Business
The around-the-world cruise that is yet to set sail
Suranjana TewariAsia Business Correspondent
BBC“Throw your current lifestyle overboard!” boasts the advert for Victoria Cruises Line (VCL), which bills itself as the world’s first affordable residential cruise.
Cabins typically go for US$3,840 (£2,858) a month for a three-year voyage to 115 countries, and travellers from all over the world have the option of doing the route for as long as they like.
For Australians Dennis and Taryna Wawn from Perth, excited by the prospect of a home at sea, the advert on Facebook couldn’t have come at a better time as they planned their retirement.
Three years later, the ship has yet to sail. In fact, they and other would-be cruise residents have found that VCL does not even own or have a lease on the ship that is being advertised.
The Wawns are just two of dozens of people who have been waiting for VCL to refund their deposits, the BBC has learned.
Other would-be residents told the BBC they sold their homes, rehomed cats and put their belongings into storage. One woman said she had put down her sick dog, believing she would be gone for years.
Another couple have now had to move into a retirement community because of their advanced ages and failing health. They could no longer commit to a residential cruise that might or might not ever sail.
“The people that put down a deposit for this cruise were sold a dream… and it has turned into nothing short of a nightmare,” said Adam Glezer, who runs a consumer advocacy company. “What VCL has done is disgusting.”
Those affected have contacted the company, some have launched legal cases and others have filed consumer complaints to government agencies. One even wrote to the FBI.
VCL told the BBC that it still needs more customers before a vessel can be chartered and so is continuing to advertise the cruise.
The company said customers knew about the occupancy condition when booking, and the company denies targeting or harming anyone, adding that it advised some clients not to sell homes to pay deposits.
Many of those who signed up have given up hope of the ship ever sailing, or of getting their money back.
‘All above board’
Taryna, 64, said that in May 2022, she and Dennis were starting to think about their future and what it could look like when they came across the residential cruise. The couple feel they did their due diligence.
Taryna said the company had a well-built and detailed website, they also spoke to a man from the company “who answered all the questions”, and they joined a Facebook group made up of other cruise “residents”.
“We did some checking, thought it was all above board,” she said.
Within a month, they took the step of paying a deposit of US$10,000 (£7,450). Their bank transfer has been viewed by the BBC.
But weeks before they were due to set sail in May 2023, VCL postponed the scheduled departure date.
In an email viewed by the BBC, VCL said the cruise hadn’t reached a roughly 80% occupancy – something the company said it needed in order to charter a vessel.
When VCL postponed twice more, the couple started to think something was up.
Then a fellow would-be resident got in touch, saying: “I’ve dug a little bit further. Get out.”
‘Our shared dream is very much alive’
VCL’s marketing promised a fully-fledged cruise liner that could house 1,350 guests, with pools, tennis courts and an Italian restaurant.
“We do have a beautiful, seaworthy ship, the former Holland American Veendam, now the Majestic,” VCL’s US representative wrote on the company’s Facebook page.
But the BBC has learned that on being contacted by some would-be residents, the firm that owns the ship denied any association with VCL.
Although it has not yet leased a ship, the company said it has continued to advertise the cruise and collect deposits in order to reach the necessary occupancy rate.
“If we had signed the lease agreement at the beginning of 2024, we would have had to pay approximately USD 18 million for nothing,” VCL said in an email to the BBC.
It also acknowledged that there had been 132 cancellations, and said it investigated 38 complaints, but found none justified a refund.
VCL also denied there were any “victims”, and said that 38 customers who asked for refunds cannot accept they were not entitled to one.
The company added that the refunds were withheld for administrative reasons, missing or incorrect bank details, failure to return termination administration agreements within deadlines, and anti-money laundering checks.
VCL’s cruise was last scheduled to depart on 26 July 2025, according to its website. But once again it failed to set sail.
“Despite the delay, we’ve been encouraged by a surprising influx of new interest in recent weeks – a strong signal that our shared dream is very much alive,” VCL’s website reads.
‘It got dirty’
Graham Whittaker, a former journalist based in Australia, estimates that VCL has taken money that goes into the millions.
“It got dirty because we started to find scores and scores more people who had never been refunded, who had asked for their money back, who had been lied to,” Whittaker said.
