If you have ever visited a resort spa, you know how different the experience is from a hotel spa, or a day spa. At a resort spa, everyone is there for the same reason. The synergy created by an entire group of like-minded people becomes both a powerful motivator, and an environment for new and positive friendships. With the exception of themed-charters, this like-minded passenger environment did not exist in the industry - until now.

The current trend for the majority of cruise lines calls for the ship itself to be the 'destination'. We take the very opposite approach. We choose our itineraries based on where we can find the best cycling, hiking, water sports, yoga, golf, tennis, running and other active adventures. But, equally important is where can we find the best food and fresh-provisions our ship and the best wines for our passengers to enjoy, plus unique educational and personal enrichment travel experiences.

It is very unusual to 'downsize' a cruise ship. Many cruise lines cut ships in half or add additional decks to make them larger. Yet, if you ask anyone who has been on both a large ship and a smaller luxury vessel, the answer is always the same. "I prefer the smaller ship experience". By reducing the passenger capacity of a larger vessel, we can build new cabins, twice the conventional size, with beautiful large bathrooms and walk-in closets designed for all kinds of active gear and equipment.

Unlike most cruise lines, Blue World guests will not be constantly charged every time they turn around. Many of our excursions will be included in the price of our cruise; the same with restaurants, drinks, and other activities. In fact, on each 7-day sailing, we will offer three 'Signature Events". These are designed to be once-in-a-lifetime activities, both on land and onboard, and free of charge to all passengers. 

What else makes us different? We have the largest spa to passenger ratio in the cruise industry, plus the largest sports deck at sea, including a unique floating sea-water lap pool. Blue World will have better and more inclusive on-ship amenities for active passengers than any other ships afloat - by far!

We have inspected several ships to date, and have a sales agreement on one vessel that we like very much. There are a few others coming to market soon, and we will consider them as well. Our target ship has been managed by one of our investors over the past few years, so with that, we know the ship well.

We have agreed on a purchase price for this ship, and it is possible that the owner may offer some amount of financing. This is very common to the industry. It is also common practice for shipyards to offer partial financing on substantial refits or newbuilds. For now, our financial model does not anticipate any ship financing.

We started this company with very close to $500K of seed-capital in the form of short term notes. This amount covered traditional start up expenses to date. A 10% deposit will be submitted to the ship's owners within 90 days. This will secure the vessel and a delivery date will be established (ideally for end of year 2018) The ship will then undergo an extensive refit in a ship yard to be announced. It is expected that this refit will take approximately 5-6 months.

Prior to submitting this deposit, we will review the potential of all other available vessels and can, if necessary, purchase a different ship should we find one to be more suitable for our project. The ideal size vessel for our project is in the category of 20,000 - 30,000 gross registered tons (GRT). Our research shows that there are several vessels of this size that will be coming to market within the next few years. Therefore, the availability of additional ships to add to our fleet will not be an issue. 

Prior to any ship purchase, a full inspection will take place. This is carefully performed by a qualified and insured third party.

The benefits of utilizing an existing ship for this project vs. a newbuild are substantial. After refit, our per-berth cost will be approximately $160K. This is between 1/2 and 1/3 of the cost per-berth of a 4-5 star vessel. This cost allows for a lower break-even point and as operators, offers us tremendous pricing flexibility.

The current re-fit estimate is $26M USD.

There are 41M in the US alone who are considered 'conscious consumers'. These are people who eat well, exercise and are focused on healthy lifestyle choices. This number increases exponentially when you add other countries, also with a growing healthy population. These include: Europe, Canada, South America, and Asia. As we are most interested in an international audience, we will market for passengers from these countries as well. 

We anticipate that the majority of our guests will fall between the ages of 35-65. However, we will attract passengers both younger and older than that range, and they will be most welcome. 

Our product will fall into the 'specialty segment' of the cruise industry This is one of the fastest growing and highest yield (per passenger) in the industry. Over the past 5 years, the specialty segment has seen annual growth of 21% per year. 

Our target customers will be the following:

1) Past cruisers who have tried the big ship experience but (for many reasons) are looking for a smaller and more suitable cruise product that better fits their lifestyle.

2) First time passengers who have shunned the traditional cruise experience as too sedentary and are not interested in overindulging on their vacation. 

3) Sports enthusiasts who participate in our top 7 activities. These include: hikers, cyclists, runners, yoga practitioners, golfers, tennis players, water-sport athletes, and general fitness enthusiasts.

4) We will also market to adults who are looking to get into better shape. Blue World will offer a motivational environment along with an experienced team of nutritionists and exercise physiologists for coaching and lifestyle change.

5) Past active vacationers. We offer an interesting option to the growing market of bike touring, backpacking and other active vacation categories. The benefit of a ship-based program vs. traditional land-based active outfitters is the important issue of quality lodging with no need for constant packing and unpacking as you change locations. 

Our goal will be to attain one of the highest repeat rates in the industry. If passengers enjoy their trip with us on our Spain/Portugal route, we want them to return the following year and try our England/Ireland/Scotland tour.  

