Miray Cruises failed to buy the ship intended for the three-year expedition. It planned to name the ship MV Lara. Life at Sea Cruises
- Life at Sea Cruises reportedly canceled its three-year voyage just two weeks before departure.
- Parent company Miray Cruises could not afford to buy the desired vessel, according to CNN.
- Miray had already postponed the cruise twice and revealed investors had withdrawn.
Life at Sea Cruises has failed to live up to its name. Its first-ever three-year-long cruise with a 140-city itinerary has been canceled, according to CNN.
Customers were informed on November 17, barely two weeks before its November 30 departure date from Istanbul, Turkey, the outlet reported. Parent company Miray Cruises failed to acquire its desired vessel, the 43-ton AIDAaura, which it planned to rename MV Lara, for the voyage, it admitted in a memo to customers.
“Miray is not such a big company to afford to pay 40-50 million for a ship,” said Miray Cruises CEO Vedat Ugurlu in the memo.
Life at Sea Cruises has been “facing challenges” because of investors backing out, according to a memo previously obtained by Business Insider. Ugurlu attributed the withdrawals to “unrest in the Middle East” in the letter announcing the cancelation.
Life at Sea Cruises did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. The cabin registration form on the company’s website was still open as of 3:45 p.m. ET on November 24.
Three-year packages cost just over $115,500 per person. (The eye-popping price tag is less alarming when considering the average American household spent $72,967 last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.)
Miray Cruises planned to have successive three-year cruises and to allow passengers to pay extra to stay on board — potentially indefinitely.
The company has promised to refund all customers and reimburse hotel expenses until December 1 as well as flights home for passengers who have already arrived in Istanbul, the memo said. But many customers have sold their homes in preparation for the trek, according to 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,” one passenger told the outlet on the condition of anonymity.
Life at Sea Cruises isn’t the only residential cruise company navigating choppy waters. The startup Storylines, founded seven years ago, has yet to find a ship either. There is only one residential cruise ship in operation, The World, where condos sell for up to $15 million.
News Related-
The best Walmart Cyber Monday deals 2023
-
Jordan Poole took time to showboat and got his shot blocked into the stratosphere
-
The Top Canadian REITs to Buy in November 2023
-
OpenAI’s board might have been dysfunctional–but they made the right choice. Their defeat shows that in the battle between AI profits and ethics, it’s no contest
-
Russia-Ukraine Drone Warfare Rages With Dozens Headed for Moscow, Amid Deadly Winter Storm
-
Trump tells appeals court that threats to judge and clerk in NY civil fraud trial do not justify gag order
-
Can Anyone Take Paxlovid for Covid? Doctors Explain.
-
Google this week will begin deleting inactive accounts. Here's how to save yours.
-
How John Tortorella's Culture Extends from the Philadelphia Flyers to the AHL Phantoms
-
Tri-Cities' hatcheries report best Coho return in years
-
Wild release Dean Evason of head coaching duties
-
Air New Zealand’s Cyber Monday Sale Has the 'Lowest Fares of 2023' to Auckland, Sydney, and More
-
NDP tells Liberals to sweeten the deal if pharmacare legislation is delayed
-
'1,000 contacts with a club': Tiger Woods breaks down his typical tournament prep to college kids in fascinating video