Villa Vie Odyssey: I’m Really Not Surprised

There’s no question that those of us with a passion for cruising are focused this week on the plight of Villa Vie Odyssey, her residents and crew.

News outlets and social media are filled with personal accounts of those abandoned in Cambodia, their eviction announced just seven hours before they were to pack up and abandon their “home.”

I am not, nor was I ever a resident aboard that ship.  I am, therefore, unqualified to comment on the present situation, the wildly conflicting information between the line’s management in its official statement and the accounts provided by residents in videos and social media posts. 

Was it fuel costs or a fatally-flawed business plan or multi-layered Ponzi scheme that are to blame?  Is Villa Vie assisting residents as they seek accommodation in Cambodia?  Villa Vie claims they are, while residents insist that’s not true, many revealing that even Wi-Fi was disabled that morning making their relocation tasks even tougher. 

In June 2025, I had a taste of Villa Vie Odyssey—just a nine-day Alaska sailing—but it was enough to enlighten me to a lot of questionable, and occasionally disturbing, aspects of the ship and its operation. 

Here is what I wrote at that time:

Villa Vie…It’s Not for Me

The fantasy first took hold in 2001 when, with 25 years of cruising already under my belt, I became aware of The World, a residential cruise ship that would allow me to sail not for a week or two but forever.  

Though dazzled by the concept, a few things stood in my way:  My career, my family and, most of all, my bank account. Residences aboard The World were priced in the millions of dollars.

Fast forward nearly 25 years and my fantasy was resurrected thanks to the newly launched residential cruise line Villa Vie Residences and its ship, Villa Vie Odyssey. With prices beginning at a more affordable $129,999 (plus a locked-in monthly fee of $4,000 for two or $3,000 for solo occupancy) for a 130-square foot inside cabin, the experience was well within my reach.  (A more spacious 225 square-foot veranda cabin is priced at $379,000 plus a monthly fee of $9,000 for two or $8,000 for solo occupancy.)  Ownership continues for a period of 15 years or, according to the line’s ownership terms, the life of the ship.

The monthly fees seemed hefty until I realized that they would transform my life into a truly all-inclusive existence:  All meals, housekeeping twice per week, laundry twice per week, Wi-Fi, electric, wine or beer with lunch and dinner, …and, of course, non-stop travel as the ship sailed its series of 3 ½ year back-to-back world cruises with multi-day calls at the most popular ports.

This summer, I was invited to experience Villa Vie Residences as the ship sailed nine days from Vancouver to Juneau (a “try-before-you-buy” program allows anyone to experience Villa Vie Residences for a week at $2,100 for an inside villa or $4,500 for a suite).  My invite was extended to me as a travel journalist, yet I knew that as much as I’d be evaluating the onboard experience for readers, I’d be evaluating it as an option for my future.  A lot had transpired in the 25 years since I’d first heard about The World:  the death of my husband, my retirement from the corporate world and, thanks to that corporate career, a hefty IRA balance that my financial advisor keeps warning will, if I don’t get out there and buy something, go to the state upon my death.

The time, it seemed, was perfect for me and Villa Vie Residences.  But as one who, at last count, had over 100 cruise ship key cards rubber-banded in stacks in my dresser drawer (and that doesn’t include all the skeleton keys that I didn’t get to keep during the 1970s and 1980s), I’m a pretty tough cruise customer.  I disembarked Villa Vie Odyssey in Juneau realizing that a life in my humble co-op in Queens, New York, coupled with frequent sailings aboard my favorite ships, is the way I’d prefer to live.

BUT IT’S A “START-UP”

I love older ships.  In fact, my favorite ship was launched when Ronald Reagan was in office in the early 1980s.

Villa Vie Residences’ 24,344 grt Villa Vie Odyssey debuted 32 years ago and most recently sailed as Fred. Olsen’s Braemar.  I love the ship’s size (24,344 gross tons), particularly because Villa Vie Residences has converted many of her “villas” into crew accommodations, reducing the ship’s original capacity from 924 to an expected maximum of 500 residents.  On my sailing, 324 guests –the most aboard since Villa Vie Odyssey sailed –—was a nice number.

