Three-year cruise people sold homes to go on is cancelled weeks before departure
A three-year world cruise which passengers paid up to £90,000 to go on has been cancelled weeks before setting sail – because there’s no ship.
Life at Sea Cruises announced the voyage, designed to house remote workers and retirees, in March and took on extra passengers in June after saying it had acquired a larger ship.
The cruise promised to visit 145 countries, allowing passengers to visit 13 of the 14 ‘wonders of the world’ and offering activities like scuba diving.
But after delaying the initial departure date of November 1, the cruise was cancelled altogether on November 17.
Many passengers, some of whom didn’t renew rental leases or sold their homes, have been left without a home after the cruise fell through.
One passenger, who wanted to remain anonymous until they got their refund, told CNN: ‘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.’
‘I’m very sad, angry and lost,’ said one passenger. ‘I had the next three years of my life planned to live an extraordinary life, and now [I have] nothing. I’m having a hard time moving forward.
‘I was proud and feeling brave, now I don’t trust anyone or anything. I know it’ll work out and life will go on, but I’m uncertain of the direction.’
Another said they felt ‘incredibly sad and incredibly betrayed’.
‘The company seems to have no consideration about what they’ve done to our lives,’ they said, ‘I never imagined I’d be in this position as a senior citizen.’
They also lamented the loss of community that had been built in the run-up to the cruise: ‘I was looking forward to building friendships – that’s what made it different from a regular cruise. We were all of the same mindset and all started with the same thing in common.’
A third, speaking just before the cruise was confirmed as cancelled, said they were feeling ‘let down, deceived and betrayed’.
111 cabins had been sold on the ship, and some passengers are stuck in Istanbul, Turkey, where the cruise was set to depart from.
The voyage was first announced in March, with prices set at $30,000 (£23,700) per year. After announcing they’d acquired a larger vessel with 200 more cabins, they increased the price of the trip to $38,513 (£30,400) per year.
But in a message to passengers Vedat Ugurlu, owner of Life at Sea’s parent firm Miray, said the purchase of the larger ship had fallen through.
He said: ‘Miray is not such a big company to afford to pay $40-50 million for a ship.’
The company, he said, had ‘presented the project to investors, and had official approval from some of them to buy the vessel,’ but after making the down payment those investors ‘declined to support us further due to unrest in the Middle East’.
A day later, Chief Operating Officer Ethem Bayramoglu added: ‘Although we are all disappointed and frustrated that we didn’t sail this time, it is important to us that you feel positive overall about your experience with us.
‘Vedat in particular is still hopeful that Miray will someday soon have an option for you to consider.’
Life at Sea says it will refund passengers, who put down deposits of tens of thousands of dollars – but repayment won’t start until next month, and it will be made in monthly instalments.
The company is also promising to pay for hotel rooms and return plane tickets for passengers in Turkey.
Metro.co.uk checked the Life at Sea website and it’s currently still possible to book cabins on the cancelled cruise.
Life at Sea has been contacted for comment.
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