When the voyage of the luxury cruise ship MV Odyssey ended suddenly earlier this week in Cambodia, giving the ship’s residents just hours to disembark, it marked the culmination of several attempts over a period of about three months to salvage the unique voyage.
According to accounts from several sources familiar with the final weeks on board, they included a scramble to find fuel while stranded in a Singapore port, the crew’s rush to obtain provisions once food shipments were completed, and the ship’s temporary detention in Hong Kong.
The Odyssey’s voyage, operated by Florida-based Villa Vie Residences, was billed as a continuous cruise around the world when it launched in October 2024. It allowed passengers to become residents of the ship by purchasing cabins for several hundred thousand dollars.
However, more than 200 passengers and dozens of crew members were left stranded in Cambodia on Tuesday when Villa Vie suddenly suspended operations due to major financial problems.
In early August, the Odyssey was docked in Singapore when Villa Vie warned that the ship was at risk of being grounded and the operator said it urgently needed to raise funds.
“There’s no doubt we ran out of money in Singapore,” said Villa Vie resident Darrell Carp, who told CBS News he was short $250,000.
Residents believed finances were mismanaged by the cruise line
Several residents told CBS News they were afraid to give money directly to the company because they believed finances were poorly managed by Villa Vie.
“We never fully understood the level of their debt,” Carp said. “They were already behind on paying crew, provisions, fuel, and things like that.”
A source close to the company said that when fuel price increased this year after the United States attacked Iranit was a disaster for the company’s business model.
After some passengers raised funds while the ship was stuck in Singapore, $400,000 was paid to a fuel supplier directly from a resident’s personal checking account so the Odyssey could continue its journey, sources said.
At that time, Villa Vie was in several million dollars’ worth of trouble, according to internal documents reviewed by CBS News. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were owed to a port agent, fuel companies, food vendors and the crew.
These internal documents show that, on August 4, in a town hall, residents were warned of the real possibility of a cessation of operations, layoffs and repatriation of the crew.
According to documents reviewed by CBS News, the vessel was potentially days away from losing its insurance. He said he would cut back on internet service to save money and pay just enough to keep browsing.
Villa Vie launched a VIP program to raise emergency funds
In early August, Villa Vie launched a so-called VIP “Villa Incentive Program” to help raise emergency funds, according to the documents. The VIP program was only open to current Villa Vie passengers so they could purchase more cabins at a discounted rate.
On August 18, the company posted: “We have commitment from over 20 cabins on VIP sales! »
The program was initially an idea of the residents. Instead of simply raising money, it was designed to give passengers an even greater stake in the ship, according to passengers and a source close to the company.
There was an urgent need to sell the cabins. The last slide of a Villa Vie PowerPoint presentation on the VIP program said: “Funds are due today.”
The VIP program managed to raise enough funds to keep the ship operating, but it continued to encounter difficulties, according to sources.
A source with knowledge of the VIP program also said cabins aboard the Odyssey were still being sold to Villa Vie residents, even though the company was operating at a loss at the time.
According to one document, the ship’s finances showed that even at full occupancy it would operate at a loss of $600,000. Average monthly operating costs were $3.1 million, but revenue at 100 percent occupancy, with everyone paying full price, would have been only $2.5 million, according to the document.
A source close to the company disputes the $3.1 million figure and says the ship’s monthly operating costs were less than $1 million.
As of August, 139 of the 490 cottages were unsold, records show.
Ship’s director had to bribe Vietnamese officials to bring food on board, source says
When the ship arrived in Vietnam, crew members reportedly had to buy food from local grocery stores to feed passengers because the company owed money to a food vendor who was no longer delivering food, according to people familiar with the matter.
According to one source, the ship’s hotel manager had to bribe local customs officials in Vietnam to be able to bring food aboard the ship.
Later, in Hong Kong, court records obtained by CBS News showed the ship was held until the company paid $167,844.48 to a fuel supplier.
Villa Vie founder Mike Petterson said skyrocketing fuel costs were the ultimate cause of the ship’s journey ending.
When asked by CBS News on Wednesday whether creditors might foreclose on the ship, Petterson told CBS News, “We’ll probably file for Chapter 11 here any day now, right, which will put that proceeding on hold while we go through the restructuring process.”
A source close to the company said Villa Vie stopped selling cabins outside after Aug. 4, once the ship knew it was essentially cash-strapped and needed to raise cash.
Yet on July 27, just a week before the ship ran out of money, Villa Vie announced that it was in the process of purchasing a second ship, the Legacy, and offered residents who purchased a cabin on the future ship the option to move immediately to the Odyssey.
A source close to the company said it was necessary to buy more ships to make the business model work.
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