MS The World is a private residential cruise ship operated like a condominium complex, with large apartments that can be purchased.

[5] Several other residence cruise ships are under construction or planned, including Utopia,[6] Njord,[7] Dark Island [8] and MV Narrative.

[10] The hull was built in Landskrona, Sweden, by Öresundsvarvet, and it was then towed to Fosen Mekaniske Verksteder in Rissa, Norway, for completion.

The residents, through their elected board of directors and a network of committees, provide guidance to the management about the ship's itinerary, finances, and lifestyle.

[1] The ship has a large lobby, deli and grocery store, a boutique, fitness center, billiard room, golf simulator and putting greens, tennis court, jogging track, spa, swimming pool, and cocktail lounges.

Setting sail from Nome, Alaska, U.S. on 18 August 2012 and reaching Nuuk, Greenland on 12 September 2012, The World became the largest passenger vessel at the time to transit the Northwest Passage.

[11][12] The ship, carrying 481 passengers and crew, for 26 days and 4,800 nautical miles (8,900 km) at sea, followed in the path of Captain Roald Amundsen, the first sailor to complete the journey in 1906.