Luxury Cruise Passengers Stranded in Cambodia as Fuel Costs Soar

A luxury cruise ship on a years-long voyage around the world stopped its journey because of extremely high fuel costs. The change left passengers stranded in Cambodia. The US-based operator of the Villa Vie Odyssey said it was working with passengers on plans to leave the ship and find "temporary living arrangements." It is not clear how many people were on board, but the nearly 200 m (656 ft) vessel can carry up to 650 passengers. It left Belfast in October 2024 for a "continuous voyage around the world." Global fuel prices have risen sharply since the Iran war began earlier this year. The ship's operator said the monthly fuel cost per cabin in parts of Asia has climbed to as much as $8,000 (about £6,000) from $1,800.

Villa Vie Residences said it had taken "significant steps to reduce fuel consumption, including slowing the itinerary and spending more time in port." But those measures were not enough to "offset the extraordinary increase in fuel costs." "Passing the full increase on to residents is not a realistic solution," the company said. It will spend the next 60 days on "restructuring and recapitalisation," though "no outcome is assured."

About 200 passengers were on board when they were told to leave the ship in the Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville. The city was once a quiet beach town, but it has become a center for Chinese casinos and scam operations. The Villa Vie Odyssey's voyage was expected to last 3.5 years and cover nearly 150 countries, according to its website. Its departure had already been delayed while the ship underwent repairs. That left passengers stuck in Belfast for months and cost the company millions of pounds. The ship was more than 750 days into its trip around the world before it announced on Tuesday that it was suspending the journey. That meant its passengers would be stranded in Cambodia.

Passengers Lanette Canen and Johan Bodin told the BBC that the chief executive of Villa Vie Residences told them at 6 a.m. on Tuesday that they had to leave by 2 p.m. the same day. The couple said passengers had known for some time about the company's financial problems. A possible investor had come aboard the ship to review the business, but in the end the deal did not work out. "Even then, we were still hoping a miracle investor would come through," they said. "Although there were signs that this would happen, we still felt disbelief when it became real. We were heartbroken. It felt like our dream had been crushed." They added, "There have been a lot of hugs and tears as residents support one another and process what has happened."

Another passenger, Holly Hennessey, said passengers had earlier been asked to consider paying a fuel surcharge as global prices rose. Their itinerary had also been "severely curtailed," she said. Some people decided to leave the ship and travel on land. "It was not on my bingo card of places where I'd be spending a lot of time," Hennessey told the BBC from Cambodia. "We're all in different hotels; there are a number of shipmates in the hotel that I'm in. We're just waiting." Canen and Bodin said Cambodia was "a difficult place to disembark" because it is far from a major international airport.

During their time on board the Villa Vie Odyssey, passengers could use several bars and restaurants, a pool deck, and a pickleball court, according to its website. Permanent residencies in its cabins ranged from $120,000 to $440,000. Those cabins were also available for rent from $3,500 a month. Last year, the company launched a lifetime residence program for people who wanted to spend their retirement years at sea. In 2024, days after U.S. President Donald Trump won his second term, Villa Vie Residences announced a four-year "Skip Forward" package. Its CEO told Fox Business at the time that it was the "perfect product for those who said they'd leave the country if 'XYZ' wins the election."

For Canen and Bodin, the experience was "worth it," even though it was shorter than expected. "We loved our two years on Odyssey—the adventures, the places we visited and the friends we made along the way." Many passengers have already made plans to "settle together off the ship, so those friendships and that sense of community are continuing on land," they said. The couple plans to spend a few days in Sihanoukville before traveling to different parts of South East Asia while they "figure out our next chapter."

But others, like Hennessey, have decided to stay in Cambodia in the hope that the Odyssey will set sail again soon. "Until they say we are done—done done—I am not giving up. I could never duplicate this lifestyle. The idea of going home? It would be so trite," she said. "Cambodia's not the worst place to hang out."