Valuable lessons learned through travel   When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. That applies to travel as it does to everything else, and there are quite a few folks stranded in Istanbul, Turkey, right now who are probably thinking they should’ve thought twice before putting their money down.             Only this time, it wasn’t just about putting money down, in some cases six figures’ worth. Many also sold their homes and disposed of most of their belongings. They were going to live on a luxury cruise ship for three years as it circled the globe, so why keep a house back home? It all sounded…well, almost too good to be true. Turns out, it was.             Life at Sea Cruises offered the opportunity of a lifetime, and 111 cabins were sold. The line’s inaugural voyage would be aboard a German cruise ship that had been retired by that line last summer. Money was put down by folks enticed by the thought of a retirement adventure that would certainly beat driving an RV around from campground to campground. The ship would pick them up in Istanbul on November 1, so over 200 passengers gathered there, only to be told the day before that the departure was postponed 10 days and relocated to Amsterdam. Then, before many of them could make their way to Holland, it was pushed back again, to November 30. But 13 days before that date, the passengers were informed the cruise was cancelled.             CNN reported last week that on November 16th, the Germans had sold the ship to another company. Life at Sea’s CEO resigned, but then recorded a video that was emailed to every passenger, admitting that she wasn’t speaking on behalf of her former employer but telling the folks that yes, the cruise was off, sorry about that. Everybody would be getting their money back by the end of February 2024.             Two days after the ex-CEO’s video, the owner of Life at Sea’s parent company, Turkey-based Miray Cruises, sent all the passengers an email confirming that the cruise would not be sailing. They couldn’t afford the ship, he said, and he was “extremely sorry for the inconvenience.” Investors had supported the purchase initially, but the current turmoil in the Middle East had caused some of them to withdraw their support. It would’ve cost upwards of $50 million to purchase and refurbish the ship and without additional outside investment, that wouldn’t be possible.             Miray had a smaller ship that was initially considered for the voyage but rejected because it was deemed too small, and the line wouldn’t change those plans. CNN said that ship is at the heart of a defamation lawsuit brought by Miray against Life at Sea’s former managing director, who jumped ship, so to speak, along with several other key executives last May. He’d called the ship “unseaworthy.”             It appears Miray is attempting to make things as right as it can, short of actually getting a ship and sending its passengers on their way. The company has promised full refunds and is arranging for them to receive the personal belongings they’d shipped to the line in advance of the planned cruise. Company executives went to Istanbul to meet with passengers to assist them in getting home.             Many of the passengers spoke to CNN about the debacle, although they wanted to remain anonymous since their refunds hadn’t come through yet. One said, “I had the next three years of my life planned to live an extraordinary life, and now, nothing.” Many said they felt “let down, deceived, betrayed.”             Is another cruise option out there? Maybe. The former Life at Sea CEO is now running another company, HLC Cruise Lines, and in her video she told the castaways that HLC was putting something together that might work if about half of them “transferred” to her new company. HLC’s website currently offers “boutique cruise liners” selling duty free gold bullion, diamonds and gems on board. But did they have a ship? Well, sort of; HLC said they might be able to put something together by March. Meanwhile, remember those erstwhile Life at Sea execs who bailed on the company last year? They’ve put together their own company, offering low deposits and guaranteed introductory rates for anybody who signs up for their long-term cruise. Do they have a ship yet? Well, no.             CNN didn’t say how many of those stranded Life at Sea passengers booked their cruise-that-never-happened through a travel agent. We suspect it wasn’t too many of them, if any. Anyone inquiring at our office, for example, would’ve gotten the benefit of our research, which would’ve found right away that Miray, the parent company of Life at Sea, only does short cruises in the Aegean Sea, which is a far cry from a three-year, round-the-world voyage. Red flag, anybody?             Whether you want to go around the world or somewhere closer to home, give us a call. We’ll find something for you, and it’ll be a trip you can count on!