Nine months after his wife died of brain cancer in September 2022, Rami Mina, an 82-year-old native of Rochester, New York, plans to cruise around the world.
The retired engineer sold his home in Temecula, California and put down a $5,000 deposit to book Life at Sea Cruises – Three-year world tour The ship, operated by Turkey-based parent company Miray Cruises, promised passengers 130,000 miles, 375 ports and 135 countries for $29,999 a year. It was scheduled to set sail from Amsterdam on Nov. 30, 2023.
“They were advertising $30,000 per person, per year, specifically for digital nomads. I signed up right away,” Mina told the Post. “I reserved a cabin.”
Meena recalled that she had expressed interest in the trip by sharing her personal information in her Life at Sea cruise application.
“I said I’m fearless, I’m interested in new adventures — I mentioned my wife had recently passed away.”
By May 2023, he was interacting with fellow potential travelers from across the country on an online community board for Life at Sea cruises.
He met some of them in Southern California.
But Mina's dream cruise – and that of many others – never came to fruition. Life at Sea Cruises announced on November 17, 2023 that the cruise, which was scheduled to sail a few weeks later on November 30, has been cancelled – because the company was not able to purchase the cruise ship.
At that time, some The passengers were still in IstanbulThe ship was originally scheduled to depart on November 1 but its departure location was changed to Amsterdam.
The company said it will issue the refund in monthly installments from mid-December 2023 to February 2024.
About a month later, in December 2023, Mikael Petersen, former managing director of Life at Sea Cruises, broke away from Miray Cruises and launched the Odyssey ship of the Villa V Residence, promising to sail around the world in three and a half years from Belfast, starting on May 30, 2024.
The price of a cabin ranges from $99,999 to $899,000. Villa V Residence Website. Passengers on cruises are given the option to purchase cabins outright instead of paying a daily rate.
“The reality is that Life at Sea was based on the business plan of Villa V, which Miray sold as its own and eventually shut down,” Peterson told The Post via email.
“When we saw what was going to happen, we had no choice but to withdraw from that project and go back to the original Villa V plan,” he said.
Peterson told the Post that at Villa V Residences, he allows residents to put down a 10% refundable deposit, allowing them to pay 90 days prior to each part of the trip.
“We placed all funds in escrow until the vessel was acquired to minimize risk to residents,” Peterson told the Post.
“The approach is still the same basic approach I had six years ago, long before Covid. Crossing the world at a slower pace, spending more time in port to immerse yourself in the cultures of the places you visit.
“It's the best way to unpack and visit over 140 countries in one trip. The main difference is that we're not on a cruise, but rather an exploration lifestyle with limited access to water.”
But the luxury vessel Villa V Residences has been facing repeated delays due to problems with its rudder and gearbox. Passengers are stranded for three months At the port of Belfast in Northern Ireland.
Peterson told the Post that they are awaiting final approval to travel to the Caribbean and South America, while some travelers who have sold their homes are stuck in the water.
“Some of them have quit their jobs, some have sold their houses,” said Meena, who is in touch with current commuters at Villa V.
“It really is a house of cards. I feel so bad for my friends. Photos [of the ship] The pictures shown on the internet looked amazing, but in reality the plane looks lousy. No one knows when they are flying. This is a copy of the Fair Festival,” he added. infamously disastrous 2017 music incident In the Bahamas.
Mina narrowly avoided losing his money on both cruises, he said. By the end of June 2023, when he was about to submit a $25,000 payment for Life at Sea, Peterson stopped him.
“He [Petterson] Said don't pay any more – I have to go inspect the ship. He came back and said the ship is too small, let's postpone the main payment for a month.”
According to Mina, Peterson will separate from parent company Miray Cruises by June 2023.
“They [Miray Cruises] They knew the ship wasn't big enough to go around the world. They were saying the ship is too small, we need to change it. Mirage is gone [bust] “I decided not to go there at all,” Mina recalled.
“We asked for our money back before they went bankrupt. I got my $5,000 back,” he said.
By January 2024, 78 passengers who paid for Life at Sea cruises claimed in a letter to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida that parent company Miray Cruises defrauded them of millions of dollars, charging them an estimated $16 million for a new ship that was never purchased. The Washington Post reported.
Mina decided to change course and departed on December 20, 2023 with Viking Sky. shared on my blog – 137-night world cruise from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, including stops in Sydney, Haifa, Istanbul, Auckland, Bali, Ho Chi Minh City, Yangon and Mumbai through May 2024.
While she is away on a world tour, Mina's friends who are locked up in Villa V Odyssey are still in Belfast and there is no chance of them leaving.
,[The passengers are] They are very suspicious. They are very apprehensive. They are not happy. Especially when you have been told that you are going on your dream vacation.
“I can't imagine living in a situation where nothing is in my control,” Meena said.
Peterson acknowledged the journey hasn’t been easy for Villa V Residences travelers, but he remains optimistic.
“Our residents have been through so much, from the nightmare of life at sea to now the long delays in Belfast. But overall, residents have persevered and are looking forward to the next chapter of their lives.
“It wasn't an ideal start, but it will all be worth it in the end. That's something I am confident about,” he added.
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