One of my loyal readers, Solanghe Sarlo, passed on a tip to visit the S.S. Galaxy. She said:

It is a residential cruise ship and is still under construction but it is amazing!

And she was right: it is, indeed, amazing! Not like anything I’ve ever seen in SL, and well worth a visit.

The S.S. Galaxy is a luxury cruise ship. It has shops, residences and activities. It is three sims long … and still under construction!

Here you see the dining area that overlooks the ballroom under the dome at the stern of the ship. This must be beautiful at night with the stars out. (Make a note, bring Sherpa here to dance.) The era of the great cruise ships may have gone, but the Galaxy is here to remind us of it. Sherpa is always talking to me about how grand the cruise liners were, in their day – she even has books about them – but I’m not sure I ever took her seriously until this visit. This is, indeed, grand!

And here, unlike what you’ll see on a real cruise ship, you have a large open area. The corridors open on to the residential areas. You can see the incredible attention to detail, from the stained glass in the ceiling, reminiscent of the Titantic, to the beautiful curves of the balconies and the seating area two decks below.

Up on the top deck we have an enclosed ice skating rink.

But the biggest surprise of all was what greeted me in the lobby. The S.S. Galaxy is staffed with, well, “live” avatars! These are Second Life residents who are presumably employed to run the ship and make sure the residents’ needs are met. And they are incredibly nice and helpful.

I met up with Captain Seaton Skolnick, and cruise staff Arkady Yost, Kelli Forcella and Bella LaSalle. We all chatted for quite some time, they made sure all my questions were answered.

Seeker Gray: This is an amazing place
Arkady Yost: Thank you
Seeker Gray: Are you the builders?
Arkady Yost: No, that’d be Bill Stirling, Ziggy Puff, Satu. Bill Stirling is the main builder. It began in mid-March, and was slated to be a cruise ship for people to live on, shop on, and enjoy
Seeker Gray: Mid-March? That is amazing.
Arkady Yost: So far, it features an ice rink, a holodeck, a casino, mall, residential area, garden, pool, and a poolhall. It’ll have a theatre, and I believe a gym in it, too. There’s also a club in the works. Oh, and the spa.

Captain Skolnick was quite a humorous chap:

Arkady Yost: Seeker, this is Seaton, our Captain
Seaton Skolnick: Hi Seeker, welcome aboard
Seeker Gray: Hello Captain Seaton. Wonderful vessel!
Seaton Skolnick: i can’t seem to get her to move, though. Scotty says not enough power in the universe!
Seeker Gray: Have you tried raising the anchor?
Seaton Skolnick: Raising the anchor? Nobody told me about the anchor. Why was i not informed of this?
Arkady Yost: At 650 meters long, that’s one heavy anchor.

Gregg Atlantis, who was not part of my little press junket, was warmly welcomed and included. This was just a harbinger of great service I think we’ll come to associate with staff of the S.S. Galaxy.

Seeker Gray: When do you expect to complete her?
Arkady Yost: June is the current eta
Seaton Skolnick: June is a good launching month, good karma.
Arkady Yost nods
Seeker Gray: Truly impressive.
Seaton Skolnick: I have a bottle of nice champagne for the christening.
Arkady Yost: I believe we’re shooting for a grand opening for our ballroom on the 21st. We also plan fireworks shows, a live jazz band opening night.

And as for the staffing levels:

Seeker Gray: This is my second time here, I was here earlier today. Both times this area was staffed. That is impressive customer service.
Arkady Yost: Thank you :)
Seeker Gray: Is this area always staffed?
Arkady Yost: You’ll find that if you need anything, Seeker, we try to make sure we help.
Seaton Skolnick: The goal ultimately would be to have it staffed
Arkady Yost: So feel free to ask us.
Seaton Skolnick: Since it is three sims, chances are staff are in one of the three sims.

And they even harken back to the days of the grand ocean liners.

Seaton Skolnick: I would say ship will be the closest thing to a RL ocean liner on all of Second Life. It just doesn’t get any more top notch than the Galaxy. The Galaxy is not intended to be a replica of any ship…
Seeker Gray: No?
Seaton Skolnick: But she takes details from some of the world’s great ocean liners. The furniture from the lounges is similar to what was found on the Normandie which in my opinion was the most beautiful ship to ever put to sea.
Seeker Gray: Sherpa actually sailed on the 1961 France as a child.
Seaton Skolnick: Wow. She had a nasty roll, in the ocean. The French had a phrase to describe it. It was Bon Rigeur Bon Marche… can’t remember the spelling. Loose translation was you have to make a little roll to make a little speed.
Seeker Gray: Too good!
Seaton Skolnick: It was there way saying it was a part of the ship’s character and they weren’t about to do anything to change it.

Seaton Skolnick: Of course- the concept of a dockside entertainment ship is from the Queen Mary in Long Beach.
Seeker Gray: Indeed.
Seaton Skolnick: You can have all the grandeur of an ocean liner but still make it accessible to the general public. SL for a lot of people is about getting away from the hassles of RL.
Arkady Yost: Indeed
Seaton Skolnick: What better way to get away than a cruise?
Seeker Gray: It is, yes. Making things accessible to all.
Arkady Yost: We even have a relaxing holodeck
Kelli Forcella agress
Arkady Yost: A few lounges
Seaton Skolnick: I love the holodeck.
Arkady Yost: The ballroom lounge has a buffet table. In short, we tried for relaxation and vacation feeling for the general purpose.
Seaton Skolnick: The concept of living aboard a ship in a condo…ResidenSEA

Long-time readers will realize that I don’t normally review malls or rental housing but the S.S. Galaxy is more than that, much more. It promises a level of service that I’ve not encountered in Second Life, and even if that doesn’t interest you, the ship is worth visiting for the build alone. You can board at S.S. Galaxy Boarding Gangway.

Just a bit of relaxing by the pool before I go…