When passengers pushed harder – asking about refunds, and talking to the media about the case – they were threatened with legal action. The BBC has seen dozens of such emails.
“The threats and the harassments are getting serious for some,” Whittaker said.
VCL justified the threat of legal action in its email to the BBC.
“Yes, we will take legal action against anyone who tries to settle their complaint on social media,” it said.
The paper trail
Company records reviewed by the BBC show a web of shell businesses registered to the same address in Budapest, some now no longer trading.
The company is also registered in Florence, Italy, but as a specialised wholesaler of food, beverages and tobacco.
In Hungary, Viktória Takács-Ollram is listed as the founder, while her 79-year-old mother is registered as the chief executive.
Another company is registered under the same address to Viktória’s son, Marcell Herold, who is named as the vice president of VCL on its website.
In Hungary, VCL was registered in 2017 under a different name as an accounting and tax advising firm.
That changed to VCL in 2022, with “services auxiliary to waterborne transport” and “rental of water transport equipment” added.
In 2023 new activities were added: “car rental”, “lending of other machinery and equipment”.
As of 1 January 2025, its main activity is listed as “passenger transport by sea”.
Tax filings indicate more than $253,000 in unpaid taxes.
Taking matters into their own hands
A couple won a case in Hungary, overturning VCL’s contract changes, but enforcement stalled when VCL shifted its base to Italy.
VCL admitted to the BBC that it changed contracts after customers signed, and that new terms would apply retroactively.
“When drafting a contract, lawyers try to include everything. But sometimes life happens and the contract needs to be amended. That is what happened in this case,” VCL said.
“These contracts work this way for all shipping companies.”
Another couple filed a complaint in the US state of Utah, with the investigation finding that a berth was not booked on a stated departure date.
It also found that people purporting to be hired staff on the website did not plan to be on the cruise, nor had they received offers of employment.
The investigation ruling said that VCL’s US representative encouraged people to sign up for the cruise.
The investigation found that she truthfully believed the residential cruise was going to sail, but she agreed to sign a compliance order barring her from promoting such travel services in the future.
‘Not a phantom company’
Despite all of this, VCL continues to advertise its cruise on Facebook and Instagram.
Accounts on the platforms show glossy brochures of the ship’s decks, menus and cabins.
New “residents” are shown posing on board – many of them are actually stock images widely available on the internet.
To encourage lengthy stays, the cruise company has been offering hefty discounts, flash sales and cashback schemes.
Alleged victims say they have reported the ads repeatedly, but Meta – which owns Facebook and Instagram – has declined to take them down.
“It is reprehensible that these platforms are allowing advertising for VCL despite the significant amount of evidence. They should be held accountable for this,” said consumer champion Adam Glezer.
In a statement, Meta told the BBC that its advertising standards strictly prohibit deceptive or misleading ads, including scams, but it found no evidence that the page violates its policies.
VCL denied that it was running a scam, saying those affected were unable to accept that they were not entitled to a refund.
“Our company has never disappeared, we have responded to every email, so we are not a phantom company.”
Taryna said the idea of the cruise isn’t too good to be true – some people who signed up for the VCL cruise were currently travelling the world with other cruise liners.
However, for her and Dennis, going on another such cruise is no longer something they can afford.
“It was a dream for us and we were really focusing on it as a lovely adventure. It’s been traumatising.”
Additional reporting by Orsolya Polyacsko
It is also the first time the target has been lowered since it was cut to “around 5%” in 2023.
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World’s Second-Largest Shipping Firm Maersk Suspends Cargo Bookings Across West Asia Amid War
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Maersk has halted cargo bookings to several West Asian ports due to war disruptions. Affected ports include UAE, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, most of Oman, and two in Saudi.
Maersk cited regional conflict and personnel safety as it suspended cargo bookings across West Asia, signalling growing disruption to global trade routes. (IMAGE: REUTERS)
Maersk, the world’s second-largest container shipping company that handles a significant share of global trade, said it has suspended cargo bookings to and from several ports in the West Asia region as the ongoing war begins to disrupt global shipping routes.
