October 6, 2025 • 10 mins
A developer of residential towers in New York, Miami and Los Angeles has embarked on a new venture, with plans to spend more than $1 billion converting cruise ships into luxury condos on the seas.
Earlier this year, Russell Galbut, managing principal of developer Crescent Heights, struck a $230 million deal with Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. for a long-term lease on his first ship. Galbut said he intends to upgrade the vessel, known as the Seven Seas Navigator, and sell berths to customers who’d want to live on the ship for extended periods of time.
Crescent Seas, the new entity created for the effort, will offer 210 units on the Navigator at prices ranging from $750,000 to $8 million. Galbut aims to have the ship ready for its initial voyage in late 2026, and details his unique business plan with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. You're listening to Bloomberg
BusinessWeek with Carol Masser and Tim Steneveek on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Back in March, our Bloomberg News team reported on an
ambitious project. A developer of resident towers in New York, Miami,
and Los Angeles has planning to spend more than a
billion dollars converting cruise ships into luxury condos on the seas.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
I'll take a condo on the high season.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Okay, seven hundred and fifty thousand to eight million dollars.
The ships will travel the seas as people live on them.
That developer joins us now. Russell Galbot is managing principle
and co founder of Cress and Seas. He's also founder
of GFO Investments, also former chairperson of Norwegian Cruise Line.
He joins us from Miami. Russell welcome, How are you.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
I'm doing great? Thank you. It's nice to be with you,
Carol and Tim. Tim and Carol, nice to be with you.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Just give us an update on where you are in
the conversion of a first cruise ship to luxury condos.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Where are you in the process?
Speaker 4 (01:04):
So thank you so much. So we're through the design
phase with our partners Lasny who did the spa and
pool areas, and March and White, who did the interiors
of some of the units on board. So the design
is all done and we're in the process of now
talking to the yards in order to get all of
this work done on a timely basis and to be
(01:26):
ready for December of twenty six, which is only about
fifteen months away. So we're excited, all right.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
I spent a lot of time in a yard, and
I know it can be time.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
To spend a lot of time. Wait, a lot of time.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Where in a yard a shipyard or well a boat yard?
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Is that what you're talking about? Yeah, I thought you
meant it like a backyard. You got it.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Now, you don't spend any time on the seas, Carrol,
You have to translate this stuff.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Rust gets me, Yes, I don't. That's the story of
my life.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
I'm a sailor. I've spent a lot of time in
a yard doing work myself or waiting for somebody to
do work. So that can be kind of tricky, especially
in a day where we were supposed to get a
labor report we didn't get it. Are the workers there
that trades people, because we find that increasingly harder and
harder to find.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
No, No, the trades people are available, and you know,
all of the arts today are busy, but there's a
tremendous amount of talent. It's from Italy, from Germany, from
all of Europe, and that's predominantly where the ships are done.
And maybe one day it comes back to America, but
currently that's where it is, and we're exciting because we
have the talent, we have everybody on board, and we
(02:31):
will deliver on the product. And by the way, that's
just the first of three ships that we have planned.
So the Insignia comes in December of twenty seven and
our new build is coming in thirty two. So we're
pretty excited about what we have lined up. And as
you know, you know, the Earth's surfaces are seventy one
percent water, so while millions of Condominians are sold on land,
(02:54):
very seldom do you see any Condominions sold at sea.
So it's an exciting concept, a new indust and something
that's done very nicely because you know, it's anything that
you built in a shop is much easier than building
one off, so it's easier and more common to develop
(03:14):
a luxury cruise ship than it is a single individual condominion,
which you know, we have a lot of experience having
built condominians for over fifty years, right, But as.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
You said, someone's building from the ground up is a
lot easier than doing a retrofit. So talk to us
about what how do you change these what are they
going to be like? Are they I have been on
a big ship, I know what those rooms are like,
But what is it about somebody who buys a luxury
residence on one of your ships? What does it look like?
