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- Three-year cruise around the world canceled, passengers awaiting refunds
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- Missing dog that escaped from Australian airport reunited with owners after a month
- MORE: 3-year cruise canceled weeks before setting sail, prompting passenger backlash
The big ship was originally scheduled to leave port on Nov. 1, which was first postponed to Nov. 11 and then Nov. 30. Tuesday evening, guests who were to set sail on Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ Seven Seas Mariner the next morning learned that the sold-out sailing was being massively altered. Many are stuck in a tough position, having spent tens of thousands of dollars on the now-canceled voyage that may take months to get reimbursed — and, in some cases, having sold or rented out their houses ahead of the cruise.
Three-year cruise around the world canceled, passengers awaiting refunds
“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,” a passenger who wanted to remain anonymous told CNN. Life at Sea Cruises, a division of Miray Cruises, wrote to its passengers that it was “facing challenges” because of investor withdrawals, according to a memo to customers written by its parent company’s CEO and obtained by Business Insider earlier this week. Most of the passengers paid Miray tens of thousands of dollars to secure their cabins, which ranged from $90,000 to $975,000 for a suite. After canceling, Miray said it would offer full refunds to all passengers, but two of the repayment deadlines passed and only four of more than 100 passengers have received partial refunds. After more than a month of missed deadlines for refunds, a group of hard-hit passengers who signed up for the failed Life at Sea cruise is pursuing legal intervention. Guests whose cruises were impacted were given full refunds of their fare and a 10% discount in the form of a future cruise credit.
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A statement posted on Miray Cruises' Instagram page in Turkish on November 27 stated the Life at Sea Cruises trip was postponed because the number of passengers was below expectations and had no mention of the company rescheduling because it couldn't acquire a ship. "Unfortunately, there are simply too many international ports of call affected by the ongoing complexities of COVID-19, which has sadly led to this decision," Cunard said in a statement when it canceled its 2022 around-the-world sailings on Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria back in June. He said all passengers would be given full refunds in installments between December and February. Hotel accommodations in Istanbul will also be covered until Dec. 1, and “subsequent travel expenses to your chosen destination will be reimbursed,” Ugurlu said in his statement. Aboard the yet-to-be-acquired vessel, the company had promised staterooms with per-day costs cheaper than many mass-market world cruise itineraries.
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The 3-year cruise was canceled. Enter the 3.5-year cruise. - The Washington Post
The 3-year cruise was canceled. Enter the 3.5-year cruise..
Posted: Fri, 22 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Television’s first Robin Hood was Richard Greene in The Adventures of Robin Hood. And let’s not forget Errol Flynn, with Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marian, dashing about in Michael Curtis’s 1938 swashbuckler, The Adventures of Robin Hood. At 48,075 gross registered tons, the Seven Seas Mariner only carries 700 guests and 445 crew, giving the ship a guest-to-staff ratio of 1 to 1.6. Like other Norwegian Cruise Line Holding brands, Regent Seven Seas Cruises participates in the Sail Safe program that requires guests to be fully vaccinated to cruise, along with being tested at the terminal prior to embarkation. The company also vowed to refund those who signed up for the cruise, whose costs ranged from $29,999 a year for a standard interior cabin all the way up to $109,000 per year for a luxurious suite with a large balcony. "Because as you know, three-year cruises is a mega project. The reason for this is our vessel capacity—needed to exceed more than 600 cabins. And right now, we only have 104 cabins."
Miray and Life at Sea CEO Kendra Holmes resigned from the company in November, according to CNN, which also reported that she is behind a new start up world cruise under the HLC Cruises banner. Harrison told me that Clary relishes the idea of playing Robin Hood, though he won’t be as strapping as those who have played the outlaw on the big screen. I’m thinking of Kevin Costner in Prince of Thieves, Russell Crowe in Ridley Scott’s gritty Robin Hood, and Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn in Robin and Marion, playing the famous lovers in their twilight.
The company had been trying to buy AIDAaura, a 20-year-old ship, which was sold in November to another cruise company. Now, less than two weeks before its maiden voyage, Life at Sea has acknowledged to anxious passengers that there is no ship, and that the once-in-a-lifetime trip has been canceled, CNN reported. Passengers booked on the canceled sailing can either choose a refund or shift to the 2023 voyage on MSC Magnifica, which will sail to the same ports in the same order and on the same dates as MSC Poesia was scheduled to do in 2022. Cruisers who choose the latter option will also be allowed to book a free cruise for departure any time between Jan. 1 and May 3, 2022. Life At Sea Cruises had a three year cruise planned, but postponed the trip in November, weeks before the ship was set to depart on its maiden voyage, after delays and logistical challenges involving the ship itself. Royal Caribbean was among the first to halt operations, canceling trips on its Serenade of the Seas, Symphony of the Seas, and Jewel of the Seas ships, which were initially meant to sail on January 29, February 20, and April 26, respectively.
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McDonald has an enormous following in the U.K., thanks to her Cruising and other tv travel shows, including her Jane and Friends variety show and two decades, ending in 2023, as a presenter on Loose Women. The government had seeded clouds in the preceding days, though meteorologists said it was unlikely that had a significant impact on the rainfall. The UAE has been carrying out seeding operations since 2002 to address water security issues, even though the lack of drainage in many areas can trigger flooding. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. As vacation-goers around the world settle back into daily life after exciting holiday excursions, one group of ambitious adventure seekers is just getting started. Life at Sea did not immediately respond to additional questions about the guest’s experience.
