The captain of the Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship described the situation as “really painful” after 203 residents had to disembark in Cambodia due to a severe fuel shortage. The ship’s global cruise was halted when rising fuel prices made it financially untenable to continue, according to the cruise operator.
Passengers were forced to leave the ship at the port of Sihanoukville in Cambodia, just two years into a planned 3.5-year voyage that started in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Many had invested significant sums for the opportunity to live aboard, with some paying nearly $300,000 for a single cabin and up to $500,000 for double occupancy under the Villa Vie Residences’ “Endless Horizons” program.
Mikael Petterson, founder and executive chairman of Villa Vie Residences, expressed regret, saying, “I’m the villain in the story, but I’m doing everything I can to support the residents [with] a solution.”
Residents who saw the cruise as a permanent home faced uncertainty. Captain Emanuele Giudice explained that the fuel shortage led to shutting down a generator, chillers, and non-essential lights. This prompted the decision to ask residents to disembark to avoid discomfort. Giudice cited high fuel prices as the main cause affecting travel and declining to blame global issues like the Middle East conflict.
Contradictions surfaced in residents’ accounts of their notice period to leave the ship. While Giudice mentioned a 24-hour notice, some residents told the Associated Press they were given only seven hours to vacate and had to arrange their own accommodations.
Paul and Lynn Montoya, retired residents from Wyoming, shared their frustrations with the ongoing requests for additional funds for fuel. “We were tired of every two to four weeks being asked for money for fuel, money for everything,” said Lynn Montoya.
Benjamin Schatz, another retiree, expressed heartbreak over the abrupt end to his intended permanent residence on the ship, stating, “There are people now who are homeless and who have very little money and don’t know what they’re going to do.”
The company marketed life aboard the ship as a fixed-budget alternative to land-based retirement, offering a solution to concerns over inflation and living expenses. Petterson pitched the experience as a way to secure a lifetime of experiences for less than the cost of an average home.
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