As the sun rose over the tropical port of Sihanoukville, the 200 passengers on the “endless” Odyssey retirement cruise were awakened by the captain’s booming voice telling them over loudspeakers that it was time to abandon ship.
Residents of the Odyssey — as they call themselves — have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for long-term, even permanent, accommodations on the cruise ship. But this week they were abandoned in a Cambodian town known as a haven for organized crime.
“We signed up for forever and were looking forward to traveling the world, but here we are stuck in a central scam,” said Randy Cassingham, 67, who sold his Colorado home on 40 acres of land to finance the trip with his wife Kit, a 72-year-old life coach.
Villa Vie Residences, the American company behind the Odyssey, blamed the sharp rise in fuel prices following the war in the Middle East for halting the cruise after just two years.
But passengers believe the problems go back much further. “The cost of fuel didn’t cause the problems, it exposed them,” said Paul Fishman, another longtime resident.
Like the Boomers’ Fyre Festival – the 2017 luxury music event that became synonymous with a high-profile failure – the Odyssey’s ill-fated voyage was meticulously chronicled by passengers on social media, blogs and podcasts.
The problems started before the trip even started. Passengers gathered to board the Odyssey in 2024 were stranded in Belfast for months while Villa Vie carried out repairs to the 30-year-old ship.
But many passengers remember their time in Northern Ireland fondly. “Everyone recognized us when we went to the pubs – they called us the boat people,” recalls Kit Cassingham. “It was much nicer than here.”
Since the Odyssey’s departure, passengers have frequently complained about poor WiFi connections, air conditioning and heating problems, maintenance issues and canceled stops. The ship had no television for the past three months, forcing passengers to stream content over a temperamental internet connection.
Passengers paid between $120,000 and $440,000 upfront to purchase cabins, then paid monthly fees of between $3,500 and $11,000 for ongoing charges.
The Cassinghams paid $370,000 for their cabin and ongoing charges of $8,000, which decreased by $2,000 a month after purchasing stock in the company.
As Villa Vie’s costs increased, the company asked passengers to make one-time payments to reduce their monthly costs.
“That was the first inkling we had that things were wrong,” said Paul Montoya, 68, a Wyoming entrepreneur who has run businesses as diverse as radio stations and bed and breakfasts. “It was clear they were using this money to meet their increasing operational costs, but this meant they were receiving less regular maintenance income. »
The sharp rise in fuel prices this year has exacerbated the problems. Villa Vie said its monthly fuel costs per cabin have fallen from about $1,800 to $8,000. The company asked passengers to pay $2,000 more per month and tried unsuccessfully to raise new funds from outside investors.
Villa Vie tried to manage fuel consumption by changing the ship’s itinerary and staying longer in ports, passengers said. It stopped in Singapore four times because that was where fuel was cheapest, they said.
At other ports, passengers were asked to contribute thousands of dollars to pay for fuel needed to continue the journey. Passengers also made donations to the crew, which they say went unpaid for months.
“That’s what I find most shocking,” said Lynn Montoya, 64, who has run businesses alone and with her husband Paul. “The number one rule in business is to always pay your staff. »
Passengers are now stranded in the Cambodian resort town of Sihanoukville, once a sleepy backpacker hangout that has in recent years become a haven for Chinese casinos and fraudulent resorts.
Sihanoukville was named this week by the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank as one of Southeast Asia’s top four crime hubs, citing cyber scams, sex trafficking and money laundering. The city is also a major transit point for synthetic drugs, cocaine and contraband wildlife products.
About a quarter of Odyssey passengers now stay at the Independence Hotel in Sihanoukville, where the bar is located — visited by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis during Sihanoukville’s brief flourishing in the 1960s — has become a meeting place as they plot their next moves.
Some are already heading towards Phnom Penh to return home. Others are considering staying in Southeast Asia, where the cost of living is much lower, while they assess whether they can get their money back from Villa Vie.
The company did not respond to requests for comment Friday. On Tuesday, Villa Vie said its focus now was “on supporting residents, crew and employees as we work through restructuring and recapitalization over the next 60 days.”
“This work is ongoing and no results are assured,” he said.
Villa Vie is not the only company offering long-term cruises to have encountered difficulties. In 2023, a three-year voyage offered by Miray Cruises was cut short after encountering operational and financial difficulties.
A cruise company operating under the Ritz-Carlton brand – although not affiliated with the hotel group – also suffered heavy losses.
Newcomers are trying to offer more affordable versions of The World, the luxury “cruise ship” that has been sailing for 24 years.
Although it could accommodate 650 passengers, the Odyssey’s resident population never exceeded approximately 350 people. Among them were retired firefighters and police officers, former financial professionals, computer scientists and published authors. Most were Americans, with a handful of Europeans, Australians and South Africans.
Most residents were between sixty and seventy years old and spent their time at sea playing board games and pickleball, hanging out by the pool, and enjoying movie afternoons. Over time, some of the more creative residents began hosting amateur drama evenings and hosting lectures.
Port visits provided an opportunity to experience different cultures and savor the local nightlife. On one occasion, the Cassinghams went to the cinema on land to watch the hit Hollywood film. The Odysseybased on Homer’s epic tale of a long, treacherous journey. “It was all very relevant,” Kit said.
The couple simultaneously faces Randy’s cancer diagnosis. “People wonder if cancer is stressful for us,” Kit said. “But it’s nothing compared to the ship.”
Gn bussni
