A British mother who was left stranded in Cambodia after being aboard the 'never-ending' cruise has described how the journey was doomed from the very start.
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journey → leave → start
Passengers of the operator Villa Vie Residences' ship Odyssey were given a frantic seven-hour window on Wednesday and dumped at a planned stop in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
Villa Vie announced it had 'suspended operations' amid rising oil prices resulting from the conflict in the Middle East, despite some passengers having sold everything they owned to pay for the journey.
But claims have since emerged that visible cracks had already formed in the very foundation of the company's business plan, leading to calls for money from its own guests – and the voyage's ultimate demise.
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cracks → give → guests
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Hertfordshire-born Julia Witt described how she predicted the Odyssey's ill fate.
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she → bear → fate
Yet despite her prediction becoming an eventual reality the 70-year-old believes the journey was worth every penny of the £110,000 taken from her retirement savings.
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journey → become → savings
Ms Witt said it was obvious from the outset that the ship's operators were charging too little and spending more money than they were taking in, making the venture 'unsustainable'.
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venture → say → money
'It was scuppered.
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It → scupper → ?
It was always scuppered,' she said.
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she → scupper → ?
'We all knew it was going to happen and saw it coming.
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it → know → ?
There was no way the ship could sustain itself for the 15 years it was set to.
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it → be → years
Anybody with a modicum of business intelligence could have recognised that.
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Anybody → recognise → that
Julia Witt set sail on Villa Vie Residences' ship Odyssey with partner Keith Gallocker (Supplied: Julia Witt)
A drone view of the Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship docking at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, Cambodia
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ship → set → Port
Mr Gallocker is pictured alongside other guests in front of the Odyssey (Supplied: Julia Witt)
On top of the $440,000 fee for a premium cabin, some permanent couples also forked out as much as $9,000 (£6,700) per month in maintenance costs, including food.
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couples → picture → food
In addition, guests were also contracted to pay per-cabin monthly fuel expenses at an average of $1,800 (£1,354) – figures that jumped to an estimated $6,000 (£4,516) to $8,000 (£6,021) in parts of Asia as oil prices surged due to the Iran war.
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prices → contract → war
'I signed up knowing this was an unrealistic promise,' Ms Witt, who travelled with partner Keith Gallocker, from Hampshire, said.
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who → sign → Hampshire
'It is cheaper than living in Gibraltar and certainly cheaper than living in the UK.
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It → live → UK
It was undersold.
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It → undersell → ?
We have been able to explore so many destinations we could only dream to go to.
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we → explore → destinations
'It has been worth every penny for what you effectively pay for.
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you → pay → what
It covers your food, entertainment and services like cleaning.
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It → cover → cleaning
It also includes all your travel while onshore.
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It → include → travel
However, this approach stood in stark contrast to other residents on the trip who had allocated their retirement savings to life on the Odyssey.
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who → stand → Odyssey
'Very sadly a lot of people spent silly money and didn't understand it was unsustainable,' Ms Witt, who is a Gibraltar resident, said.
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who → spend → money
'People are now really struggling.
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People → struggle → ?
It hasn't been easy for those who perhaps thought they would be able to live for $2,500 (£1,866) a month for 15 years with no annual increases.
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they → think → increases
Mr Gallocker is pictured dining with other residents in a restaurant on the Odyssey(Supplied: Julia Witt)
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Gallocker → picture → restaurant
Residents of the Odyssey are pictured celebrating Diwali on the ship as part of the cruise's entertainment (Supplied: Julia Witt)
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Residents → celebrate → entertainment
They were trying to sell the dream, and they were trying to get people on board as quickly as possible, with no experience in this field, and nobody has experience in this field.
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nobody → try → field
The British mother-of-four attributes Villa Vie's failure to it 'getting the figures wrong' and 'making a mistake'.
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figures → attribute → mistake
'The mistake is they didn't charge enough,' Ms Witt said.
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Witt → charge → enough
'They undersold their product from day one to get the bums on seats and to get the cabins sold.
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cabins → undersell → seats
The company had to get good income and can't go selling the cheaper cabins for a couple of thousand dollars.
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company → have → dollars
It will cost you around £200 ($268) just to fill up a basket of little things in a UK supermarket.
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It → cost → supermarket
The ship's leadership team wanted to make the trip affordable and didn't get the figures right.
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figures → want → ?
We all make mistakes.'
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We → make → mistakes
But Ms Witt remains hopeful for its future, she adds, describing the potentiality of 'utopia' should a sustainable business model be created.
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model → remain → utopia
'Whoever gets this right as a business model will be delivering the most fantastic way of life and the most fantastic community,' Ms Witt said.
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Witt → get → life
It is a failure founder Mikael Petterson has since spoken out and apologised for, blaming US President Donald Trump's decision to strike Iran in February.
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Petterson → speak → February
Ms Witt said it was obvious from the outset that the ship's operators were charging too little and spending more money than they were taking in, making the venture 'unsustainable' (Supplied: Julia Witt)
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venture → say → money
The 200m (656ft) Odyssey (pictured) left Northern Ireland in October 2024 and was set to sail for 15 years (Supplied: Julia Witt)
'I feel awful,' he said on Wednesday.
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he → picture → Wednesday
'I'm the villain in the story, but I'm doing everything I can to support the residents on a solution.
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I → do → solution
…and 40 more, not listed.
The Aporia
