A 3-Year Cruise Was Canceled Because It Didn't Have a Ship

Table Of Content

• Thousands of passengers affected as Princess Cruises delays new ship
• How Design-Savvy Electric Boats Are Shaping the Future of Yachting
• Cobranded Cards
• Watch: How $300 million Carnival cruise ships are demolished in Turkey
• Shipping issues
• Life at Sea Cruises was unable to acquire a vessel for the once-in-a-lifetime journey.

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. But, some told CNN they don't have a home to return to because they were anticipating being at sea for years. 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.

How Life at Sea’s 3-Year Cruise Unraveled - The New York Times

How Life at Sea’s 3-Year Cruise Unraveled.

Posted: Thu, 28 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Thousands of passengers affected as Princess Cruises delays new ship

When the cruise missed its planned departure date, the company promised to resolve lingering issues. The delay will result in the cancellation of eight Europe sailings of nine and 10 nights that were scheduled to take place between Aug. 2, 2025, and Oct. 20, 2025. The line has also canceled a 16-night transatlantic sailing from Southampton, England, to Fort Lauderdale scheduled from Oct. 20, 2025, to Nov. 5, 2025. Life at Sea's website now says that the cruise is set to depart in November 2024, though some of the web pages still list this as fall 2023. The website still lets potential passengers express their interest in the trip, though it's unclear whether Miray intends for it to ever go ahead.

How Design-Savvy Electric Boats Are Shaping the Future of Yachting

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. "Because as you know, three-year cruises is a mega project. The reason for this is our vessel capacity—needed to exceed more than 600 cabins. And right now, we only have 104 cabins." A three-year-long cruise meant to take travelers to 135 different countries across seven continents has been canceled. On March 1, cruise line Miray International, which owns Life at Sea, officially started accepting bookings for the first-of-its-kind world voyage aboard its MV Gemini ship, but later decided that the vessel was too small for the cruise.

Cobranded Cards

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. 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. 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. The company had been trying to buy AIDAaura, a 20-year-old ship, which was sold in November to another cruise company. Life at Sea previously pushed the cruise’s departure back multiple times.

Watch: How $300 million Carnival cruise ships are demolished in Turkey

Others are still in Istanbul, where the cruise was originally supposed to depart from. And many are waiting for a refund, which the company said it will pay in installments through late February. Norwegian Cruise Line recently canceled months of sailings for its Norwegian Spirit ship scheduled between July 3 and Sept. 18, 2024, because of a full ship charter. The cruise line notified guests in May and offered them full refunds and future cruise credits, according to a letter to passengers the line shared with USA TODAY. Charging $38,513 to $98,226 per person per year for double occupancy cabins, the entire trip would cost at least $230,000, a relative steal when it comes to cruise prices. The company said its ship, to be called the MV Lara, would have a capacity of 1,266 passengers, and it expected to be 80 percent booked.

Shipping issues

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. 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."

As the project began to unfurl, Witman said she felt "stuck in the middle" about whether to continue planning her trip. "I've been working over the last eight months to really get everything in line, my life organized, so that I can make it happen," Witman said. "I called everybody, I kept expecting someone to tell me that (this was a bad idea) and I called my financial investment folks, and they're like, 'You should do it,'" Witman said. "Like, these guys are the most conservative financial people, I cannot believe they're telling me I should do it." 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 family made the most of their planned time off anyway, renting an Airbnb in Orlando, Florida, and going to Disney World instead. 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. The cruise, which was originally scheduled to depart from Istanbul, Turkey, on Nov. 1 and visit nearly 400 ports, was scrapped earlier this month after Life at Sea failed to secure a ship for the cruisegoers. The company’s website has not been updated as of Monday morning, and still has both a countdown to the start of the cruise and a link allowing people to reserve a cabin via wire transfer or credit card. When the cruise was announced, it was touted as a three-year journey stopping in 375 ports of call and traversing 130,000 miles.

Year World Cruise Abruptly Canceled 2 Weeks Before It Was Scheduled to Set Sail

That’s leaving many passengers without a place to call home and some stuck in Istanbul, from where the cruise was set to depart. 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. 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.

A cruise that intended to take its passengers from Europe to Asia to Africa and back over the course of a few years has been canceled, leaving those who had already bought tickets for the journey in limbo, CNN reported on Friday. The Life at Sea Cruises’ voyage was called off because the company wasn’t able to acquire a ship to carry its customers, despite initial plans to set sail on November 1. The would-be passengers are understandably upset with the cruise company. More than 100 cabins had been sold, and some travelers had given up their homes and other possessions with the understanding that they’d be at sea for three years.

Princess on Friday said passengers booked on the canceled Star Princess sailings can switch to any other Princess sailing. If they do, they'll get a future cruise credit and onboard credit in an amount that varies depending on the sailing they choose. The trip was canceled earlier this month after the company failed to secure a ship for the voyage, USA TODAY reported. Life at Sea Cruises initially announced the three-year voyage in March and took on additional passengers in June. But after twice delaying the initial Nov. 1 departure date, it cancelled it altogether on Nov. 17, reports CNN.

Instead, the company said the voyage is postponed — and it blamed a lack of enough passenger bookings, rather than problems finding an appropriate ship. Cruise lines may also offer additional compensation, such as a future cruise credit, though passengers could have to choose between that and a refund, depending on the company. Dry docking – when ships are taken out of passenger service for regular maintenance or refurbishment – is usually planned years in advance, according to Jared Feldman, owner of travel agency Jafeldma Travel.

Life at Sea Cruises advertised interior rooms starting at $38,500 per person per year, double occupancy, to include accommodations, food, internet access and even medical care. After doing the math, Witman believed it was a sound financial investment. To prepare for the trip, Witman sold her Oakley home, signing a short-term apartment lease nearby. 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. She paid for her spot on a three-year cruise, on which she would work while traveling the world.

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. “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.

However, if a ship is damaged while in service, it may need to go to dry dock immediately for repairs. Cameron Mitchell was days away from an April Caribbean cruise when he got bad news. Royal Caribbean International canceled the sailing he and more than a dozen of his relatives were planning to take for his aunt’s 60th birthday because of ship maintenance. Passengers on the canceled sailings also have the option of not switching to another Princess cruise and instead getting a full refund for the fare they paid. The couple left for Istanbul in late October, with the cruise set to depart on November 1. It was then pushed back to November 11, with the departure port changed from Istanbul to Amsterdam, and then delayed further to November 30, before ultimately being canceled.

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. Life at Sea Cruises' inaugural trip was supposed to set sail three weeks ago. Miray and Life at Sea cruises are also offering customers who bought into the original cruise a separate, shorter free cruise next summer.