The company on Wednesday said it will no longer accept cargo bookings involving ports in the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, most of Oman and two ports in Saudi Arabia, according to a report by Barron’s.
However, the suspension will not apply to shipments of critical food supplies, medicines and other essential goods, which will continue to move through the region.
Maersk said the decision was part of operational measures aimed at protecting personnel and safeguarding cargo amid the escalating conflict.
“We are taking operational measures to ensure the safety of our personnel, safeguard your cargo and maintain service stability across affected trades in the Middle East,” the company said in a statement accessed by Barron’s.
Maersk had earlier announced that it would reroute vessels bound for the Suez Canal around the southern tip of Africa and suspend all vessel crossings through the Strait of Hormuz as tensions escalate in the region.
The changes mean ships travelling between Asia and Europe may now take longer routes around the Cape of Good Hope, adding time and cost to global shipping, the news agency said in its report.
Financial markets also reacted to the development. Shares of Maersk traded in Denmark fell nearly 2% on Wednesday following the announcement.
The disruption comes as insurance providers pause coverage for vessels operating in parts of the Gulf amid the intensifying conflict.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the United States Navy would escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz if necessary, as concerns mount over energy supply disruptions.
Copenhagen, Denmark
March 05, 2026, 02:15 IST
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A Target store in Chicago, Feb. 10, 2026.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
MINNEAPOLIS — Target customers will soon see changes on the retailer’s shelves, as the company tries to woo back shoppers during a turnaround effort that has started to catch Wall Street’s eye.
Among those shifts, Target will add more fresh and trendy groceries, a dedicated display for higher-end makeup and a larger array of merchandise for sports fans.
At the big-box retailer’s Minneapolis headquarters on Tuesday, Target’s merchandising leaders previewed the company’s ambitious plans to overhaul key categories, including home and apparel, which have posted year-over-year sales declines. The company held an investor meeting to share its holiday-quarter results and its turnaround strategy for this year, which hinges in part on regaining its reputation for stylish and unique items.
CEO Michael Fiddelke, a Target veteran who stepped into the top role on Feb. 1, told investors on Tuesday that the company is making changes that “don’t happen overnight.” But, he added, they include many tweaks that customers “will see and feel right away.”
“If I were to step back and draw a heat map of the entire store highlighting where we’re making changes this year, you’d see more change to what we sell and how we sell it than you’ve seen in a decade,” he said.
The success of Target’s merchandise makeover will help determine whether the company meets its sales and earnings outlook for the current year and whether it can reverse four consecutive quarters of declining customer traffic. The company’s revenue fell slightly in fiscal 2025 and has been stagnant for four years.
Target said Tuesday that it expects net sales for the current fiscal year to rise about 2% compared with the previous year and anticipates that sales will grow in every quarter of the year.
Wall Street had a positive early read on Target’s turnaround progress: The company’s stock climbed more than 6% on Tuesday, and was trading higher on Wednesday.
Here’s a closer look at Target’s merchandising changes:
Putting a fresher spin on grocery
Target is expanding the fresh department and adding more prominent signage for its Good & Gather private brand as it tries to draw more customers to stores for grocery shopping. This rendering shows what the expanded fruit, vegetable and meat displays will look like.
Courtesy of Target
One of the top reasons for customers’ Target trips is a simple one — running in for a quick grocery item like a gallon of milk or box of pasta. The challenge is getting shoppers to buy more of their food there.
Food is the No. 1 traffic driver for Target, and over half of customers have food in their shopping basket, said John Conlin, senior vice president of merchandising, food and beverage. Target’s grocery category, which it labels food and beverage, drew higher sales than any of Target’s merchandising segments in the past fiscal year. It grew by about 1% year over year and totaled $24.14 billion — or roughly 23% of Target’s net sales for the fiscal year.
Yet for many customers, Target is a destination for buying just a few grocery items rather than a fuller basket of food for the week. Plus, competition has grown fiercer — not only from the nation’s largest grocer by revenue, Walmart, but also from Amazon and fast-expanding discounter Aldi.
“We don’t want food to just be a business that guests are shopping while they’re at Target,” he said. “But increasingly, we want to be a business that is why guests are at Target.”
