I signed up for a three-year, $90K cruise but never left dry land and my friends are still stranded: ‘Like the Fyre Festival’

Nine months after his wife died of brain cancer in September 2022, Rochester, New York, native Rami Mina, 82, planned to cruise around the world.

The retired engineer sold his house in Temecula, California, and submitted a $5,000 deposit to Life at Sea Cruises — a three-year world trip run by Turkey-based parent company Miray Cruises which promised passengers a once-in-a-lifetime voyage sailing 130,000 miles, 375 ports and 135 countries for $29,999 per year. It was slated to depart from Amsterdam on Nov. 30, 2023.

“They were advertising at $30,000 per person, per year, specifically for digital nomads. I immediately signed up,” Mina told The Post. “I reserved a cabin.”

Mina, 82, a retired engineer, sold his house in Temecula, California, in June 2023, with plans to cruise around the world.rami.blog

Mina recalled sharing his personal details in his Life at Sea Cruises application expressing interest in the trip.

“I said I’m fearless, I’m into new adventures — I described that my wife had just passed away.”

By May 2023, he was conversing with fellow would-be passengers from around the country in an online community board for Life at Sea Cruises.

He met a handful of them in Southern California.

But Mina’s dream cruise — and many others’ — never came to fruition. Life at Sea Cruises announced on Nov. 17, 2023, that the cruise, expected to leave just weeks later on Nov. 30, was canceled — because the company hadn’t been able to buy the cruise ship.

At the time, some passengers were still in Istanbul, from where the ship had initially been slated to set sail on Nov. 1 before the departure location was changed to Amsterdam.

The company said it would issue refunds in monthly installments from mid-December 2023 through February 2024.

Rami Mina submitted a $5,000 deposit for Life at Sea Cruises’ first three-year world cruise run by Turkey-based parent company Miray Cruises, but it never left.Lanette Canen / Johan Bodin / SWNS

In December 2023, ex-Life at Sea Cruises managing director Mikael Petterson parted ways with Miray Cruises and launched Villa Vie Residences’ Odyssey ship, promising to sail the world in 3.5 years beginning May 30, 2024.Villa Vie Residences

Life at Sea Cruises announced on Nov. 17, 2023, the cruise, expected to leave just weeks later, was canceled because the company could not secure a ship. Passengers were shown photos of the cabins, like the one seen here.Facebook/Life at Cruises

Around a month later, in December 2023, former Life at Sea Cruises managing director Mikael Petterson parted ways with Miray Cruises and launched Villa Vie Residences’ Odyssey ship, promising to sail the world in three and a half years beginning May 30, 2024, out of Belfast.

The cost of a cabin ranges from $99,999 to $899,000, according to Villa Vie Residences’ website. Passengers on the cruise have been given the option to buy the cabins outright instead of paying a daily rate.

“The reality is that Life at Sea was based off the Villa Vie business plan that Miray ended up selling as their own and eventually running into the ground,” Petterson told The Post via email.

“When we saw the writing on the wall, we had no choice but to walk away from that project to go back to the original Villa Vie plan,” he said.

Villa Vie Residences’ Odyssey ship has been stuck in port at Belfast in Northern Ireland for the last three months. Some people aboard sold their homes to take part in their three-year cruise around the world.Peter Devine/Facebook

Petterson told The Post they’re waiting for final clearance to launch to the Caribbean and South America. Peter Devine/Facebook

Petterson told The Post that with Villa Vie Residences, he let residents put down a 10% refundable deposit, allowing them to pay as they go 90 days before each segment of the trip.

“We kept all funds in escrow until we acquired the ship to minimize residents’ exposure,” Petterson told The Post.

“The vision is still the same original vision I had six years ago, long before COVID. To traverse the world in a slower-paced fashion, where you spend more time in port to immerse yourself in the cultures of where you go.

“The ultimate way to unpack once and travel to over 140 countries per circumnavigation. The main difference is that we are not a cruise but a lifestyle of exploration only limited by waters access.”

But the luxury liner, Villa Vie Residences, has faced ongoing delays due to problems with its rudders and gearbox, and passengers have been stranded for three months in port at Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Petterson told The Post they’re waiting for final clearance to launch to the Caribbean and South America, while some passengers who sold their homes are left treading water.

“Some of them have left their jobs, some of them have sold their houses,” said Mina, who is in touch with current Villa Vie passengers.

“It’s really a house of cards. I feel so bad for my friends. The pictures [of the ship] that were on the internet looked wonderful, in reality the ship looks crappy. Nobody knows when they’re taking off. It’s a replica of the Fyre Festival,” he added, referencing the notoriously disastrous 2017 music event in the Bahamas.

Mina narrowly avoided losing his money to both cruises, he said. By the end of June 2023, just as he was about to submit a $25,000 payment for Life at Sea, Petterson gave him pause.

“He [Petterson] said don’t pay any more — I need to go and check on the ship. He came back and said the ship is too small, let’s postpone the major payment for a month.”

By June 2023, Petterson, according to Mina, parted ways with parent company Miray Cruises.

“They [Miray Cruises] knew that the ship was not big enough to go for a world cruise. They were saying the ship is too small, we need to change it. Miray went [bust] and decided to not go at all,” Mina recalled.

Villa Vie Odyssey passengers have been living in Belfast for three months amid ongoing delays. “Some of them have left their jobs, some of them have sold their houses,” said Mina, who is in touch with passengers.Peter Devine/Facebook

“Before they went belly up, we asked for our money back. I got my $5,000 back,” he said.

By January 2024, 78 passengers who shelled out for the Life at Sea cruise claimed in a letter to the US attorney for the Southern District of Florida that parent company Miray Cruises defrauded them out of millions of dollars, collecting an estimated $16 million for a new ship that was never purchased, the Washington Post reported.

Mina, for his part, decided to switch course and on December, 20, 2023, set sail with the Viking Sky, he shared on his blog — a 137-night world cruise out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with stops in Sydney, Haifa, Istanbul, Auckland, Bali, Ho Chi Minh City, Yangon and Mumbai through May 2024.

While he has been traveling the world, Mina’s pals locked in the Villa Vie Odyssey are still stationed in Belfast with no departure in sight.

“[The passengers are] super doubtful. They’re super apprehensive. They are not happy. Especially when you’ve been told you’re going to go on your dream vacation.

“I can’t imagine living in a situation where nothing is under my control,” Mina said.

Petterson, for his part, recognizes it’s hardly been smooth sailing for Villa Vie Residences passengers, but he remains optimistic.

“Our residents have been through a lot, starting with the nightmares of Life at Sea and now significant delays here in Belfast. But all in all, the residents have persevered and are looking forward to the next chapter of their lives.

“It wasn’t a perfect beginning, but it will all be worth it in the end. Of that I am convinced,” he said.