Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean cancel sailings as COVID spreads
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On Nov. 20, in another update from Miray Cruises owner Vedat Ugurlu to passengers, he said the Life at Sea Cruise trip was canceled. Meredith Shay, a retired flight attendant who had been preparing for the adventure, told "Good Morning America" she was on a payment plan of $35,000 per month to stay in one of the biggest rooms on the ship. 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.
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To facilitate the repositioning and ensure Anthem of the Seas has enough time to traverse the route, guests on the previous cruise have also been informed that their sailing is now shortened. This means there would be little or no time for possible port visits en route. Instead, the ship will move with all possible speed in order to reach Dubai (or the next planned embarkation port) on time to preserve future itineraries. Life at Sea Cruises and Miray Cruises did not respond to specific questions from CNN, but sent a statement from Ugurlu addressed to passengers citing "investor withdrawal" causing "challenges" to the project. The letter was sent to CNN November 21 and spoke about a potential upcoming cruise date - despite the cruise having already been canceled.
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Life at Sea's three-year cruise canceled; passengers awaiting refunds - USA TODAY
Life at Sea's three-year cruise canceled; passengers awaiting refunds.
Posted: Fri, 24 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
West Coast, Hawaii and Alaska and then head west across the Pacific. If you’re going to organize a three-year round-the-world cruise, a good first step is probably to acquire a ship. Some people have compared the proposed cruise to the Fyre Festival. "My guess is that the company will be shut down or restructured, and anything I put in cash will never get paid out," she said. "They kept leading us on, making us hold out hope until the very last minute, just days before we were supposed to depart," Kara told The Times.
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If Life at Sea passengers didn't take up the offer, she said, they'd also be looking to launch a long-term cruise in October 2024. Most have spent tens of thousands of dollars on what was meant to be the experience of a lifetime, and now face a wait of at least several months to get their money back. The company has said it will make repayments in monthly installments, starting from mid-December and completing repayments in late February.
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A third, speaking just before the cruise was confirmed as canceled, said they were feeling "let down, deceived and betrayed." "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. Bayramoglu subsequently met with stranded passengers in Istanbul to help plan their returns home. CDC's new COVID mitigation program will be voluntary for cruises. While Kuther said cruise cancellations are “pretty rare,” they are aggravating when they happen. I have to put off treatment because I have to find a job now.
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“But then this one popped up – they were leaving quickly, doing it for just three years and the itinerary was close to perfect,” says Florida-based Shay. “I jumped on it.” Within 12 hours of reading about Life at Sea, she’d booked a cabin. Others, such as Meredith Shay, had never set foot on a ship.
“This was going to take me to cultures I could explore,” she says. As they pored over pictures of the MV Gemini, the Life at Sea team traveled to Germany to visit the Aura, a larger, 42-ton ship with a capacity of more than 1,200, that was soon to be retired by Carnival subsidiary AIDA Cruises. Miray and Life at Sea cruises are also offering customers who bought into the original cruise a separate, shorter free cruise next summer. 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. The three-year cruise was initially set to depart from Istanbul, Turkey on November 1.
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But it seems that it was the company's focus, not the public's, that was the problem. "Our residents are changing their lives for this opportunity, and we are honored to be a part of their personal journeys," Holmes said in June. Witman says she also shipped boxes to have on the cruise, back in early October. Former flight attendant Meredith Shay was looking forward to the trip as a centerpiece of her retirement.
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Shortly before that date, it was postponed to November 11 and relocated to Amsterdam, then rescheduled to November 30. Holmes resigned last week, according to CNN, days before Ugurlu officially announced the cancellation. During a webinar on Sept. 6, 2023, former CEO Kendra Holmes said, "What percent of cabins have been sold? We're right around 50% right now so we're making good pace for where we want to be at this point in time. Leading up to the cancellation, the cruise line kept passengers informed with frequent webinars. 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. And rather than portioning the cruise for sale in smaller stages, the company required customers to commit to the full three years.
It was going to be a small enough ship to really create a community. My wife, Beth, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and there was a lot to do and a lot to love but not much to look forward to. I thought, "God, this cruise is really something I could do." But for months now there have been signs that something might be amiss. As the project began to unfurl, Witman said she felt "stuck in the middle" about whether to continue planning her trip.
The cruise was set to make stops in 135 countries on all seven continents. Prices started at $87,000 per year for double occupancy, according to the company’s website. Prospective passengers might pause before booking, though, when they see that the voyage was already supposed to set sail on Nov. 1.
She paid for her spot on a three-year cruise, on which she would work while traveling the world. Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial shifts to opening statements Monday, followed by the start of witness testimony. A jury of seven men and five women, plus six alternates, was picked last week. Passengers had boxed up their possessions into “pods” to be loaded onto the ship.
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