He said Target is “trying to carve our own lane with our assortment strategy” rather than copy the grocers down the street.
Going forward, Target will expand the square footage it devotes to grocery as it remodels stores and builds new ones, Conlin said. In over half of the stores that the company remodels, Target will double the square footage for fresh foods like fruits, vegetables and meats, he added.
The company also plans to add more brands that shoppers haven’t yet discovered and lean on seasonal items and private brands. To stand out from competitors, Target is going to ramp up the amount of new items by up to 50% in key categories like snacks and dry groceries, Conlin said.
But he acknowledged a challenge that has tripped up Target in recent years, which it’s tried to fix by owning its supply chain and opening a new facility in Colorado in the next year.
“None of this comes to light if we’re not in stock for our guests,” he said.
He declined to share a key detail about some items and brands that Target is adding: price points.
Giving beauty a glow up
In many of Target’s stores, customers buy lip gloss and other items from Ulta Beauty. That will change in August, after the two brands announced the end of a deal that brought the mini beauty shops to nearly a third of Target’s big-box stores.
On Tuesday, Target said it plans to give its own beauty assortment a glow up. This fall, it will open what it is dubbing its Beauty Studio in more than 600 stores and online, said Amanda Nusz, senior vice president of merchandising for essentials and beauty at Target.
Beauty Studio will replace Ulta Beauty at Target. It will be a dedicated shop within the store with prestige beauty brands, elevated lighting, enhanced service and a loyalty program tied to beauty, Nusz said. In renderings, the beauty shop looks similar to Ulta Beauty at Target, but without the beauty retailer’s branding.
Starting this fall, Target will open Beauty Studio dedicated shops in more than 600 stores and online. The prestige beauty shop will replace Ulta Beauty at Target.
Courtesy of Target
Nusz declined to share the national brands that the Beauty Studio will carry and whether it will offer some of the same brands sold by Ulta Beauty and other competitors like Sephora.
Beauty “has been one of the strongest growth engines for Target,” Nusz said. She said it was also the top growth category for Target’s curbside pickup service, Drive Up, and in-store pickup of online orders in the fourth quarter. A bonus for Target: Beauty tends to draw in younger shoppers.
The segment’s sales were roughly flat year over year in the most recent fiscal year, but accounted for about 13% of Target’s overall net sales for the period.
Along with rolling out Beauty Studio, Nusz said, Target will add more well-recognized national brands like sunscreen brand Supergoop, lean into trends like Korean beauty and invest more in men’s beauty, such as grooming and fragrance items.
Adding fun and pop culture relevance
Target has overhauled its hardlines category, which includes items like consumer electronics, books and toys. The category, which it now calls Fun101, now carries more items related to sports and pop culture. For example, it has a line of merchandise for the 30th anniversary of the movie “Space Jam.”
Melissa Repko | CNBC
In the back of Target’s stores, the retailer is giving an overhaul to a department that’s typically known for selling consumer electronics, toys and books.
Instead of calling it the traditional name, hardlines, Target coined the category Fun101.
Cassandra Jones, senior vice president of merchandising for Fun101, said the goal went beyond the new name, however. Target wanted to turn around a category that was falling flat.
Starting in late 2024, Target has had a tighter focus on four key areas: play, which includes toys like plush stuffed animals and popular brands like Lego; pop, which includes culturally inspired items like a limited-edition collection tied to Netflix’s “Stranger Things” and another linked to the 30th anniversary of the movie “Space Jam”; sport, which includes items like water bottles and licensed sports apparel for professional teams; and gadget, which includes trendy takes on products like phone cases and headphones.
On the other hand, Jones said Target has cut back on items like TVs and laptops, where it’s harder to stand out from retail competitors or inject a sense of style.
Sales of Fun101 merchandise were roughly flat year over year in the most recent fiscal year, but drove $15.8 billion, or 15%, of Target’s net sales for the period.
Jones said shoppers will see the category go bigger in the second half of the year. Target plans to open a fan shop in stores and online with licensed sports gear, expand its position as a “trading card destination” and open a “collectibles zone” for other types of merchandise.
Target’s home category has been one of its weakest performers. The retailer is overhauling the category and redoing the display area in stores, too. It showed off some of its newer items at an investor event in Minneapolis.
