Adequate yacht insurance takes on a whole new meaning when you learn about The World, a mega yacht or super yacht.

Have you heard the saying that size isn’t everything? Well sometimes it is definitely something to behold!

The World is the largest residential yacht; it is privately owned by a collective of people who each own one of the 165 private onboard residences. There is even a penthouse.

How big is she? Well, according to The World‘s website, she measures 644 feet in length and weighs in at a whopping 43,524 tons. She was launched in 2002 and has traveled around the Earth ever since.

While the privacy of the residents is fiercely guarded, there are said to be between 100 and 200 residents on board at any given time, as well as nearly 300 staff and crew.

Who are these owners? They won’t name names, of course, but apparently the majority are wealthy North Americans and Europeans. Roughly 20 percent would call Australia, South Africa, South America, or elsewhere home when not on The World.

While presumably the wealthy resident-owners seek adventure and relaxation in the most exotic ports of call, they do sometimes encounter adventure, like the docking of the superyacht in New Orleans recently–just in time to experience the ice storm. No word whether they had to call their yacht insurance provider for damages from the storm, however!

It’s interesting that The World is marketed as nothing like a cruise ship. A spokeswoman was quoted in an article stating that the luxury vessel’s private homes have “almost nothing in common with a cruise ship.”

While the private luxury residences are definitely unlike cruise ship cabins, it seems to the uninitiated that The World has many of the same amenities. The residents enjoy a choice of six restaurants for meals and can stay fit swimming in the pool, working out at the sports facility, playing golf (virtual and the real thing), and playing tennis. For those who want a little more relaxation in their leisure pursuits, there is a cinema and presumably dancing and live entertainment on board as well.

Certainly a ship that has owner-residents continually circumnavigate the globe to dock at hundreds of ports in as many countries trumps standard cruise lines for luxury living. And to be fair, the residents of The World decide the itinerary themselves so that is definitely distinct from a cruise ship where the rest of us pay to enjoy a pre-planned passage.

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