Table Of Content
- Former HGTV star slapped with $10 million fine and jail time for real estate fraud
- Life at Sea Cruises was unable to acquire a vessel for the once-in-a-lifetime journey.
- Jumping ship
- More cruise news
- A Three-Year Cruise Is Canceled for Lack of a Ship
- How Design-Savvy Electric Boats Are Shaping the Future of Yachting
Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises have canceled several trips as the Omicron variant continues to wreak havoc with the cruise industry. As for accommodations, there are three types to rent, with the cheapest being a 140-square-foot interior cabin that includes a virtual window mimicking an outdoor view for $89 per person, per night. Ocean-view villas with windows overlooking the water are $119; a balcony villa with a 60-square-foot private outdoor space starts at $199. The Sphere Class is the first new class of ships to debut at Princess in nearly 11 years.
Former HGTV star slapped with $10 million fine and jail time for real estate fraud
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 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. 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. 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 Cruises was unable to acquire a vessel for the once-in-a-lifetime journey.
She said she had taken $80,000 out of her retirement savings to fund the trip. 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.
Jumping ship
Vantage Deluxe World Travel recently canceled multiple trips – some “due to the vessel’s readiness,” according to its website – leaving a number of passengers waiting on refunds. 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. 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. 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.
More cruise news
The 3-year cruise was canceled. Enter the 3.5-year cruise. - The Washington Post
The 3-year cruise was canceled. Enter the 3.5-year cruise..
Posted: Fri, 22 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Guests are required to provide a 5 percent deposit that is set to increase to 10 percent by early next year. 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. Just a day after Ugurlu’s glimmer of hope, another staff member of Life at Sea, Chief Operating Officer Ethem Bayramoglu messaged passengers to confirm that the cruise was off. He added that the company could, in theory, launch the cruise on the MV Gemini, Miray’s smaller ship which it had originally planned for the voyage, before deciding it was too small. But then in a message to passengers, Life at Sea said the sale had fallen through.
A Three-Year Cruise Is Canceled for Lack of a Ship - The New York Times
A Three-Year Cruise Is Canceled for Lack of a Ship.
Posted: Mon, 27 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
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. In recent weeks, hundreds of passengers have contracted the coronavirus onboard ships, with many falling ill and spending days in quarantine. 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. Princess made the announcement Friday in tandem with its shipbuilder, Fincantieri, citing construction delays. Fincantieri originally planned to deliver Star Princess to the cruise line July 29, 2025. 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.
A Three-Year Cruise Is Canceled for Lack of a Ship
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. 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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The ship was scheduled to set sail on November 30, with the original November 1 departure date having been rescheduled several times. Miray Cruises, the parent company of the cruise line, said it could not afford the $40 million to $50 million that was being asked for the ship and said that investors had dropped out because of the unrest in the Middle East, CNN reported. 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."
Villa Vie Residences, which plans to sail the world in 3.5 years, announced last week that it has purchased a 924-passenger ship that is expected to launch in May. Charter-related cancellations tend to take place with more notice than emergency dry docking, according to Joanna Kuther, a New York City-based travel agent and owner of Port Side Travel Consultants. She said she has never seen passengers bumped as a result of a full-ship charter less than nine months to a year ahead of sailing.
If you're looking for a trip shorter than three years, there are still options, including many ways to save on booking a cruise. Some passengers had already made their way to Istanbul, per CNN, and were waiting to see what would happen. 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. Life at Sea Cruises' inaugural trip was supposed to set sail three weeks ago.
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. Finally, less than two weeks before its third and final departure date, the voyage was canceled altogether. Some passengers reportedly only learned of the cancellation after arriving in Turkey. In a statement on Monday, Celebrity Cruises said it had postponed service on its ship Celebrity Eclipse. On Friday, Royal Caribbean canceled a sailing on the ship Independence of the Seas, in response to “Covid-related circumstances around the world,” the company said on its website. 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.
On Nov. 20, in another update from Miray Cruises owner Vedat Ugurlu to passengers, he said the Life at Sea Cruise trip was canceled. The cruise was finally due to set sail on Nov. 30 from Amsterdam, after the original Nov. 1 departure from Istanbul was delayed and rescheduled. 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.
But Miray Cruises' owner told ABC News this week they had only 150 passengers for a vessel with over 600 cabins. For months, Life at Sea Cruises has been signing up travelers, taking their money and marketing this unusual offering, which it announced in March. On Nov. 17, Life at Sea revealed to passengers that the inaugural cruise was canceled, and that it had no ship, CNN reported.
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