I found the line’s $22- million renovation of the ship curious, though.  While certain areas, like the glistening zig-zag staircases, furnished outdoor decks, decent fitness center, handsome reception area and dazzling pool area with its mosaic tile-backed bar, could hold their own against any slick newbuild, it’s almost as though the powers that be spruced up those areas and then cried “Enough!”  From that glistening staircase, you’re suddenly catapulted back to the 70s, surrounded by dated and lackluster public spaces.  Even the names—the Coral Lounge and the Neptune Lounge—sound like something off the Love Boat.

And while you’d think the highly-touted “business center” would include at least a few computers for residents’ use, it is, in reality, simply two long tables with goose-neck lamps and a few desk chairs.  The library, a popular site for resident card games, is well stocked, but with bookcase space completely filled, volumes are strewn across tables and on floors, giving the room an ambiance similar to my bedroom when I was a teenager.

But more important than the clashing design and occasional storage shortcomings are, according to many residents, the technical problems that are not addressed.   No heat.  No AC.  Spotty Wi-Fi.  And that 70-pound lb. manual door that knocked me right down to the deck when I stupidly tried to open it with one hand while holding my iPhone with the other.

I’d heard about repeated toilet malfunctions aboard Odyssey in my research prior to sailing, but I believed the problem was resolved.  Imagine my surprise when I returned to my villa aboard Odyssey to find a full-page of Toilet Use Guidelines. 

While most ships do remind guests to flush only ship-provided toilet paper, here we have residents flushing plastic gloves, food scraps and diapers down the sensitive vacuum system.  The vacuum toilet system, the notice admitted, is “sensitive, aging, and operating at maximum capacity.”  So how’s that toilet system going to handle Odyssey’s 500-resident goal?

And, with these repeated technical challenges, what becomes most important to me as a prospective resident is that line in the ownership terms that states my investment will continue for a period of 15 years …or the life of the ship.

Still, the ship’s residents defend the conditions, stating the ship is still a work in progress, having sailed less than a year.  (I’m sorry, but a working vacuum toilet system, to me, should take precedence over the introduction of the new swim platform recently announced by the line.)

NEGATIVITY WILL NOT BE TOLERATED

“I felt like I was with a group of Scientologists” I said to a friend the morning after I dined with some of Odyssey’s major movers and shakers.  “Come and live with us!” was the constant refrain I heard onboard, while nobody mentioned the technical glitches, the ship’s salt-stained windows, the rust stains, the faulty toilet system, the skipped ports or the dangerously heavy doors.  Life aboard Odyssey was “glorious,” “a dream,” “the only way to live.”

There’s no question that many – I might even say most – of Odyssey’s residents (more than half of whom are solo travelers and, to date there have been two marriages …and one divorce) relish their new life sailing the world but it’s impossible to be certain since it seems they’re strictly censored.  The residents communicate via WhatsApp where, according to more than one resident, any comment beyond life being lollipops and rainbows will likely generate backlash. 

“I’ve left all of the WhatsApp groups,” one resident told me.  “If there’s a problem and you dare mention it, you’re bullied and they threaten to block you from the group.”  

The most publicized example of this was the cancellation of a resident’s contract in September 2024 after she expressed concerns about the ship’s refurbishment in a private WhatsApp chat.  Even today, you’ll find negative comments regularly removed from the Villa Vie Residences Facebook site. 

Still, the two reviews that appear on CruiseCritic.com are glowing. Excerpts include:  “Everything is way beyond our expectations when you look at the prices charged by most traditional cruise lines. The crew are absolutely amazing. The food is better than what we expected, again (due) to pricing” and “I have lived on the Odyssey for six months and absolutely love my life here. My cabin is amazing. The details of the cruise ship are incredible. And the community of all the friends I’ve made is absolutely fantastic.”

Yet, it seems for every Villa Vie rave, like the story of 77-year-old Sharon, whose enthusiasm for life aboard Odyssey has been covered by CNN, NBC, The New York Post and more, there is a negative headline.  The ship’s July 9th CDC inspection resulted in a failing grade of 81 (86 is passing), for example, with 44 violations pointing to insufficient crew training and a faulty potable water system.  One violation noted the removal of ceiling tiles above the buffet, opening up that area to contamination by the dust and dirt that accumulates in the piping, ventilation and electrical systems, further emphasizing some of the ship’s technical issues.

As a journalist on board, I found that some residents sought me out to express disappointment in technical glitches and other issues like the fact the ship cancelled a number of ports, including those in Antarctica, the Amazon, seven Alaskan ports and all of those in China, which were, for many, the destinations that convinced them to join Odyssey. 

