Miray International Cruises & Management
TypePrivate
IndustryHospitality and transportation
Founded1996 (1996)
HeadquartersSarıyer, Istanbul, Turkey
ProductsCruises
OwnerVedat Uğurlu
Websitemiraycruises.com

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,[2][3] 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

MV Gemini

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]

In November it was reported that Miray was no longer buying AIDAaura; the ship was instead purchased by Celestyal Cruises.[15][16][17] Miray delayed the Life at Sea departure twice, first from 1 November to 11 November, and then to 30 November.[18] CEO Holmes left the company in mid-November; after resigning she sent a video on 17 November informing passengers that the cruise was cancelled.[19][20] Miray confirmed the cancellation two days later, promising refunds and some coverage of travel expenses for customers, some of whom had already come to Istanbul in preparation for the cruise.[8][19] Some prospective passengers had sold or rented out their homes in expectation of living on the ship.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "About Us". Miray Cruises. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Miray Cruises to Launch Operations in the Aegean". Cruise Industry News. 27 July 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  3. 1 2 Bailey, Jordan (27 July 2020). "Miray Cruises Aims to Begin Greek Cruises Next Month". Cruise Capital. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  4. ↑ "Three-Year World Cruise Turns Into Cruise to Nowhere". The Maritime Executive. 24 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  5. ↑ Engelbrecht, Cora; Kirac, Nimet; Ponomarev, Sergey (1 March 2023). "'A Strange Dream': A Cruise Ship Is a Floating Shelter for Displaced Turks". The New York Times.
  6. ↑ Payne, Holly (7 March 2023). "Gemini's Three-year World Cruise on the Verge of Selling Out". Seatrade Cruise News. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  7. ↑ Brockes, Emma (30 March 2023). "A Three-year Cruise Sounds Like a Costly, Sweaty Nightmare. But Then You Start Doing the Maths …". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  8. 1 2 "A 3-year Around-the-world Cruise Was Supposed to Set Sail in a Week. But There's Still No Ship". Business Insider. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  9. ↑ Hardingham-Gill, Tamara (26 May 2023). "Three-year Cruise in Crisis Amid Concerns about Its Ship and Refund Demands". CNN. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  10. ↑ Buckley, Julia (5 July 2023). "The Three-year Cruise Is Going Ahead – with a Bigger Ship". CNN. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  11. ↑ "Miray Upgrades Ship for Three Year World Cruise". Cruise Industry News. 29 June 2023. Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  12. ↑ Kalosh, Anne (29 June 2023). "Miray Cruises Is the Reported Buyer of AIDAaura". Seatrade Cruise News. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  13. ↑ "AIDA Cruises eröffnet am 9. Januar 2023 die Farewell-Saison von AIDAaura" (in German). 5 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  14. ↑ Shallo, John (14 June 2023). "Miray Cruises Names Kendra L. Holmes as CEO". Cruise Addicts. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  15. ↑ Eckardt, Christian (10 November 2023). "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")". Nordsee Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  16. ↑ "Celestyal Acquires AIDAaura; To Sail as Celestyal Discovery". Cruise Industry News. 16 November 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  17. ↑ Zelinski, Andrea (16 November 2023). "Celestyal Acquires Aida Ship and Will Rename It Discovery". Travel Weekly. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  18. ↑ Buckley, Julia (27 October 2023). "The Three-year Cruise Is Running Late – Again". CNN. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  19. 1 2 3 Buckley, Julia (24 November 2023). "The Three-year Cruise Is Canceled". CNN. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  20. ↑ Diller, Nathan (24 November 2023). "Three-year Cruise around the World Canceled, Passengers Awaiting Refunds". USA Today. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
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