Villa Vie leaves 203 guests at Cambodia port

Villa Vie Residences left 203 guests in Cambodia after suspending local operations on Tuesday, according to a company press statement and comments Wednesday from a provincial official.

The disruption turns a long-term residential cruise into a port-side logistics problem in Sihanoukville. Villa Vie said monthly fuel costs per cabin on the Odyssey rose to an estimated $6,000 to $8,000 in parts of Asia from $1,800 when the voyage began, meaning the top end was more than four times the starting average.

The U.S.-based operator said it was dealing with “extraordinary increases” in fuel costs following the Iran war. “The company cannot simply pass increases of that scale on to residents, and the resulting shortfall has placed its current operating model under unsustainable financial pressure,” Villa Vie said in its press statement.

Long Dimanche, deputy governor of Cambodia’s Preah Sihanouk province, said 203 guests and 156 crew arrived on the Bahamas-flagged ship from Si Racha in Thailand on Oct. 23 and had been scheduled to continue to Vietnam.

Passengers were told to leave during a planned stop at Sihanoukville and were given seven hours to collect their belongings, Long Dimanche said. “The sudden order to disembark has left many retirees and remote workers homeless thousands of miles from their home countries,” he said.

The 200-metre Odyssey departed Northern Ireland in October 2024 on a continuous voyage marketed to people who could buy or rent cabins for short trips or permanent residence. The model drew passengers willing to commit large parts of their savings or assets to life at sea, according to the report.

Randy Cassingham, a passenger who writes a cruise blog, said the forced departure followed a “cascade of problems”. He wrote that the ship’s Belfast departure had been delayed by four months, that the vessel never reached its 650-resident capacity and that occupancy peaked at about 350.

Cassingham said the ship was marketed as affordable rather than “luxury,” but that the company later began “begging for money”. He accused Villa Vie of doing “absolutely nothing to help” passengers after the Cambodia order.

Villa Vie said it was “working with residents to coordinate disembarkation and identify temporary living arrangements”. The company added that it recognised “a difficult and disruptive period for residents, crew members, and employees” and said it was working to support those affected.

Long Dimanche said some passengers had flown out of Cambodia while others remained in Sihanoukville.

On Oct. 31, the Odyssey is due to refuel in Sihanoukville, according to Long Dimanche. That is the next check on whether the vessel can proceed after Villa Vie suspended Cambodia operations.

On Oct. 31, the ship is also due to leave Sihanoukville, Long Dimanche said. A departure would move the crisis beyond the Cambodian port; a delay would keep passengers, crew and the operator tied to local logistics.

Source: Bangkok Post report carrying AFP, Oct. 28, 2026