No offense to you, but I would never trust the people running Villa Vie. What they have done to all of you, those they kicked off etc is disgusting. I know you're already in for a penny in for a pound, and I wish you nothing but the best. But F the CEOs. They are feckless and liars.
Glad you held out as long as you have since we have really enjoyed your blog. It has been good to know what is really happening on board from your perspective. It is hard to believe that their customer service has not improved over time but we knew when they sent that cease and desist letter to BRT they meant business and could not take any criticism. We cruise a lot but will never set foot on VVR even though they call once per week trying to entice us to sail. Look forward to reading about your future adventures.
It will take some time to get over the reflex of looking around to see if self-appointed snitches, especially from the Mean Girls’ Club, are taking notes on your conversations or living in fear of a 2nd call to the Principal’s Office to explain why you asked a reasonable question on Circle
Rest easy knowing in November that you will no longer live in the horror that Bud Light may be the only choice onboard. On terra firma you will have good beer on-demand. Take some time to decompress in calmer environs such as Pyongyang.
Totally understand why you are choosing to end your trip, but very sad nevertheless to see the end of this wonderful blog and a voice that continues to hold Villa Vie to account. If I ever did get on that ship (still debating), I’d probably end up in the ‘unpopular opinions’, club very fast lol. I have zero time for managerial BS or cheerleading crews. Not sure if I need that level of drama, when all I want to do is float around the world and paint in my travel journal.
Hey Joe. We haven’t met but I’ve enjoyed your commentary. I arrived, dutifully, in Southampton last May to board the Odyssey. Oops. Then again in Belfast multiple times. Oops, Oops,Oops. Next Reykjavik. Oops. Then the Bahamas. Oops again. Finally, met up with the Odyssey in Guayaquil, Ecuador and removed my worldly possessions.
I love the Villa Vie concept and much has been accomplished but... To be fair however, after a bit of a struggle, I received a full refund from VVR.
In case you are wondering, Florida won the Stanley Cup and OKC are NBA champions.
You are heading to Victoria in a couple of days, where I currently am hanging out, so I just might run into you in a pub. If not, just remember SGA is Canadian. And, we make stronger beer!!
Wise decision to part company with MK Ultra (Mike, Kathy and sycophants). If you get a chance, you'd be doing any prospective Odyssey passengers a favor if you'd buy the JJ Cruise boys a shitty beer and tell them how the cow ate the cabbage on Odyssey. Without input from pax like you who have nothing to lose (other than another run-in with Mr. Fong), the JJ Bros will get nothing but rosy scenario bovine excrement from Captain's Mom et al.
I was thinking the same thing, meeting up with JJ Cruise. They drink fancy stuff tho. I first heard about VVO from them a year & half ago. They are cheerleaders. They are "guests" of VVO I believe, so paid to say nice things. I hope they are honest about the experience (lack of hot tubs etc) when they disembark in another week or so.
I got banned from CruiseCritic (probably thanks to Kathy not liking my posts about how screwed up the company's management was) just before the 3rd edition of Villa Vie Residences on CC was shut down permanently. I decided I'd had enough of following VVR and have moved on to other more interesting and upbeat leisure-time pursuits, preferably legal but not necessarily so. One thing I definitely won't leave behind is you and your writing -- which I will follow until you get tired of me and send me packing like Kathy did. Hope you can enjoy the rest of your time on the ship, and I'll look forward your future posts letting your fans know what mischief you're up to in your new adventures post Odyssey! :-)
Haha, nice one. I got banned too! Wear it like a badge of honour Claire!
I kept gently baiting a chap about the sticky, dirty carpets on VVO, just for my own selfish amusement. He lost his shit every time, and I got banned half way through the second CC edition, just as it was boarded by Kathy’s Cheer-Troopers.
Julie No! ;-) I now have nightmare visions of Joe floating face down in the sea of Japan, grasping a fancy can of Sapporo Black in his cold, dead hand.
A dark lager, 5%, known for its smooth, crisp and balanced taste. It features roasted dark malts, refined hop bitterness and notes of chocolate and coffee creating a unique flavour profile. The beer is often described as having a clean, dry finish, making if a refreshing option for those tossed overboard in the middle of the night.
Oh no say it isn’t so, Mr. Bill…I mean Mr Rhodes! If I had to hear “Hi, friends” from one of your shipmates again I would vomit…and the JJ happy cruisers in that suite. All laughable. I admire your stamina to stay to recoup as much money as possible and will miss your humor and honesty about the whole experience. Enjoy the rest of your sail and Oh, the stories you can tell!
