Villa Vie Odyssey: Brisbane woman Rina Cavazza left watching ‘ghost ship’ sail away as future hangs in the balance

Brisbane woman Rina Cavazza was supposed to be boarding her home in Bangkok on Monday.

Instead, she was back in Australia, watching videos of the cruise ship she had paid tens of thousands of dollars to live aboard for two years sail away from Cambodia without its residents.

The Villa Vie Odyssey set sail from Belfast in October 2024, promising residents an ”endless”, up to three-and-a-half-year voyage to more than 425 destinations across 147 countries.

But the dream of living at sea was hit by mounting financial problems, with residents reporting months of difficulties and being asked to contribute extra money to keep the operation afloat.

Villa Vie Residences ultimately suspended operations in Cambodia, blaming soaring fuel costs, which it said had made its business model unsustainable.

The Odyssey has capacity for 650 passengers, but was carrying 203 passengers and 156 crew when it arrived in Sihanoukville on October 23, according to Cambodian officials.

Passengers were given just hours pack up their lives and leave the ship, with many scrambling to make urgent arrangements for accommodation and travel.

For Cavazza, seeing footage of the departure was a painful end to a dream that was supposed to take her around the world.

“It was really, really sad seeing it just sailing away like that,” she told 7NEWS.com.au, describing the departing vessel looking like a “ghost ship”.

“All dark. No one out on the bow or anything like that.

“Normally when we leave port, there’s always someone out on the bow watching the land.”

The vessel remained in Cambodia until it departed for Singapore under the control of its lender on November 3, with only a skeleton crew and residents’ belongings on board.

Cavazza had been travelling on an extended land trip in Chiang Mai, Thailand, when passengers were told on October 27 the residential cruise was shutting down and residents had to leave the ship within hours.

The mother of five grown-up children cut her trip short and embarked on the 17-hour journey back to Cambodia to retrieve most of her belongings. She then flew home to Brisbane, arriving late on November 2.

Her original plan had been to rejoin the ship in Bangkok that day.

The scramble to get her belongings off the vessel meant a hurried departure from the cabin she had called home for two years.

She managed to bring back five large suitcases, weighing in total between 120 and 130kg, but still has belongings on board.

Some former residents have been left with even more pressing concerns with their medication and essential belongings left on board.

Those who weren’t able to return to Cambodia were relying on fellow passengers or crew members to collect and store their possessions, with one group arranging a rented house for people to leave their bags for a month.

“It’s not a cruise ship anymore. It’s a ship that’s been taken by the banks,” she said.

Whether residents will be allowed back onto the vessel in Singapore to pack their remaining belongings is unclear.

The vessel’s lender, Norwegian investment firm Ness, Risan & Partners AS (NRP), took control of the Odyssey after the company ran into financial trouble.

NRP is reportedly planning to auction off the residential ship.

The uncertainty has left passengers scrambling to work out what happens next, while the support from Cambodia stood in stark contrast to the silence of the cruise operator, Cavazza said.

Cavazza said there had been no meaningful contact from the operator, Villa Vie Residences, “just crickets”, while fellow residents and Cambodian officials had stepped in to help.

The Tourism Minister hosted a farewell dinner for residents, while hotels and local officials helped arrange accommodation and transport.

Cavazza said the Riva Hotel also organised a rooftop gathering with cocktails and canapes for residents who remained in Cambodia.

“They’ve really, really just gone above and beyond,” she said. “They’ve been really wonderful.”

Grieving loss of home and community

The abrupt departure has left Cavazza grieving not just the loss of her home away from home, but the community she had built over two years at sea with fellow residents and the crew.

Unlike a conventional cruise, where passengers come and go, residents stayed on while crew members rotated every six to nine months.

“It wasn’t just a little holiday where you just go away for a week or two and come back,” she said.

“This is where we lived. Everything was there.

“It doesn’t matter whether (it was) the engine room or whether they were in the wait staff, they’ll come past and they’ll call you by name.

“It was really, really beautiful.”

The community extended well beyond life on board, with residents organising volunteer projects in the ports they visited, from planting trees and cleaning mangroves to helping at an animal shelter.

They also made a point of looking after the ship’s crew. Once a month, residents held a clothes swap, laying out unwanted items for crew members to take home to their families. Anything left was donated to a local charity at the next port.

“It was very much community run and that’s what people loved about it,” Cavazza said.

That connection has not disappeared with the ship. Residents scattered across the world watched its departure online, sharing farewell pictures of themselves raising a toast to the Odyssey.

Nearly 100 passengers remained in Cambodia when the ship departed, according to the provincial tourism director.

Some gathered near the water to watch it leave, while others found the prospect too painful.

“Some couldn’t get through it, they just couldn’t go. They said it was just too much,” Cavazza said.

Despite the shock, she said the community remained close, with former travellers already discussing future holidays and organising trips together.

Some of the biggest adventures were yet to come

Cavazza paid $170,000 for her cabin and had 18 months left on her planned voyage when operations were suspended.

She had already travelled to about 60 to 70 countries being on and off the Odyssey for months at a time, with family members visiting her along the way.

Family and friends could stay on board for up to four weeks a year, at no extra cost, in their own separate cabins, with visits limited to two-week blocks.

But some of the biggest adventures were still ahead.

The itinerary supplied by Villa Vie, last updated on October 20, showed the ship was due to travel through India and Sri Lanka before heading to the Maldives, Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar.

Its planned African journey included Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa, followed by ports along the west coast of Africa.

The abrupt end to what was dubbed the “forever cruise” means Cavazza will miss out on several destinations at the top of her bucket list, including the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids and an African safari.

She said she still hoped the ship could return to service, both for the sake of other residents and to give her a chance to recover some of her investment by selling her cabin.

Looking back, Cavazza said she would still choose the experience, but would have opted for a more flexible arrangement.

She had originally wanted to sign up to travel one segment at a time as a renter, before deciding to buy a cabin in the hope she could eventually sell it and bring down her daily costs.

If the Odyssey did return to service, Cavazza would consider rejoining as a renter and booking one voyage at a time.

“In my heart of hearts, I do hope they come back for a lot of people’s sake,” she said.