Life at Sea sold a 3-year cruise, then admitted it had no ship

Fortune reported on 27 November 2023 that Life at Sea Cruises had cancelled its heavily promoted three-year world cruise for remote workers, priced from $30,000 per year, admitting it had no ship. The voyage was announced in March 2023, additional passengers were taken on in June, and after twice delaying the 1 November departure the company cancelled altogether on 17 November, leaving some passengers stuck in Istanbul where the cruise was to sail from.

The ship fell through in stages. In June, Life at Sea announced it had acquired a larger vessel, the MV Lara, allowing 200 more passengers and a price rise to $38,513. But the sale collapsed — another company bought the ship — and Miray Cruises, the parent firm, could not afford another. 'Miray is not such a big company to afford to pay 40-50 million for a ship,' owner Vedat Ugurlu told passengers, saying investors who had approved the purchase withdrew after the down payment, citing unrest in the Middle East.

The company promised refunds in monthly installments starting the next month, plus hotel rooms and return airfares for passengers in Turkey. Some passengers had not renewed leases, or had sold or rented out their homes for the voyage. CEO Kendra Holmes reportedly resigned the week before the cancellation, and the company's website was still showing a countdown and taking cabin reservations by wire transfer days after the cancellation.

Passengers had put down tens of thousands of dollars each; refunds only in monthly installments from December; some were stranded in Istanbul; CEO Kendra Holmes resigned.

Cabins were sold and deposits taken before the ship purchase was secure.

The whole plan depended on investors who had only conditionally committed.

Two missed departure dates signalled the financing was failing, yet sales continued.

The website kept taking new bookings after the cruise was already dead.

Selling multi-year commitments before you control the critical asset — the ship — converts a marketing problem into stranded customers with no homes.

Refunds were promised in monthly installments and travel costs covered, per Fortune; Life at Sea did not respond to requests for comment and had not updated its website as of 27 November 2023.