A former Montana car dealership owner who sailed aboard the ill-fated “never-ending cruise” now hopes to buy the ship herself, insisting: “I’m not ready to be done.”
Whitney Olson, 47, is one of roughly 200 passengers stranded in Cambodia after their multiyear journey on the Villa Vie Odyssey abruptly ended last week amid sharply rising fuel costs.
While many passengers may be eager to leave the ordeal behind, Olson is exploring a way to revive the voyage by purchasing the vessel and restarting its round-the-world itinerary.
The ship was promoted as a “home at sea,” offering an endless journey with more than 400 stops at ports around the world. It is now heading to Singapore, where it is expected to be sold at auction.
“It was so special. I’m not ready to be done,” Olson told The New York Times. “I’m still going to watch to see what happens with the Odyssey at auction, and see if there is a way to pick it up for cheap.”
Her interest in buying the ship comes after the dream voyage descended into turmoil, leaving hundreds of residents stranded in Southeast Asia and exposing months of worsening financial problems.
Passengers have described executives “begging” them for money as the promise of life at sea turned into an increasingly frantic effort to keep the vessel operating.
A little more than a year after the ship left Northern Ireland in October 2024, passengers said company executives warned them they could run out of money within two weeks, according to the Times.
Whitney Olson, 47, a retired Montana car dealership owner who sailed on the “never-ending cruise” (pictured), now hopes to buy the ship, telling the NYT: “I’m not ready to be done”
Olson is among 200 passengers stranded in Cambodia after their multiyear voyage aboard the Villa Vie Odyssey abruptly ended last week amid soaring fuel prices (pictured: residents arrive at a Cambodian hotel)
The ship (pictured) was marketed as a “home at sea” with an endless itinerary and more than 400 port stops worldwide. It is now bound for Singapore, where it is expected to be auctioned
By April, Villa Vie’s financial crisis had grown so severe that executive chairman Mikael Petterson asked the same passengers who had paid to travel around the world to lend the company $3 million.
The money was intended to cover fuel expenses, with Petterson offering annual interest rates ranging from 12 percent to 24 percent.
Even as the voyage moved closer to collapse, many residents remained deeply attached to the life they had created aboard the Odyssey. They believed no conventional, land-based lifestyle could offer a comparable experience.
For Olson, that commitment came at an extraordinary financial cost.
The solo traveler was more than a regular customer. She was one of the ship’s original “founders,” having invested additional funds in return for an equity stake in the company, The Times reported.
She has spent more than $1.5 million in total on two cabins, her ownership interest and additional contributions aimed at helping the ship stay afloat.
Her faith in the project was so strong that, even as Villa Vie’s finances deteriorated, she considered lending Petterson another $2 million in April to save the venture.
However, Olson said she wanted a complete financial audit and assurances that her investment would be protected if the company entered bankruptcy. According to the outlet, she said Petterson declined to provide those details.
A little more than a year after leaving Northern Ireland in October 2024, passengers said company executives warned them they could run out of money within two weeks
By April, Villa Vie’s financial crisis had become so severe that executive chairman Mikael Petterson (pictured) asked passengers who had paid to sail around the world to provide $3 million
“He was more interested in taking the money from the residents at these exorbitant interest rates than giving me what any investor would ask for,” she said.
Unwilling to see the ship disappear without a fight, Olson began developing a plan to put it back under passenger control.
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She teamed up with two other travelers to create an investment company that would combine residents’ funds, pay off the vessel’s debts and move the business in a new direction.
The proposal drew inspiration from The World, the only successful residential cruise ship currently in operation. Its business model offered an alternative to the approach many Villa Vie residents had criticized.
Passengers had questioned whether Villa Vie had set its prices too low, saying monthly fees established in 2023 did not adequately account for inflation.
There were several options for making the Odyssey a permanent home. Lifetime suite ownership cost between $120,000 and $440,000, in addition to monthly fees of $3,500 to $11,000. Five-year ownership packages started at roughly $50,000.
Passengers who did not want to commit for years could instead choose flexible, shorter stays on the ship.
Yet the company’s repeated appeals for more money soon unsettled residents, prompting growing concerns about whether the business was financially sustainable.
Olson told the NYT: “It was so special. I’m not ready to be done. I’m still going to watch to see what happens with the Odyssey at auction, and see if there is a way to pick it up for cheap”
Many passengers remained emotionally invested in the life they had built aboard the Odyssey, convinced that no land-based alternative could compare
Canadian passenger Mary Ann Demsar (pictured), 67, previously told the Daily Mail: “Unfortunately, it was not expensive enough. It did seem too good to be true that it could cover its costs, and we kind of felt that way”
“This whole concept is a fabulous idea, there’s no two ways about it,” Canadian passenger Mary Ann Demsar, 67, previously told the Daily Mail.
“Unfortunately, it was not expensive enough,” she said. “It did seem too good to be true that it could cover its costs, and we kind of felt that way.”
Olson’s company proposed a different financial model, with fees adjusted in real time to reflect fuel prices, port charges and crew wages. The approach was designed to eliminate the need for outside loans, according to the Times.
The proposal stalled, however, after investors discovered millions of dollars in previously undisclosed debt and failed to reach an agreement with the ship’s main lender, NRP Maritime Asset Management AS.
They cautioned that rescuing the Odyssey could leave residents facing a major financial and legal burden. Debt repayments and legal fees alone were expected to total $3 million during the first two months.
Petterson has attributed Villa Vie’s financial difficulties to soaring fuel costs amid Trump’s war with Iran. He has said that before the conflict began in February, sales were strong enough to put the company on course for profitability in early 2026.
Some residents, including Harvard-educated lawyer Benjamin Schatz, challenged that explanation. They said many passengers had not understood the extent of the company’s financial problems, particularly those who joined as founders.
“Founders knew surprisingly little about the state of the finances,” Schatz told the Times.
Investors warned that saving the vessel could come at a high price, potentially leaving residents responsible for $3 million in debt repayments and legal costs within two months
The uncertainty has left residents in limbo. Some are planning to travel through Asia, while others have remained in Cambodia (pictured) awaiting news about the ship’s future
“Few, if any, understood that all the money from cabin sales was spent immediately to keep the ship afloat,” he added. Petterson, however, maintains that founders received financial updates every few months.
The uncertainty has left residents stranded in limbo. Some are making plans to travel across Asia, while others have chosen to remain in Cambodia as they wait to learn whether the Odyssey has a future.
Olson’s short-term plan was to cross into Vietnam, place her belongings in storage and then meet her family in India for a trip that had already been arranged to visit the Taj Mahal and see Bengal tigers.
But even with that detour ahead, Olson says she has no plans to abandon the idea of living aboard the Odyssey.
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