The highly anticipated three-year cruise across the globe never even left port.
What was supposed to be a lengthy world cruise in which people could live on a ship is now canceled.
It’s kind of hard to live on a ship when you don’t have a ship.
But the company organizing the trip, Life at Sea Cruises, acknowledged in a letter to people who have already signed up that they have not been able to procure a ship.
After being postponed three times, the cruise was supposed to leave on November 30 and some passengers got notification less than three weeks prior to departure. Some passengers had already rented their home in anticipation of living at sea.
The cruise was originally advertised as leaving from Istanbul and then from Amsterdam, so many would-be passengers are stuck overseas. More than 100 cabins have been sold.
The company said it would make restitution, but the payments would come in monthly installments.
That is not good news for people who have already shelled out tens of thousands of dollars, not to mention the lost income of not having a place to live.
“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,” said one passenger, who wished to remain anonymous until they get their promised refund.
Life at Sea thought it had a deal in place to purchase a retired ship, but it fell through.
“If we will not be able to sail on December 1, we will offer you to sail on another departure date or refund all the payments within a short schedule,” the CEO of the parent company of Life at Sea said in a letter. “We have tried everything to make your dreams come true and we will continue to do so.”
“I’m very sad, angry and lost,” said one person. “I had the next three years of my life planned to live an extraordinary life, and now [I have] nothing. I’m having a hard time moving forward. I was proud and feeling brave, now I don’t trust anyone or anything. I know it’ll work out and life will go on, but I’m uncertain of the direction.”
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