Cambodian officials say the Villa Vie Odyssey should refuel and leave Sihanoukville on Saturday. The Florida company hasn’t confirmed it, and some of its 203 residents say they’re on their own.
There may be a next stop after all. The Villa Vie Odyssey, the “endless” residential cruise ship stuck in Cambodia, is now expected to refuel and leave on Saturday, Oct. 31, according to a Cambodian provincial official quoted by The Associated Press.
The ship’s operator, Florida-based Villa Vie Residences, hasn’t publicly confirmed any departure date, the AP reported.
Meanwhile, residents who were ordered off the ship this week are scrambling. One says the company left them to fend for themselves in a city most of them never planned to live in.
Here’s a video from residents Lynn and Paul, posted the day they were sent ashore to their channel, Lynn and Paul’s Excellent Adventure:
When will the Villa Vie Odyssey leave Cambodia?
Maybe this weekend. Long Dimanche, deputy governor of Preah Sihanouk province, said the ship arrived in Sihanoukville last Friday and had been scheduled to leave Wednesday, per the AP. He said it was now expected to refuel and depart on Saturday.
That’s the first sign the ship might move since Villa Vie told residents to get off Monday, Oct. 26. The company had called the stop a “temporary layup” after saying it couldn’t secure the fuel it needed.
It isn’t clear whether residents would be allowed back aboard if the ship does sail. Villa Vie hasn’t said.
How many people were on the Villa Vie Odyssey?
The ship was carrying 203 passengers, mostly Americans, plus 156 crew members, Cambodian officials told the AP. The ship can hold about 650 passengers.
More than 85% of the ship’s residences had been sold, IBTimes UK reported, citing Cruise Critic and other industry reports. Crew members stayed aboard during the layup to keep essential systems running.
How much did Villa Vie Odyssey residents pay?
A lot. The AP reported that a suite for the life of the ship started around $230,000. IBTimes UK put the starting price for cabins at about $120,000. That’s the number Dexerto used in a widely shared X post that has topped 110,000 views.
Some residents sold their homes before moving aboard, according to The Independent, as cited by IBTimes UK. For those people, the ship was the house.
Why did Villa Vie stop sailing?
Fuel. Villa Vie said monthly fuel costs per cabin, which used to average about $1,800, have jumped to an estimated $6,000 to $8,000 in parts of Asia because of the war in Iran, the AP reported.
“We have been unable to continue carrying the resulting operating losses,” the company said in a statement. “Passing the full increase on to residents is not a realistic solution.”
The company said it tried slowing down and spending more time in port to save fuel, but it wasn’t enough. It plans to work on restructuring over the next 60 days and has warned that “no outcome is assured.”
Is Villa Vie helping stranded residents?
That depends on who you ask. Villa Vie said it is “working with residents to coordinate disembarkation and identify temporary living arrangements,” per the AP.
Resident Randy Cassingham, who blogs about the voyage, tells it differently. “The company has done absolutely nothing to help,” he wrote, according to the AP. “They didn’t even give us a list of hotels, let alone help us get there or pay for them.”
Cassingham said shuttle buses dropped residents in the middle of Sihanoukville because they couldn’t walk out of the port.
The Straits Times reported that Villa Vie executive chairman Mikael Petterson said the company was covering local hotels and transport, but not flights out of Cambodia, IBTimes UK noted. Refunds still haven’t been addressed publicly.
What is the Villa Vie Odyssey?
It’s a 1993 cruise ship that sailed as Fred. Olsen’s Braemar before Villa Vie bought it in 2023, the AP reported. Its residential world voyage began in October 2024 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and was supposed to last about three and a half years.
The idea was simple and kind of dreamy. Buy a cabin, live on the ship and see the world without ever packing a suitcase again.
Cambodia has been here before, too. In 2020, Sihanoukville took in the MS Westerdam after five other ports turned it away during the early days of COVID-19, the AP noted. This time the trouble is fuel, and a whole ship’s worth of it at war-time prices.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
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Hat Tips:
The Associated Press (Oct. 28), departure timing, passenger and crew counts, prices, company statement and Cassingham quotes
IBTimes UK (Oct. 28), cabin price, occupancy, restructuring and Straits Times report
Dexerto (Oct. 28), X post
Lynn and Paul’s Excellent Adventure (Oct. 28), resident video
AI Disclosure: All articles are assigned, edited and reviewed by an experienced human editor before posting. Like most modern newsrooms, WebReef Media uses a variety of AI tools to help with accuracy and efficiency. Ways AI may be used in article creation include research, grammar, fact-checking and ideation, as well as occasional AI generated or enhanced thumbnails or graphics. No articles are generated or posted without human oversight or involvement.