Living on a cruise ship for three years and traveling around the world: it probably sounds like music to the ears of many. This also applies to several hundred people who had purchased a ticket for the three-year trip of Life at Sea Cruises. But just two weeks before departure, the trip of a lifetime was canceled. The company did not have something very essential: a ship.
The travelers paid several hundred thousand dollars for a cabin on the ship. Some of them even sold their homes to finance the trip. On November 1, Life at Sea would leave Istanbul for a three-year trip. That date was postponed twice – first to November 11 and then to November 30 – and the place of departure also changed from Istanbul to Amsterdam.
On November 17, less than two weeks before departure, the company admitted to customers that it did not have a ship. It promised all travelers would get their money back, although the refund will be made in monthly installments starting from mid-December to the end of February.
Several passengers are still in Turkey, having arrived slightly before the agreed departure date. Life at Sea Cruises has offered them accommodation until December 1 and will also refund their flights home. But some travelers say they have nowhere to go because they sold or rented their house before leaving. The American news site ‘CNN’ wrote this after speaking to stranded travelers.
Life at Sea Cruises was unable to finalize a deal with the AIDA Cruises shipping company. As a result, the company was still without a ship in mid-November. Until the last moment they tried to acquire another copy, but without success. They had no choice but to cancel the world trip. People reacted with disappointment. “I’m very sad, angry and lost,” someone told CNN anonymously. “I planned to live an extraordinary life for the next three years of my life, and now I have nothing.” Another traveler said he no longer trusts “anything or anyone”.
Price tag
Anyone who wanted to travel with Life at Sea Cruises paid at least 36,000 euros per person per year. This included all meals and cleaning costs, and even medical care. It did not matter where and when the travelers boarded the ship, but they had to book for three years. After those three years, they were able to extend their trip for another three years.
The company’s CEO, Kendra Holmes, has since resigned and now works for competitor HLC. She wanted to set up the same project there. What’s more, if 60 to 70 stranded passengers were willing to transfer to HLC, Holmes could “get something going” in the first week of December. The passengers would then be able to cruise for three to four months until a permanent ship was found. But just three days after Holmes’ proposal, the company withdrew the offer.
However, the parent company of Life at Sea Cruises still hopes to find a suitable ship so that the voyage can still continue in the future.
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