Cruise Ship Strands Passengers in Cambodia After Fuel Costs Skyrocket

Hundreds of passengers on a around-the-world luxury cruise ship were left stranded in Cambodia in late October after their cruise company suddenly stopped operations. The company, Villa Vie Residences, said it could no longer afford the cost of fuel to keep sailing. Passengers were told that Sihanoukville, a port city in Cambodia, would be their unexpected final stop.

The ship, called Odyssey, carried about 650 passengers and had been at sea since October 2024. Unlike a typical cruise ship, Odyssey was designed as a floating home. Passengers either rented or owned their cabins, with prices ranging from about $130,000 to $440,000, plus monthly fees of up to $10,000.

The Odyssey had left Belfast, Northern Ireland, on a non-stop voyage around the world. Its 2026 route included stops in places like Tonga and Australia, and it was supposed to finish the year in India. Instead, the journey ended early in Cambodia.

Villa Vie blamed a sharp rise in fuel costs for the shutdown. The company said its fuel expenses jumped more than 300 percent after the United States and Israel went to war with Iran. The monthly fuel cost per cabin went from about $1,800 to as much as $8,000 — more than four times higher than before.

The company said it is paying for passengers' hotel rooms and local transportation while they figure out next steps. However, Villa Vie has not paid for passengers to fly or travel home from Cambodia. Founder Mikael Petterson said in a phone interview that those costs have not been covered.

The company released a statement saying it understands this is a difficult and disruptive period for residents, crew members, and employees. Villa Vie said it will spend the next 60 days looking at ways to restructure or find new funding to stay afloat. It admitted that it cannot simply charge passengers more to make up for the giant increase in fuel prices.

The fuel crisis is not only hurting Villa Vie. High jet fuel prices also contributed to the collapse of Spirit Airlines earlier in 2026. Royal Caribbean, another major cruise company, reported that rising oil costs hurt its earnings even during an otherwise strong business period.

In Singapore, the type of fuel used by cruise ships cost about $962 per metric ton on October 27. That is almost double what it cost before the war began, when prices were just over $500 per ton. These higher costs are squeezing businesses around the world and pushing up prices for everyday consumers.

The Odyssey had tried to save fuel by slowing down and spending more time in port rather than at sea. But those efforts were not enough to make up for the massive increase in costs. It is still unclear where stranded passengers and crew members will go once they leave the ship in Cambodia.