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Witman says the company has begun the refund process, accepting her requests for other expenses to be paid, from airfare to the costs of foreign visas. The three-year voyage was to begin on Nov. 1, departing from Istanbul. Some passengers reportedly only learned of the cancellation after arriving in Turkey.
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"In two days' time, we own this vessel," Life at Sea itinerary planner Robert Dixon said in late September, speaking in a promotional video from the bridge of a ship he called the "MV Lara." 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. They would spend roughly 300 days at sea, 795 days at port and have 413 overnight port stays, Chief Operating Officer Ethem Bayramoglu of Miray Cruises, the Turkish parent company of Life at Sea, said in that online session. 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.
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Life at Sea did not immediately respond to The Enquirer's request for comment. 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. Representatives for Life at Sea Cruises and Miray Cruises did not immediately respond to CNBC Make It's request for comment. A representative for Life at Sea Cruises did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Travel + Leisure.
Life at Sea Cruises was unable to acquire a vessel for the once-in-a-lifetime journey.
In June, Life at Sea announced it had acquired a larger vessel for the trip, allowing it to accommodate 200 additional passengers. With that ship, the MV Lara, the company raised the price of the trip from $30,000 to $38,513. The company says it will refund passengers, who put down tens of thousands of dollars on the cruise as deposits. But that money won’t come quickly, as repayments will be made in monthly installments and won’t begin until next month. Some passengers had already made their way to Istanbul, per CNN, and were waiting to see what would happen.
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. She's still living in Cincinnati in a short-term lease, but Witman is committed to the concept of a resident cruise ship and is hopeful a company will eventually get the formula right. 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. Life at Sea is also promising to pay for the hotel rooms and return-trip airfares for passengers in Turkey.
Why do passengers get bumped from cruises?
Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information. Star Princess is being built at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, which has a long history of building cruise ships for Princess, Cunard, MSC Cruises and several other brands. Additionally, the Sphere Class ships have been designed with an innovative new type of "cabana cabin" along their extra-wide 10th deck that comes with access to a private deck area. Plus, the top decks of the ships have some unusual-for-Princess sizzle with the addition of a glass-dome-topped pool area that transforms into a nightspot after the sun goes down. When it launches, Star Princess will be the second vessel in Princess' long-awaited new Sphere Class of ships.
Life at Sea Cruises’ three-year sailing around the world has been canceled. Life at Sea did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. "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. The cheapest packages started at $196,000 for a single traveler, and $231,000 for couples, according to the company's website. Witman, who owns a marketing agency named Clever Lucy, was planning to work remotely aboard the ship, using its Starlink internet service. And as a single woman, she had been looking forward to exploring the world with a group.
Your cruise was canceled. Now what?
The Sphere Class ships are significantly bigger than previous Princess ships and offer several notable new-for-the-line features, including suites that come with exclusive access to a private restaurant, a lounge and a sun deck. Princess on Friday pushed back the debut of the 4,300-passenger Star Princess from Aug. 2, 2025, to Oct. 4, 2025 — a two-month delay that will affect thousands of vacationers. "We sold everything we have to make this dream happen," Kara Youssef told The New York Times. While disappointed, Witman has connected with a community of other would-be cruisers, some of whom are already planning trips around the world with each other.
Cincinnati woman sold home, paid $32K to board 3-year cruise. Now it's canceled
The trip was supposed to take place aboard a ship featuring spacious cabins, dining and entertainment options, a wellness center, a pool, and work spaces like a business center. He said all passengers would be given full refunds in installments between December and February. 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. 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. On Nov. 17, Life at Sea revealed to passengers that the inaugural cruise was canceled, and that it had no ship, CNN reported.
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 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." If a cruise is canceled, the line typically notifies passengers directly or through their travel adviser, Feldman said. When you choose to apply (and are approved) for a new credit card through our site, we may receive compensation from our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear.
Finally, less than two weeks before its third and final departure date, the voyage was canceled altogether. And rather than portioning the cruise for sale in smaller stages, the company required customers to commit to the full three years. "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. 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. “That's the more common scenario (to result in a cancellation) where a ship has to be pulled from service for one-plus weeks,” said Feldman.
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. 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. The company has said it will make refund repayments in monthly installments starting mid-December and will complete them in late February, according to CNN. It has also offered to pay for accommodations until December 1 and flights home for anyone who has already traveled to Istanbul.
The Life at Sea Cruises journey first started accepting reservations earlier this year with cabins starting at $29,999 per year. 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. 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. Life at Sea Cruises’ three-year cruise scheduled to set sail this month has officially been canceled.
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