Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. You're listening to Bloomberg
Speaker 1: BusinessWeek with Carol Masser and Tim Steneveek on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2: Back in March, our Bloomberg News team reported on an
Speaker 2: ambitious project. A developer of resident towers in New York, Miami,
Speaker 2: and Los Angeles has planning to spend more than a
Speaker 2: billion dollars converting cruise ships into luxury condos on the seas.
Speaker 3: I'll take a condo on the high season.
Speaker 2: Okay, seven hundred and fifty thousand to eight million dollars.
Speaker 2: The ships will travel the seas as people live on them.
Speaker 2: That developer joins us now. Russell Galbot is managing principle
Speaker 2: and co founder of Cress and Seas. He's also founder
Speaker 2: of GFO Investments, also former chairperson of Norwegian Cruise Line.
Speaker 2: He joins us from Miami. Russell welcome, How are you.
Speaker 4: I'm doing great? Thank you. It's nice to be with you,
Speaker 4: Carol and Tim. Tim and Carol, nice to be with you.
Speaker 2: Just give us an update on where you are in
Speaker 2: the conversion of a first cruise ship to luxury condos.
Speaker 1: Where are you in the process?
Speaker 4: So thank you so much. So we're through the design
Speaker 4: phase with our partners Lasny who did the spa and
Speaker 4: pool areas, and March and White, who did the interiors
Speaker 4: of some of the units on board. So the design
Speaker 4: is all done and we're in the process of now
Speaker 4: talking to the yards in order to get all of
Speaker 4: this work done on a timely basis and to be
Speaker 4: ready for December of twenty six, which is only about
Speaker 4: fifteen months away. So we're excited, all right.
Speaker 3: I spent a lot of time in a yard, and
Speaker 3: I know it can be time.
Speaker 1: To spend a lot of time. Wait, a lot of time.
Speaker 3: Where in a yard a shipyard or well a boat yard?
Speaker 1: Is that what you're talking about? Yeah, I thought you
Speaker 1: meant it like a backyard. You got it.
Speaker 2: Now, you don't spend any time on the seas, Carrol,
Speaker 2: You have to translate this stuff.
Speaker 1: Rust gets me, Yes, I don't. That's the story of
Speaker 1: my life.
Speaker 3: I'm a sailor. I've spent a lot of time in
Speaker 3: a yard doing work myself or waiting for somebody to
Speaker 3: do work. So that can be kind of tricky, especially
Speaker 3: in a day where we were supposed to get a
Speaker 3: labor report we didn't get it. Are the workers there
Speaker 3: that trades people, because we find that increasingly harder and
Speaker 3: harder to find.
Speaker 4: No, No, the trades people are available, and you know,
Speaker 4: all of the arts today are busy, but there's a
Speaker 4: tremendous amount of talent. It's from Italy, from Germany, from
Speaker 4: all of Europe, and that's predominantly where the ships are done.
Speaker 4: And maybe one day it comes back to America, but
Speaker 4: currently that's where it is, and we're exciting because we
Speaker 4: have the talent, we have everybody on board, and we
Speaker 4: will deliver on the product. And by the way, that's
Speaker 4: just the first of three ships that we have planned.
Speaker 4: So the Insignia comes in December of twenty seven and
Speaker 4: our new build is coming in thirty two. So we're
Speaker 4: pretty excited about what we have lined up. And as
Speaker 4: you know, you know, the Earth's surfaces are seventy one
Speaker 4: percent water, so while millions of Condominians are sold on land,
Speaker 4: very seldom do you see any Condominions sold at sea.
Speaker 4: So it's an exciting concept, a new indust and something
Speaker 4: that's done very nicely because you know, it's anything that
Speaker 4: you built in a shop is much easier than building
Speaker 4: one off, so it's easier and more common to develop
Speaker 4: a luxury cruise ship than it is a single individual condominion,
Speaker 4: which you know, we have a lot of experience having
Speaker 4: built condominians for over fifty years, right, But as.
Speaker 3: You said, someone's building from the ground up is a
Speaker 3: lot easier than doing a retrofit. So talk to us
Speaker 3: about what how do you change these what are they
Speaker 3: going to be like? Are they I have been on
Speaker 3: a big ship, I know what those rooms are like,
Speaker 3: But what is it about somebody who buys a luxury
Speaker 3: residence on one of your ships? What does it look like?