I am so glad to hear that there is some one else has the same reaction to 'Hi, friends". I am also shocked that those 2 guys from DC would continue dumping huge amounts of money into redoing their cabin, again. If I had purchased I would be thinking about how to minimize the financial pain. I guess they are live for today kind of people.
I am so glad you are leaving the clustter#### ship. Enjoy Cairns, it a beautiful little port city, nice bars and clubs along the waterfront. You cant swim at the beach as you could get bitten by crocodiles, deadly jellyfish and big sharks and other things, but no mean girls.
Thanks Joe for another riotous post! It sounds like the medical treatments went well and that you passed the mini mental status exam with flying colors...as you've correctly reasoned your November departure based on recalled events. 🙂
Please consider a heart-to-heart on-camera interview with JJ so they can report the balanced truth. It will also increase their viewership 2 fold!
Cruising, no matter how glossy the brochure, is a mixed bag at best. Even the biggest names in the industry, with their polished fleets and endless repetition of the same itineraries, still manage to get it wrong. Barely usable internet, lacklustre food, missed ports and queues for dining rooms, bar service and activities. And don’t get me started on waiting for elevators, trying to find a deck chair on a sea day or the outrageous bar prices. And to finish it all off, embarkation always feels like a crowd-control clusterfuck.
I’ve been on a lot of cruises, and I can’t remember a single one where things didn’t go wrong at some point. The better experiences have usually come from lines where I splurged, and couldn’t afford to cruise with long-term anyway.
This particular cruise you are on is something else entirely. It’s less a vacation and more a floating social experiment. And when you consider the financial rollercoaster they’ve survived just to keep this thing moving, the fact that it’s still afloat, and they remain in operation is genuinely impressive. They might be unprofessional at times, but they sure have fight in them.
Now, the flaws here are obvious. But for some, the disappointment runs so deep they can't move past it. At some point, you either get over it, or you get off.
I completely understand how some folks felt blindsided when this turned out to be a work-in-progress, not a five-star floating retirement village. But stewing in that frustration doesn’t help anyone. This isn’t for everyone, and that’s fine. The people still sailing deserve a chance to enjoy themselves without the constant cloud of complaints from those who left, or never came aboard in the first place.
I’ve genuinely enjoyed your banter, and I’m bummed you’re getting off. You were one of the last people on board providing honest insight. But to be fair, it has started to feel like we’re circling the same ground over and over. I imagine it’s hard to enjoy yourself when some of the people onboard don’t want to engage with you either because of your honesty, bluntness, speaking out, or the fact that you might just be an annoying, grumpy negative person. But from the sidelines, I have very much enjoyed your wittiness. I would go as far as to say that some of your writing has been the most enjoyable I have ever had the pleasure of reading.
In the end, my reflection from following this journey since the beginning, is a lifestyle like this should realistically cost far more than what people have paid. At that entry-level price point, in hindsight, disappointment was always going to be part of the deal. Sailing the world, sitting in hot tubs, drinking craft beer, sailing to a new port, all while your room gets cleaned, the ship gets maintained, and dinner is being prepared - every-day for 10+ years, without any issues, and with a small community of diverse people, that all get along - that does sound nice.
And that’s what truly fascinates me. This opportunity made this extraordinary travel opportunity financially accessible so many people. But to truly “do it right, with a newer ship with working hot tubs, structured management, and fewer headaches, would push the cost far beyond most people’s reach.
That’s the punchline, really. We complain about what we have, but the solution is probably something we couldn’t afford anyway.
All that is true but what you fail to acknowledge is the total lack of honesty, accountability, transparency, integrity and professionalism on the part of management. So much of the negativity could be avoided if those at the top were open, honest, willing to accept responsibility, willing to accept constructive criticism and to seek professional management help. Their stubborn resistance and thin-skinned pettiness has brought much of the problems upon themselves.
First, their lack of traditional professionalism may have shown in all sorts of ways, but ironically, that same unpolished, stubborn determination is probably the reason this thing even got off the ground. Plenty of companies with fully staffed, polished management teams would have folded long ago and quietly slipped into administration. These guys pushed through when most would’ve pulled the pin.
Second, I can only imagine how draining it must be to run a ship full of older passengers who are constantly complaining, the kind of people who are never happy, who say “you don’t have the beer I like,” or “we missed a port,” or “sure, you fixed that, but what about this?” You get the point. That kind of relentless negativity would suck the energy out of anyone trying to keep things running.
