Now is your chance to live on a ship - Not Anymore!

[athena53]

Includes "free medical visits". I wonder how extensive that would be.

As we get older, we do get more "high maintenance" health wise.
<snip>

Then there's health insurance coverage for anything that's not "free".

Yeah, that was my second thought (first was "I can't miss out on 3 years of my grandchildren's lives"). I'm in great shape for 70 but still need an annual echocardiogram and cardiologist visit, alternating mammograms and breast MRIs every 6 months (family history) and good dental care with the occasional implant or root canal. I'd also be due for a colonoscopy in the next 3 years.

The single supplement would be a dealbreaker, too.

 

[Chuckanut]

ZenMaster, have you considered one of those Around-the World in one direction plans the airlines sell. For a fixed sum of money you get to fly just about anywhere the airline group flies as long as you don't go backwards. Of course, you don't get to take your hotel room with you. But, it's a lot shorter time-wise and you are not limited to cities and sights near a port.

https://thriftynomads.com/round-the-world-tickets-guide/

Round the world (RTW) tickets are flight packages that let you visit a number of destinations around the world for one price. These tickets are offered by airline alliances like SkyTeam, Oneworld, and Star Alliance. All the flights in your itinerary must be served by airlines within the chosen alliance.

Personally I have a problem paying in advance for a three year trip. One problem is food. I retired early for many reasons, and one of the main reasons was taking care of my health by eating better. IOW, I prepare more of my own meals so I can eat better. Also, I have a hard time reserving a hotel room for if the cancellation policy does not allow a refund if I cancel within one or two days. Ugh! So reserving a cabin in a ship for three years will probably not be something I would do. But, that's me. YMMV.

 

[Sunset]

Looks like there is trouble with the ship getting ready. Some people are demanding refunds after staffing issues arose with a breakdown between Life at Sea company and Miray company.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/woman-sold-her-apartment-furniture-230619508.html

 

[Koolau]

"Cabins run the gamut from 13 square feet “Virtual Inside” staterooms — which start at $29,999 per person per year, coming out at $179,994 for the three-year trip for two people — to Balcony Suites, which are double the size and go up to $109,999 per person. The cheapest outdoor cabin costs $36,999 per person."

13 square feet? Wonder if that's a typo and it's 13 ft sq, but still, that's 100% interior and very small.

A room so small you have to go outside to change your mind.

 

[Koolau]

I spent 4 years and 3 months out of 6 years living on a ship. I’m not even inclined to take a cruise. Thank goodness the wife doesn’t have a desire to take a cruise.

If I were inclined to take a 3 year cruise (and I'm not) I'd want to view the ship and its amenities, crew, cabins, medical facilities, food, etc. I'm sure they won't allow that unless they don't get fully subscribed.

 

[Koolau]

I would hope that a good travel insurance policy would cover you in the event that the cruise ends prematurely.

If the ship went bankrupt, the insurance company might well too.

 

[Walt34]

"Cabins run the gamut from 13 square feet “Virtual Inside” staterooms — which start at $29,999 per person per year, coming out at $179,994 for the three-year trip for two people — to Balcony Suites, which are double the size and go up to $109,999 per person. The cheapest outdoor cabin costs $36,999 per person."

13 square feet? Wonder if that's a typo and it's 13 ft sq, but still, that's 100% interior and very small.

That sounded awfully small to me so I looked up what is the average size of a prison cell, not exactly known for luxury accommodations. Near as I can tell (naturally they vary) 54 square feet is the average. So yeah, that's small. I think for the price they charge for a cruise ship I'd insist on a cabin at least the size of a prison cell.

But here's one cite: https://www.reference.com/world-view/big-prison-cell-2b9267096a79503c

 

[RunningBum]

That sounded awfully small to me so I looked up what is the average size of a prison cell, not exactly known for luxury accommodations. Near as I can tell (naturally they vary) 54 square feet is the average. So yeah, that's small. I think for the price they charge for a cruise ship I'd insist on a cabin at least the size of a prison cell.

But here's one cite: https://www.reference.com/world-view/big-prison-cell-2b9267096a79503c

Multiple people already followed up to that post and found it was a typo. It's 130 sq ft. Common sense says it can't be 13 sq ft. A twin bed is larger than that.

 

[gromit]

3 year cruisers discover company has no ship

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/three-year-cruise-canceled/index.html

"After weeks of silence, the company has acknowledged to passengers that it has no ship, and has canceled the departure, vowing to refund those who’d signed up for cruises costing up to hundreds of thousands of dollars."

"Some of the passengers who booked the 111 cabins sold are still in Istanbul, having made their way there ahead of the original departure date. Others say they have nowhere to return to, having sold or rented out their homes in anticipation of the round-the-world voyage, as well as jettisoning their possessions."​

A second article directly below the first says that the company had planned to buy a cruise ship in drydock that suddenly got sold to another company. For the next six weeks the company told the passengers that the purchase of the ship was taking longer than expected.

