Miray Cruises Explained

Miray International Cruises & Management
Type:Private
Location:Sarıyer, Istanbul, Turkey
Industry:Hospitality and transportation
Products:Cruises
Owner:Vedat Uğurlu

Miray International Cruises & Management is a Turkish cruise line operator. After operating ships for other companies, Miray began operating its own cruises in 2021. In 2023 the company offered an unusual three-year, round-the-world cruise called "Life at Sea", but it was cancelled less than two weeks before the scheduled departure.

History

Miray was founded in 1996.[1] It provided management services for ships operated by other companies, such as the Turkish tour operator Etstur.[2] The ships Miray helped manage included the Louis Aura, Aegean Paradise, MV Delphin, and Med Queen.[3]

Mediterranean operations

In 2020, Miray announced that it would offer its own cruises in the Aegean Sea using the MV Gemini, which began sailing for Miray in 2021.[4] The line's normal operations were interrupted in February 2023 by the catastrophic earthquake in Turkey and Syria; Gemini was deployed to provide accommodation for the homeless from Hatay Province. It accommodated mostly the elderly, sick, pregnant and families with small children.[5]

Life at Sea Cruises

In March 2023, Miray announced that Gemini would commence a three-year "live aboard" round-the-world cruise in November, under the brand "Life at Sea Cruises".[6] [7] The voyage was expected to include 382 ports in 140 countries.[8] In May, following internal disputes about the safety of using Gemini for the extended voyage, 22 members of the Life at Sea team resigned, including its senior management.[9] [10]

Miray announced in June that it would replace Gemini for the world cruise with a different ship, reported to be AIDAaura, an AIDA Cruises ship that was being decommissioned. The ship would be renamed Lara and undergo renovations in Istanbul.[11] [12] [13] The company also announced the promotion of Kendra L. Holmes as chief executive officer, including oversight of Life at Sea.[14] Holmes met with AIDA's parent company, the Carnival Corporation, in September to close the purchase of AIDAaura. During the meetings, she was informed by Miray owner Vedat Uğurlu that the funds needed for the purchase were not available.[15] The ship was instead purchased by Celestyal Cruises.[16] [17] [18]

Miray delayed the Life at Sea departure twice, first from 1 November to 11 November, and then to 30 November.[19] CEO Holmes left the company in mid-November; after resigning she sent a video on 17 November informing passengers that the cruise was cancelled.[20] [21] Miray confirmed the cancellation two days later, after some customers had already come to Istanbul in preparation for the cruise.

Some prospective passengers had sold or rented out their homes in expectation of living on the ship. Miray initially promised refunds and some coverage of travel expenses for customers, to be paid in three installments starting in December, but by January 2024 most customers had not received any refunds and Miray extended the expected refund timeframe to start in February. In January, a group of 78 prospective passengers sent a letter to Markenzy Lapointe, the United States attorney for the Southern District of Florida, requesting a criminal investigation of Miray's handling of Life at Sea.[22]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About Us . Miray Cruises . 25 November 2023.
  2. Web site: Miray Cruises to Launch Operations in the Aegean . Cruise Industry News . 27 July 2020 . 25 November 2023.
  3. Web site: Miray Cruises Aims to Begin Greek Cruises Next Month . Jordan . Bailey . Cruise Capital . 27 July 2020 . 25 November 2023.
  4. Web site: Three-Year World Cruise Turns Into Cruise to Nowhere . The Maritime Executive . 24 November 2023 . 25 November 2023.
  5. News: Engelbrecht . Cora . Kirac . Nimet . Ponomarev . Sergey . 'A Strange Dream': A Cruise Ship Is a Floating Shelter for Displaced Turks . The New York Times . 1 March 2023.
  6. Web site: Payne . Holly . Gemini's Three-year World Cruise on the Verge of Selling Out. 1 July 2023 . Seatrade Cruise News . 7 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230402052407/https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news-archive/geminis-three-year-world-cruise-verge-selling-out . 2 April 2023.
  7. News: Brockes, Emma . Emma Brockes . A Three-year Cruise Sounds Like a Costly, Sweaty Nightmare. But Then You Start Doing the Maths … . 1 July 2023 . The Guardian . 30 March 2023.
  8. Web site: A 3-year Around-the-world Cruise Was Supposed to Set Sail in a Week. But There's Still No Ship. . . 25 November 2023.
  9. Web site: Three-year Cruise in Crisis Amid Concerns about Its Ship and Refund Demands . Tamara . Hardingham-Gill . . 26 May 2023 . 25 November 2023.
  10. Web site: The Three-year Cruise Is Going Ahead – with a Bigger Ship . Julia . Buckley . CNN . 5 July 2023 . 25 November 2023.
  11. News: Miray Upgrades Ship for Three Year World Cruise . 1 July 2023 . Cruise Industry News . 29 June 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230824061300/https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/06/miray-upgrades-ship-for-three-year-world-cruise/ . 24 August 2023 . live.
  12. News: Kalosh . Anne . Miray Cruises Is the Reported Buyer of AIDAaura . 1 July 2023 . Seatrade Cruise News . 29 June 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230630072344/https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/refurb-interiors/miray-cruises-reported-buyer-aidaaura . 30 June 2023 . live.
  13. Web site: AIDA Cruises eröffnet am 9. Januar 2023 die Farewell-Saison von AIDAaura. 5 January 2023. 5 January 2023 . de.
  14. Web site: Miray Cruises Names Kendra L. Holmes as CEO . John . Shallo . Cruise Addicts . June 14, 2023 . 25 November 2023.
  15. Web site: How the Three-Year Cruise Fell Apart . Julia . Buckley . CNN . 20 January 2024 . 26 January 2024 .
  16. News: Eckardt . Christian . Verkauf der „AIDAaura“ in Sichtweite - und das soll der neue Käufer sein ("Sale of the "AIDAaura" in sight - and it is supposed to be a new buyer") . 13 November 2023 . Nordsee Zeitung . 10 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231110155828/https://www.nordsee-zeitung.de/Bremerhaven/Hafenkreise-berichten-Verkauf-der-AIDAaura-ist-in-Sichtweite-173078.html . 10 November 2023 . de . live.
  17. News: Celestyal Acquires AIDAaura; To Sail as Celestyal Discovery . 16 November 2023 . Cruise Industry News . 16 November 2023.
  18. News: Zelinski . Andrea . Celestyal Acquires Aida Ship and Will Rename It Discovery . 16 November 2023 . Travel Weekly . 16 November 2023.
  19. Web site: The Three-year Cruise Is Running Late – Again . Julia . Buckley . CNN . 27 October 2023 . 25 November 2023.
  20. Web site: The Three-year Cruise Is Canceled . Julia . Buckley . CNN . 24 November 2023 . 25 November 2023.
  21. News: Three-year Cruise around the World Canceled, Passengers Awaiting Refunds . Nathan . Diller . . 24 November 2023 . 25 November 2023.
  22. News: Life at Sea Passengers Say Canceled 3-year Cruise Owes Them Millions . Colleen . Grablick . The Washington Post . 23 January 2024 . 26 January 2024 .

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