I paid $55,000 to go on a 3-year cruise around the world after my wife died. The cruise was abruptly canceled, and I still haven't been refunded.
23.01.2024 - 14:24
/ insider.com
This is an as-told-to story based on a conversation with David Purcell, 78, a retired attorney. It has been edited for length and clarity. Purcell was among the dozens of people who signed up for a three-year cruise with Life at Sea — an around-the-world journey that was canceled two weeks before its departure. He and 77 other would-be passengers who have not received refunds are asking the US Attorney in Southern Florida to open a criminal fraud investigation into Miray Cruises, the parent company of Life at Sea.
A representative for Miray Cruises denied the passengers' fraud accusations and said they would refund the passengers by February 15.
I was always interested in the ocean, which is tough for a kid growing up in eastern Kansas. In 1968 when I was graduating from college, I opted to go to the Navy.
Later, when I was doing estate planning, I did some gigs on cruise ships giving seminars, but being a passive passenger on a ship had very little intrigue for me until an article popped up on my radar about the Life at Sea cruise.
My wife, Beth, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and there was a lot to do and a lot to love but not much to look forward to. I thought, "God, this cruise is really something I could do."
In March 2023, I put down 500 bucks on the thing.
People can't appreciate the attraction of this cruise without looking at the itinerary — all the places we were going to go to, everywhere from up in northern Norway and down to Antarctica and circling New Zealand and Australia and down one coast of South America and up the other, and all through Asia and, of course, the Mediterranean.
But the social and cultural aspects of it were almost more powerful than the sightseeing and Kodak moments. It was going to be a small enough ship to really create a community. So I was really looking forward to that.
Beth died on May 12, 2023, and it was really sad. I didn't have any plan B for my life. We'd been married for nearly 52 years. We had lived in the same house for 48 years. We had three daughters. But this trip gave me something to look forward to.
By June, I went ahead and I picked a cabin on the ship and put money down for, I think it was up to 40% of the cruise fare, about $55,000. [Editor's note: Business Insider has verified Purcell's purchase.]
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I sold my house in a screwy real-estate market. I had a little sports car I sold. My wife's car I gave to my daughter. I took economic hits in a lot of ways.
I went from living in a nice house in the suburbs to shutting that life down. I was couch camping with some generous friends who let me use their spare bedroom and getting ready to get on board the ship.
I started having questions about the cruise that went