Front Page News: Full Time Living on a Cruise Ship.
It must have been a slow news day! An article about our life and plans to live on the Villa Vie Odyssey Residential cruise ship made the front page of our local paper.
It also ran in the online version of the paper. A subscription is required to read it, but since we have a subscription, we are able to give you a 'gift' link that will work for free.
Full Time Living on a Cruise Ship? Florida Couple goes All In.
 |
If you can't read the online version, here are the photos I took of the print version:
You should be able to click to zoom in and read it. Or, here is the text as grabbed by Googl Keep:
Fulltime living on a cruise ship?
footame winner or the Pulitzer Prize
Gold Medal for Public Service
SOUTH FLORIDA
SunSentinel
SUNSENTINEL.COM
MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2025
ORLD
Chris and Jim Guld show a photograph from their travels in New Zealand and the map marked with the places they've traveled. The pair will take their
YouTube show, Geeks on Tour, to the Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship where they will live full-time. AMY BETH BENNETT/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL
Full-time living on a cruise ship?
By Ron Hurtibise
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Oakland Park residents Jim
and Chris Guld are about to sell
their home and travel around the
world, living full time aboard a
cruise ship called Villa Vie Odys-
sey.
Will it be exciting? Yes. Expen-
sive? Kind of. Tight?
Well, the Gulds say they're not
worried about feeling cramped
inside of a 140-square-foot state-
room for the 15-year option they
just purchased. They recently
spent 14 years together in a recre-
ational vehicle, hitting each of the
lower 48 states.
"We will not be in our room
very much," Chris says. "Every
morning I plan to walk up the
three decks to the gym where
there's an exercise class. And
there's the buffet where we will
eat, and there's entertainment in
the afternoon."
That might get boring after
awhile if not for the port calls.
The ship's itinerary includes
stops at 425 ports in more than
140 countries over the 31/2-year
"Continual World Cruise." The
Gulds plan to get on the ship
Turn to Cruising, Page 3
Cruising
from Page 1
during its April 20 stop at the Colombian
port of Cartagena and stay aboard for at least
seven years, and longer if they love it.
The ship is currently in its seventh month
sailing as the flagship of a Pembroke Pines-
based company called Villa Vie Residences
that the Gulds say offers the only affordable
option for living on the sea. The company
caters to people who truly want to get away
from it all while still remaining connected
through the Starlink internet service.
Mikael Petterson, the company's chair-
man, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on
Friday that 354 of 480 cabins have been sold
to longterm residents since the company
purchased the Villa Vie Odyssey, built in
1993, from Fred Olsen Cruise Lines in 2023.
"We are looking forward to having Jim
and Chris onboard," Petterson said. "We are
sure they will love it."
A life of tech and travel
together
The Gulds seem uniquely well-suited for
permanent life aboard a cruise ship.
They met while Chris, now 72, operated a
computer training center called Computer
Savvy on Oakland Park Boulevard with her
mother in the 1980s and 90s. Local compa-
nies would send employees for training on
programs like WordPerfect, Novell NetWare,
and Microsoft's Excel and Access.
Jim, now 71, worked for a Deerfield Beach
company, building, installing and network-
ing personal computers. Chris purchased
computers from the company for her train-
ing center, and Jim showed up to service
them.
"So he had to keep coming back," Chris
said. Eventually, Chris hired Jim away from
his company to focus full-time on her busi-
ness.
They bonded over their mutual love
of scuba diving, computers and travel. A
few years after Chris sold the center and
"retired" in the late 1990s, they sold their
first Oakland Park house and bought an RV.
They spent 14 years from 2003 to 2017 trav-
eling the country, holding seminars to teach
RV enthusiasts how to get on the internet,
and creating computer training videos for a
company they founded called Geeks on Tour.
Subscribers to the Geeks on Tour website
get access to a long list of class presentations,
learning guides and tips. But anyone can
click on more than 900 videos the couple has
posted over the years, mostly while wearing
their trademark propeller beanies.
Their earliest videos were a mix of trav-
elogues and tutorials for types of software
that travelers would use to take, upload and
geotag photos, set up travel blogs, assign
drive letters to external USB drives, and
navigate highways.
More recently, their videos focus on
smartphone apps, including how to shoot
time-lapse video, use Google's photo app,
Sun Sentinel | Section 1 | Monday, March 31, 2025
of Tour
Chris and Jim Guld are shown in their Oakland Park home with photographs of the RV in which they lived and toured North America for 14 years
and the Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship they plan to live aboard full-time beginning next month. AMY BETH BENNETT/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL
communicate over Zoom, and use WiFi call-
ing if cellular service goes down.
Video bloggers amok
After seven years in another Oakland Park
home, the couple is itching to travel again
but without the headaches of traffic and
shopping.
The Gulds plan to continue to post train-
ing videos from the ship that show how.
they respond to challenges that arise as they
visit the various ports on the ship's itiner-
ary. They've already started sharing their
plans with their 16,700 YouTube subscrib-
ers and just under 1,000 paid Geeks on Tour
members.