Speaker 4: So I'll tell you. One of the things that we
Speaker 4: do is we combine cabins. So on the Navigator, for instance,
Speaker 4: there's only one hundred and eighty nine suites and they're
Speaker 4: true residents. So it's something magnificent that gives you the space.
Speaker 4: You own all of the space inside your cabin, and
Speaker 4: you share the common amenities outside of your cabin with
Speaker 4: your fellow one hundred and eighty nine other unit owners.
Speaker 4: So you sort of have to think of it as
Speaker 4: one hundred and eighty nine private yachts together on a
Speaker 4: five hundred and fifty five foot long ship. And the
Speaker 4: difference is that you don't have to worry about the captain,
Speaker 4: the first mate, the second mate, or the third mate,
Speaker 4: because it's all done for you. And you don't have
Speaker 4: to worry about shipping your one hundred foot ship by
Speaker 4: one hundred foot boat to Europe because this ship is
Speaker 4: big enough that it can go to Europe and travel
Speaker 4: the entire world, go to the North Pole, South Pole,
Speaker 4: and all of those types of places in between.
Speaker 3: I have to ask, though, so you have a bedroom,
Speaker 3: I'm assuming yes you have ahead, you have a salon?
Speaker 3: You have do you also have a galley of your
Speaker 3: own that if you want to, you know, cooking something.
Speaker 4: Yeah, all units have small All residents have small, small kitchens,
Speaker 4: but the bigger units obviously have bigger kitchens. So, and
Speaker 4: the idea of being on board the ship is not
Speaker 4: to cook for yourself, but to a joy the company
Speaker 4: of the ship, to discover the world and not have
Speaker 4: But if you listen, if you want to have a party,
Speaker 4: we also have a common chef's kitchen that you can use,
Speaker 4: and you can have a chef from the ship as well,
Speaker 4: or you can do it all on your own, depending
Speaker 4: on whatever you want. So, but the idea really is
Speaker 4: to spend your time and things that are fun and
Speaker 4: luxurious and things that you want to do. So we
Speaker 4: have we do have a lot of amenities on board.
Speaker 4: We have a huge library, a geographical center, observation decks,
Speaker 4: beautiful pools and spa and so the content really is
Speaker 4: to we have six different restaurants, so why would you
Speaker 4: ever want to cook by yourself? But if you did,
Speaker 4: we could also have any type of room service that
Speaker 4: you want from any of the restaurants.
Speaker 2: So I have a few questions regarding sure, just the
Speaker 2: general idea of living on one of these, And one
Speaker 2: is the initial cost I mentioned is seven hundred and
Speaker 2: fifty thousand to eight million dollars a year, but the
Speaker 2: annual maintenance fees talk a little bit about how much
Speaker 2: those would cost, because some cases, according to our reporting,
Speaker 2: could be two hundred and ten thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 4: Yes, it could be. But when you look at that number,
Speaker 4: it's inclusive of everything, right, So it's inclusive of your
Speaker 4: big expenses like your fuel and all of the employees
Speaker 4: who are there on board. Everybody's going to have their
Speaker 4: own butler and so on, so when you think about it,
Speaker 4: it also includes your real estate taxes, your insurance and
Speaker 4: all of those other benefits, and I was just listening
Speaker 4: to the story of the chaos in the world and
Speaker 4: everything else that was on was on your station before Carolyn,
Speaker 4: Tim and Tim Carroll, And I'll tell you, just think
Speaker 4: about it. This is an opportunity to be at sea
Speaker 4: and not even worry about the world's problems. I mean,
Speaker 4: you really, you really have your own community, and you're
Speaker 4: discovering the cultures and communities of everywhere else in the world.
Speaker 1: I like the way you think when you say Tim
Speaker 1: and Carroll or.
Speaker 3: Carolynton, whatever, whatever you like, equal I love it.
Speaker 1: It is. It's great. He loves everybody.
Speaker 2: I want to know a little bit about the demographic here,
Speaker 2: because I read about this and I look at it,
Speaker 2: it seems like it's for retirees. And one thing that
Speaker 2: we know as people do age is they do require healthcare.
