Cruise news

The owner of the Villa Vie Odyssey ‘never-ending cruise’ has broken his silence after passengers claimed they were ‘dumped’ in Cambodia. The round-the-world voyage came to a halt this week, with the ship now docked at the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville.

The boss of a ‘never-ending cruise’ has said he feels awful after passengers claimed they were ‘dumped’ in Cambodia when their round-the-world voyage came to a halt. The Villa Vie Odyssey remains moored at Sihanoukville, on the Gulf of Thailand, with no departure date confirmed by its operator.

Passengers claim they were given just seven hours’ notice to leave the ship on Tuesday and received no assistance with making alternative arrangements. Randy Cassingham, one of those on board, alleged they had been “dumped” in Cambodia. Mikael Petterson, founder and executive chairman of Villa Vie Residences, spoke to reporters the following day.

“I feel awful,” he said when contacted by phone on Wednesday, Business Insider reported. “I’m the villain in the story, but I’m doing everything I can to support the residents on a solution.” Mr Petterson described disappointing passengers as “incredibly deflating”.

He added: “Nobody that’s tried residential cruising has succeeded, and we’ve gone further than anyone else. But I think we would have been absolutely fine – and we would have seen this through – if there was no Iran war.”

On Thursday, Captain Emanuele Giudice spoke to reporters on the dock, telling them that passengers were asked to leave because the fuel situation was “critical”.

The Odyssey was promoted as a way to combine long-term living at sea with travel across all seven continents. Its operator offered to “make the Odyssey your permanent home,” with cabins available to buy for the lifetime of the vessel from around $230,000 (roughly £171,000).

According to Cambodian authorities, the ship was carrying 203 passengers, most of them American, and 156 crew members. It has room for 650 passengers. In a statement on Tuesday, Villa Vie Residences said monthly fuel costs had soared following the US and Israel invasion of Iran. The company said costs per cabin, previously averaging $1,800 (£1,340), had risen to an estimated $6,000 to $8,000 in some parts of Asia.

The operator tried to reduce fuel use by cutting back its itinerary and spending longer in port, but said those measures had not been enough to offset the rising costs. Mr Petterson told CBS News the company would “likely file for Chapter 11 here any day, right, which will put a stay on that while we go through the restructure process”.

CBS also reported claims from insiders that crew members had to buy food from local supermarkets after an unpaid supplier stopped making deliveries. A Villa Vie source told the Express that staff had occasionally used a corporate credit card to buy supplies, but said all employees had since received their wages.

For some passengers, the voyage had been intended to last for years. Paul and Lynn Montoya, a retired couple from Wyoming, told AP News they had bought a window cabin and joined the ship in Panama 17 months ago. Mr Montoya said itinerary changes, unreliable internet access and declining food standards had prompted many residents to leave in recent months.

Sisters Carol Larson, 69, and Crystal Lavering, 72, from California, had lived in separate cabins for 18 months. They described the suspension as heartbreaking but remained hopeful the cruise could resume. “I hope there is a movement for the residents to buy the ship and I am hoping that goes through because it’s a dream to live on the ship and I don’t want it to end,” Larson said.

The ship arrived in Sihanoukville last Friday and had been due to leave on Wednesday, according to Long Dimanche, deputy governor of Preah Sihanouk province. He said it was now expected to refuel and depart Cambodia on Saturday, although the operator has not publicly confirmed that date.

Built in 1993, the Odyssey sailed under several names for different cruise lines before being grounded during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Villa Vie Residences bought it in 2023. Its current voyage began in October 2024 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, following refurbishment. The journey was originally scheduled to last three and a half years, with a second cruise provisionally due to finish in August 2030.

Villa Vie Odyssey passengers have been ordered to disembark in Cambodia after the company suspended its continuous round-the-world voyage, blaming soaring fuel costs it says have been driven by conflict in the Middle East

Passengers aboard a cruise ship designed to carry on sailing forever have been told to disembark after the voyage of a lifetime was brought to an abrupt end.

On Monday morning, Villa Vie Odyssey’s journey ground to a halt in Cambodia. Randy Cassingham, one of up to 650 residents living aboard the 195m long, 24,344 gross tonnage vessel, claims that the following message appeared on passengers’ internal messaging board.

