Adjusting to a 140-square-foot cruise ship becomes easy after living with important others in an RV for 14 years.
So Jim and Chris Gard’s new life was a smooth sailing with a new life travelling the world on a Villa Be Odyssey, the couple said in a recent video call with the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
In the morning they wake up on a 30-year-old 480 cabin cruise ship converted by Pembroke Pines-based Odyssavie Residence and Marvel, where they can spend their days as they wish.
“You know, it’s like fantasy,” says Jim.
Chris adds: “Whenever I want to go for a short walk, I have a promenade deck and go out into the sea and watch the sunset.
Jim dismisses some of the inconveniences he endured as “first world problems.”
The ship’s StarLink Internet connection may be frozen during video calls. The magnetic strip of the room key works after the phone gets too close and disappears. Dinner is served later than the couple was used to eating.
They say they will adjust.
Gulds-Jim is 71 and Chris is 72 – they said they decided to sell their home and remove the noise, decisions and hassle that they had been on a boat and squeezed juice out of their semi-retirement at Auckland Park.
After a tryout voyage in December, they branched out over $170,000 on 15 years of options and began emptying the house. They also pay $5,000 a month for living expenses, including water and electricity, internet services, laundry, housekeeping twice a week, all meals and drinks, education and entertainment programs, and use of fitness facilities.
The ship is expected to have 425 halves in more than 140 countries over the first three and a half years of “continuous global cruise.” If they achieve that two trips, or even throughout the seven years, the couple says they will decide whether to continue or sell their cabin to someone else.
During a video call, the ship was locked in Acapulco, Mexico. This is the 10th port of the ship after Gardo climbed Cartagena, Colombia on April 20th.
After leaving Cartagena, the ship stopped at two Panama ports before piloting the Panama Canal and was anchored in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala.
Six more Mexican stops follow Acapulco before the ship “go home” at five stops in Hawaii in June. Then head to San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco before heading to Canada and Alaska in July.
Please continue being a nerd
The couple, who has been posting high-tech tip videos since 2003 as “geeks on tours,” continues to make videos on board, handling them from desks placed in the living space of a small cabin between the bed and bathroom.
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They resort to fans on new adventures by posting blog entries, videos and photos. One video shows two check bags and two carry-ons that I carried at my home in Oakland Park last month.
“Now we’re already shipping some things out to the ship,” explained Chris. “But these are all our belongings.
Other photos show arriving on the boat by taking a taxi from the airport to the cruise port. “We’re here, we’re at home!” says Chris – a fast shot sleeping inside the cabin was given when their cabin was repaired at the last minute.
Once we reached the permanent space, we wasted time dressing it in several homes, including tapestry and watercolors by Chris’ friends and wooden display cabinets made by the Amish Builder in Indiana for the RV. It’s on a desk with a keyboard tray purchased by Chris from Amazon.
However, the main attraction of the room is a large image window that shows either a huge ocean view or a harbor where the ship is docked, depending on the time of day. “That’s our travel channel,” says Chris.
Gulds says he had no problems going with him in the small cabin.
“We’ve been rubber for a long time, so it’s comfortable in a small space,” Jim says.
Chris adds. “And we’re comfortable being quiet. I think that’s important. I know the people they always have to talk to when they’re with each other. That can be a problem.”
I’m not in a hurry
Despite his enthusiasm for tourism, Chris says he stayed on the ship during some port calls.
“And I was feeling guilty about it, “Oh, here we are in Costa Rica in the forest. I haven’t seen sloths yet. We are in Guatemala, in El Salvador.”
There’s plenty of time waiting for what Chris calls “tourist” stuff. This includes excursions planned later that day to see divers on Acapulco’s famous cliffs.
And the Asian leg of the voyage began in August, with multiple stops this fall in Japan, the Philippines, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Thailand, Vietnam and India.
The August stop will take the couple to Osaka, Japan, to visit Expo 2025, the country’s first world exposition since 1970.
There’s a lot to do on the boat even without a port call. It can be difficult to make time for a nap, says Chris.
“For example, yesterday was a day at the sea and you’d think, ‘I can accomplish some of my work,’ you know, or record blog posts, write blog posts.
“So I tried to arrange it to meet her, but then, “OK, what about 2pm (for dinner)? Ah, no, there’s a dance class I want to go to at 2pm. There’s a port talk about what happens at 3pm and at 3pm.
Jim says some residents rarely leave the ship. “It’s lifestyle,” he says. “It’s not just a holiday cruise you have to go or have to go.”
Find old and new friends
The best part of the journey so far is that they are quickly discovered on the boat, meet new friends and reunite with old friends.
Before leaving Cartagena, the couple, who had been chasing Gardo online since RV Day, texted them from a celebrity ship that had just docked next to Villa Vie Odyssey.
Their first dinner onboard was spent with a couple whose website, ResidentialCruising.com, encouraged Gulds to pursue the idea of moving on a cruise ship.
And while docking in Costa Rica, they attended the wedding of Angela Halsanny and Jean Perenoni. He fell in love on the ship last summer while undergoing repairs that delayed his departure from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
“They invited everyone who lived on the ship to join,” says Chris. “We had a great time. It was just an explosion. The captain was the host and he plunged into the pool with them. It was really cool.”