Speaker 4 (03:43):
So I'll tell you. One of the things that we
do is we combine cabins. So on the Navigator, for instance,
there's only one hundred and eighty nine suites and they're
true residents. So it's something magnificent that gives you the space.
You own all of the space inside your cabin, and
you share the common amenities outside of your cabin with
your fellow one hundred and eighty nine other unit owners.
(04:04):
So you sort of have to think of it as
one hundred and eighty nine private yachts together on a
five hundred and fifty five foot long ship. And the
difference is that you don't have to worry about the captain,
the first mate, the second mate, or the third mate,
because it's all done for you. And you don't have
to worry about shipping your one hundred foot ship by
one hundred foot boat to Europe because this ship is
big enough that it can go to Europe and travel
(04:26):
the entire world, go to the North Pole, South Pole,
and all of those types of places in between.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
I have to ask, though, so you have a bedroom,
I'm assuming yes you have ahead, you have a salon?
You have do you also have a galley of your
own that if you want to, you know, cooking something.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
Yeah, all units have small All residents have small, small kitchens,
but the bigger units obviously have bigger kitchens. So, and
the idea of being on board the ship is not
to cook for yourself, but to a joy the company
of the ship, to discover the world and not have
But if you listen, if you want to have a party,
(05:06):
we also have a common chef's kitchen that you can use,
and you can have a chef from the ship as well,
or you can do it all on your own, depending
on whatever you want. So, but the idea really is
to spend your time and things that are fun and
luxurious and things that you want to do. So we
have we do have a lot of amenities on board.
We have a huge library, a geographical center, observation decks,
(05:30):
beautiful pools and spa and so the content really is
to we have six different restaurants, so why would you
ever want to cook by yourself? But if you did,
we could also have any type of room service that
you want from any of the restaurants.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
So I have a few questions regarding sure, just the
general idea of living on one of these, And one
is the initial cost I mentioned is seven hundred and
fifty thousand to eight million dollars a year, but the
annual maintenance fees talk a little bit about how much
those would cost, because some cases, according to our reporting,
could be two hundred and ten thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Yes, it could be. But when you look at that number,
it's inclusive of everything, right, So it's inclusive of your
big expenses like your fuel and all of the employees
who are there on board. Everybody's going to have their
own butler and so on, so when you think about it,
it also includes your real estate taxes, your insurance and
all of those other benefits, and I was just listening
(06:26):
to the story of the chaos in the world and
everything else that was on was on your station before Carolyn,
Tim and Tim Carroll, And I'll tell you, just think
about it. This is an opportunity to be at sea
and not even worry about the world's problems. I mean,
you really, you really have your own community, and you're
discovering the cultures and communities of everywhere else in the world.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
I like the way you think when you say Tim
and Carroll or.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Carolynton, whatever, whatever you like, equal I love it.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
It is. It's great. He loves everybody.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
I want to know a little bit about the demographic here,
because I read about this and I look at it,
it seems like it's for retirees. And one thing that
we know as people do age is they do require healthcare.
And I know that people think a lot about living
in places that are close to that is close to
abundant and quality healthcare.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
How do you get them on the ship.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
Well, there's a full time doctor and two nurses on
board who will know all of your medical records. Okay,
so it's not for emergencies, but it is there, and
they're there for emergencies, not for operations or ongoing other
types of things. But I would also tell you that
I would say that you're wrong when it comes to
(07:37):
who actually buys, because there's families on board that are
buying today. Remember, the world today is quite different because
today between satellites, between Starlink and our existing satellites, our
existing satellites have gotten so much better that when you
go to the north and the South, you have absolute clarity.