“Good morning, everyone. Unfortunately, we were unable to secure the fuel necessary to continue operations. As a result, the Odyssey will enter a temporary layup this afternoon, with crew remaining onboard to maintain the vessel and its essential systems. All residents must disembark by 2.00 PM today. For those who are unable to collect all their belongings before disembarking, please coordinate with guest services to arrange an orderly return using the shuttles, which will remain available until 6.00 PM tomorrow. This is all the information we have available at this time. We will share further updates as they become available.”

Have you sailed on the Villa Vie Odyssey? We’re love to hear from you! Email webtravel@reachplc.com

A spokesperson for Villa Vie Residences told the Express that it has “suspended operations in Cambodia as the company works to address extraordinary increases in fuel costs and evaluate restructuring and recapitalisation alternatives”. The firm has pointed the finger at soaring fuel costs, which have rocketed since Israeli and US forces launched their bombing campaign against Iran, resulting in the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and a significant drop in worldwide oil supplies.

“Fuel costs have risen sharply in the regions where the company has been operating. On an equivalent per-cabin basis, monthly fuel expense that historically averaged approximately $1,800 (£1,350) has recently reached an estimated $6,000 to $8,000 in parts of Asia. The company cannot simply pass increases of that scale on to residents, and the resulting shortfall has placed its current operating model under unsustainable financial pressure,” the spokesperson added.

“The company is working with residents to coordinate disembarkation and identify temporary living arrangements. Villa Vie Residences recognises that this is a difficult and disruptive period for residents, crew members, and employees, and is working to support those affected as plans develop”, reports the Express.

Villa Vie’s website promises that the vessel will call at 147 countries, docking at more than 425 ports on an endless voyage that would circle the globe every 3.5 years. “From the fiordlands of New Zealand to the temples of Southeast Asia, the spice markets of India to the shores of Sri Lanka – discover every destination on the world’s longest continuous residential voyage,” it entices.

Yet since February, the ship has been spending increasingly less time at sea. “Since the conflict began in late February, we have taken significant steps to reduce fuel consumption, including slowing the itinerary and spending more time in port. Those measures have not been enough to offset the extraordinary increase in fuel costs, and we have been unable to continue carrying the resulting operating losses. Passing the full increase on to residents is not a realistic solution. Our focus now is on supporting residents, crew, and employees while we work toward restructuring and recapitalization over the next 60 days. That work is ongoing, and no outcome is assured,” the spokesperson added.

“Villa Vie Residences continues to evaluate potential paths forward, but no financing or transaction has been finalised. The company will provide further updates as material developments occur.”

The announcement is expected to be devastating for passengers, many of whom have invested enormous sums and upended their lives to be aboard the vessel.

Back in 2023, Meredith Shay was getting ready to set sail on the Life at Sea, then heralded as the longest sailing in commercial cruise history, when she received devastating news. The operator informed passengers that it had no functioning ship, so the forthcoming sailing was scrapped.

That left hundreds of customers who had ploughed their life savings into the project and had been ready to abandon their lives on land high and dry. “I did sell my house. I put everything into storage, moved out of my apartment. I was about to sell my car. But I am not a ‘woe is me’ person. There is a song over here, ‘dust yourself off and try again’. That is what I’ve done,” she explained in 2025.

“I had a 12-hour pity party, then said, ‘okay, you’re free. Do something’. No encumbrances at all.”

Undeterred, Meredith chose to press on with her dream, signing up for the Villa Vie Odyssey cruise, which is operated by several of the same individuals behind Life at Sea.

She took the plunge despite the collapse of the Life at Sea cruise and the early setbacks that plagued the Villa Vie Odyssey. The latter was scheduled to set sail from Northern Ireland in May 2024, but problems with its rudder stocks left passengers stranded in the city for over four months.

The vessel remained docked for so long that fellow passengers Angela Harsanyi and Gian Perroni had the opportunity to meet, fall head over heels, and eventually tie the knot on the banks of Belfast’s River Lagan.

Meredith pressed ahead regardless, securing a lavish eighth-floor suite for five years at a cost of $159,000, with monthly homeowner fees of $7,999, bringing the overall total to approximately $630,000.