Photography: Life at Sea
Life at Sea Cruises has officially cancelled its epic three-year-long cruise – because it failed to find a ship.
The much-publicised inaugural voyage was set to launch from Istanbul on 1 November and was advertised as the ultimate trip for digital nomads, with its 111 cabins priced from $29,999 per year. The multi-year journey was intended to cover 130,000 miles, taking in all seven continents and stopping at 375 ports along the way.
But after a series of postponements, CNN Travel reports the trip has been cancelled entirely as ‘the company has acknowledged to passengers that it has no ship’.
Life at Sea Cruises has vowed to refund passengers. But according to CNN, some have already ‘sold or renter their homes in anticipation of the round-the-world voyage, as well as jettisoning their possessions.’ Other passengers (who began reserving their cabins last year) were already in Istanbul when the company notified them of the trip’s ultimate cancellation.
According to Life at Sea Cruises, it had intended to buy the retired cruise liner, the AIDAaura, this summer and fully renovate it. The sale ultimately fell through, however – Celestyal Cruises subsequently bought it – and the company has failed to find a suitable replacement.
Read more about the trip’s failure to launch over on CNN.
