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Luxury line Silversea canceled a 17-night voyage from Mumbai to Athens aboard Silver Whisper, citing the geopolitical situation in the Red Sea region. British line Marella Cruises is the latest in a string of cruise lines to adjust itineraries amid the ongoing Red Sea conflict and crisis in the Middle East. Ongoing unrest in the Middle East has led to a series of changes and cancellations to cruise line itineraries, with more lines opting to re-route their Red Sea itineraries, including World Cruises, away from the conflict. The cruise went on sale Thursday, with fares starting at $16,029 per person, double occupancy, for an inside cabin. Travelers booking the sailing will receive 15 free shore excursions, a complimentary beverage package and a 30% discount on onboard laundry services. Looking ahead to 2023, MSC Poesia was already scheduled to complete a world voyage.
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Would-be travelers could pay extra to stay on board — potentially indefinitely. This means at least some investors who had offered to help fund the purchase of the vessel likely have backed out. The company responded to a request for comment from BI with a statement that didn't address specific questions. The statement followed the resignation of Kendra Holmes (Life at Sea's CEO) who reportedly recorded a video for passengers admitting the voyage's cancellation. The reasons for her being chosen to make the announcement after her resignation remain unclear.
The 3-year cruise was canceled. Enter the 3.5-year cruise. - The Washington Post
The 3-year cruise was canceled. Enter the 3.5-year cruise..
Posted: Fri, 22 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Remember that 3-year-long cruise? It’s been cancelled, 1 week before departure
We are notifying guests and travel advisors of changes directly,” the cruise line said in a statement shared with Cruise Critic. The already-sold-out 119-night 2023 world voyage on MSC Poesia will include 53 port calls in 33 countries, such as Costa Rica, Australia, Japan, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Jordan, Curaçao, Mexico, Greece and the U.S., including Hawaii. For travelers who were already in Istanbul, from where the ship was previously planned to set sail, Life at Sea will reimburse their hotels until December 1 and "subsequent travel expenses," the statement said.
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With the conflict continuing to escalate – and the increased possibility it could spread beyond the borders of Israel and the Gaza Strip – cruisers are starting to wonder what may become of their cruises to the region in the coming months. “The safety of our guests, crew, and the communities we visit is always our top priority. Our Global Security teams continue to monitor the evolving situation in the Red Sea. In an abundance of caution, we have adjusted select itineraries of Silver Moon, Silver Spirit, and Silver Whisper.
“Miray is not such a big company to afford to pay 40–50 million for a ship,” said Vedat Ugurlu, owner of Miray, in a message to passengers. In June, Life at Sea announced it had acquired a larger vessel for the trip, allowing it to accommodate 200 additional passengers. With that ship, the MV Lara, the company raised the price of the trip from $30,000 to $38,513. Passengers who signed up for the headline-making voyage — which was originally due to depart from Istanbul, Turkey, on Nov. 1 and visit seven continents, 135 countries and 375 ports — received news of its cancellation on Nov. 17, CNN reported. Like other Edge-class ships, cruisers sailing on Celebrity Xcel will enjoy a fine dining venue by Chef Daniel Boulud along with the popular Magic Carpet, a cantilevered space that functions as a lounge, dining venue, or entertainment area. Sea trials are held to test a ship’s operational systems, such as navigation, speed and propulsion, emergency and safety responses, stabilizers, noise, vibrations, and other elements.
In response, Kendra Holmes – who was promoted from vice president of strategy and business development to CEO – told passengers on Facebook that around half the founding team had left, but that Miray was determined to make the cruise go ahead. By the end of March 2023, just one month after sales opened, Petterson says his team had sold 285 out of 400 cabins. Miray disputes this, claiming that after Petterson’s departure, it found “around 130 cabins” booked, 30 of which later cancelled. But now, after two of three payments should have arrived, passengers say that only a handful have seen any money, and no one has got what they were expecting. The company doesn’t deny problems with repayment, and it now says that customers will be reimbursed in full by February 15.
