Customers, some of
whom sold their homes and spent their life savings to pay for passage aboard the
world’s
first three-year cruise, which was canceled months ago, still haven’t
received their refunds. Now, a group of them are demanding a criminal
investigation into the parent company of Life at Sea Cruises, Turkish cruise line
Miray Cruises.
The company canceled
its ‘Life at Sea’ cruise just two weeks prior to its scheduled departure date
after failing to secure a ship large enough to accommodate its contingent. While
individual fares started as low as $38,500 per year, the
cancellation left passengers $16
million in total poorer. The voyage was meant to supply them with a home
at sea for three years while they visited 140 cities around the world.
On Tuesday, a
group of 78 such customers sent a letter to Markenzy Lapointe, U.S. attorney for the Southern
District of Florida, requesting that his office initiate a criminal fraud
investigation into Miray Cruises. According to The New York Times, the collation alleges that Miray diverted customers’
payments of approximately $16 million to fund the deposit on a ship that never
materialized.
In the letter to
Lapointe, passengers wrote that the cruise company had assured them that their
payments were not being used as upfront capital, a promise which now appears to
have been a falsehood. Ultimately, customers’ dreams were shattered when the
company announced on November 17, just two weeks prior to its maiden voyage (which
had already been thrice delayed), that it had failed to secure a suitable
vessel and plans were abruptly brought to a halt.
“If we will not be
able to sail on December 1, we will offer you to sail on another departure date
or refund all the payments within a short schedule,” Vedat Ugurlu, CEO of Miray
Cruises, said in a letter to passengers at the time. The company promised to issue
refunds for the 100 cabins already sold, but these were to be doled out in
monthly installments.
Months before the voyage, internal
management issues plagued Life at Sea and Miray Cruises, resulting in a severed
partnership in May. Some passengers, including Kimberly Arizzi, who was one of
the first to buy into the scheme withdrew from the arrangement when these
internal problems surfaced. Arizzi told Business
Insider that she received a refund for her $5,000 down payment at that
point.
Life preserver on a ship's deck. (photo via Pixabay/dimitrisvetsikas1969)
But, other customers
had reportedly sold their businesses, sold or rented their homes, or emptied
their savings accounts to partake in the round-the-world voyage, which would
still cost significantly less for a year’s living than what the average
American household spends annually. Now, some find themselves essentially homeless
and unemployed, with no refund forthcoming.
David Purcell, a 78-year-old
retired lawyer who, following the death of his wife, sold his house and car to
fund the trip, lamented, "Some people put in everything they had, and now
they are broke or homeless or wandering from cruise to cruise like tumbleweeds
because they have no other place to go."
Another bereft
customer, Adam Pers of Bristol, England, who paid six figures
upfront for a discount on the fare, afterward received a cancer diagnosis. Now,
one of many passengers caught in the financial aftermath of Life at Sea's
demise, he’s left struggling to find work to pay for treatment and home mortgage.
"Unfortunately
for Adam and many others, this dream became a nightmare when the trip was
canceled and refunds have not been paid," states a GoFundMe page that was
set up on Pers’ behalf. "Adam made many sacrifices to go on this amazing
once in a lifetime journey, including leaving his job and selling his
possessions and renting out his home in order to cover costs."
Spokespeople for
Lapointe’s office, Miray Cruises and the organizer of the GoFundMe account did
not immediately return Business Insider’s request for comment.
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