Floating-Home Cruise MV Odyssey Halts Voyage in Cambodia as Fuel Costs Quadruple

Monthly fuel costs per cabin on the MV Odyssey have surged from a historical average of $1,800 to an estimated $6,000 to $8,000 in parts of Asia — and that arithmetic just killed a three-year voyage that sold cabins as permanent homes at sea.

Florida-based operator Villa Vie Residences suspended the voyage and docked the ship at Sihanoukville, Cambodia, on the Gulf of Thailand, forcing 203 passengers — mostly Americans — and 156 crew members off a vessel rated for 650. The company blamed the war in Iran, which has curtailed traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, squeezed petroleum supplies across Southeast Asia and sharply raised prices.

"We have been unable to continue carrying the resulting operating losses," Villa Vie Residences said in a statement issued Tuesday. "Passing the full increase on to residents is not a realistic solution. Our focus now is on supporting residents, crew, and employees" while it tries to restructure.

The company said it tried slowing the itinerary and spending more time in port to cut fuel burn. It didn't work. The operator added it is "working with residents to coordinate disembarkation and identify temporary living arrangements."

What do passengers say happened?

Residents tell a harsher story. They got seven hours' notice on Tuesday to disembark, received no support, and had to arrange their own exits, several said. Some were devastated; others hope a new owner can rescue the venture.

Paul and Lynn Montoya, a retired couple from Wyoming, bought a window cabin and boarded in Panama 17 months ago expecting years at sea. Paul praised the residential-cruising concept but said the owner lacked the expertise to sustain it financially. He acknowledged fuel costs were cited publicly, but said the company had been struggling for a while — itinerary changes, unreliable internet and declining food quality had already pushed many residents off the ship.

Lynn said residents were repeatedly asked to chip in extra money, including a fresh call to fund fuel just to get out of Cambodia. Crew members went unpaid, she said.

"We were tired of every two to four weeks being asked for money for fuel, money for everything," she said. "We had hopes but they just kept sinking further and further into the hole through mismanagement."

The company could not immediately be reached for comment on those claims.

Was the investment worth it anyway?

For some, yes. Carol Larson, 69, and her sister Crystal Lavering, 72, both Californians, lived in separate cabins for 18 months. They called the suspension heartbreaking and hope the cruise can be revived.

"I hope there is a movement for the residents to buy the ship and I am hoping that goes through because it's a dream to live on the ship and I don't want it to end," Larson said. Lavering said her health improved so much aboard that she no longer needs a cane: "You come to this ship to live … it's just sad that it's all over."

Larson paid $120,000 for her cabin in installments, plus monthly maintenance fees, under a plan that promised up to 15 years aboard. She blamed President Donald Trump for the fuel spike tied to the Iran war, along with poor management — but not her decision.

"Because it was a startup company, I believe that it was a risk. From the very first day, I said to myself that if it lasts a year, I can walk away and feel like I got my money's worth … I still feel that way. I feel blessed to have been part of the experiment of residential cruising," she said.

What happens to the ship now?

The Odyssey arrived in Sihanoukville last Friday and had been scheduled to depart Wednesday, according to Long Dimanche, deputy governor of Preah Sihanouk province. He said the ship is now expected to refuel and leave Cambodia on Saturday — but the operator hasn't confirmed any date.

The vessel's history explains the uncertainty. Built in 1993 and run under various names by several cruise lines, it sat idle during the 2020 pandemic before Villa Vie Residences bought it in 2023. Its current cruise — originally planned for 3 1/2 years — began in October 2024 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, after a refit. A second cruise had been tentatively set to end in August 2030.

Sihanoukville has hosted a stranded ship before: in February 2020, the MS Westerdam docked there after five other ports refused it over COVID-19 fears, with 1,455 passengers aboard, more than 600 of them Americans.

Until Villa Vie confirms a departure date or a restructuring plan, 203 passengers hold tickets home and $120,000 cabins they can't sleep in.