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When the Life at Sea cruise line failed to purchase the German cruise ship AIDAaura, seen here in 2020, its plans for a worldwide cruise embarking in November began to unravel. In his message, Ugurlu also confirmed that the cruise was canceled because the company could not afford the ship. On Nov. 19, two days after Holmes’ announcement, guests received another message, this time from Vedat Ugurlu, the owner of Miray International, who also stated that the cruise would not be departing, per CNN. Witman, who lives in Oakley and runs the marketing agency Clever Lucy, said most of her work is remote, so she saw the Life at Sea cruise as an opportunity to manage her business while also fulfilling her love of travel. She was looking for stability in her travels while also having a space to work.
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A three-year world cruise has been canceled less than two weeks before it was scheduled to set sail. According to CNN, the new HLC company would get a “temporary ship” to sail for a few months before acquiring a permanent vessel. Miray and Life at Sea cruises are also offering customers who bought into the original cruise a separate, shorter free cruise next summer. According to reports from ABC News and CNN, some passengers are now faced with what to do next after having sold their homes to embark on the three-year journey.
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"There’s a whole lot of people right now with nowhere to go, and some need their refund to even plan a place to go – it’s not good right now," one passenger told CNN. While the cruise is canceled, some passengers are still in Istanbul, where the ship was set to originally leave Nov. 1 before the departure location was changed to Amsterdam. Passengers for the three-year voyage were informed Nov. 17 that the cruise was canceled. Life at Sea had promised customers a renovated vessel with “world-class” amenities, including a business centre, a library, a 24-hour on-call hospital with free medical visits and education classes for adults. There were also promises of a state-of-the-art wellness centre, multiple dining options and philanthropic initiatives that guests could register for. Now, Life at Sea is promising customers repayment for the minimum US$115,500-per-person package, saying that monthly refund instalments would begin mid-December.
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However, in a statement to ABC News, Ugurlu said nothing had been canceled, only postponed until the spring. Life at Sea Cruises’ three-year sailing around the world has been canceled. "Our residents are changing their lives for this opportunity, and we are honored to be a part of their personal journeys," Holmes said in June. "Some people read the headlines and think, 'Oh, that was a scam,' but I really did my homework before I put a deposit down," Keri Witman of Cincinnati told NPR. The company also vowed to refund those who signed up for the cruise, whose costs ranged from $29,999 a year for a standard interior cabin all the way up to $109,000 per year for a luxurious suite with a large balcony.
This 3-year cruise around the world was going to cost passengers less than the average rent in NYC—now it's canceled
The company also told ABC News that anyone who wants a refund will receive it, including money spent on acquiring visas and other travel expenses. They also said people who have already paid will have a cabin when they set sail in May 2024. They are also inviting everyone on a separate, shorter cruise free of charge next summer.
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The woman, a retired educator, did not respond to NPR's message seeking further comment. "We are going to be following summer the entire time that we go around the world," then-Life at Sea CEO Kendra Holmes told prospective passengers in a Zoom webinar in September. Life at Sea Cruises’ three-year cruise scheduled to set sail this month has officially been canceled. According to Cruise Industry News, the canceled cruises were set to visit the Western and Eastern Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the Adriatic Sea, the Middle East, the Red Sea, Asia and Northern Europe. "They promised so much, and perhaps over-promised," a person who pulled out of the cruise in April previously told Business Insider. "We tried everything to find a solution, but at the end of the day we couldn't get the investors and we couldn't sell enough cabins," Vedat Ugurlu, Miray's owner, told The Times.
Life at Sea 3-year cruise: Couple sold 'everything,' living in hotel - Business Insider
Life at Sea 3-year cruise: Couple sold 'everything,' living in hotel.
Posted: Fri, 29 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
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But Miray Cruises' owner told ABC News this week they had only 150 passengers for a vessel with over 600 cabins. 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.
Miray and Life at Sea CEO Kendra Holmes resigned from the company in November, according to CNN, which also reported that she is behind a new start up world cruise under the HLC Cruises banner. Holmes resigned last week, according to CNN, days before Ugurlu officially announced the cancellation. "How did I feel about it? Devastated, disappointed, sad. I packed up my belongings, put them in storage, sent four boxes to Miray Cruises," Shay explained of her efforts before the trip was canceled. 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. And rather than portioning the cruise for sale in smaller stages, the company required customers to commit to the full three years.
Life at Sea previously pushed the cruise’s departure back multiple times. Passengers said they were told its most recent sail date was Nov. 30, CNN reported last month, though the brand told the outlet at the time that there was not a confirmed departure date or place. Miray CEO Kendra Holmes also left earlier this month, according to Business Insider. The company had previously said it would offer buyers alternative departure dates or "expedited refunds" if it was unable to sail on December 1, Business Insider previously reported. The Times reported that Miray asked passengers to sign an agreement spreading refund payments out between December and February. As of December 28, the Youssefs had been living in a hotel in Istanbul for a month — paid for by the cruise company — and were still waiting for their $80,000 refund, The Times reported.
Hotel accommodations in Istanbul will also be covered until Dec. 1, and “subsequent travel expenses to your chosen destination will be reimbursed,” Ugurlu said in his statement. The company said that anyone requesting a refund will get one, and that it will reimburse travel expenses related to the cruise. Many are stuck in a tough position, having spent tens of thousands of dollars on the now-canceled voyage that may take months to get reimbursed — and, in some cases, having sold or rented out their houses ahead of the cruise. On Nov. 17, Life at Sea revealed to passengers that the inaugural cruise was canceled, and that it had no ship, CNN reported.
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.
To prepare for the trip, Witman sold her Oakley home, signing a short-term apartment lease nearby. She paid for her spot on a three-year cruise, on which she would work while traveling the world. "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."
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." Some would-be cruise passengers were in Istanbul, where the ship was originally scheduled to depart from, when they received news of the cancellation, per CNN.
Life at Sea previously pushed the cruise’s departure back multiple times, USA TODAY reported, and passengers said they were most recently told the sail date would be Nov. 30. The brand, however, said to CNN at the same time that there was not a confirmed departure date or place. A three-year, around-the-world cruise that was supposed to set sail next week has been cancelled at the last minute, leaving passengers who sold or rented out their homes and made their way to the starting port stranded and very upset. 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. When the cruise missed its planned departure date, the company promised to resolve lingering issues.
What was once the trip of a lifetime has become the phantom trip from hell. Representatives for Life at Sea Cruises and Miray Cruises did not immediately respond to CNBC Make It's request for comment. "The minute I saw an ad, I thought, 'This is really right up my alley,'" Witman said. "I owned a house. I had needed knee surgery, so I expedited all of those things. I sold my house. Got rid of most of my things."
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. Miray's attempts to purchase the ship dragged on for weeks, and it eventually stalled after investors balked, according to a company message obtained by CNN and other outlets. "Still waiting for my refund. And now you've gone belly up?" a woman who identified herself as a Life at Sea customer said recently on the company's Instagram account.
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