Melissa Repko | CNBC
Rebuilding home goods
Target used to be known for its fashion-forward yet affordable throw pillows, lamps, bedding and other home decor. The category, however, is now one of the retailer’s weaknesses — particularly as it competes with digital players like Wayfair, big-box competitors like Walmart and Costco, off-price chains like TJX‘s HomeGoods and specialty players like Crate & Barrel or Pottery Barn.
Sales in the home furnishings and decor category totaled $15.61 billion in the most recent fiscal year, sinking by nearly 7% year over year. That’s a deeper sales drop than in any of Target’s other key merchandise categories.
The big-box retailer is working to become a destination for the category again, said Mara Sirhal, senior vice president of merchandising for home, who stepped into the role about three months ago.
“Our home business has not delivered to its potential, point-blank,” she said. “The industry grew. Target home underperformed. We lost meaningful share over the last two years, and our authority and style inspiration has weakened. That is on us.”
Among the problems, she said, Target “lost clarity in our point of view,” with a blander assortment rather than a stylish, eye-catching one.
Sales of home goods at Target have also been hurt by economic factors, including higher interest rates and pricier homes in the U.S., which have led to a much older first-time homebuyer, she said.
Starting in June, Target will rebuild the category as part of a multiyear turnaround effort, she said. One of its first moves this summer will be redoing about 75% of its assortment in decorative home, which includes items like candlesticks, throw pillows and greenery. By the fall, she said, three-quarters of its bedding assortment will be reinvented. And next year, she said, Target will overhaul its kitchen and dining merchandise.
It won’t just be the products changing, she said. Shoppers should expect to see new fixtures in stores, too, such as elevated wood displays. It will also use its third-party marketplace, Target Plus, to sell large items that are easier to carry online, such as rugs, mattresses and furniture, she said.
To try to turn around its apparel sales, Target is using an artificial intelligence tool, Trend Brain, to help the company spot the styles that customers want earlier and speed those looks to shelves. The tool helped the company develop a collection of Western-inspired clothing and accessories.
Melissa Repko | CNBC
Speeding up fashion and raising the bar on basics
Another well-known category in Target stores has become a weaker link, too. Apparel and accessories sales at the company fell to $15.74 billion in the most recent fiscal year, down about 5% from the prior year.
To drive sales growth again, the big-box retailer aims to spot trends earlier, speed up the time it takes for new looks to hit shelves and sharpen the selection of clothing that it carries — even for basics like tank tops, said Gena Fox, senior vice president of apparel and accessories at Target.
She said the company’s performance “has not been where we want it to be over the past year.”
Denim, T-shirts and tanks make up about 25% of Target’s total assortment, Fox said. Last year, it overhauled its denim to raise the quality and style, which led to a 10% year-over-year lift in sales for that category.
This year, she said, Target plans to take that same approach to fix T-shirts and tanks, which have had weaker sales. Some of those refreshed closet staples are starting to hit store shelves and Target’s website.
Target is also working to get ahead of trends, which it features in collections in stores and online, she said. To spot trends, it’s using a new artificial intelligence-powered tool called Target Trend Brain, which helps the company’s designers and merchants identify the styles, colors and materials that customers may want.
For example, insights from Trend Brain helped inspire a Western edit of clothing and accessories like purses with fringe and belts with embroidery, with all items under $40. That area will soon rotate to a collaboration with Roller Rabbit, a colorful and brightly patterned pajama brand, that will include swimwear, sundresses and pool accessories.
Target is known for its limited-time brand collaborations. For the spring, it has a new line of swimsuits, pool accessories and more developed with pajama brand Roller Rabbit.
Melissa Repko | CNBC
Fox said the apparel and accessories timeline is now about 40% faster as the company reacts more in the moment rather than planning six to 12 months in advance.
Along with those trend-driven items, Target will expand national brands and add new partnerships. Last week, the company announced it would bring Levi’s to more stores, which will mean the denim brand is in more than 1,000 — or roughly half — of its stores, Fox said. It also developed an exclusive clothing line with country music singer Megan Moroney, which will coincide with her upcoming tour.
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