Imagine touring the world, 300 ports in 150 countries, from the comfort of your own exclusive, floating home. The new ultimate in luxury is purchasing a condo on the world’s largest private residential cruise ship, the Magellan.

The 860-foot long ship features 210 units, including 16 penthouses, to keep up the tradition of exploration in the modern world aboard a 76,000-tonne, 15-deck residential cruise ship. Life will become one long, leisurely dream for the Magellan’s 1100 passengers who will be pampered by 350 crew and backed up by four restaurants.

Residences start at $2.34 million for full ownership and the two best suites, each with four bedrooms, cost $17.3 million apiece. In addition to the purchase price of each apartment, owners pay a hefty maintenance fee amounting to between 5 and 6 percent of the purchase price. Magellan also offers the unique opportunity to buy fractional ownership of one month or two weeks per year, starting at $140,000.

For many owners this is a third home and one that most use for just weeks in any given year, choosing the part of the world they want to visit or for some special occasion, including family get-togethers.

The Magellan will operate much like a cruise ship with most of the amenities one would expect to find on a luxury vessel, such as tennis court, retractable marina that goes into action as soon as the ship berths, two putting greens, an observatory, four fine dining restaurants, an all-weather heliport, Aqua Spa, casino, gourmet marketplace, microbrewery, 430-seat Broadway-style theatre, two pools and more… Owners can reach the Magellan via the ship’s two executive jet helicopters, Venetian tenders or at ports.

The Magellan will circumnavigate the globe every two years. Scheduled ports include Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Istanbul, Stockholm, New York, Miami, Rio de Janeiro, Acapulco, Vancouver, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Sydney, Bali, Honolulu and Alexandria.

The ship will be built at Aker Yards in France and is scheduled to set sail in 2010.