The MV Odyssey was supposed to sail forever. Instead, it ran out of money in Cambodia.

Villa Vie Residences, the Florida company behind the self-styled "forever cruise," abruptly suspended its around-the-world voyage this week, stranding roughly 203 passengers — most of them American retirees who had paid up to several hundred thousand dollars each to become permanent "residents" of the ship — along with 156 crew members, according to Cambodian officials. Some passengers said they got as little as seven hours' notice to pack and disembark, with no list of hotels and no plan for getting home, according to wire reports from Cambodia. A deputy provincial governor said the company left people without so much as a hotel recommendation.

Villa Vie blames fuel. The company says costs that had averaged about $1,800 per cabin spiked to an estimated $6,000 to $8,000 in parts of Asia this year, a surge it ties to disruption from the Iran war. Founder Mike Petterson has pointed to those costs publicly as the reason the voyage, which launched in October 2024 and was booked through August 2030, is now dead in the water off Sihanoukville.

Months of warnings

But internal company documents obtained by CBS News show the warning signs went back months. An Aug. 4 town hall warned residents of possible halted operations, layoffs and crew repatriation — the ship was reportedly days from losing its insurance, and the crew cut internet service to conserve cash. One document projected a $600,000 loss even at full occupancy, with average monthly operating costs of $3.1 million against maximum possible revenue of $2.5 million; 139 of the ship's 490 cabins sat unsold as of August. A "Villa Incentive Program" offering steep discounts to current residents raised just enough to keep the engines running, but barely — one internal slide read simply:

FUNDS ARE DUE TODAY.

Along the way, the ship was detained in Hong Kong until Villa Vie paid a fuel provider $167,844.48, and one resident personally wired $400,000 from a checking account to keep the Odyssey fueled in an earlier port, the documents show. In Vietnam, food vendors reportedly stopped delivering over unpaid bills.

Even as the finances unraveled, Villa Vie announced on July 27 it was buying a second ship, the Legacy, offering buyers immediate residency aboard the Odyssey in the meantime. The company's statement on the Cambodia suspension did not address what happens to that deal.

Petterson has said Villa Vie will likely file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to pause creditor claims while it restructures. The company says it is working with residents to arrange temporary housing and coordinate disembarkation; conflicting reports suggest the Odyssey could be refueled and allowed to leave Cambodia as soon as this weekend, though Villa Vie hasn't confirmed a departure date. What happens to the roughly 200 people who bought into a cruise that was supposed to never end remains, for now, an open question.