Life at Sea's 3-year cruise canceled weeks before scheduled date

Table Of Content

• Three-year cruise around the world canceled, passengers awaiting refunds
• Norwegian Cruise Line cancels more than a dozen upcoming cruises
• Cruise line cancels more than a dozen cruises in …
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• Three-year cruise canceled weeks before shoving off, after one woman sold her apartment to join unique voyage
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But, some told CNN they don't have a home to return to because they were anticipating being at sea for years. Some passengers had already made their way to Istanbul, per CNN, and were waiting to see what would happen. Life at Sea Cruises' inaugural trip was supposed to set sail three weeks ago. In a statement to the news outlet, Miray Cruises owner Vedat Ugurlu said the cruise wasn't canceled but postponed until May 2024.

Three-year cruise around the world canceled, passengers awaiting refunds

Now, less than two weeks before its maiden voyage, Life at Sea has acknowledged to anxious passengers that there is no ship, and that the once-in-a-lifetime trip has been canceled, CNN reported. On Sunday, Miray Cruises issued a statement in Turkish, denying that the cruise is canceled. Instead, the company said the voyage is postponed — and it blamed a lack of enough passenger bookings, rather than problems finding an appropriate ship. In exchange, passengers — or residents, as the company called them — were promised a long list of amenities, including an onboard hospital and doctor. Some cabins could host cats; travelers were also promised high-speed internet, free dining, alcohol and laundry service, and "enrichment seminars." The following day, Life at Sea’s former CEO, Kendra Holmes — who had resigned just days before the sale fell through — informed guests that the cruise was canceled.

Norwegian Cruise Line cancels more than a dozen upcoming cruises

One passenger told USA TODAY he and his wife were notified of the cancellation on Nov. 17, after they had already arrived in Istanbul with plans to board the ship on Nov. 11. The guest asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from the company. The company had been trying to buy AIDAaura, a 20-year-old ship, which was sold in November to another cruise company. Instead, Life at Sea planned to buy a larger ship, the AIDAaura, which was set to be renamed the MV Lara, per CNN. After telling its passengers that the sale was taking longer than expected, however, news broke that another cruise company, Celestyal Cruises, bought the ship on Nov. 16.

Cruise line cancels more than a dozen cruises in …

In late October, the original departure date of November 1 was postponed to November 11 and moved from Istanbul to Amsterdam because the company reportedly still didn't have a ship in which to operate the cruise. Life at Sea Cruises promised a voyage with stops around the world on all seven continents, with many unique cruise destinations. The itinerary took passengers from Istanbul and through the Mediterranean, then around South America, with a stop in Antarctica, before heading up to the Caribbean. After that, it would head through the Panama Canal before eventually going north to LA, west to Hawaii, back north to Alaska, then further out to Japan. A three-year cruise with prices starting at almost $100,000 per person that was supposed to set sail this month is now canceled, according to CNN.

Warning flags went up earlier this year, when the company changed course from its initial plan to refit one of its ships, the MV Gemini. For the lengthy worldwide voyage, it planned to deploy the larger "MV Lara" — a ship that never materialized. Terms of the deal help illuminate the would-be passengers' financial and logistical plight. Under its 12-month payment plan, the first draw came due one month ahead of the sail date. Those customers are now scrambling to make new plans for where they will live for the next three years — and to extract refunds from the cruise line. The intense fallout is drawing comparisons to infamous debacles such as the Fyre Festival — the "luxury" music festival that was more like a "disaster relief area."

Ocean-view villas with windows overlooking the water are $119; a balcony villa with a 60-square-foot private outdoor space starts at $199.

Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises require passengers who are eligible for inoculations to receive them. Younger passengers who are not eligible must test negative before sailing. It was all but shuttered for nearly 18 months before making a comeback this past summer, but the industry has recently faced mounting criticism about its safety protocols. In recent weeks, hundreds of passengers have contracted the coronavirus aboard ships. "Miray is not such a big company to afford to pay million [dollars] for a ship," he said, adding that while the company made a down payment, investors "declined to support us further due to unrest in the Middle East." That’s little comfort to some passengers who did not renew leases, or sold their homes or rented them out to travel the world for three years.

The 3-year Cruise to All 7 Continents Has Been Canceled — Here's Why - Travel + Leisure

The 3-year Cruise to All 7 Continents Has Been Canceled — Here's Why.

