Monterey – That wasn’t a cruise ship parked in Monterey Bay the past few days. Monterey officials described it as everything from a “private yacht” to “a floating timeshare” or a “condo ship.”
The World is touted as a combination private yacht/luxury vacation home, boasting 165 individual condominiums on board. While it last visited the Monterey Bay in 2012, it’ll be the only cruise ship this season to dock here for multiple days.
“It’s almost like a floating timeshare,” said Wayne Dalton, parking superintendent for the city. Monterey Interim Harbormaster John Haynes said he calls it the “condo ship.”
“All the estate rooms are owned – they were sold when the ship was built” in 2002, said Haynes. “The passengers pay dues for the ship expenses every year.”
The ship doesn’t sail from one destination but instead cruises to and from many around the world. Haynes said it’s the residents who vote on what the itinerary is going to be.
“Some passengers even fly in to board it – some even live on it,” said Haynes, who because of those different scenarios could not give an exact number of those on the ship during its Monterey stop but did say its departure was set for Tuesday. Last time it arrived off of Monterey shores, it carried about 150 passengers with a staff of 250.
Passengers disembarked at Fisherman’s Wharf, going through a security area similar to a Transportation Security Agency checkpoint, which is manned by Monterey Harbor staff that strictly monitor arriving cruise ships.
The World is the third ship to visit the Monterey area so far this year. This season there are 11 cruise liner stops scheduled. That’s up from last year, according to Kim Bui-Burton, Monterey’s community services director, who noted previously that about seven or eight stops were made in 2015.
In general, cruise ship companies pay $7 per passenger to cover the cost of their arrival arrangements with the city. The city makes money in other ways too.
While a 2014 Cruise Lines International Association Cruise Industry Global Economic Impact report noted the average daily passenger spends $134.72, Haynes had no doubt “The World’s” passengers and crew members had divvied out as much or more.
“I’ve seen them – a whole bunch of people have golf bags and there’s a couple of bicycles on the ship they use,” said Haynes. “They go shopping and spend lots of money in the city.”
