At least, it didn’t sink – even though all 203 passengers and more than 150 crew were told to abandon ship.
asserted
passengers → sink → ship
No lifeboats were involved, but life savings were thrown overboard and have now sunk without trace, the dream of living permanently on the high seas evaporated in dramatic fashion.
asserted
dream → involve → fashion
The 509-cabin Villa Vie Odyssey, owned by Florida-based Villa Vie Residences, is stranded in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, because the company, ‘under unsustainable financial pressure’, can’t afford to buy any more fuel.
asserted
company → own → fuel
It was meant to be a never-ending cruise, circumnavigating the globe in three-year cycles, for which you could buy a cabin for anything from £90,400 to more than £670,000, plus pay a monthly fee to cover food, housekeeping and internet access – although passengers report that the internet and TVs haven’t worked for weeks.
uncertain
internet → mean → weeks
The idea was that you would then treat the ship as your permanent home, stopping at more than 400 ports with buffets galore, fitness classes, trivia quizzes, pickleball and nightly entertainment.
asserted
you → treat → buffets
And a number of passengers, mainly from America or Canada did exactly that: sold their homes and cars, and cashed in their pensions, for what they thought would be a life-enhancing adventure.
asserted
they → do → pensions
It’s certainly been an adventure but hardly life-enhancing.
asserted
It → enhance → ?
As passenger Randy Cassingham, 66, turfed off the boat with his 71-year-old wife Kit, said this week: ‘We had built a house and it was our dream house.
asserted
it → turf → house
And we decided to sell that and our car and almost all of our belongings and move onto the ship full-time, permanently.
asserted
we → decide → ship
So, we don’t have a home to go to right now.’
asserted
we → have → home
The Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship docks at Sihanoukville autonomous port after permanent residents living on the vessel were forced to disembark in Cambodia
Randy Cassingham and his wife Kit sold their home to live aboard the Odyssey, which is now docked in Cambodia
Holly Hennessey has been on board from the start, accompanied by her Siamese cat, Captain
And what’s odd, given the dire circumstances, is that for several days there was nothing in the way of an apology, although the founder of Villa Vie Residences, Mikael Petterson, has now said he feels like ‘the villain’ in the story and admits it’s an ‘awful’ situation.
asserted
it → dock → story
This week, passengers who had shelled out vast sums of money for not particularly plush berths on the 642ft ship, were talked through the costs incurred – mostly as a result of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East pushing up oil prices – as if delivered by a sharp-suited accountant at the end of a financial year.
asserted
conflict → shell → year
‘On an equivalent per-cabin basis, monthly fuel expense that historically averaged approximately $1,800 (£1,350) has recently reached an estimated $6,000 (£4,500) to $8,000 (£6,000) in parts of Asia.
asserted
that → average → Asia
The company cannot simply pass increases of that scale on to residents,’ the company said.
asserted
company → pass → residents
But a little more warning might have been expected.
uncertain
warning → expect → ?
Instead, the company put out a statement, saying: ‘We are working with residents to co-ordinate disembarkation and temporary living arrangements and are supporting residents.’
asserted
We → put → residents
This is disputed by the Cassinghams, who sold the family house in Colorado and belongings to pay £284,000 for their permanent cabin, plus a monthly fee of £5,200, thinking the ship would become their ‘forever home’.
asserted
ship → dispute → 5,200
‘What’s happened didn’t come out of the blue,’ said Mr Cassingham.
asserted
Cassingham → happen → blue
‘It was a cascade of problems piling up on one another, from the business model to mistakes by management to the mentioned crisis in fuel cost and availability, and more.
asserted
It → pile → cost
He described on a blog how he only found out on Monday that things were going awry when Kathy Villaba, Villa Vie’s chief executive, posted a note on the ship’s internal messaging board.
asserted
Villaba → describe → board
She gave passengers seven hours to pack and disembark – leaving everyone liable for their own accommodation and meals in the port town of Sihanoukville.
asserted
She → give → Sihanoukville
Another resident, Margaret Carrasco, delivered her own statement on what happened – and she doesn’t pull her punches.
asserted
she → deliver → punches
‘I want to set the record straight and clear up any confusion out there about what the company, Villa Vie Residences, is claiming in their PR announcements,’ she said.
asserted
she → want → announcements
‘They are providing zero support to residents despite claiming they’re helping us with temporary living arrangements.
asserted
they → provide → arrangements
Ms Carrasco said the only help she received was from ‘our loving crew and fellow residents in getting our luggage down the gangway and onto a shuttle.
asserted
she → say → shuttle
We were dropped unceremoniously in the middle of town, left to our own devices.’
asserted
We → drop → devices
Sihanoukville is not the most hospitable of towns in which to be dumped.
asserted
Sihanoukville → dump → which
More than 70 casinos have been built here in the past three years alone and there are plans for a new $1 billion, 65-hectare Chinese-Malaysian resort called Wisney World.
asserted
casinos → build → resort
Bricks and construction materials litter the streets, the crime rate is growing and Sihanoukville’s postcard beaches are now choked with plastic bags,’ according to the website Intrepid (catchline: ‘committed to using travel as a force for good’).
uncertain
beaches → litter → good
Sihanoukville, which has a population of around 90,000, is known as a thriving town for human trafficking and is a hotbed for online scams – fitting, one might think, for a venture that has proved a shambles from the start.
uncertain
that → have → start
Long Dimanche, the deputy governor of the province of Sihanoukville, is wholly sympathetic: ‘Being ordered to disembark so abruptly has left retirees and workers effectively homeless, thousands of kilometres away from their home countries.’
asserted
ordered → order → countries
The cruise had long been beset with problems.
asserted
cruise → beset → problems
Due to set sail from its dry dock in Belfast in early spring 2024, the ship was still there four months later because of problems with its rudders and gearbox, which cost the company some £15 million more than expected.
asserted
which → set → more
During this period, passengers were allowed on the ship during the day but at night they were booked into hotels and rented apartments.
asserted
they → allow → hotels
At the time, the Mail was keen to visit the ship in Belfast with a view to finding out how passengers were getting on.
asserted
passengers → visit → view
I emailed the company, but my request was flatly refused by Villa Vie Residences.
asserted
request → email → Residences
It didn’t want the publicity.
asserted
It → want → publicity
Then, in July this year, I received an email from the company’s public relations agency saying it was ‘excited to share some big news’.
asserted
it → receive → news
Now, it clearly did want the publicity – and I was welcome to interview Mr Petterson.
asserted
I → want → Petterson
‘Following the success of Villa Vie Odyssey, which is now more than 85 per cent sold, the company is expanding into a two-ship fleet with the announcement of its second residential cruise ship, Legacy, with residences expected to be approximately 50 per cent larger, along with expanded dining, larger public spaces, enhanced wellness facilities and additional luxury amenities.
asserted
residences → follow → dining
…and 34 more, not listed.
The Aporia
