A couple who sold their home and most of their belongings to go on a three-year cruise around the world now fear they will become homeless – after the trip was canceled at the last minute.
Kara and Joe Youssef of Ohio were thrilled when they heard about Miray Cruises' Life at Sea voyage, which was scheduled to depart Nov. 1 and spend 1,095 days at sea and visit 382 ports around the world.
They decided to give up both of their homes and spent almost all of their “life savings” on a ticket – only to find out just days before departure that this wasn't the case.
Now the couple is still waiting for their $80,000 refund – and are stuck in a hotel in Istanbul, Turkey.
When Kara and Joe Youssef of Ohio heard about Miray Cruises' Life at Sea voyage, which was scheduled to depart Nov. 1 and spend 1,095 days at sea, they were excited
“They kept us going and kept us hopeful until the very last minute, just days before we were supposed to leave,” Kara recently told the New York Times.
“We sold everything we have to make this dream come true.” “We feel completely defeated.”
According to the Times, the idea to create an around-the-world cruise came from an entrepreneur named Mikael Petterson in June 2022.
He contacted Miray owner Vedat Ugurlu, who suggested a ship called MC Gemini, which had 400 cabins and could accommodate about 1,000 passengers.
The company announced the cruise in March 2023, and despite the high prices — cabins ranged from $90,000 for the smallest to a whopping $975,000 for a suite — it was an instant success and hundreds started making reservations.
“It just exploded and we could barely keep up,” Mikael recalled to the Times.
However, problems arose a month later when concerns were raised about the amount of fuel that would be required to reach certain objectives.
“Even if you spend another $10 million on this ship, I don't think it's enough to accomplish what we want to do,” trip planner Robert Dixon said in an audio message sent to the rest of the ship, according to the publication Teams was sent.
Cruise passengers who had signed up for a three-year world cruise were left devastated after the company canceled the trip in less than two weeks
Kara and Joe decided to give up both of their homes and spent almost their entire “life savings” on a ticket – only to be told a few days before departure that that would no longer be happening
Now the couple is still waiting for their $80,000 refund – and are stuck in a hotel in Istanbul, Turkey
Around the same time, the company began having difficulty “processing credit card transactions” and “lacked an escrow account to secure deposits.”
In May, Mikael cut ties with the cruise line and Miray amid ongoing tensions, leaving the Youssefs worried about the thousands of dollars they had already paid as a down payment.
“We were very nervous,” Kara admitted, but added that they felt better after attending a series of “webinars” with other passengers and Miray's vice president of business development strategy, Kendra Holmes.
“Kendra was very convincing and committed. It was very realistic, whereas Mikael promised us sun and moon.”
On May 31, Kendra hosted a webinar and told everyone that the company had decided not to use an escrow account – adding that it would instead use a bond on file with the Federal Maritime Commission to help protect passengers.
However, according to the Times, bail was never submitted.
A month later, Life at Sea said it was experiencing “unprecedented demand” and was purchasing a 627-cabin ship for everyone.
However, the truth was that the company was trying to buy the larger ship with the help of investors.
Another passenger, Mary Rader, 68, decided to ask a travel agent to check whether the company was reputable before placing her deposit with Miray Cruises.
“They kept us going and kept us hopeful until the very last minute, just days before we were supposed to leave,” Kara recently told the New York Times
“We were very nervous,” Kara admitted, but added that they felt better after attending a series of “webinars” with other passengers and Miray's vice president of business development strategy, Kendra Holmes
After getting the stamp of approval from the travel agent, the retired New York social worker withdrew $80,000 from her retirement savings and made the payment in two parts.
However, she never received a receipt.
She told the Times: “That's when I started to see all the warning signs, but I was trapped because I had already made the payments.”
Meanwhile, Kara and Joe had sold their apartment to make payments for their upcoming cruise.
Other passengers began applying for visas, sending their belongings to Istanbul and even making arrangements to accommodate their dogs.
However, only 111 of the 627 seats were occupied – but the passengers were still informed that it would start.
On September 26, Life at Sea was set to buy the larger ship, but after the lead investor pulled out, Vedat told Kendra it would look for other candidates.
At that time, Kendra announced that passengers would only receive 10 percent of their deposit back in the event of cancellation.
On October 27th, just days before the cruise began, the company announced that the voyage had been postponed until November 11th and would now depart from Amsterdam – even though 30 passengers were already waiting in Istanbul.
Just a few days later, it was postponed again to November 30th.
Other passengers began applying for visas, sending their belongings to Istanbul and even making arrangements to accommodate their dogs
On November 20, Vedat announced that investors had abandoned the business due to problems in the Middle East. The next day the cruise was canceled and they are still waiting for their refund
On November 16, Kara discovered that the ship she was supposed to be on had been purchased by another company.
And later I found out that Kendra had resigned from Miray.
Three days later, Vedat announced that investors had abandoned the business due to problems in the Middle East.
The next day the cruise was canceled.
The passengers were then asked to sign a document stating that Miray would give them their money back in the next three months.
However, when the first deadline passed on December 22 and only a handful of passengers got their money back, the cruise company said the delays were due to a problem with the bank.
On December 28, Kara and Joe revealed that they were still owed their salary and that they had been staying in a hotel in Istanbul for a month, paid for by the cruise line.
Kara noted that she was afraid that they would soon be homeless.
Miray, Kendra and Mikael are reportedly already working on another three-year cruise, scheduled to launch next year.
Meanwhile, Mary revealed that she doesn't expect her money to be refunded.
She told the Times: “I haven't received anything yet, but I didn't expect it.” “I expect the company to close or restructure and everything I paid in cash will never be paid out.”
Earlier this month, Miray's owner Vedat said the cancellation was due to a lack of funds and interest.
“We tried everything to find a solution, but in the end we couldn’t attract investors and didn’t sell enough cabins,” he said, according to the publication.