For the next four years, some voters are fleeing the country on a cruise.
Villa Vie Residences is offering the Tour La Vie program, a residential cruise where people have the flexibility to join for up to four years. Travelers will have the chance to visit over 140 countries while avoiding the US, and potentially a president they did not vote for.
“We came up with this marketing campaign before we even knew who would win. Regardless of who would have won, you would have half of the population upset,” Mikael Petterson, the chief executive officer, told Newsweek.”Quite frankly, we don’t have a political view one way or the other. We just wanted to give people who feel threatened to have a way to get out.”
Mikael Petterson/AP Photo/Evan Vucci
The Tour La Vie program starts at just under $40,000 per year. There are four different offers to “Escape from Reality” for a year, the “Mid-term Selection” for two years, “Everywhere but Home” for three, and the full four-year experience to “Skip Forward.”
The four-year “Skip Forward” option, which would allow residents to essentially not be in the U.S. for the President-elect Donald Trump administration, costs $256,000 for single occupancy or $320,000 for two, according to the company’s website.
The one-year cruise is about 30 percent of the cost, at $80,000 for singles or $50,000 per person for more.
Petterson said his company is already experiencing three times the call load after announcing the cruise a few days ago, with a “huge uptick” in calls and leads. Typically, the average buy-in takes two to three weeks, so it will still take time to see how quickly the excursion sells out.
With 425 ports, Petterson said residents are able to “pick up new adventures along the way.”
Villa Vie Odyssey will spend a month in the Caribbean before embarking on a four-month South American journey including two Panama Canal transits, as well as two World Wonders, the Chilean Fjords, an Antarctic sail-by, Carnival in Rio and an eight-day endeavor in the Amazon River.
Mikael Petterson
And even though a resident could be on board for the midterms and presidential election in 2028, travelers have a way to still cast their votes. With mail sent to the corporate office and then to the ship, the resident on board now did vote.
The cruise also hosted two separate watch parties on board for Election Night: one watching Fox News and the other viewing MSNBC.
“They didn’t want to talk to one another,” Petterson said. “They wanted to stay away from one another. At the end of the day everyone there isn’t there to talk politics. They actually have similar lifestyles. There wasn’t any sort of issues or anything.”
The cruise can home up to about 650 residents, Petterson said. The cruise typically sees three “distinct groups,” of residents, from retirees, with the oldest being 92 years old; those who are semi-retired; and the youngest group being the digital nomads.
Mikael Petterson
“It’s really cool how the community, old and young are coming together,” Petterson said.
Villa Vie Odyssey just entered the second month of its 15-year tour around the world, where the ship will visit all seven continents, 13 World Wonders and over 100 tropical islands.
Other perks include a free first medical consultation and bi-weekly housekeeping services. All food and drinks are also a part of the price. There is also high-speed internet, and the option to invite friends and family aboard for $129 a day.
“I think the world cruising market is growing and growing and having the ability to completely disconnect from the world and still be connected with our internet and Wi-Fi and invite your friends on board,” Petterson said. “It really helps your ability to really live this lifestyle and still stay connected with your friends and family.”