So when you go to one of the conference rooms
on board, you can be in your office in Tokyo
(07:59):
or in Berlin and no one would know that you're
on a ship in Alaska. No one, because that's how
good the communications are. So you'll find that on board
we have we have two families who have bought that
are taking their children with them on a year round
cruise because they want them to experience and learn first
and the world. And what's interesting is that because of
(08:20):
COVID that the availability of materials for third grade or
second greatest, first grade is for all classes is so
much more improved.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Russell, one of the things I've got to ask, because
you're planning for a lot more ships. You mentioned one
coming out next year and then another one in another
bunch of years. Are people lining up already putting deposits
down because it's not an awsiness unless they buy it
and stick with it.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
Absolutely, we we and we are open for business. All
you have to do is just happenings dot com.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
How many have already said yep, plunked a deposit down
and said we're going to do this sign a con track.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
We have one hundred and eighty nine units, we have
thirty nine spoken for, and we're looking at selling every
single day. And again, crescenseas dot com. You can pick
your unit and you can see all the different ships
that we have, and we'd love for your for your
listeners and for your to google and crestinseas dot com
(09:21):
and find their cabin.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
I do have one other question.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Do those people treat it like a vacation house or
something and that they're not on it for long periods
of time or they're back and forth?
Speaker 1 (09:32):
And is that Carol?
Speaker 4 (09:33):
Thank you for asking that question. That's one of the
most important things that I didn't get to before, and
that is is that if you don't want we will
rent your unit for you when you're not there, just
as any other residence has it. And by the way,
if you are only on the ship, and you have
the right to come and go as much as you want,
if you're only on the ship four or five months,
your entire cost of maintenance is paid for by us
(09:56):
renting it out for you. So it's really a wonderful
opportunity to enjoy seeing the world, getting on and off
whenever you want your vacation home. And guess what. So
many people have their vacation homes in Miami, it's you know,
it's unbelievable. Or in New York, or in Los Angeles. Well,
guess what this particular home can be in all three
places in the same year. And you can enjoy all
(10:18):
three places in the same time by owning one vacation home,
not owning three vacation homes. Because we will travel the.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
World, all right, We got to run russ nice spending
some time with you. Russell galbat He is matching principal
and co founder of Crescent C's also founder of GFO Investments,
former chairperson on Norwegian Cruise Line. Joining us from Miami,
Timm and Carroll, Carolyn Tarrlyn Town, Timm and Carroll.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Okay, I like it, Tim, I like it.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Russell comeback Star and appreciate you joining us.
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. You're listening to Bloomberg
BusinessWeek with Carol Masser and Tim Steneveek on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Back in March, our Bloomberg News team reported on an
ambitious project. A developer of resident towers in New York, Miami,
and Los Angeles has planning to spend more than a
billion dollars converting cruise ships into luxury condos on the seas.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
I'll take a condo on the high season.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Okay, seven hundred and fifty thousand to eight million dollars.
The ships will travel the seas as people live on them.
That developer joins us now. Russell Galbot is managing principle
and co founder of Cress and Seas. He's also founder
of GFO Investments, also former chairperson of Norwegian Cruise Line.
He joins us from Miami. Russell welcome, How are you.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
I'm doing great? Thank you. It's nice to be with you,
Carol and Tim. Tim and Carol, nice to be with you.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Just give us an update on where you are in
the conversion of a first cruise ship to luxury condos.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Where are you in the process?
Speaker 4 (01:04):
So thank you so much. So we're through the design
phase with our partners Lasny who did the spa and
pool areas, and March and White, who did the interiors
of some of the units on board. So the design
is all done and we're in the process of now
talking to the yards in order to get all of
this work done on a timely basis and to be
(01:26):
ready for December of twenty six, which is only about
fifteen months away. So we're excited, all right.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
I spent a lot of time in a yard, and
I know it can be time.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
To spend a lot of time. Wait, a lot of time.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Where in a yard a shipyard or well a boat yard?
