There are no tickets to paradise.
An Ohio woman sold her home to experience the trip of a lifetime on a $32,000 luxury cruise that would have taken her around the world, only for it to never happen.
Keri Witman, director of marketing agency Clever Lucy, said things got worse after Life at Sea Cruises notified her on Nov. 17 that they had to cancel the trip because they couldn’t get a ship for the trip.
“I’ve been working for the last eight months to really get everything in order, my life organized, so I can make it happen,” Witman told The Enquirer. “It was really disappointing to find out it wasn’t going to work.”
The luxury cruise dream voyage offered travelers a three-year stay on board as the ship called in 148 countries and visited 382 ports on every continent.
The Life at Sea cruise voyage, scheduled to depart from Istanbul, advertised that they would provide food, travel, Internet access, medical care and more at prices starting at $30,000 a year for each guest, the cruise’s website showed.
Keri Witman sold her house to board the Life at Sea Cruises trip that ended up being canceled on November 17 Keri Witman / Instagram
Witman told the outlet that she wanted to take the trip because it would give her the opportunity, as a largely remote worker, to travel around the world while also being able to run her company.
Witman sold his house and signed a short-term lease for an apartment to reserve his room, which cost $38,500, according to the outlet.
“I called everyone, I was hoping someone would tell me that (it was a bad idea) and I called my financial investment people and they said, ‘You should do it,’” Witman recalled. “These guys are the most conservative financial people, I can’t believe they’re telling me I should do it.”
The Life at Sea cruise voyage, scheduled to depart Istanbul on November 1, offered travelers a three-year stay on board as they traveled to 148 countries and visited 382 ports on all continents. Life cruises at sea
Problems arose when Life at Sea Cruise, originally scheduled to depart Nov. 1, notified passengers that they had to push back the departure date multiple times.
The cruise company had plans to buy a ship from Carnival Corp. called AIDAaura, but a different company insured the ship.
Witman became frightened and didn’t know what to do with the multiple rejections until the moment the cruise line would finally depart.
Keri Witman decided to invest in luxury cruise travel because it would give her the opportunity to travel around the world while still being able to manage her business remotely. Keri Witman/Instagram
“I was just in a place where you didn’t want to plan anything,” Witman said. “Once I knew it was a question, I thought, ‘Do I make a (dining) reservation for January?’”
Life at Sea Cruise announced that it will offer refunds to all passengers from December 1 to February 2024 in monthly installments, a Miraycruises Instagram post in Turkish announced.
Other customers were furious about the luxury cruise line’s abrupt cancellation, as some claim they don’t even have a place to stay because of it.
“There are a 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,” one passenger told CNN.
“I am very sad, angry and lost,” said another passenger. “I had planned the next three years of my life to live an extraordinary life, and now [I have] nothing. “I’m having a hard time moving forward.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn