Startup Plans to Use Regent Seven Seas Ship for Premium Residential Cruises

The operators of Villa Vie Odyssey, one of the current residential cruise ships, announced that they are launching a new company to offer a premium residential cruise ship. Named Avora Residents, they report the new company will launch in January 2028 with the current Seven Seas Navigator operated by Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

Mikael Petterson, who was the creator of Villa Vie, reports the new model “strategically positions Avora between Villa Vie Residences’ contemporary residential cruise offerings and The World’s ultra-high-net-worth maritime estates.” The new product will offer two options: life-of-ship ownership, which is priced between approximately $545,000 and $4.2 million for 242 residences on the cruise ship, and Five-Year Ownership, which starts at $219,600.

Villie Vie launched in October 2023 after a rocky start that included long delays at a shipyard in Scotland. They acquired a 30-year-old cruise ship, Braemar, from Fred. Olsen, which had been out of service since the pandemic. Renamed Odyssey, the ship is also operating a 3.5-year world cruise and recently arrived in New Zealand as the journey continues. The only other residential cruise ship is The World, which was purpose-built in 2002 and offers custom-designed luxury residences.

Avora reports it has a nine-year charter agreement with “a nominal purchase option” with Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, the parent company of Regent Seven Seas Cruises, for the Seven Seas Navigator. It also has a long-term operational agreement with NCLH and says it plans to “preserve the operational DNA” of the cruise ship by, where possible, forming relationships with key vendors and service providers to the ship.

The Seven Seas Navigator is the oldest of the cruise ships operated by the ultra-luxury cruise line and had previously been slated to leave the fleet as Regent moves forward with the construction of four ultra-luxury all-suite cruise ships with Fincantieri. The first new ship enters service in December 2026. Regent currently operates five cruise ships introduced between 2001 and 2023, while the Seven Seas Navigator was built in the mid-1990s on the hull of an incomplete Soviet navy ship.

It is a 28,800 gross ton cruise ship currently designed with accommodations for 496 passengers in 244 suites. It is 566 feet (172 meters) in length and operates with a crew of 365. Avora plans to rename the ship Lumina and is calling it the flagship of its residential platform.

It is the second time NCLH has made a deal with a startup residential cruise line for the Seven Seas Navigator. In March, a Miami-based real estate developer, Russel Galbut, announced the launch of Crescent Seas, which was to launch in December 2026 with the Navigator and later add the Insignia from Oceania Cruises. Crescent Seas reported in November 2025 that it had relinquished the charters on both ships, saying it would be too costly to convert them into residential ships and that the buyers were seeking more personalized spaces.

"Our philosophy is evolution, not disruption," said Kathy Villalba, Co-Founder & CEO of Avora Residences. Onboard, they are saying it will have a more upscale style than their first ship, Villa Vie’s Odyssey, and will introduce a culinary program for the passengers. The ship will feature destination-inspired dining concepts.

The residences will range between approximately 300 and 1,173 square feet and, according to the company, will be designed as floating homes. They report the cruise ship will undergo a full residential conversion ahead of its launch in January 2028 from Lisbon, Portugal. Plans call for the first voyage to last three years, visiting more than 140 countries and over 400 destinations. They are reporting the ship will spend up to five days in a port, and on board, it will have a dedicated communications and business center to support extended voyages.

After the first world cruise, the company reports that the owners will help to shape where the Lumina sails in the future.