Florida woman sells everything she owns to buy ticket for dream cruise, ends up banned from boarding
A woman sold all her possessions to pursue her dream of a $350 round-the-world trip. But her dream was never meant to come true - she was banned from boarding a plane after her private WhatsApp messages were leaked, writes Daily Mail.
Photo: George Stamatis | Dreamstime.com
Jenny Phoenix, a divorced mother of two from Florida, is one of the unlucky passengers whose three-year voyage through Europe, Asia and America was derailed by serious cruise delays. The ill-fated Odyssey waited three months in Belfast for the ship to depart.
The cruise was delayed due to repair issues with the ship, which the company bought in 2023 before offering customers a three-and-a-half-year voyage. Life at Sea Cruises does not cover food and accommodation for passengers waiting to depart, so many of them returned to their home countries because of the expense of staying in Northern Ireland.
On the subject: Nine months on the water: World's longest cruise ends with passengers feeling exhausted
Phoenix, 68, sold her possessions to take the trip she had always dreamed of. She planned that when the ship stopped in Miami, she would pick up some of her belongings from Florida that she would need for the cruise.
But the departure was delayed, and Jenny Phoenix told other passengers in a WhatsApp group that it looked like the ship would not be docking in Miami. She suggested that even after leaving Belfast, the ship would still be undergoing repairs and she would have to make do with a temporary cabin, as the one she had booked was still in use by the crew.
Somehow this message found its way to the owners of Villa Vie Residences, who told the woman that her travel contract had been terminated due to "behavior affecting the morale of the community."
The Telegraph reports that chief operating officer Katie Villalba told her: "We have received over a dozen formal complaints from passengers on the ship regarding your constant complaining and negativity. This behaviour has had a significant impact on the morale and wellbeing of other passengers. Given this, we must terminate your contract permanently to ensure that other passengers feel at ease and satisfied."
Phoenix was stunned by this news.
"I was never rude or disrespectful and never made personal attacks," she insisted. "These were private conversations - I didn't post anything on social media."
She said she was not the only one who was upset that the first flight was constantly delayed.
“The frustration among passengers grew with each delay,” Phoenix noted. “I was usually the most outspoken in asking questions about it. Many passengers thanked me privately for saying what they were thinking.”
Some of the passengers sold their homes to make the journey and have previously spoken of their hardships while the ship was docked in Belfast.
Holly Hennessy, 67, like Phoenix, is originally from Florida and travels with her cat, doing her best to adapt to the gloomy Irish climate.
"It doesn't feel like summer. It feels like winter, as far as I can tell. I'm used to the Florida sun. I even had to buy vitamin D pills," she admitted.
Phoenix, meanwhile, had high hopes for the three-year cruise after another company, Florida-based Life at Sea, went bankrupt and owed her $30 for a trip that never took place.
She waited for Villa Vie to buy the ship, formerly owned by Fred. Olsen Braemar. Then Phoenix put down a down payment on a round-the-world trip and planned to decide on the cruise whether to spend $120 to $000 on a cabin or join the company's Endless Horizon program, which allows passengers to cruise for life for a starting price of $350.
In May this year, she flew to Southampton, England, to embark on a journey to 147 countries.
“We were advised of a slight delay, but nothing seemed critical, so travel plans and hotel reservations remained in place,” Phoenix noted.
But then the cruise line announced it was rescheduling the ship's departure from Belfast on May 30. More problems were discovered in the dry dock at Harland & Wolff, the shipyard infamous for building the doomed Titanic.
The ship had been idle for four years during the pandemic, its certification had expired, and rather than simply renew it, Villa Vie had to start over with the certification process.
The company's CEO, Mike Petterson, told CNN that the problems arose when DNV, the company that carries out the certification, requested documentation of the ship's past repairs, which Fred Olsen, the former owner, did not provide.
Petterson claimed that repairs were initially recommended for the vessel that were never carried out, including replacement of machinery without which DNV would not allow Villa Vie to sail.
And since Villa Vie has no documentation of the 2007 engine overhaul, a new overhaul had to be carried out and documented.
During these repairs, the most patient passengers remained in Belfast, and Phoenix returned to her home state after taking another round-the-world cruise, a four-month Royal Caribbean voyage on Serenade of the Seas.
She said she received a partial refund of her Odyssey cruise deposit, but is still trying to figure out what happened.
“It’s hard to describe the emotional devastation and physical suffering I felt,” Phoenix said. “It took weeks before I could talk about the situation and explain it to my children. It’s still hard for me to talk about it. Now I have to live with my daughter until I can figure out a whole new plan for my life.”
But Petterson said Phoenix "violated several terms of the non-disclosure agreement she signed." He said other people who paid for the cruise voted and agreed that Phoenix should be excluded.
Those remaining passengers are set to set sail as early as next week, after Odyssey completes sea trials. (They have already been successful, Petterson said.)
The CEO said the company had received several recommendations, including on staff training, but these issues would not prevent the vessel from being certified and sailing.
"All outstanding issues will be resolved over the weekend," he assured, noting that the final step is to obtain Coast Guard clearance, which he hopes will happen in the coming days.
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Meanwhile, the company announced it would stop paying residents’ $501 in monthly hotel bills because the costs were becoming “unsustainable” after spending more than $300 million in four months. Then, Petterson said, passengers would be reimbursed with an onboard credit of up to $2 per day. (Onboard credit is a virtual or physical amount given to cruise ship passengers that can be used to pay for goods and services on board the ship. The credit is often included in the price of a cruise as a bonus or incentive, or is given as part of a special promotion. Onboard credit cannot be redeemed for cash. If it is not used during the cruise, the balance is typically not reimbursed. – Ed.).
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