Austin Wells paid $300,000 for a 12-year lease on board the luxury residential cruise ship MV Narrative to work remotely as he travels the world.
's augmented and virtual reality division, Reality Labs, is fully remote — plans to continue to work U.S. West Coast hours as the ship visits European cities.
After some false starts — they bought and redesigned two ships that turned out to be unsuitable, either for the lifestyle residents expected or because they did not meet new environmental laws — they commissioned a new vessel. The MV Narrative is now under construction in Split, Croatia, from where it will set sail in 2025.
A sample itinerary might include three days docked in Rome, then three days in Naples, followed by stops at smaller places such as the seaside towns of Sapri and Marsala, and eventually reaching Venice before sailing on to Slovenia, Albania, Croatia, Greece and then Turkey. While the MV Narrative's units are still pricey — at around $1 million to $8 million for a life-of-vessel lease —it launched fractional ownership options in November, with a 25% share starting at around $600,000, allowing residents to stay on board for three months a year.
"I always say to people, you can come and drink pina coladas by the pool all day if you like and not lift a finger … But that gets old pretty quickly. So, you want to keep doing [the job] you do, right, so this is a way for people to be able to do that," said Punton. "That's a fundamental difference [between] us and a cruise."
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