Three-year cruise around the world costing $230k cancelled at last minute due to not having a ship

  • A round-the-world, three-year cruise has been cancelled
  • Turns out the boat had been sold
  • Tickets cost passengers $230,000

Published on Nov 29, 2023 at 8:52 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones

Last updated on Nov 30, 2023 at 5:51 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by Alessandro Renesis

A round-the-world, three-year cruise costing passengers $230,000 has been cancelled.

Why? They were lacking one vital ingredient: a boat.

Maybe they should check out this giant cruise ship.

The once-in-a-lifetime journey was intended to set sail from Europe to Asia to Africa and back.

READ MORE! Inside incredible concept for $7.5 million mega mansion in shape of a cruise ship

And, yes, that would take far longer than 80 days.

In fact it would take roughly three years.

However would-be seafarers were left in limbo after already buying tickets for the voyage

Per CNN on Friday (29 November), The Life at Sea Cruises’ trip was called off because the company wasn’t able to acquire a ship.

The cruise was due to set sail on 1 November from Istanbul, Turkey.

However, shortly before that the cruise was postponed to 11. November and relocated to Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Then again to 30 November from Amsterdam.

But much to passenger chagrin, on 17 November passengers were told the cruise wasn’t happening after all.

In fact, on November 16, another company announced it had bought the ship.

“I’m very sad, angry and lost,” one anonymous passenger said to the news outlet.

“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.”

Because of the protracted nature of the cruise, some travelers had given up their homes and possessions ahead of a life at sea.

And this nomadic way of life seems to be spreading.

A Meta employee recently bought a six-figure apartment on a cruise ship to WFH while exploring the world.

While this man recently shared what life back on land was like after spending two decades on a cruise ship.

Plus this couple also sold their home deciding life at sea was for them.

Most are still in Istanbul awaiting a refund, which the company will be repaying in installments until February.

The three-year adventure had been announced in March.

Would-be travelers were hold they’d see the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Giza, the Taj Mahal, Machu Picchu, and more, per The New York Times.

The cost of a ticket per person per year? From $38,513 to $98,226 for double occupancy cabins.

That means the trip would cost at least $230,000 in total.

Far less than the price of regular, shorter cruises.

The cruise was supposed to take place on the MV Lara.

The ship has a capacity of 1,266 passengers – and was at 80% occupancy with over 100 cabins sold.

Vedat Ugurlu, owner of Miray Cruises, Life at Sea’s parent company, explained to passengers that his company couldn’t afford the $40 to $50 million price tag for the vessel.

He reassured them that he hoped a similar trip would happen in the future.

However, there are no plans for that currently – perhaps they can jump aboard this 2024 Taylor Swift cruise, instead.

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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”