 

[Gremlin]

There never was a ship. Sounds like a master scam to me.

 

[Gumby]

Threads merged.

 

[mystang52]

Wow, I feel horrible for those customers. My reading of the cruise company's public words would not be comforting if I was one of the ripped off customers.
They seem to be couching their words: they "intend" to honor their [refund] commitments, they are supposedly looking for another ship, they supposedly plan to send refunds in installments over a period of months. Not to mention that they had not made any of these comments until their CEO had resigned and issued a statement to the customers....as the former CEO. It all sounds very sleazy to me.

 

[pacergal]

wow, how sad for those who sold homes, etc, ahead of time in anticipation.

 

[CaptTom]

Wow. I hadn't heard that they'd already changed plans for which ship to use, or that a group of people split off to form a competing company. The only thing which rings true is that bit about "unrest in the Middle East." That was my first thought when I saw their proposed itinerary. And that was before recent events.

Sounds like the whole thing was what we in IT used to call "vaporware." All promises, no product. I can see that there's a bit of a chicken-and-egg dilemma with this sort of thing. You need the customers to get the financing to get a ship. But you need something concrete to offer the customers, including some firm idea of what exactly their cabin will look like. Which you don't have until you get a ship.

I think we all saw this as a highly risky investment from day one. I feel bad for the people who bought in, but frankly all the signs were there.

 

[brett]

Imagine shelling out hundreds of thousands dollars for a three year cruise on a start up cruise line that did not even own a ship, have a current leased ship, or have any track record.

Or...without reflecting on what transpired on cruises ships during covid, how covid impacted the industry, and how some countries closed entry.

So sad for those people. I hope they are able to get some of their money back.

 

[mystang52]

Even presuming the initial plan was in good faith, needing customer deposits just to get an old ship ready to go screams of being a variation on a Ponzi scheme. I suspect they will dilly and dather, send more vague announcements, and eventually wear down their customers to accept a small % back on their original payments.

 

[Fermion]

Setting aside lottery winners and inheritances, how do people this dumb acquire this much money?

 

[brett]

There never was a ship. Sounds like a master scam to me.

Agree.....and just think they could have bought a bridge, a gold mine or an 'orange grove' in Florida with that money.

 

[MarieIG]

wow, how sad for those who sold homes, etc, ahead of time in anticipation.

Yes, I agree.

 

[Gremlin]

Wow. I hadn't heard that they'd already changed plans for which ship to use, or that a group of people split off to form a competing company. The only thing which rings true is that bit about "unrest in the Middle East." That was my first thought when I saw their proposed itinerary. And that was before recent events.

Sounds like the whole thing was what we in IT used to call "vaporware." All promises, no product. I can see that there's a bit of a chicken-and-egg dilemma with this sort of thing. You need the customers to get the financing to get a ship. But you need something concrete to offer the customers, including some firm idea of what exactly their cabin will look like. Which you don't have until you get a ship.

I think we all saw this as a highly risky investment from day one. I feel bad for the people who bought in, but frankly all the signs were there.

Totally agree.

Also, a professional cruise line should usually be able to pivot to world events. Case in point. I just took my “retirement cruise” a coworker of mine and I had talked about for 20 years (not retired yet but we both cut our hours. We took it early cuz we finally realized we might drop dead tomorrow!) 14 days on Royal Carribean. 48 hours prior to landing in Israel for 2 days, the current debacle went down. The cruise line pivoted beautifully and seamlessly to alternate sites in Turkey.

I feel horrible for those that sold their homes as mentioned in the article. But even if the cruise had gone as planned they risked reentering the market at potentially much higher prices. Personally, I would never have risked this myself. Rent my home out? Sure. Gamble my future on finding something reasonable in a place I’m willing to live? Heck no. And as much as I enjoyed my cruise, no way would I enjoy that long on a ship. But that’s me.

Love the “vapor ware” term. Never heard it before but seems very applicable to many situations.

 

[brett]

Those who signed up and paid for the cruise may not be sailing but......

I suspect that the firm's owner will however be sailing away into the sunset.....with the revenue from the those cruisers.

 

[Markola]

I read the article and half expected the captain to explain that she was instead, “Hiking the Appalachian Trail” or “Spending more time with family.”

 

[marko]

For the same reason, "pre-construction pricing" on condos and homes always spooked me.

Locally, an acquaintance sold a huge piece of waterfront property to a condo developer. The written deal was that he'd discount the cash price, get a little less cash but he'd get a prime penthouse unit at no cost.

Ten years later, it's still an empty lot. We think they're waiting for him to die.

 

[Nash]

I'd rather spend 3 years in prison than 3 years on a cruise ship.

 

[Dawg52]

I'd rather spend 3 years in prison than 3 years on a cruise ship.

You won't get sea sick in prison but you might not like your cellmate.