Passengers aboard Norwegian Epic were notified that their November itinerary would drop ports in Israel – but also the Greek ports of Rhodes and Patmos. Celestyal Cruises, which maintains a presence in the region, said late Monday evening it would suspend calls to Israel on its sailings until the end of November. "The ship was originally scheduled to sail in the Middle East. We’ve postponed our launch in that region to begin in November 2024,” said Windstar Cruises President Christopher Prelog. “Instead, they will sail around the west coast of Africa with no ports of call on their journeys to their respective European homeports for the summer 2024 season. “The safety of passengers and crew is the number one priority and as there was no viable alternative itinerary, the Company has regrettably had to cancel the voyages.
“The concept of being in one room and not having to jump onto airplanes was very enticing,” she says now. That’s little comfort to some passengers who did not renew leases, or sold their homes or rented them out to travel the world for three years. Life at Sea is also promising to pay for the hotel rooms and return-trip airfares for passengers in Turkey. The company also vowed to refund those who signed up for the cruise, whose costs ranged from $29,999 a year for a standard interior cabin all the way up to $109,000 per year for a luxurious suite with a large balcony. Finally, less than two weeks before its third and final departure date, the voyage was canceled altogether. According to the outlet, the cruise was postponed to Nov. 11 and relocated from Istanbul to Amsterdam shortly before its original Nov. 1 departure date.
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We need another week.’ So then I had to tell Carnival, ‘We didn’t get the money.’ It was the most humiliating position I’ve ever been put in in my entire life. Varner had spent 30 years traveling the globe for the US Foreign Service, but 18 years earlier she had settled in Maine. She loved her community there, but reading about the cruise, she’d felt a pull. Meanwhile, a lawsuit against Life at Sea from four members of the original sales team demanding nearly $600,000 in damages is underway. To begin with, everything was plain sailing, but then the plans hit rougher waters.
It has also offered to pay accommodation until Dec. 1 and flights for those who had already made their way to the departure destination in Istanbul ahead of time. The company also informed customers earlier this month that the retired cruise ship they planned to buy and renovate ahead of their departure had been bought by another company. But cruise company Life at Sea recently told customers who bought passage on a three-year voyage that rather than visiting 140 countries, their trip was called off. Yet four days later it was Holmes who would tell passengers that the cruise was off. At the time, she told CNN that she had resigned, but that her relationship with Miray was “complicated.” CNN broke the news that the cruise was cancelled on November 24. The cancelled cruises all are Mexican Riviera sailings operating roundtrip from Long Beach, California, with departures set for November 11, 18, and 26, and December 2, 2023.
MSC Cruises has become the first cruise line to cancel cruises due to the ongoing risks to shipping in the Red Sea. Queen Mary 2 will maintain its existing itinerary until after its call in Colombo, Sri Lanka. At that point, the ship's itinerary will sail south along the east coast of Africa before rounding the horn and coming up the western coast of the continent.
Residents would buy a three-year package for a little over $115,500 per person. CNN reports that passengers faced “weeks of silence” from Life at Sea Cruises and at least two postponements since the beginning of the month. The big ship was originally scheduled to leave port on Nov. 1, which was first postponed to Nov. 11 and then Nov. 30. Passengers said they were told its most recent sail date was Nov. 30, CNN reported last month, though the brand told the outlet at the time that there was not a confirmed departure date or place.
Williams, who joined Carnival Cruise Line as a singer/performer 12 years ago, has served as cruise director onboard several ships, including Mardi Gras, Carnival Sunshine, and Carnival Dream. The new assignment is effective November 13, 2023, when Williams will join two existing Fleet Cruise Directors, Chris “Donkey” Salazar and Mike Pack. Carnival Cruise Line has cancelled Carnival Panorama’s next four cruises due to an engine issue that is affecting the ship’s maximum cruising speed. The 4,000-guest ship will be temporarily taken out of service while repairs are made. It’s been another busy week for cruise news, and Cruise Hive has all of the developments covered, including news about Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, and Royal Caribbean. Itinerary changes as a result of the conflict are also being felt in other geographic areas, too.
Passengers had boxed up their possessions into “pods” to be loaded onto the ship. After waiting in vain for Miray to return their belongings, Varner and another passenger, Lorna Bolduc, paid for delivery themselves. Speaking anonymously at the time, Phenix warned, “I’m completely homeless and jobless come November 1.” Her fears came true. Ahead of the cruise, she closed her two companies and rented out her condo. She says she couldn’t now afford the mortgage even if she evicted her tenant, which she wouldn’t do.
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