Dozens of American passengers have been left stranded in Cambodia after the company behind their planned 15-year cruise around the world suddenly suspended operations.
Hundreds of residents aboard the Ville Vie Odyssey, operated by Florida-based Villa Vie Residences, were left in Sihanoukville, the Daily Mail can reveal.
Among them is Randy Cassingham, a California resident who writes about residential cruising on his website Residentialcruising.com.
Cassingham, a former NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory employee, was traveling with his wife, Kit. In a post titled ‘Abandon Ship!’, he said residents were given only seven hours’ notice to leave the vessel, taking all of their belongings with them.
Residents and former passengers voiced their anger on cruise forums, describing the ship as a ‘floating disaster’ and sharing photographs of the grim-looking buildings in Sihanoukville where they had been left stranded.
Villa Vie Residences said in an official statement that soaring fuel costs linked to the Iran War had forced the company to suspend operations.
The company said the situation had created ‘unsustainable financial pressure’ and that it would pursue additional funding during the next 60 days.
Launched in 2024, the 720-passenger Villa Vie Odyssey was marketed as a ‘new model of global living at sea’, offering residents the chance to live aboard the ship for months or even years at a time.
Hundreds of people aboard the Ville Vie Odyssey, operated by Florida-based Villa Vie Residences, have been left stranded in Sihanoukville, the Daily Mail can reveal
Randy Cassingham and his wife, Kit, are pictured together after being abruptly told they had to leave the cruise ship on Monday morning
Billed as ‘The First Perpetual World Cruise’, the voyage was scheduled to continue for 15 years, with fares reaching as much as $440,000 per cabin. The itinerary was set to include 147 countries.
One of the ship’s major attractions was that residents would not be required to pay property or state taxes, although federal income tax would still apply.
Cassingham said residents learned they had to leave at around 7am Eastern time on Monday, October 26.
The announcement, posted on Villa Vie’s internal messaging board by chief executive Kathy Villaba, began: ‘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’.
Passengers who could not remove everything in time were instructed to contact guest services and arrange an ‘orderly return’ to collect their remaining belongings.
Cassingham said residents had been ‘well aware of the problems’ affecting the Odyssey and that the announcement ‘didn’t come out of the blue’.
He described the situation as a ‘cascade of problems piling up on one another, from the business model to mistakes by management to the mentioned crisis in fuel cost and availability, and more’.
He also shared a photograph of a building in Sihanoukville, alongside a comment from his wife about their unexpected new circumstances: ‘This is the picture of my new life – a shell that I get to build into something new and exciting. The Odyssey has reached the end of its sailing days – at least for now. It abandoned us in Cambodia,’ Kit stated
Cassingham also criticized Villalba for failing to apologize and said: ‘She’s the freaking CEO, and couldn’t bring herself to say it’.
He also shared an image that he took of a building in Sihanoukville, and captioned it with a comment his wife made after they were left there.
‘This is the picture of my new life – a shell that I get to build into something new and exciting. The Odyssey has reached the end of its sailing days – at least for now.
‘It abandoned us in Cambodia,’ Kit stated.
READ MORE: Hamas Terrorists Turning on Each Other – NewsFinale
Shirene Thomas, who is from Madison, Wisconsin, wrote on Facebook that she had been left ‘homeless’ by Villa Vie stopping business.
‘This time in Cambodia,’ she said.
‘Note that as per usual Villa Vie has put their spin on things; they are offering no help with lodging, travel arrangements or anything’.
According to Thomas, she was ‘evicted’ at 2pm on Monday.
She wrote: ‘They told us at 6:30 AM!’
In the message to residents, Villaba said that was all the information they had at the time, but the following day Villa Vie put out a statement explaining the ‘temporary layup’ was far more serious.
Others took to Reddit to share their thoughts after hearing the startling news
The company said that fuel costs had ‘risen sharply’ in Asia, and per cabin, their expenses had risen from $1,800 a month to between $6,000 and $8,000.
‘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 release said.
Villa Vie was ‘working with residents to identify temporary accommodation’, and acknowledged it was ‘a difficult and disruptive period’ for the passengers and crew.
According to Villa Vie, they had already taken ‘significant steps’ to reduce fuel consumption, like slowing the itinerary and spending more time in port.
‘Our focus now is on supporting residents, crew, and employees while we work toward restructuring and recapitalization over the next 60 days,’ the company said.
On Facebook, crew members told how they were ‘heartbroken’ at the news, including Lucas Clyne.
He wrote: ‘As a crew member of Villa Vie Residences, it hurts to see residents leaving the place they have called home.
‘For many people, this is not just a ship or a place to live. It is a home filled with memories, friendships, laughter, and moments that have become part of our lives’.
The cruise was all-inclusive, meaning guests had meals, wine and beer free. Housekeeping was every other week
Before its launch, the ship, formerly known as MS Braemar, was described by Villa Vis founder Mikael Petterson as ‘rethinking how we live’ rather than a vacation.
He talked about how residents had a ‘sense of freedom and community that’s hard to find anywhere else’ and how they could ‘explore the world without leaving home’.
But problems began before it even set off in May 2024 from Belfast in Northern Ireland, when the maiden voyage was delayed by four months due to repairs and inspections.
Earlier this summer, Villa Vie was so bullish about its business it announced the launch of the Legacy, a sister ship to the Odyssey, which was due to sail in 2029.
At the time, Petterson claimed that 85 percent of the cabins on Odyssey had been sold.
The cruise was all-inclusive, meaning guests had meals, wine and beer free.
Housekeeping was every other week.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Villa Vie for comment.