Life on a cruise ship... without being all at sea

We’re enjoying a brief diversion from our usual posts today and venturing into the world of online gaming – but still with a luxury travel slant! Have you ever wondered what it’s like to go on a cruise but never plucked up the courage? Perhaps you’ve been fearful of sea sickness or being restricted to the confines of a ship? Well, fear not… now you can get a taste – albeit virtually – for what it might be like.

Surreal Games, LLC have launched an interesting Kickstarter project for a new virtual world – one that starts on, and is focused upon – a cruise ship. After 18 months of hard graft, they have devised a social online gaming experience that can be enjoyed on yourPC, the Web, iOS and Android. Players get to experience life on a virtual cruise ship in real time and choose their own adventures.

They choose their character and physique, and the option is there for RealFace avatars. You can even get yourself a tattoo if you wish (the removable kind, though, since it’s virtual!) and choose your own customisable moves. Once a character has been selected, it’s off to explore the vessel…

Head for the ship’s mall where you will find shops selling all manner of goods, including one or two pieces you might like to buy to decorate your state room on the boat. Whilst on the subject of state rooms, we recommend that you upgrade to the comforts of the Penthouse Deck where you can have your own customisable villa away from the riff-raff… this site is all about luxury travel afterall! Oh… and while you’re about it… perhaps you’d like to get yourself a jet-ski, too.

Passengers can also hang out at the pool, head to the theatre, go dancing (and even try out a bit of karaoke), or gamble the night away at the casino.

So, if you can’t go to Fiji in real life, how about paying a visit virtually?!

Surre.al are looking for $100,000 of investment to bring their Kickstarter project to… well… reality, I suppose. The potential is certainly there – the high profile Oculus Rift project raised $2.5 million on Kickstarter and a subsequent $16m in venture funding.

For more insights, you can follow Surre.al on Facebook and Twitter, or click on the video below: