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Talk about bad luck. A woman sold her house and gave away all of belongings so she could afford to go on a three-year, around-the-world cruise only to find out days before the trip was to begin that it had been cancelled.
Keri Witman, from Cincinnati, Ohio, paid $185,000 for a ticket on board the Life At Sea adventure voyage.
She was supposed to be traveling to seven continents, 140 countries, and 382 ports. At least that’s what the company’s website claimed.
There was just one very big problem. The cruise company didn’t actually have a ship.
That, however, didn’t stop the company from telling around 1,000 passengers that they would be traveling on the 627 cabin MV Lara.
Now, Keri Witman has no home and what little possessions she does have are in storage.
“It’s a good job I’m a glass-half-full kind of person, but it’s certainly been a challenging time,” Witman told the Telegraph.
“But I’m not the only person that sold their house to go on the cruise, lots of us did. I mean, why wouldn’t you if you were going away for three years? Other people rented their properties out, some took early retirement… Everyone has their own story.”
The company now says they are “actively working on creating alternative plans for the future.”
Is this cruise company run by Billy McFarland? No, it’s actually Vedat Ugurlu, the CEO of Miray Cruises.
Witman definitely sounded like a glass half-full person when she told the Telegraph, “I feel light. I had a three-story house with a basement, and all of those rooms were full of things, it was all just weighing me down.
“Though I do miss my recipe books, and I’ve just bought a new winter coat because I’d gotten rid of them all.
“The aim for this year was to shake things up, and I’ve certainly done that. Yes it didn’t go to plan, but the plan now is to enjoy Christmas and look for other opportunities to travel next year.
“Honestly, this feels like the beginning of my adventure, not the end.”
Not everyone who got duped by the company feels so blessed.
One couple told USA Today that they sold their home at a $40,000 loss in order to go on the cruise.
“There’s a whole lot of people right now with nowhere to go, and some need their refund to even plan a place to go. It’s not good right now,” another passenger said.