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Is that what you're talking about? Yeah, I thought you
meant it like a backyard. You got it.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Now, you don't spend any time on the seas, Carrol,
You have to translate this stuff.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Rust gets me, Yes, I don't. That's the story of
my life.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
I'm a sailor. I've spent a lot of time in
a yard doing work myself or waiting for somebody to
do work. So that can be kind of tricky, especially
in a day where we were supposed to get a
labor report we didn't get it. Are the workers there
that trades people, because we find that increasingly harder and
harder to find.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
No, No, the trades people are available, and you know,
all of the arts today are busy, but there's a
tremendous amount of talent. It's from Italy, from Germany, from
all of Europe, and that's predominantly where the ships are done.
And maybe one day it comes back to America, but
currently that's where it is, and we're exciting because we
have the talent, we have everybody on board, and we
(02:31):
will deliver on the product. And by the way, that's
just the first of three ships that we have planned.
So the Insignia comes in December of twenty seven and
our new build is coming in thirty two. So we're
pretty excited about what we have lined up. And as
you know, you know, the Earth's surfaces are seventy one
percent water, so while millions of Condominians are sold on land,
(02:54):
very seldom do you see any Condominions sold at sea.
So it's an exciting concept, a new indust and something
that's done very nicely because you know, it's anything that
you built in a shop is much easier than building
one off, so it's easier and more common to develop
(03:14):
a luxury cruise ship than it is a single individual condominion,
which you know, we have a lot of experience having
built condominians for over fifty years, right, But as.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
You said, someone's building from the ground up is a
lot easier than doing a retrofit. So talk to us
about what how do you change these what are they
going to be like? Are they I have been on
a big ship, I know what those rooms are like,
But what is it about somebody who buys a luxury
residence on one of your ships? What does it look like?
Speaker 4 (03:43):
So I'll tell you. One of the things that we
do is we combine cabins. So on the Navigator, for instance,
there's only one hundred and eighty nine suites and they're
true residents. So it's something magnificent that gives you the space.
You own all of the space inside your cabin, and
you share the common amenities outside of your cabin with
your fellow one hundred and eighty nine other unit owners.
(04:04):
So you sort of have to think of it as
one hundred and eighty nine private yachts together on a
five hundred and fifty five foot long ship. And the
difference is that you don't have to worry about the captain,
the first mate, the second mate, or the third mate,
because it's all done for you. And you don't have
to worry about shipping your one hundred foot ship by
one hundred foot boat to Europe because this ship is
big enough that it can go to Europe and travel
(04:26):
the entire world, go to the North Pole, South Pole,
and all of those types of places in between.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
I have to ask, though, so you have a bedroom,
I'm assuming yes you have ahead, you have a salon?
You have do you also have a galley of your
own that if you want to, you know, cooking something.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
Yeah, all units have small All residents have small, small kitchens,
but the bigger units obviously have bigger kitchens. So, and
the idea of being on board the ship is not
to cook for yourself, but to a joy the company
of the ship, to discover the world and not have
But if you listen, if you want to have a party,
(05:06):
we also have a common chef's kitchen that you can use,
and you can have a chef from the ship as well,
or you can do it all on your own, depending
on whatever you want. So, but the idea really is
to spend your time and things that are fun and
luxurious and things that you want to do. So we
have we do have a lot of amenities on board.
We have a huge library, a geographical center, observation decks,
(05:30):
beautiful pools and spa and so the content really is
to we have six different restaurants, so why would you
ever want to cook by yourself? But if you did,
we could also have any type of room service that
you want from any of the restaurants.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
So I have a few questions regarding sure, just the
general idea of living on one of these, And one
is the initial cost I mentioned is seven hundred and
fifty thousand to eight million dollars a year, but the
annual maintenance fees talk a little bit about how much
those would cost, because some cases, according to our reporting,
could be two hundred and ten thousand dollars a year.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Yes, it could be. But when you look at that number,
it's inclusive of everything, right, So it's inclusive of your
big expenses like your fuel and all of the employees
who are there on board. Everybody's going to have their
own butler and so on, so when you think about it,
it also includes your real estate taxes, your insurance and
all of those other benefits, and I was just listening
(06:26):
to the story of the chaos in the world and
everything else that was on was on your station before Carolyn,
Tim and Tim Carroll, And I'll tell you, just think
about it. This is an opportunity to be at sea
and not even worry about the world's problems. I mean,
you really, you really have your own community, and you're
discovering the cultures and communities of everywhere else in the world.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
I like the way you think when you say Tim
and Carroll or.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Carolynton, whatever, whatever you like, equal I love it.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
It is. It's great. He loves everybody.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
I want to know a little bit about the demographic here,
because I read about this and I look at it,
it seems like it's for retirees. And one thing that
we know as people do age is they do require healthcare.
