Oct 30, 2026
Two years ago, a retired teacher from Hamilton traded life on land for a cabin on a cruise ship that was never supposed to stop sailing. The ship arrived in Cambodia on Oct. 23. Four days later, its operator suspended the voyage and ordered residents ashore, with no date set to sail again.
Mary Ann Demsar is one of the more than 200 residents ordered off the MV Odyssey after its operator ran out of money. Some aboard sold their homes to buy cabins. Now they’re juggling hotel bills, flights and the open question of whether any of their money is coming back.
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For Canadians weighing a nontraditional retirement, the lesson isn’t to stop dreaming, it’s to make sure the dream isn’t holding your entire net worth.
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What happened to the never-ending cruise?
Demsar’s story was first reported by the Toronto Star. Her ship, the Odyssey, is run by Villa Vie Residences, a Florida-based company that sells long-term cabins on a vessel circling the globe.
The ship arrived in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, on Oct. 23 carrying 203 passengers and 156 crew. Most passengers on board were from the U.S. and Canada.
So what parked the Odyssey? The company blames fuel. Villa Vie founder Mikael Petterson told CBS News that before the war with Iran began in late February of this year, Villa Vie paid an average of US$700 a ton for fuel. Since then, it has paid roughly between US$2,000 and US$3,000.
In a statement, the company said each cabin’s share of fuel costs rose from about US$1,800 a month before the war to between US$6,000 and US$8,000.
Petterson told CBS News the company’s monthly expenses climbed from about US$400,000 before the war to US$2 million, and that it now plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S.
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Why is a home at sea riskier than it looks?
When the Odyssey initially launched in October 2024, residents could buy a permanent cabin starting at around US$$230,000 and were promised at least 15 years of residency, according to CBS. On paper, that sounds a lot like owning a home.
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Is owning a cabin on a cruise ship as safe an investment as a house? Not really. A house doesn’t depend on fuel prices or one company’s cash flow. A cabin contract, on the other hand, does — and it can lose most of its value overnight if the operator fails.
Villa Vie hasn’t confirmed whether Odyssey residents will get refunds, according to Travel Weekly. In a Chapter 11 restructuring, a U.S. court process that lets a company keep operating while it restructures its debts, customers owed money usually stand in line behind secured lenders, so a full refund is far from guaranteed.
Will Canadian travel protections cover the losses?
Can Demsar and her fellow stranded Odyssey passengers count on a provincial safety net? Only partly, and it depends on where you booked as much as where you live. Just three provinces run travel compensation funds, according to the Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO), the provincial regulator for travel agencies and booking websites. TICO runs a compensation fund that covers travellers when an airline or cruise line stops operating, but only if they booked through an Ontario-registered travel agent. That means non-Ontarians who booked through an Ontario agency can qualify, while anyone who bought directly from a cruise line can’t.
Even then, the protection is limited. The fund pays up to CA$5,000 per person, with a CA$7 million cap on total payouts for any single failure. Claims must be filed within six months of the failure, and the fund only pays out when travellers haven’t been reimbursed another way, such as through a credit card dispute.
It’s also not clear the fund would apply to Odyssey residents at all. Villa Vie hasn’t ceased operations or filed for bankruptcy, and a residential cabin may not count as the kind of travel service the fund was built to cover.
Quebec and British Columbia are the only other provinces that offer this kind of protection. In Quebec, the Office de la protection du consommateur (OPC), the province’s consumer protection agency, runs a compensation fund that can reimburse travellers when a bankruptcy or unforeseen closure stops a cruise line or airline from delivering services. In B.C., Consumer Protection BC, the province’s consumer regulator, runs the Travel Assurance Fund, which applies only if you booked through a B.C.-licensed travel agent or wholesaler and is a last resort after options such as a credit card dispute.
All three funds share the same catch: if you booked directly with the cruise line, you’re not covered. Residents of other provinces and territories can only fall back on these funds if they booked through an agency licensed in Ontario, Quebec or B.C. Even when coverage applies, Ontario’s CA$5,000 cap is a drop in the bucket of a six-figure cabin.
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A credit card dispute is another option to recoup funds, but timing matters. The Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI), an independent dispute-resolution service for Canadian banking customers, says consumers generally must dispute a charge within 30 to 45 days of their statement date. Residents of the Odyssey who paid in 2024 are likely outside that window, but recent charges may still qualify.
What help can stranded Canadians get abroad?
What about seeking help from the federal government? You can ask, but it won’t foot the bill. Global Affairs Canada, the federal department responsible for consular services, says travellers who need urgent cash abroad should first transfer funds from their own bank account or another private source in Canada. Those transfers can take two or more working days, and a CA$75 consular service fee may be deducted from the money sent.
Government financial help isn’t a right and depends on the circumstances of each case. Loans may also carry the CA$75 fee and must be repaid in full within 30 days of receiving the invoice. After that, interest may be added at a rate of 3%, compounded monthly.
Canadians abroad can also sign up for the Registration of Canadians Abroad service so the government can reach them with updates.
A forever cruise can still be a wonderful way to spend retirement, as long as you treat the cabin as an experience you’re paying for, not an asset you own. As Odyssey resident Benjamin Schatz told CBS News, “There are people now who are homeless and who have very little money and don’t know what they’re going to do.”
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Leslie Kennedy served as an editor at Thomson Reuters and for Star Media Group, followed by a number of years as a writer and editor and content manager in marketing communications, before returning to her editorial roots. She is a graduate of Humber College’s post-graduate journalism program and has been a professional writer and editor ever since.
