Residents on the doomed Villa Vie Odyssey cruise describe the first 24 hours after being kicked off in Cambodia

Passengers on a live-aboard round-the-world cruise say they were abruptly asked to depart the container and stated lone hours to disembark.

Villa Vie Residences, which operates the residential cruise container Villa Vie Odyssey, stated on Tuesday it had halted operations because of surging energy costs.

The container was docked at the harbor of Sihanoukville in Cambodia whenever the notice was made, alongside passengers saying they were stated lone eight hours to disembark.

"On October 27, 2026, we received notice from the CEO at about 6 a.m. that all residents had to disembark by 2 pm that day," passengers Lanette Canen and John Bodin told Business Insider by email.

Canen and Bodin have been on the Odyssey since it archetypal set sail and run a YouTube conduit called Living Life on a Cruise concerning their experiences on board.

"We knew leaving was a possibility, but the eight-hour notice motionless amazed us," they said.

The brace shared a video on their YouTube conduit that appears to display the instant a personnel associate announced that passengers must depart the ship.

"Unfortunately, they were unable to safe the energy necessary to continue operations," a masculine sound says in the video.

A notice on the Villa Vie Residences website says the business is operating alongside residents to arrange impermanent living arrangements and that it is evaluating restructuring options complete the next 60 days.

Villa Vie Residences did not immediately react to requests for comment. CEO Kathy Villalba and administrator chairman Mikael Petterson did not immediately react to requests for comment.

Soaring energy costs

Villa Vie Residences stated in a declaration on Tuesday that the surging cost of fuel since the commencement of the Iran war had made functioning the cruise liner increasingly difficult.

The business stated its monthly energy expenses per cabin, which had earlier averaged concerning $1,800, had risen as much as 344% in parts of Asia, to an estimated $6,000 to $8,000.

"Since the battle began in delayed February, we have taken important steps to decrease energy consumption, including slowing the itinerary and spending additional period in port," Villa Vie Residences said.

"Those measures have not been adequate to offset the bonzer addition in energy costs, and we have been unable to continue carrying the resulting functioning losses."

On August 1, Villalba, the CEO, sent residents a communication titled "Urgent operational update" on an inner messaging platform. In the message, she referenced a "fuel contribution" that had been earlier requested of residents. Business Insider has viewed a screenshot of the message.

"When the energy contribution was requested multiple months ago, involvement was not universal," she wrote in the message. "The contributions received helped some, but they covered lone part of the bonzer addition in energy costs."

Villalba wrote that the "cash-flow" difficulty had continued, and the Odyssey needed 650 metric lots of fuel, adding that energy prices had nearly doubled.

"We have now reached a crucial point. The deficiency of complete participation, blended alongside the unprecedented addition in energy costs, method we must create contiguous and imaginative operational decisions to maintain the voyage," her communication said.

It continued, "We are asking all Resident who did not earlier contribute to delight do so now. We are additionally asking those who are capable to provision additional assistance to regard assisting alongside this contiguous energy requirement."

Villalba described the financial need as "real, immediate, and necessary to keep Odyssey moving." It went on, "This is a instant whenever preserving our residence and continuing the voyage requires assistance beyond contractual minimums from those who are capable to provision it."

Residents scrambled to depart their cabins

Among the passengers asked to disembark on Tuesday alongside lone a few hours' notice was Barbara Fiegel, 62, who has lived alongside her partner aboard the container since December 2024.

"Everybody's fair shocked, everybody's fair saddened by this entire issue," she said. "We're motionless processing, trying to conversation what we're going to do."

Fiegel stated she and her partner booked a inn area in Cambodia, afterward returned to the container Tuesday evening and Wednesday midday to bare their harmless and group their belongings. "Today, as we approached, as we went rear on the shuttle rear to the ship, I couldn't halt crying," she said.

They scheme to come back on Thursday to collect their remaining items. Fiegel described the ambiance on the Odyssey as a “ghost town.”

Joel Greiff, 57, moved aboard the container at the commencement of the month. “I was preparedness to live on the container for 10, 20, or 73 years,” he said. “I don’t think that volition be happening.”

When residents were told to disembark, Greiff emptied his cabin. “I personally grabbed everything,” he said.

He stated he would akin to come back if Villa Vie Residences resumes operations. If not, he is preparedness to move to Thailand. In the meantime, he has rented an flat in Cambodia for a month.

Greiff stated he plans to come back to the Odyssey on Thursday to assistance another residents and “help alongside their luggage, assistance them discover a place, and fair commencement getting them and all their material off the ship.”

Have you spent any period on the Villa Vie Odyssey as a division owner, renter, or personnel member? If you have a narrative to share, get in contact alongside this reporter: [email protected].