Our #1 job is to provide a high quality product that keeps passengers coming back!

Our crowdfunding goal is to attract 5,000 investors/early adopters to our concept. If successful, these investors, plus passengers coming from our sponsor companies and first year themed cruises, will put us at 70% occupancy prior to launch.

We will also be a travel-agent friendly product. Travel agents in the US account for the majority of today's cruise bookings.

Our sponsor companies have a combined total of over 20M followers. A small fraction of these very well targeted affluent consumers are more than enough to fill our first ship and will quickly create the need for additional vessels. 

We are working with a select group of leading media, manufacturing and service providers, each geared towards active lifestyle products. All agree that Blue World will be of interest to their consumers.

We have asked these companies to assist Blue World through a combination of promotional support and paid advertising.

Currently, we have signed contracts with some and are in final stage discussions with others. 

Each of our strategic partners can reach an audience of over 2M targeted followers. Many of these partners will be offering annual theme-based cruises targeted to their consumers. Blue World will assist in the marketing of these special events.

We have also asked our sponsor companies for their advice and support to ensure that our product offerings, both on and off our ship, are of the highest quality possible, using the best equipment and latest techniques. Our sponsors have a wealth of knowledge in their specific fields, and can provide us access to leading experts as needed.

Wherever possible, we will also be promoting our sponsors' products on board our ship as well.

Media companies are always looking for ways to create revenue. Take Outside Magazine. They have 2.5 million print readers and 5 million visitors to their website every month. If just 0.1% of their readers come on a cruise every year, that’s worth $2 $3 million in commissions to them. We’re looking for a long-term partnership with these companies. As long as they keep promoting us and writing about us, we'll keep commissioning them. If an Outside Magazine reader comes on one of those specific cruises, or cruises with us at any time, then when the reader come back and sails with us again, Outside will get the commission. We're essentially turning the media companies and manufacturers who are aligned with our product into our travel agents.

We choose our itineraries based on where we can find the best cycling, hiking, water sports, yoga, golf, tennis, running and other active adventures. But, equally important, are places where can we find the best food for fresh-provisions for our ship, the best wines for our passengers to enjoy, plus unique educational, cultural, and personal enrichment travel experiences.

Our first ship will be positioned primarily in Europe where we have an abundance of great food, wine and active shore-side options. Our plan is to change the itinerary of our ship on a monthly basis. For example; one month sailing in Spain and Portugal, then the next in France and Corsica, then move to Italy for a month, then Greece. Following this, we would re-position the ship to sail perhaps in Ireland/England/Scotland then up to the Baltic countries. We have not yet decided if we will spend an entire year in Europe and face the colder weather, or re-position the ship to either the Caribbean or South America. We will make this decision shortly.

Wow, that's a lot to write about!

Let's say we're in Corsica. The ship will have at least a dozen different things going on. If you're a runner, we'll have an early morning run starting from the ship, but guided by a local Corsican runner who will offer us the most scenic yet safest routes to take. If you like yoga, we may have a sunset yoga class at a beautiful historic Monastery overlooking the Mediterranean. Or, you may start the day with a personal trainer onboard the ship. We will have a few cycling trips planned for our passengers; each based on different skill levels and ride lengths. The same with guided hikes. Similar to running and cycling, here too we will hire local guides who know the area. If you are a golfer or tennis player we have arranged for you to play at a local country club against some of their members, and we will invite your competition back to ship for lunch.

And this all happens before lunch!

Depending on the activity, you still may have plenty of time left for local sightseeing, shopping, beach time, or to sip a beer at a local pub.

You can spend your mornings and afternoons any way you like; perhaps spend some time in our spa or salon. Or, just stay by the pool and get some sun.

In most ports of call we won't leave until evening, so if you choose to have dinner ashore - there's plenty of time. If you dine onboard, you have three themed restaurants to choose from. 

We will have live entertainment at night, movies on deck and lots of other options. 

What's most important to us is that you have fun, and leave our ship feeling better than ever!

In some cases our ship will dock, but in others we will use the ship's tenders to transport our passengers ashore. With a smaller number of passengers (as opposed to 3,000) this is easily done. Plus, tendering allows us to seek out the more exotic and interesting ports where larger ships are prohibited.

Back onboard, a smaller number of passengers will allow us to provide a 5-star level of service in terms of cabin service, restaurants, training center, spa and salon.

A more intimate environment, highly personalized service... this is hard to do with 3,000 passengers.

Our projections call for 80% occupancy in year 1, which will generate approximately $49M in revenues. If we can exceed this capacity in our starting year while maintaining a very high level of service, we will. But we will not push the 80% level until we, and our passengers, are 99% satisfied with our product. Our fixed operating costs are approximately $30M annually; this results in an operating margin of about 38%.

The clear benefit of using an existing ship vs. a newbuild is in our breakeven number. After refit, we break-even at around 53% occupancy at average per diems of $350 per person.

Our goal is to add two additional ships to our fleet within the first 5 years. This allows us to expand our inventory and spread fixed land-based expenses over a larger fleet. All of which will increase our profit margin.