They won't be alone using the internet to
work on the ship, Jim says. A large number
of the ship's cabins are occupied by solo
travelers who make their livings working
remotely.
Like the Gulds, many shoot and post
videos. A search for the ship on YouTube
turns up several accounts - Living Life on
a Cruise, MidLife Cruising, and DC Hidden
Gems-by residents documenting their lives
aboard the ship.
The cruise line offers a variety of pricing
options, depending on the chosen size of
living quarters and tour length.
Residents can purchase for up to 15 years or
rent their cabins for shorter periods. Purchas-
ers have the option of selling back unused
portions of their residency terms, trading up
to larger, more expensive cabins, or leasing
or selling their space "with the potential of
receiving a net return on your investment,"
according to the company's website.
The Gulds learned about the ship by
following one of its residents, Randy Cass-
ingham, longtime author of an online
entertainment newsletter, This is True.
Cassingham started a blog called Residen-
tial Cruising after moving aboard the Villa
Vie Odyssey last year.
"Jim said, 'Take a look at this website about
living on a cruise ship," Chris said. "And I
looked at it and said, 'OK!"
Finding right price
The couple said said they were initially
interested in buying a cabin with a balcony.
But the company wanted $340,000 for a
balcony cabin, plus $8,000 a month for
amenities such as food, entertainment,
health-club use and laundry services.
During a weeklong "try before you buy"
sailing, the Gulds tried out a 140-square-foot
cabin with a window and no balcony.
"Thankfully, I decided that I liked that
because that was only $170,000 up front and
$5,000 a month," Chris said. "At that rate, we
might actually be saving money compared to
all that we spent on travel last year."
While on the "try it" trip, the couple says
they met and were impressed with many of
the residents who are experts in their chosen
fields. They keep each other entertained by
giving seminars and TED talks, the Gulds
said.
"One guy used to be an emergency medi-
cal technician, so he gave a talk about what
that's like," Chris said. "One was a marine
biologist that gave a talk about whales."
One amenity that won't be available: casi-
nos. "They actually had a poll," Jim said,
"and they asked the residents if they would
consider having a casino. And they said, not
just 'no.""
"They said, 'hell, no," added Chris.
Not everyone was happy about the Gulds'
life-changing decision. While Chris has no
children, Jim has a son from his previous
marriage who lives near the couple.
"He was not for it at all at the very begin-
ning when he first heard about it," Jim said.
"He thought that it was just a horrible thing
that we were going to leave him."
"But hey, he's 44 years old, you know?"
Chris said.
She added, "We're still, in our opinion,
fairly young. And we're healthy, but we we're
definitely getting older, so if we want to have
one more chapter in our adventure, this is
the time to do it. This is the next chapter"
Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer
issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He
by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.
can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071 or
footame winner or the Pulitzer Prize
Gold Medal for Public Service
SOUTH FLORIDA
SunSentinel
SUNSENTINEL.COM
MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2025
ORLD
Chris and Jim Guld show a photograph from their travels in New Zealand and the map marked with the places they've traveled. The pair will take their
YouTube show, Geeks on Tour, to the Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship where they will live full-time. AMY BETH BENNETT/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL
Full-time living on a cruise ship?
By Ron Hurtibise
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Oakland Park residents Jim
and Chris Guld are about to sell
their home and travel around the
world, living full time aboard a
cruise ship called Villa Vie Odys-
sey.
Will it be exciting? Yes. Expen-
sive? Kind of. Tight?
Well, the Gulds say they're not
worried about feeling cramped
inside of a 140-square-foot state-
room for the 15-year option they
just purchased. They recently
spent 14 years together in a recre-
ational vehicle, hitting each of the
lower 48 states.
"We will not be in our room
very much," Chris says. "Every
morning I plan to walk up the
three decks to the gym where
there's an exercise class. And
there's the buffet where we will
eat, and there's entertainment in
the afternoon."
That might get boring after
awhile if not for the port calls.
The ship's itinerary includes
stops at 425 ports in more than
140 countries over the 31/2-year
"Continual World Cruise." The
Gulds plan to get on the ship
Turn to Cruising, Page 3
Cruising
from Page 1
during its April 20 stop at the Colombian
port of Cartagena and stay aboard for at least
seven years, and longer if they love it.
The ship is currently in its seventh month
sailing as the flagship of a Pembroke Pines-
based company called Villa Vie Residences
that the Gulds say offers the only affordable
option for living on the sea. The company
caters to people who truly want to get away
from it all while still remaining connected
through the Starlink internet service.
Mikael Petterson, the company's chair-
man, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on
Friday that 354 of 480 cabins have been sold
to longterm residents since the company
purchased the Villa Vie Odyssey, built in
1993, from Fred Olsen Cruise Lines in 2023.
"We are looking forward to having Jim
and Chris onboard," Petterson said. "We are
sure they will love it."
A life of tech and travel
together
The Gulds seem uniquely well-suited for
permanent life aboard a cruise ship.
