# Inside the ‘never-ending cruise’ that dumped its passengers in Cambodia: ‘It got worse and worse. Crew begged us for money. We gave them $450k after they pressured us’

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/inside-the-never-ending-cruise-that-dumped-its-passengers-in-cambodia-it-got-worse-and-worse-crew-begged-us-for-money-we-gave-them-450k-after-they-pressured-us/
- Published: 2026-10-29T16:07:17+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16248951/cruise-dumped-passengers-Cambodia-Crew-begged-money-pressured.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Americas, World

## Key points

- Around 200 Odyssey residents were told to disembark in Cambodia.
- The Montoyas say their total costs reached $450,000.
- Residents describe pressure to fund rising costs and keep the voyage going.

## Summary

About 200 residents of Villa Vie Residences’ Odyssey were told to leave the ship in Cambodia after the company suspended operations, with only seven hours to pack. The sudden disembarkation followed months of worsening conditions and repeated requests for extra money, leaving residents who had committed substantial savings to a long-term world cruise facing uncertainty.

Paul and Lynn Montoya, a retired couple from Wyoming, say they paid $179,000 for their cabin and have spent $450,000 in total, including unexpected costs. They say residents were asked to lend the company $2.2 million, then contribute further sums of $1.5 million in September and $360,000 while stranded in Cambodia; the couple say promised loan repayments never arrived. Villa Vie said monthly fuel costs per cabin had risen from about $1,800 to an estimated $6,000 to $8,000 in parts of Asia.

## Coverage

- [Daily Mail: Inside the ‘never-ending cruise’ that dumped its passengers in Cambodia: ‘It got worse and worse. Crew begged us for money. We gave them $450k after they pressured us’](https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16248951/cruise-dumped-passengers-Cambodia-Crew-begged-money-pressured.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490)
- [Daily Mail: Horrors inside the 15-year cruise from hell that left passengers stranded Cambodia: Swinging couples, deaths... and alleged demands from crew for money as situation got 'critical'](https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16246823/cruise-hell-15-year-cambodia-stranded-swinging-deaths.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.