In five years we hope to have three ships in operation and be the leading provider in an exciting new niche category for 'active lifestyle cruising'. We have the right funding strategy and management team to make this happen.

Gene Meehan: As founder of Blue World, I "walk the walk". My wife and I were married on top of Mount Kilimanjaro. I'm a competitive rower, and a 7-handicap golfer. I have been involved in sports and fitness all of my life, and I intend to stay active for a very long time ahead. But cruising is also part of my life. I "married into" the industry. By now, I've been on at least 50-60 ships, and in truth, I have enjoyed them all. But 9 times out of 10, I eat too much, drink too much, and don't get as much exercise as I do at home. So Blue World was created for people like me - and there's a lot us out there - who are looking for a more active, healthier vacation. 

But, I am not alone. Everyone of our partners and executive team are healthy active individuals, and we understand our market because we are the market.

So maybe we are creating a product just for us. It's possible... but why not invite the other 42M in the US that live the same way we do!

We have no control over what could go wrong in the outside world. We have seen the economy take a nosedive before, and while the cruise industry, like every other industry, slowed down, it recovered just as quickly. One thing that I have discovered from being in the health/fitness business all of my life is that even in a downturn, and sometimes especially during hard times, people tend to internalize. What's most important to them is personal health and family.

What I love most about taking a crowdfunding approach in creating our Founders Club is that we are building a community. A community that will, we hope, be loyal to us (if we do a good job) and we will be loyal to them. In good times and in bad.

We are all living a very high-stress world. It's important, it's healthy, to take a break every now and then. Yes, we are taking a different approach to cruising, but I know from 30+ years in business, sports and wellness is far past being a trend - it's a lifestyle.

Like most start-ups, cash is like kryptonite, and we have been very careful with it. To date, we’ve raised nearly $500,000 of seed capital in the form of short term notes. Our goal with crowdfunding is to attract 5,000 investors to join our Founders Club. If successful, this should raise about $4.5 million.

Following this, we will commence the sale of 26 one and two bedroom Owner Residences on our ship. To accomplish this, we have three of the largest real estate firms in the world representing us. After expenses, these sales will generate $51 million.

Finally, we have a third-round capital raise of $20 million. We currently have a commitment for 25% of this amount, but we have intentionally held off on the rest for a very good reason. Within a short time, we hope to have 5,000 Founders Club members, all with stock in our company and credits towards their first sailing. Then adding to this, 12 sports-themed cruises, hosted by our select group of leading media companies. Add this together and we have 70% occupancy before selling our first ticket. 

If/when investors ask about 'proof of concept' - there it is.

You've all heard the expression, "if you want to be successful, surround yourself with people smarter than you". Well, I am living proof of that! I am truly flattered by the amount of talented people who have joined my team and the combination of their past accomplishments.

Our CEO and Co-Founder, John B. Richards started out in the cruise industry as VP of Marketing of one of the best cruise lines ever - Royal Viking. But he didn't stop there. He went on to lead the marketing effort for Four Seasons Hotels and helped grew the company from 8 to 42 properties. While President of Starbucks he opened a store every 19 minutes taking them from 500 to 3,000 locations, all within 3 years. And after that President of Elizabeth Arden Spas.

Another of our Co-Founders Fredy Dellis, was the President and CEO of the World at ResidenSea, the successful and first-ever residential ship to enter the cruise industry. Prior to that, Fredy was President of Hertz Corporation International and the International President of Burger King. 

We have a brilliant CFO, Hal Gassenheimer. After receiving his MBA from Harvard, he spent many years with Exxon and then served as CFO for several companies in the Miami area, also serving as Treasurer for Cunard and Seabourn Cruise Lines.

Our Spa specialist Di Trieste held a top executive position at Canyon Ranch for many years, overseeing operations in Lennox, Tucson and Las Vegas.

Creative Director, Brian O'Neill has received all of the top awards in the advertising industry: 8 CLEO's and 4 Cannes Lion Awards. He has launched brands such as Apple Computer, Reebok and many others. 

Also on our development team is Mike Carroll. Mike served many years in the State Department and was appointed by President Obama as Inspector General of USAID. Over the years, Mike has managed billion dollar budgets and has supervised several international aid programs. 

Like me, Clarice Macgarvey, married into the cruise industry. Her husband Doug was the Vice president of Cunard and President of Sea Escape. Clarice is passionate about the cruise industry and excited to tell our story as the head of our in-house PR efforts.

And that's just the start... we also will be working with the top cruise industry concessions. Apollo Ship Chandlers will operate our Food/Beverage & Hotel programs; Steiner Leisure will operate our Spa and Salon operations, and Sunstone Ships, owned by one of our investors, Niels-Eric Lund, will provide our deck, engine and technical operations. 

As mentioned earlier, it is an honor for me to work with such talented individuals. All involved have joined me because they see the potential in Blue World. And all individually understand the market because they too 'walk the walk' and want to help others to do the same.

Gene Meehan

Founder