MORE: 3-year cruise canceled weeks before setting sail, prompting passenger backlash
Customers will receive a 100% refund or "lift and shift" to a "coastal" sailing, which is on the Celebrity Millennium. "We regret having to cancel our guests' long-awaited vacations and appreciate their loyalty and understanding. Our top priority is always the well-being of our guests, our crew and the communities we visit," the company wrote in a statement earlier this month. "Royal Caribbean noted that cancelations were "a result of the ongoing COVID-related circumstances around the world, and in an abundance of caution." On Tuesday, 78 would-be Life at Sea passengers sent a letter to Markenzy Lapointe, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, asking him to investigate whether Miray, a Turkish cruise company, defrauded them out of millions of dollars. They claim that the company collected an estimated $16 million and used it toward a deposit to acquire a new ship that it did not end up purchasing. Regent is a popular operator for world cruises because of its smaller ships, which allows them to get into ports some of the bigger lines can’t.
Year World Cruise Abruptly Canceled 2 Weeks Before It Was Scheduled to Set Sail
The three-year cruise is canceled - CNN
The three-year cruise is canceled.
Posted: Fri, 24 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
In his message, Ugurlu also confirmed that the cruise was canceled because the company could not afford the ship. Since embarking on the high seas three weeks ago, the hashtag #ultimateworldcruise has garnered over 150 million views on TikTok, with videos from passengers giving followers a behind-the-scenes look at the 274-day circumnavigational adventure. A November 19 statement to customers from Miray's CEO Vedat Ugurlu apologized for the inconvenience, but said the company was "actively working on creating alternative plans for the future,ensuring an unforgettable experience for our valued community." According to CNN, the new HLC company would get a “temporary ship” to sail for a few months before acquiring a permanent vessel.
A three-year, around-the-world cruise that was supposed to set sail next week has been cancelled at the last minute, leaving passengers who sold or rented out their homes and made their way to the starting port stranded and very upset. "This was an extremely difficult decision but a prudent one given the current business environment and recent developments with our parent company, Genting Hong Kong," president of Crystal Cruises Jack Anderson said in the statement. "Crystal has been synonymous with luxury cruising for more than 30 years and we look forward to welcoming back our valued guests when we resume operations. We wish to thank our guests and travel advisors for their incredible support during these ongoing challenging times." The following day, Life at Sea’s former CEO, Kendra Holmes — who had resigned just days before the sale fell through — informed guests that the cruise was canceled.
On Nov. 19, two days after Holmes’ announcement, guests received another message, this time from Vedat Ugurlu, the owner of Miray International, who also stated that the cruise would not be departing, per CNN. The company has said it will make refund repayments in monthly installments starting mid-December and will complete them in late February, according to CNN. It has also offered to pay for accommodations until December 1 and flights home for anyone who has already traveled to Istanbul.
Despite most passenger TikTok videos showing smooth sailing on the voyage so far, a logistical mix-up did temporarily impact one Ultimate World Cruise passenger. The vessel completing the tall task is the Serenade of the Seas, which has a guest capacity of 2,146 in 1,073 rooms, according to the cruise line's website. Some amenities onboard the ship include panoramic views, a mini-golf green and a variety of cuisines. Vedat Ugurlu, CEO of Life at Sea’s parent company Miray Cruises, said the cruise was facing “challenges due to investor withdrawal” in a statement shared with USA TODAY. “We both wanted to see the world, and this seemed like a cheap way to do this,” he said. Prices started at just under $30,000 per year for each guest based on double occupancy when the cruise was announced earlier this year, including meals, drinks, Wi-Fi and more.
Travelers booking the sailing will receive 15 free shore excursions, a complimentary beverage package and a 30% discount on onboard laundry services. Port closures in particular don't bode well for cruise lines' expansion of itinerary offerings in at least the early part of next year. Currently, most major cruise lines that have resumed operations have been limited to destinations such as the Mediterranean, the United Kingdom, the Greek Isles, the Caribbean and the Bahamas, Mexico and the U.S., including California and Alaska. The day-to-day routines -- and tribulations -- of world cruise passengers have fascinated TikTok users, who appear to be invested in the trip. Royal Caribbean's nine-month cruise, known as The Ultimate World Cruise, left Miami on Dec. 10 for a massive global excursion that has gone viral on TikTok, as passengers share their unique experiences with the rest of the world.
Even as this news was coming down, passengers who were booked on eight other ships in the Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings fleet also found themselves dealing with changes. In their cases, however, they found that their sailings had been entirely canceled. Instead, Life at Sea planned to buy a larger ship, the AIDAaura, which was set to be renamed the MV Lara, per CNN. After telling its passengers that the sale was taking longer than expected, however, news broke that another cruise company, Celestyal Cruises, bought the ship on Nov. 16. On Nov. 17, Life at Sea revealed to passengers that the inaugural cruise was canceled, and that it had no ship, CNN reported. Many of those are not yet open to U.S. travelers, and a restart for the formerly lucrative Australia and New Zealand cruise market is nowhere in sight.
The credit can be used on any of Norwegian’s published itineraries through Dec. 31, 2025. Cruise Radio prioritizes well-balanced cruise news coverage and accurate reporting, paired with ship reviews and tips. Life at Sea Cruises’ three-year cruise scheduled to set sail this month has officially been canceled.
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. In a statement to the news outlet, Miray Cruises owner Vedat Ugurlu said the cruise wasn't canceled but postponed until May 2024. The three-year cruise was initially set to depart from Istanbul, Turkey on November 1. Shortly before that date, it was postponed to November 11 and relocated to Amsterdam, then rescheduled to November 30. The already-sold-out 119-night 2023 world voyage on MSC Poesia will include 53 port calls in 33 countries, such as Costa Rica, Australia, Japan, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Jordan, Curaçao, Mexico, Greece and the U.S., including Hawaii. The cruise went on sale Thursday, with fares starting at $16,029 per person, double occupancy, for an inside cabin.
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