A sad disappointment awaited an American pensioner whose dream of a three-year round-the-world cruise was dashed when a cruise line announced the cancellation of the sailing. It was a double blow for the tourist, as she sold her house to buy the tour. This was reported by the Daily Star.
It is about the world’s first three-year round-the-world trip on the MV Gemini cruise ship, which was supposed to depart from Istanbul in November-December 2023 and visit 135 countries in three years.
The background is as follows: last winter, a retired woman from Florida (USA) booked one of the most luxurious apartments with a balcony on the seventh floor of the liner, which was to become a communication center for the friends the woman intended to make during the cruise. The trip cost her $29.9 thousand, and this is half of the money received from the sale of her real estate.
As the pensioner later said, she decided on the offer only 12 hours after she first heard about him. “I don’t have children or grandchildren, so I’m free and happy. Why not do something similar? I like new experiences because they are refreshing. I was looking for something similar for about two years and thought about it for several years. Over the years I have visited many countries. I worked as a flight attendant for 22 years, used my opportunity to travel for free and stay in hotels,” she said.
1,000 passengers wanted to embark on a long sea journey across all continents, with stops in 375 places and visiting 13 world wonders. Earlier on the website of the cruise company, it was reported that guests “will live in relative luxury, they will have the opportunity to do laundry, use the services of doctors and nurses in the health center, manicure salon, and massage room, as well as a golf simulator.” Classes, lectures, a cinema, and volunteering opportunities were also planned to pass the time. But, unfortunately, despite the invested funds and plans, the cruise never took place.
The owner of the cruise company, Vedat Ugurlu, apologized to the tourists and announced the postponement of the sailing until next year due to the difficult political situation. As noted by the publication, this decision created financial difficulties for those who invested their money in the trip of their dreams.
The pensioner was also expecting a long trip and was going to change to another ship during the stopover in Peru. However, now that the trip is being delayed, she hopes to get her money back by calling on the company to meet its reimbursement obligations.