Posted: Mon, 27 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

The Life at Sea guest said he and his wife planned to stay in Istanbul until they get a full refund. “We’re at a complete loss as to what to do or where to go without having our money,” he said. “We both wanted to see the world, and this seemed like a cheap way to do this,” he said. Prices started at just under $30,000 per year for each guest based on double occupancy when the cruise was announced earlier this year, including meals, drinks, Wi-Fi and more. The main issue seems to be the company, a division of Miray Cruises, didn't have sufficient funds to be able to buy a ship. A memo to customers obtained by Business Insider said they were "facing challenges" due to investor withdrawals.

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Three-year cruise canceled weeks before shoving off, after one woman sold her apartment to join unique voyage - Fox Business

Three-year cruise canceled weeks before shoving off, after one woman sold her apartment to join unique voyage.

Posted: Sun, 03 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

But cruise company Life at Sea recently told customers who bought passage on a three-year voyage that rather than visiting 140 countries, their trip was called off. And the restart of cruises will be dependent on the public health situation at any given time especially in areas where the cruises will dock, Alghabra said Thursday. The Canadian government is still advising citizens to avoid all travel on cruise ships outside the country, he said. Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged travelers to avoid cruises, even after vaccination. The agency raised its Covid-19 warning level for cruise ships to 4, the highest level. About a month after Life at Sea Cruises canceled its debut three-year voyage because it couldn’t secure a ship, another company has done just that.

By this time next year, it would be swinging through Asia on its way to Australia, with stops around the Pacific. By the end of 2025, it would be nearing a tour around Africa, which would eventually get it back up to Europe. The itinerary had the cruise ending back in Istanbul in October 2026. Representatives for Life at Sea Cruises and Miray Cruises did not immediately respond to CNBC Make It's request for comment.

Life at Sea Cruises also stated in the translated statement that any customers who want a refund will receive it, including money spent on acquiring visas and other travel expenses. They also told ABC News that those who have already paid will have a cabin waiting when the ship is ready. In March, Life at Sea Cruises announced it was accepting reservations for its three-year cruise around the world. The ship was scheduled to set sail on November 30, with the original November 1 departure date having been rescheduled several times. Canada will allow cruise ships to operate in its waters starting Nov. 1 if operators comply fully with public health requirements, the country's minister of transport announced on Thursday. The company said this month that it had called off planned trips on three ships — Serenade of the Seas, Symphony of the Seas and Jewel of the Seas — and delayed the return to cruising of another, Vision of the Seas, to March.

Miray Cruises did not immediately respond to FOX Business' request for comment. On Nov. 16, Life at Sea Cruises' former CEO Kendra Holmes, who said she wasn't speaking on behalf of Miray Cruises, sent passengers a recorded 15-minute video explaining the journey was canceled. Some passengers said they didn't have a home to return to, since they were expecting to be on the cruise for three years. One woman, Kimberly Arizzi, sold her apartment, furniture, clothes, and TV to pay for her retirement cruise, Business Insider reported. Life at Sea is also promising to pay for the hotel rooms and return-trip airfares for passengers in Turkey. Life at Sea Cruises’ three-year sailing around the world has been canceled.

There have been more than 60 recorded attacks so far, and the incidents have drawn a military response from a number of countries, including the United States. A rise of attacks since October 2023 on commercial ships in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden by the Houthis has greatly impacted tourism in the area. This includes pirate activity and even drones to attack ships in the area. The cheapest cabins cost about $115,500 a person in a double-occupancy cabin for the three-year voyage, rising to nearly $300,000 for a room with a balcony. The price included meals, drinks, entertainment, seminars, and medical consultations, Miray said. "We sold everything we have to make this dream happen," Kara Youssef told The New York Times.

Organizers have scuttled a heavily promoted three-year cruise, which promised to let remote workers (and more) travel the world for $30,000 per year, saying the company has no ship on which to ferry those adventurers. Vedat Ugurlu, CEO of Life at Sea’s parent company Miray Cruises, said the cruise was facing “challenges due to investor withdrawal” in a statement shared with USA TODAY. Cruises, which are making a comeback after the pandemic, can be a great experience for families and retirees as you get to see many new places without the hassle of planning an itinerary yourself. If you're looking for a trip shorter than three years, there are still options, including many ways to save on booking a cruise. The company told passengers it will repay them in monthly installments, as well as cover accommodation until December 1 and flights home for those in Istanbul.