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An American couple stranded in Cambodia after their cruise refused to cover rising fuel prices had paid $1 million for the dream voyage — but still insist they have no regrets.
Blogger Randy Cassingham and his wife Kit told AFP that they paid the staggering amount to cruise on the MV Odyssey because they assumed the all-inclusive voyage would last at least 15 years.
Instead, they were among over 200 passengers booted from the ship after cruise company Villa Vie announced it could no longer afford rising fuel costs.
“It was great, for a while,” Randy said of their cruise they started two years ago.
“Money aside, it was a fantastic adventure,” he said, insisting he and his wife had no regrets despite the sudden end and the cruise company doing “absolutely nothing to help” passengers find accommodations.
Kit Cassingham told NewsNation Wednesday that the couple initially paid about $370,000 to $380,000 for their cabin on the Villa Vie Odyssey, and have forked out at least $7,000 a month in expenses since then.
Asked if they expect to get their money back, she said, “No, no, no, no.”
The MV Odyssey departed Northern Ireland in October 2024, promising passengers a trip to seven continents and offering lifetime suites on the vessel from around $130,000 to $440,000, plus monthly fees of $2,000 to $10,000.
It was billed as a continuous voyage around the world — with some passengers selling everything they had to pay for it.
The Cassinghams said it appeared to be their dream way to see the world.
“My wife and I really enjoy travelling. But we really hate airports and airlines. This was a way that you could unpack once, you can sleep in your own bed every night and wake up in a new place every few days,” Randy told AFP over the phone from his Sihanoukville hotel.
Operator Villa Vie said in a statement the per-cabin monthly fuel expenses had skyrocketed from an average of $1,800 to an estimated $6,000 to $8,000 in parts of Asia, blaming the war with Iran for the sudden surge.
Some of the 203 mostly American passengers onboard said they could see the writing on the wall in the final months because of fresh demands to help keep the boat afloat.
“We knew something was going wrong because they kept on asking us for more and more and more money,” Barbara Figiel, 62, AFP.
“But it came to a point that how much money can you give to save a sinking ship?” she said.
Figiel said she and her husband had “a great lifestyle” on the MV Odyssey, which they boarded in December 2024 because she’d always wanted to live on a cruise ship when she retired,
She also does not think they’ve been scammed, believing Villa Vie just “underestimated the costs.”
Carol Larson, a 69-year-old from California, told AFP that she initially paid $120,000 for her cabin — not including monthly maintenance fees — for a voyage that was meant to last 15 years or the life of the 650-foot ship.
She said she’s now “stranded” in Sihanoukville after passengers were given just seven hours to gather their belongings and get off the vessel.
Still, she said, the journey was “well worth it.”
“I am so blessed to have been part of the experiment of residential cruising.”
Villa Vie said it tried to reduce fuel consumption by slowing the itinerary and spending more time in port, but was unable to offset surging costs driven by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“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.”
