An opportunity of a lifetime turned into a nightmare when an elderly man’s cruise dream didn’t go as planned.
Imaging spending a whopping amount of money on travelling the world, only to never enter the seas.
That’s what happened in 2022 when New York native, Rami Mina, wanted to do something extraordinary after his wife died of brain cancer.
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The man initially submitted a $5,000 deposit to Life at Sea Cruises, which would take him all over the globe for three years via Miray Cruises.
The liner promised to provide a once-in-a-lifetime trip which spanned 130,000 miles, 135 countries and 375 ports.
All of this would be chalked up to an astounding $29,999 per year and would depart from Amsterdam on 30 November 2023.
Mino explained to The Post: “They were advertising at $30,000 per person, per year, specifically for digital nomads. I immediately signed up.
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“I reserved a cabin.”
The 82-year-old sold his house in June to take part in the cruise, but it didn’t take long for the scheduled plan to go downhill.
On 17 November, just two weeks before it was set to leave Amsterdam to embark on its world-wide journey, Life at Sea Cruises announced that the cruise was cancelled because the company hadn’t been able to buy the cruise ship.
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At this point, some passengers were in Istanbul, as it had originally planned to depart from there before changing its location to Amsterdam last minute.
Because of the cancellation, the company promised to refund through monthly instalments between December and February as it had run its plan right into the ground and could not complete it.
This left Mina out of pocket and unable to accomplish his dream.
That’s when the ex- Life at Sea Cruises managing director decided to do something different in a bid to give passengers what they want.
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A 2024 trip which would take three and a half years and people could buy a cabin outright for prices between $99,999 to $899,000 instead of paying a daily rate.
At first, Mina planned to join the cruise, but he was told to wait by the MD before putting down a big deposit his cabin.
This cruise, called the Villa Vie Residences’ Odyssey ship, was supposed to begin at Belfast, Northern Ireland, before sailing the worldly seas.
But it didn’t move from the dock once passengers were on board.
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Mikael Petterson, the creator, admitted that several delays meant that passengers have been stranded for months in Belfast.
Due to problems with its rudders and gearbox, and the fact it still needs final clearance to launch to the Caribbean and South America, it’s not looking good.
Thankfully, Mina managed to escape before it all went belly up and asked for his refund before it was planned to leave Belfast.
Having already sold his home to go on the two cruises that failed, it came at an immense personal cost.
Thankfully, he instead decided set sail with the Viking Sky liner in December and enjoyed a137-night world cruise out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
As he is in contact with the current stranded passengers, he admitted that they aren’t too pleased about how things have been going down.
He said: “[The passengers are] super doubtful. They’re super apprehensive. They are not happy. Especially when you’ve been told you’re going to go on your dream vacation.
“I can’t imagine living in a situation where nothing is under my control.”
Topics: Cruise Ship, Travel, Money, US News, UK News
Britt Jones