Make-a-Wish dreams docked along with cruise ship

11 terminally ill children from the Make-A-Wish foundation are finding their wishes dashed along with their accommodations for the upcoming winter Olympics.

The news was delivered Tuesday, Jan. 28 when Edmonton’s Newwest Special Projects decided to cancel their charter agreement with the Norwegian Star cruise ship.

The 1,100 room cruise ship was to serve a a floating hotel for almost 1,000 passengers, 54 passengers being involved with the Make-A-Wish foundation.

According to the Norwegian Cruise Line, Newwest had decided to cancel the agreement due to poor sales and an overall lack of funding.

Despite the company’s multimillion dollar investment in the cruise line, Newwest appeared to be struggling when fares that originally began at $1, 300 lowered to $500 and then plummeted even further to $275. The price included three meals a day.

The Norwegian Star was scheduled to set sail from Los Angeles to Vancouver, docking in Vancouver from Feb. 6 to March 2 for the Games, then return to Los Angeles.

The Make-A-Wish foundation is currently doing everything they can to secure last minute accommodations for the children and their families.

Executive director for the B.C. Make-A-Wish Foundation Ross Hetherington stated that prior to the deal falling through, everything had been planned for the children , including meet-and greets and other events and surprises. 14 children from the foundation were scheduled to board the ship including children from Australia and the U.S.

To date, accommodations have been found for five of the children and their families.

"Olympic wishes are what have been getting them through treatments, hospital stays, surgeries — all the tough stuff kids shouldn’t have to face." Ross stated.

B.C. Based company Marco Polo Tours, who had built and sold the Olympic travel packages to Los Angeles, was also affected by the quashed agreement.

Dennis Laliberte, president of Newwest Special Projects referred all calls on the subject to a marketing company in Utah.

The Norwegian Cruise Line advises all Newwest customers to contact them at 1-877-254-2010 for further information.

With files from the Edmonton Journal