Life at Sea Cruises all at sea with no ship and more delays
NewsLife at Sea Cruises inaugural three-year journey has been pushed back less than three weeks before its scheduled departure. Life at Sea cruises still hasn’t acquired the ship it plans to use for the rolling three-year itineraries.
At present Life at Sea Cruises’ MV Lara is a ship in name only. While it hasn’t been confirmed by the cruise line which vessel will be purchased and converted into MV Lara, Sea Trade has identified the ship as AIDAaura, currently owned by Carnival Corporation.
Business Insider has also reported that all passengers scheduled for the cruise received an email stating “finalising the funds transfer for the purchase” has been taking “longer than expected” and therefore the cruise would be delayed.
Apparently the launch has now been pushed back to November 11, 10 days after the original embarkation date of November 1. Guests will, it is said, now be able to board in Amsterdam on November 11 and then in the Bahamas on November 21.
The cruise line wrote: “We understand this change is not desirable, but we are doing our best to accommodate everyone and keep this adventure on track, even if it is a little late.”
However, even once the ship is acquired, Life at Sea Cruises says it will need 18 days of dry-dock before it can be repositioned and begin sailing.
The three-year cruise project has had numerous twists and turns, with previously reported issues regarding changes in management causing some guests to ask for their money back.
However, once the cruise company got back on track, it announced it was upgrading to a larger ship and increased prices.
At least 20 Aussies are already booked for the first voyage, signing up for the minimum three years with pricing now starting around AU$5000 a month.
