During
the Cannes Film Festival, the ship is slated to drop anchor near the south of
France in the Mediterranean sea. During the carnival celebration in Rio de
Janeiro, the ship plans to dock off the coast of the Brazilian city. On New
Year's Eve, cruise ship operators hope to take passengers to Sydney Harbor in
Australia to enjoy the fireworks display. Hansen previously worked as chief engineer with Crystal Cruises and Cunard.
Still, at least one attempt at launching a residential cruise ship has not been successful.
In 2002, Ocean Development Group teamed up with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts to propose a 720-foot luxury residential cruise ship to set sail in 2007. But because of financing problems, the plan fell through.
Erik Hvide, a consultant and investor with Ocean Development Group, said the company could secure commitments to buy only about 30 percent of the 112 units on the ship when the global economy began to sink.
Because the financing to build the ship was contingent on the sale of at least 60 percent of the units, he said, the project failed.
While Hvide still believes the concept of a luxury residential cruise ship can succeed, he said he doubts the current economy will support the Utopia project.
``If anything, getting financing today is more difficult than it was two years ago,'' he said.
But Robb -- a Harvard Business School graduate who co-founded Frontier Group along with Frank C. Carlucci, a defense secretary during the Reagan administration -- said he is confident that Utopia won't suffer the same fate as the Four Seasons ship.
``This ship has significant financial backing and very significant industrial partners who have enormous resources,'' he said.
Robb said Utopia Residences has already received purchase commitments for about 16 percent of the residential space on the ship.
The cabins are being sold through Prudential Douglas Elliman of New York.
Other cruise experts say that the idea of launching a residential cruise ship for the super-rich may sound irrational during tough economic times, but that the market may improve by the time Utopia launches in 2013.
``By ordering a ship now, some of the advantages are that you have less competition and lower construction prices,'' said Matthew Jacob, director of Majestic Research, an equity research firm based in New York.
But Jacob noted that the number of people who enjoy cruises and have the money to buy a ship cabin is very limited. ``It's going to be an extremely niche product,'' he said.
Still, during any economic slump there are always a few super-rich people who are willing to spend, said Jill Wlos, a cruise consultant for BuyCruises.com.
``In this economy there are still a lot of people with a lot of money that they don't know what to do with,'' she said. ``It wouldn't be too hard to find 200 people with that kind of money.'' - By Hugo Martin (Los Angeles Times Services)