And I know that people think a lot about living
in places that are close to that is close to
abundant and quality healthcare.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
How do you get them on the ship.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
Well, there's a full time doctor and two nurses on
board who will know all of your medical records. Okay,
so it's not for emergencies, but it is there, and
they're there for emergencies, not for operations or ongoing other
types of things. But I would also tell you that
I would say that you're wrong when it comes to
(07:37):
who actually buys, because there's families on board that are
buying today. Remember, the world today is quite different because
today between satellites, between Starlink and our existing satellites, our
existing satellites have gotten so much better that when you
go to the north and the South, you have absolute clarity.
So when you go to one of the conference rooms
on board, you can be in your office in Tokyo
(07:59):
or in Berlin and no one would know that you're
on a ship in Alaska. No one, because that's how
good the communications are. So you'll find that on board
we have we have two families who have bought that
are taking their children with them on a year round
cruise because they want them to experience and learn first
and the world. And what's interesting is that because of
(08:20):
COVID that the availability of materials for third grade or
second greatest, first grade is for all classes is so
much more improved.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Russell, one of the things I've got to ask, because
you're planning for a lot more ships. You mentioned one
coming out next year and then another one in another
bunch of years. Are people lining up already putting deposits
down because it's not an awsiness unless they buy it
and stick with it.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
Absolutely, we we and we are open for business. All
you have to do is just happenings dot com.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
How many have already said yep, plunked a deposit down
and said we're going to do this sign a con track.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
We have one hundred and eighty nine units, we have
thirty nine spoken for, and we're looking at selling every
single day. And again, crescenseas dot com. You can pick
your unit and you can see all the different ships
that we have, and we'd love for your for your
listeners and for your to google and crestinseas dot com
(09:21):
and find their cabin.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
I do have one other question.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Do those people treat it like a vacation house or
something and that they're not on it for long periods
of time or they're back and forth?
Speaker 1 (09:32):
And is that Carol?
Speaker 4 (09:33):
Thank you for asking that question. That's one of the
most important things that I didn't get to before, and
that is is that if you don't want we will
rent your unit for you when you're not there, just
as any other residence has it. And by the way,
if you are only on the ship, and you have
the right to come and go as much as you want,
if you're only on the ship four or five months,
your entire cost of maintenance is paid for by us
(09:56):
renting it out for you. So it's really a wonderful
opportunity to enjoy seeing the world, getting on and off
whenever you want your vacation home. And guess what. So
many people have their vacation homes in Miami, it's you know,
it's unbelievable. Or in New York, or in Los Angeles. Well,
guess what this particular home can be in all three
places in the same year. And you can enjoy all
(10:18):
three places in the same time by owning one vacation home,
not owning three vacation homes. Because we will travel the.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
World, all right, We got to run russ nice spending
some time with you. Russell galbat He is matching principal
and co founder of Crescent C's also founder of GFO Investments,
former chairperson on Norwegian Cruise Line. Joining us from Miami,
Timm and Carroll, Carolyn Tarrlyn Town, Timm and Carroll.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Okay, I like it, Tim, I like it.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Russell comeback Star and appreciate you joining us.
Hosts And Creators
Tim Stenovec
Carol Massar
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