Or, as that old Fred Astaire ditty goes:
"We joined the navy to see the world
And what did we see? We saw the sea"
Posted on 11/25/2023 12:01:24 PM PST by dynachrome
They had signed up for the experience of a lifetime: three years traveling the world from the comfort of a cruise ship, at prices that rivaled regular living expenses.
But now the dream is over for passengers who’d signed up for Life at Sea Cruises’ inaugural three-year voyage. After weeks of silence, the company has acknowledged to passengers that it has no ship, and has canceled the departure, vowing to refund those who’d signed up for cruises costing up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The cruise was originally due to depart Istanbul, Turkey, on November 1, but shortly before that date, departure was postponed to November 11 and relocated to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and then to November 30, again from Amsterdam. But on November 17 – less than two weeks before the third departure date – passengers were informed the cruise was off.
Some of the passengers who booked the 111 cabins sold are still in Istanbul, having made their way there ahead of the original departure date. Others say they have nowhere to return to, having sold or rented out their homes in anticipation of the round-the-world voyage, as well as jettisoning their possessions.
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. It has also offered to pay for accommodation until December 1 and flights home for anyone now stranded in Istanbul. But some say they have no homes to return to.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
The would-be cruisers will be waiting a long time for the return of their money.
There’s no fool like a rich old fool.
So it was the scam it sounded like it was from the start.
Money? What money? Oh... That money... We’ll pay you back in installments, or... You can put that money towards some land we have for sale in Florida’s everglades. The view is fantastic and all the water is free.
Pretty sure if these poor people were willing to part with their money for one pile of BS, they’ll buy into another BS scheme with ease.
In retrospect it does look like these seniors were gulled into an expensive cruise scam.
However, reading into the story, you find all of them were seasoned cruisers and had taken multiple lengthy cruises all over the world, without incident.
So it would have been difficult to assess the 3-year cruise as a “scam.”
They simply love cruising and the 3-year deal looked good, doing what they like best.
More likely, the cruise line’s business plan didnt gel....they bit off more than they could chew.
“Others say they have nowhere to return to, having sold or rented out their homes in anticipation of the round-the-world voyage, as well as jettisoning their possessions.”
At least they have a little cash.
whoops....no ship makes a difference.
I knew a woman who worked on cruise ships and she said staff had really awful below decks rooms but the food was good. She didn’t make much money either, but didn’t care, just wanted to see the world.
And another woman reportedly sold her home to live on cruise ships for the rest of her life. That was years ago. No clue whether current employees will ever get paid. Passenger refunds? Good luck with that.
“I would guess the money is gone.”
If the ship never materialized, what chances does the money have?
This is horrible. Scammers are the worst kind of criminals.
A fool and his money....
“it has no ship”
Details can be so boring....
;-)
Why dont these folks just join the Navy?
I read one of the reasons cruises offer really great amenities like teams of helpful wait staff,
who do housekeeping and laundry, etc, is that they recruit help from very poor countries.
They pay the help something like $2 per hour plus food and a room......which they are glad to get.
If they had succeeded in buying the ship as “planned” and actually putting to sea, my bet is that it would have made Fyre look like the Newport Jazz Festival in comparison. As badly screwed as many of these folks are, they are lucky it ended before it began. And I suspect that’s how it was all planned.
How long did they hold on to these people’s money?
Or, as that old Fred Astaire ditty goes:
"We joined the navy to see the world
And what did we see? We saw the sea"
Take no ship from no one.
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