Speaker 2: And I know that people think a lot about living
Speaker 2: in places that are close to that is close to
Speaker 2: abundant and quality healthcare.
Speaker 1: How do you get them on the ship.
Speaker 4: Well, there's a full time doctor and two nurses on
Speaker 4: board who will know all of your medical records. Okay,
Speaker 4: so it's not for emergencies, but it is there, and
Speaker 4: they're there for emergencies, not for operations or ongoing other
Speaker 4: types of things. But I would also tell you that
Speaker 4: I would say that you're wrong when it comes to
Speaker 4: who actually buys, because there's families on board that are
Speaker 4: buying today. Remember, the world today is quite different because
Speaker 4: today between satellites, between Starlink and our existing satellites, our
Speaker 4: existing satellites have gotten so much better that when you
Speaker 4: go to the north and the South, you have absolute clarity.
Speaker 4: So when you go to one of the conference rooms
Speaker 4: on board, you can be in your office in Tokyo
Speaker 4: or in Berlin and no one would know that you're
Speaker 4: on a ship in Alaska. No one, because that's how
Speaker 4: good the communications are. So you'll find that on board
Speaker 4: we have we have two families who have bought that
Speaker 4: are taking their children with them on a year round
Speaker 4: cruise because they want them to experience and learn first
Speaker 4: and the world. And what's interesting is that because of
Speaker 4: COVID that the availability of materials for third grade or
Speaker 4: second greatest, first grade is for all classes is so
Speaker 4: much more improved.
Speaker 3: Russell, one of the things I've got to ask, because
Speaker 3: you're planning for a lot more ships. You mentioned one
Speaker 3: coming out next year and then another one in another
Speaker 3: bunch of years. Are people lining up already putting deposits
Speaker 3: down because it's not an awsiness unless they buy it
Speaker 3: and stick with it.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, we we and we are open for business. All
Speaker 4: you have to do is just happenings dot com.
Speaker 3: How many have already said yep, plunked a deposit down
Speaker 3: and said we're going to do this sign a con track.
Speaker 4: We have one hundred and eighty nine units, we have
Speaker 4: thirty nine spoken for, and we're looking at selling every
Speaker 4: single day. And again, crescenseas dot com. You can pick
Speaker 4: your unit and you can see all the different ships
Speaker 4: that we have, and we'd love for your for your
Speaker 4: listeners and for your to google and crestinseas dot com
Speaker 4: and find their cabin.
Speaker 1: I do have one other question.
Speaker 3: Do those people treat it like a vacation house or
Speaker 3: something and that they're not on it for long periods
Speaker 3: of time or they're back and forth?
Speaker 1: And is that Carol?
Speaker 4: Thank you for asking that question. That's one of the
Speaker 4: most important things that I didn't get to before, and
Speaker 4: that is is that if you don't want we will
Speaker 4: rent your unit for you when you're not there, just
Speaker 4: as any other residence has it. And by the way,
Speaker 4: if you are only on the ship, and you have
Speaker 4: the right to come and go as much as you want,
Speaker 4: if you're only on the ship four or five months,
Speaker 4: your entire cost of maintenance is paid for by us
Speaker 4: renting it out for you. So it's really a wonderful
Speaker 4: opportunity to enjoy seeing the world, getting on and off
Speaker 4: whenever you want your vacation home. And guess what. So
Speaker 4: many people have their vacation homes in Miami, it's you know,
Speaker 4: it's unbelievable. Or in New York, or in Los Angeles. Well,
Speaker 4: guess what this particular home can be in all three
Speaker 4: places in the same year. And you can enjoy all
Speaker 4: three places in the same time by owning one vacation home,
Speaker 4: not owning three vacation homes. Because we will travel the.
Speaker 3: World, all right, We got to run russ nice spending
Speaker 3: some time with you. Russell galbat He is matching principal
Speaker 3: and co founder of Crescent C's also founder of GFO Investments,
Speaker 3: former chairperson on Norwegian Cruise Line. Joining us from Miami,
Speaker 3: Timm and Carroll, Carolyn Tarrlyn Town, Timm and Carroll.
Speaker 1: Okay, I like it, Tim, I like it.
Speaker 2: Russell comeback Star and appreciate you joining us.