since I wrote about the Villa Vie Odyssey, a residential cruise ship. It’s very much like a CCRC on the water. Compared to some CCRCs, it may even be a tad more desirable. Like a CCRC, residents have their own living quarters but share common areas with others. Unlike CCRCs, there is a business area where residents can work remotely. Not surprisingly, it draws a younger clientele than does the care-dominated CCRC industry.
Living At Sea Is Gaining Visibility
CBS recently broadcast a video featuring this new lifestyle. It’s a new concept, at least in the affordable approach adopted by Villa Vie Residences, the parent company that operates the Odyssey. The idea behind this start-up enterprise is to add additional ships, but for now, there is just the one. There are other residential ships, but they are for the multi-millionaire yacht class and not for ordinary folk. Villa Vie is making it work for the middle market.
The venture has not been without its hiccups. The operating enterprise is closely held, so we can’t tell how it’s working out financially. After start-up challenges, though, the venture has been sailing freely, first tentatively in Europe and the west coast of Africa, then across the Atlantic, through the Caribbean and the Panama Canal to circumnavigate South America, on to Hawaii, and most recently along the coast of Alaska.
Although I stopped reporting on the Villa Vie, I confess that I’ve remained fascinated, particularly following the living-learning journey of a couple who document their experiences with a YouTube journal called “DC Hidden Gems.” Another couple, a retired sheriff and his wife, also report as “Midlife Cruising.”
Personally, I enjoy the vicarious experience more than the reality, but that may just be my older age. I’m not as sprightly as I once was. If you’re thinking now of what you’d like to do after you no longer have to work or after you transition into the luxury of working remotely, then dipping into the Villa Vie experience may spark your dreams and your fantasies. It seems particularly to work well for solo agers, and their numbers are increasing exponentially.
Lessons for CCRC Operators
There is much for CCRC operators and investors to learn from a deep dive (no pun intended) into this intriguing new cruising lifestyle venture. First, people don’t retire like they used to. The generation that got a gold watch and a pension has gone to its reward, with the possible exception of government employees and a few lucky civilians. Most people transition into something new, even into producing YouTube videos. They need a business center, offices, and reliable internet. Villa Vie provides that. Most CCRCs do not.
Next, there is a generational cohort that you may think of as retired but who are really just looking for the next stage of their lives. They are not rocking chair retirees, as in “retirement community.” They want stimulation, and fun, and empowerment, and friends. Those years of needing care may come later, but this new cohort will think about that then, when it comes. They think of CCRCs as care homes offering assisted living and skilled nursing.
Lastly, this generation of “younger oldsters” loves services. On the Villa Vie Odyssey, talk of the food is just as prevalent as in any CCRC, and frankly, the shipboard presentation of the food looks more appealing than what is seen in many CCRCs. Surprising to me is how often residents on Villa Vie speak of the pleasure they gain from having their laundry done twice a week. Many CCRCs provide such a service as an adjunct to assisted living and skilled nursing, but at a price for independent living that makes it prohibitive.
Some years ago, the senior housing industry, led by Mather and LeadingAge, sought to change the name of its product from “Continuing Care Retirement Community” to “Life Plan Community.” I think it’s fair to say that the new name has not caught on except among officialdom. My friends all speak of living in “retirement communities,” not “plan communities.” Villa Vie simply calls it “residential living,” more than a dwelling but less than a “home for the aged.” Could that be the sweet spot for this new cohort of active oldsters?
The world is changing. People are living longer with more vitality. What they want and need differs from what was needed forty years ago. Who will lead the way toward the new reality? Not long ago, Bob Kramer called on the industry to stop thinking in 2025 as though it were still 1975. Who among you will make the first move?
PS: Personal aside. I would love nothing more than to see the CCRC, where I have lived for 18 years, become a laboratory community to test ideas for resident empowerment. The future begins with a meeting of the minds and a process for learning together.