Sometimes I’d feel like Bob Woodward meeting with a Watergate informant in an underground parking garage as a resident whispered his or her disappointment with everything from the heat and the toilets to the “villa” TVs still not working (with the exception of in-room films and the daily program) after nearly a year, the skipped ports or overnight stays.  

“They have to stop using the word ‘promise,’” one gentleman told me.  “They promise everything and never deliver.”

HOME COOKING

Silky cream of broccoli, delectable carrot ginger, luscious lentil with a spicy kick of Indian spices:… if you’re a soup lover, Odyssey has you covered.  But beyond that…

Dining is a subjective thing.  I’ve been aboard some of the most luxe cruise lines afloat and found a few dishes that were not to my liking. But it says a lot that the only meals I clearly remember aboard Odyssey were those I couldn’t touch.

To be fair, I did enjoy a few meals, like tender shrimp beneath a sweet and sour glaze, a perfectly-prepared pork cutlet atop stalks of broccoli and a nice turkey gyro. 

You certainly won’t go hungry aboard Odyssey, dining at your choice of the buffet-style Palms Café or the more formal Thistle Restaurant but don’t expect attention to detail in terms of most dishes’ preparation or, certainly, presentation.  Your Caesar salad won’t have anchovies and don’t be surprised if you change from white to red wine and find the server pours your red into the same glass that held your white.

THAT’S (REALLY NOT) ENTERTAINMENT

“It’s our home!  Do you go out every night when you’re home?”  This from a resident in response to me saying I was bored.  Painfully bored.  Mind-numbingly bored.  

“For the residents, by the residents,” is the mantra aboard Odyssey and this includes a lot of the entertainment options with results being similar to those high school plays you’re forced to endure as a supportive parent.  The one exception is Speaker’s Corner, a program that allows residents who have a story to tell to do so in front of their neighbors.  A talk on a resident’s survival during the Alaska Earthquake of 1964 and another resident’s instructional session on iPhone photography were excellent.

Aside from that, you’ll find daily fitness classes, trivia, a resident pianist providing a musical backdrop and, on my sailing, a talented and personable country singer who performed on two evenings and participated in a Q&A.

The baffling thing is that some of the best dance music wafts out of the Coral Lounge’s sound system 24/7.   One evening, when I simply had to move and, you know, DO something, my travel companion and I went into that empty lounge, asked the bartender to turn up the sound and turn down the lights and we had our own dance night.  Nobody joined us.  I guess they stayed “home.”

PIONEERS… AND RISK TAKERS

Many of the residents aboard Odyssey see themselves as pioneers, adventurers and risk takers.  I’d sure agree with that last one, beginning with the fact that with nine days aboard, I was not required to participate in a life boat drill.  When I asked about a drill, I was dismissed but assured the residents have one once per quarter.

The residents certainly have an adventurous spirit.  Not one of the mostly American and Canadian residents I met (50-70 years of age) were lifelong cruisers.  A good number had a few Caribbean sailings aboard lines like Carnival and Royal Caribbean under their belt but a surprising number had never, before signing up for Villa Vie, been on a cruise ship.  I mentioned this shocking reality to a high-level Villa Vie associate during a conversation about the disappointing food and entertainment options on board.

ARE CHANGES COMING?

Over the past few weeks, residents and watchers have become a bit more vocal on the line’s “viewer” Facebook site (residents posting anonymously).  Concerns about the company’s viability in the long term, along with the announcement of a couple who had been the line’s greatest cheerleaders leaving the ship among the greatest rumblings.  The “official” Facebook site, administered and controlled by Villa Vie Residences, continues to feature only celebrations of the guests’ experiences in exotic destinations.

What’s down the road for Villa Vie Residences?  While I was aboard, the line’s CEO told me that they are in negotiation with a “major” cruise line for a second, larger ship.  If that does happen (and an announcement of that second ship has been made at least three other times with three other target dates), he claimed residents would be offered occupancy on that ship with a trade-in option that would offer partial credit for the amount originally paid for their Odyssey cabin (less the number of years of ownership) and a balance due based on the new ship’s prevailing rate.  We’ll see, I suppose.

The residential cruise concept is a very enticing one for many and I just might be part of it one day, perhaps aboard The World (if I should win the lottery).

Until then, I’m perfectly content in my humble co-op in Queens, sailing all of my favorite cruise ships when and where I want to. Because I quickly learned from my nine days aboard that Villa Vie—it’s not for me.