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First it was the cruise that never ends. Now, passengers are concerned that it might be the cruise that never begins.
Life at Sea cruises is due to launch its three-year, round-the-world cruise next month, setting sail from Istanbul on November 1. But with just weeks to go, the company has not yet secured a ship for the voyage.
While Life at Sea insists that the cruise will be going ahead on schedule, some future residents are concerned their plans are not yet ship-shape.
One, who has already paid over $100,000 to the company, told CNN that the situation is “a joke.”
They fear the cruise may end up canceled, and wish to remain anonymous because “I’ve not wanted to tell anyone – I’m embarrassed, I’m ashamed that I fell for it.
“I should have listened to my gut.”
Stormy seas
Miray Cruises, which owns Life at Sea, had been due to complete the sale on its ship for the three-year cruise, slated to be called the MV Lara, at the end of September.
But one week on, the boat is still not theirs.
A spokesperson for Miray told CNN that the sale was not “finalized” while the team was in Germany to pick up the ship, so the Miray crew left the boat.
“It would have been impractical for the seller to continue accommodating the crew onboard without the finalized transaction, so the team voluntarily disembarked while they sorted out the details. The LASC team will be flying back early next week,” the spokesperson said.
Although Miray had never confirmed the name of the ship it was planning to buy, it’s widely believed to be the AIDAAura, belonging to AIDA Cruises, a German-centric subsidiary of Carnival.
The company was due to “say goodbye” to the ship in September after 20 years and more than 800 voyages, according to AIDA’s website.
The ship – which was godmothered by supermodel Heidi Klum for AIDA – has four restaurants, two lounges, five bars and clubs, and two pools.
AIDA Cruises did not respond to requests for comment on whether the sale had gone through.
Choppy waters
The path to freedom on the high seas has not gone smoothly for Life at Sea Cruises.
The brand was launched in March when its offer of a three-year cruise around the world, visiting 135 countries, made headlines for its relative affordability.
Introductory prices started at around $30,000 per person per year, but included all accommodation, food and – crucially for Americans – medical expenses. Totted up against rent and rising prices in a global cost-of-living crisis, it seemed an attractive proposition.
Three months later, the project hit the skids when roughly half the launch team quit to work on their own round-the-world cruise project. The schism is now at the heart of a lawsuit brought by Miray.
While some putative passengers canceled because of the chaos, others stayed on with Miray promising that the cruise would go ahead as scheduled – and that it would be buying a bigger ship for it.
In September, the company announced it would extend the cruise indefinitely, allowing passengers to stay onboard for life if they so wished.
Not yet ship-shape
Kendra Holmes, CEO of Miray, told CNN by email categorically that the sailing is “not delayed,” despite the ship sale not having been completed.
In July, Holmes had said that Life at Sea would take possession of the new ship in late September, where it would undergo work in dry dock for two weeks, with the rest of the works being completed en route to Istanbul.
Now, with the sale pushed back, she says that “we expect to get the transfer of ownership [of the ship] next week.”
To make the original sail date, they will focus on refurbishing cabins that have already been booked, she said.
But it looks like residents may have to deal with noise onboard, as she added that, “The remaining cabins will be refurbished afterward.”
About half the cabins have been sold, she said, adding: “As a team with decades of experience with the intricacies of the cruising world, we have always had contingency time built into any schedule. Closings take time and sometimes there are delayed. This situation is not uncommon especially when there are many moving parts and multiple parties involved.”
‘Homeless and jobless’
With less than a month to go, some passengers are getting anxious at the lack of communications from the company.
CNN has spoken to several “residents” – as passengers will be known – who are concerned at how the cruise is progressing. All wished to remain anonymous.
All say that the company has not responded to queries for a month – and has even ignored requests to cancel trips.
Holmes told CNN that “we shared an update with our residents a few days ago and have been posting and interacting online regularly.” But some residents disagree.
They said that since September 8, when the team issued a spa menu, nothing was heard until October 2, when Holmes addressed residents’ concerns that the ship sale hadn’t gone through, confirming that “the closing has been delayed. We do not have an estimated time frame yet on when it will occur, but we do have extra time built into our schedule to ensure an on-time launch.” They say there has been no official communication since then.
“I know they’re really busy but they should have some courtesy and at least answer questions,” said one resident.
“We don’t know anything about shore excursions, we don’t know anything about luggage. They don’t even have the form that we’re supposed to fill out so they can get prepared with [medical] prescriptions for everybody. There’s nothing.”
With the clock ticking, not everyone is convinced that the ship will depart Istanbul on November 1.
“I’m in limbo – I have no idea what’s happening from one day to the next,” said one.
“If it goes ahead, it’ll be an amazing opportunity that’ll never happen again at the price we paid. I wasn’t willing to lose that opportunity.
“They’ve never been great at communications but I’ve had a feeling for the past month that things were happening in the background that we weren’t aware of.
“Running cruise ships is their business, so I expect them to know what they’re doing. To walk into what should have been the closing on a ship and not be prepared… They’ve bent over backwards, but we have no idea what’s going on financially.
“The price [of the cruise] is half what other world cruises charge. It’s a mess.”
Some of the residents CNN have spoken with say they will be homeless if the cruise doesn’t go ahead. People sold their houses, cars and possessions in order to commit.
One passenger has arranged to sell their business at the end of the month.
“I’m completely homeless and jobless come November 1,” they said.
“I have to wait till the 12th [of October, when Miray has suggested they will complete the sale] but in my head I’m working up a plan B, and getting a backup place where I might be able to stay for a short period.”
Some passengers took advantage of a deal to save money by paying upfront for the cruise. Many have plowed tens of thousands of dollars into the project already.
“I shouldn’t have let my passion for this trip cloud my normally good judgment,” said one passenger.
In a message to residents seen by CNN, Miray has said that anyone wanting to cancel at this stage will be refunded only 10% of what they’ve put into the scheme.
‘I hope they don’t cancel’
Although Holmes didn’t confirm a specific date for the ship to change hands with CNN, residents say that they have heard informally that Miray will take possession on October 12.
And although Holmes insists they will make the November 1 launch, the passengers CNN has spoken with are doubtful.
“I fully expect the cruise to be delayed – even if they take possession on that date,” said one.
“It was supposed to go into dry dock and get renovated. I don’t think it would be good for them to skip that and show up with a nasty 20-year-old Carnival cruise ship that we’re supposed to live in for three years.”
One passenger CNN spoke to has chosen to embark at a later point – and says it’s because they expected confusion at the start.
“I wanted to give them a few weeks to work out the bugs before they picked me up – I’m glad I won’t have to put up with them possibly renovating during the transatlantic sailing,” they said.
Holmes told CNN, “People aren’t concerned. We don’t feel that anyone is unnerved. We’ve been responsive to all resident questions and have been getting a lot of positive messages from them.”
All the residents hope that despite their fears, the cruise does go ahead.
“People have left their homes, sent their possessions to the warehouse, some booked vacations on the way to Istanbul and are already in transit,” said one.
“If it happens on November 1, I’ll be shocked. I just really, really hope they don’t cancel.”