They met while Chris, now 72, operated a
computer training center called Computer
Savvy on Oakland Park Boulevard with her
mother in the 1980s and 90s. Local compa-
nies would send employees for training on
programs like WordPerfect, Novell NetWare,
and Microsoft's Excel and Access.
Jim, now 71, worked for a Deerfield Beach
company, building, installing and network-
ing personal computers. Chris purchased
computers from the company for her train-
ing center, and Jim showed up to service
them.
"So he had to keep coming back," Chris
said. Eventually, Chris hired Jim away from
his company to focus full-time on her busi-
ness.
They bonded over their mutual love
of scuba diving, computers and travel. A
few years after Chris sold the center and
"retired" in the late 1990s, they sold their
first Oakland Park house and bought an RV.
They spent 14 years from 2003 to 2017 trav-
eling the country, holding seminars to teach
RV enthusiasts how to get on the internet,
and creating computer training videos for a
company they founded called Geeks on Tour.
Subscribers to the Geeks on Tour website
get access to a long list of class presentations,
learning guides and tips. But anyone can
click on more than 900 videos the couple has
posted over the years, mostly while wearing
their trademark propeller beanies.
Their earliest videos were a mix of trav-
elogues and tutorials for types of software
that travelers would use to take, upload and
geotag photos, set up travel blogs, assign
drive letters to external USB drives, and
navigate highways.
More recently, their videos focus on
smartphone apps, including how to shoot
time-lapse video, use Google's photo app,
Sun Sentinel | Section 1 | Monday, March 31, 2025
of Tour
Chris and Jim Guld are shown in their Oakland Park home with photographs of the RV in which they lived and toured North America for 14 years
and the Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship they plan to live aboard full-time beginning next month. AMY BETH BENNETT/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL
communicate over Zoom, and use WiFi call-
ing if cellular service goes down.
Video bloggers amok
After seven years in another Oakland Park
home, the couple is itching to travel again
but without the headaches of traffic and
shopping.
The Gulds plan to continue to post train-
ing videos from the ship that show how.
they respond to challenges that arise as they
visit the various ports on the ship's itiner-
ary. They've already started sharing their
plans with their 16,700 YouTube subscrib-
ers and just under 1,000 paid Geeks on Tour
members.
They won't be alone using the internet to
work on the ship, Jim says. A large number
of the ship's cabins are occupied by solo
travelers who make their livings working
remotely.
Like the Gulds, many shoot and post
videos. A search for the ship on YouTube
turns up several accounts - Living Life on
a Cruise, MidLife Cruising, and DC Hidden
Gems-by residents documenting their lives
aboard the ship.
The cruise line offers a variety of pricing
options, depending on the chosen size of
living quarters and tour length.
Residents can purchase for up to 15 years or
rent their cabins for shorter periods. Purchas-
ers have the option of selling back unused
portions of their residency terms, trading up
to larger, more expensive cabins, or leasing
or selling their space "with the potential of
receiving a net return on your investment,"
according to the company's website.
The Gulds learned about the ship by
following one of its residents, Randy Cass-
ingham, longtime author of an online
entertainment newsletter, This is True.
Cassingham started a blog called Residen-
tial Cruising after moving aboard the Villa
Vie Odyssey last year.
"Jim said, 'Take a look at this website about
living on a cruise ship," Chris said. "And I
looked at it and said, 'OK!"
Finding right price
The couple said said they were initially
interested in buying a cabin with a balcony.
But the company wanted $340,000 for a
balcony cabin, plus $8,000 a month for
amenities such as food, entertainment,
health-club use and laundry services.
During a weeklong "try before you buy"
sailing, the Gulds tried out a 140-square-foot
cabin with a window and no balcony.
"Thankfully, I decided that I liked that
because that was only $170,000 up front and
$5,000 a month," Chris said. "At that rate, we
might actually be saving money compared to
all that we spent on travel last year."
While on the "try it" trip, the couple says
they met and were impressed with many of
the residents who are experts in their chosen
fields. They keep each other entertained by
giving seminars and TED talks, the Gulds
said.
"One guy used to be an emergency medi-
cal technician, so he gave a talk about what
that's like," Chris said. "One was a marine
biologist that gave a talk about whales."
One amenity that won't be available: casi-
nos. "They actually had a poll," Jim said,
"and they asked the residents if they would
consider having a casino. And they said, not
just 'no.""
"They said, 'hell, no," added Chris.
Not everyone was happy about the Gulds'
life-changing decision. While Chris has no
children, Jim has a son from his previous
marriage who lives near the couple.
"He was not for it at all at the very begin-
ning when he first heard about it," Jim said.
"He thought that it was just a horrible thing
that we were going to leave him."
"But hey, he's 44 years old, you know?"
Chris said.
She added, "We're still, in our opinion,
fairly young. And we're healthy, but we we're
definitely getting older, so if we want to have
one more chapter in our adventure, this is
the time to do it. This is the next chapter"
Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer
issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He
by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.
can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071 or
