Those luxury cruises where anyone with a few grand can come aboard? Passé.
The world’s largest superyacht — dubbed the Quintessentially One — doesn’t bow it’s head for the hoi polloi. Instead, it will be a private, members-only club that allows its monied cardholders to come and go as they like.
Built by Quintessentially, a worldwide concierge service and “lifestyle management” company, the two-football-fields-long yacht will sail around the globe to events like the Cannes Film Festival, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval. If you can keep up with that geography, you’re looking at some serious seafaring.
The idea, according to co-founder Aaron Simpson, is “to cater and meet the demands of Quintessentially’s global members when they all descend on the same high-profile events which currently don’t have enough supply.”
So who exactly are their members? First, let’s establish that building this yacht will cost $311.5 million. Simpson’s company will operate the vessel and thus bear much of the expense, but “five billionaire friends have paid [$10.6 million] each towards the cost,” according to The Guardian. In return, they’ll each receive a suite, some of which will cover three floors.
But the yacht will mainly operate as a hotel, with amenities including a restaurant, pools, underwater bar, cigar storage room, wine cellar, spa and parties featuring talent worthy of the floating behemoth. As The Guardian points out, “Quintessentially has long-standing ties with artists such as Elton John, who it has booked to sing at its ultra-wealthy clients’ previous birthdays.”
Want to climb aboard? Quintessentially membership starts at $18,690, not including oceangoing accommodations, which will be around $2,500 a night.
The maiden voyage is projected for 2019-2020.
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