Third, there’s the issue of accepting blame. Owning up to mistakes sounds nice in theory, but in practice, it opens the floodgates for people to demand compensation. When you’re managing a business, especially one walking a financial tightrope, you have to be strategic about what you acknowledge. Sometimes your hands are tied, not out of arrogance, but out of necessity.
Now, I fully acknowledge the many shortcomings. They’re real. But at this point, there are clearly two bandwagons rolling through, one full of positivity, and one full of negativity. And let’s be honest, both are packed.
"These guys pushed through when most would’ve pulled the pin."
So what does that portend for the future of the venture that has completely maximized pull-forward receipts and guaranteed no escalation in monthly maintenance fees for the lion's share of its paying customers? All while raking as much as possible off the top for the 3 top officers and practicing the absolute zenith in crisis management.
Is that "stubborn determination" something to praise? Or something to decry? Bernie Madoff and SBF had a lot of stubborn determination too, ya' know.
I mean, sure, but I don’t think we’re quite at the “Madoff–SBF yacht party” stage just yet. Stubborn doesn’t always equal sinister. Sometimes it’s just messy, imperfect humans trying to build something that’s never really been done before, without unlimited cash, figuring it out as they go, while being dissected by a crowd of very smart people with a little too much time on their hands. Time will tell whether they’ve just kicked the can or actually laid the foundation for something that lasts.
FWIW Windstar Cruise has no lines, plenty of deck chairs, excellent itineraries, almost no dress code and gets into smaller ports. I mix up my trips, but if I want to cruise, that’s my go to.
Windstar is great, but it does average about $500 per person per night. For a couple, that's not cheap, if you plan on cruising for years. I do acknowledge that it's a great cruise line, with great reviews. Some friends just got off and they loved it.
I’m one of the ones staying.
I don’t have much to go back to in my hometown in Australia.
This journey is not perfect and I whinge loudly.
I’ve fantastic visits to some wonderful ports.
I’ll be very sad to see our resident YOUNG curmudgeon leave us.
I’m no cheerleader and we need more “call unprofessional management and assistants toaccount” residents.
May our Vans meet on the road over a Cold Beer!
No offense to you, but I would never trust the people running Villa Vie. What they have done to all of you, those they kicked off etc is disgusting. I know you're already in for a penny in for a pound, and I wish you nothing but the best. But F the CEOs. They are feckless and liars.
Glad you held out as long as you have since we have really enjoyed your blog. It has been good to know what is really happening on board from your perspective. It is hard to believe that their customer service has not improved over time but we knew when they sent that cease and desist letter to BRT they meant business and could not take any criticism. We cruise a lot but will never set foot on VVR even though they call once per week trying to entice us to sail. Look forward to reading about your future adventures.
It will take some time to get over the reflex of looking around to see if self-appointed snitches, especially from the Mean Girls’ Club, are taking notes on your conversations or living in fear of a 2nd call to the Principal’s Office to explain why you asked a reasonable question on Circle
Rest easy knowing in November that you will no longer live in the horror that Bud Light may be the only choice onboard. On terra firma you will have good beer on-demand. Take some time to decompress in calmer environs such as Pyongyang.
Totally understand why you are choosing to end your trip, but very sad nevertheless to see the end of this wonderful blog and a voice that continues to hold Villa Vie to account. If I ever did get on that ship (still debating), I’d probably end up in the ‘unpopular opinions’, club very fast lol. I have zero time for managerial BS or cheerleading crews. Not sure if I need that level of drama, when all I want to do is float around the world and paint in my travel journal.
Ah, a kindred spirit. If we both ever ended up on Odyssey, you'd be welcome to sit with me at the uncool kids' lunch table.
Hey Joe. We haven’t met but I’ve enjoyed your commentary. I arrived, dutifully, in Southampton last May to board the Odyssey. Oops. Then again in Belfast multiple times. Oops, Oops,Oops. Next Reykjavik. Oops. Then the Bahamas. Oops again. Finally, met up with the Odyssey in Guayaquil, Ecuador and removed my worldly possessions.
I love the Villa Vie concept and much has been accomplished but... To be fair however, after a bit of a struggle, I received a full refund from VVR.
In case you are wondering, Florida won the Stanley Cup and OKC are NBA champions.
You are heading to Victoria in a couple of days, where I currently am hanging out, so I just might run into you in a pub. If not, just remember SGA is Canadian. And, we make stronger beer!!
Take care and continue to keep it real.
Thinking about going to the Bart in Victoria tomorrow afternoon. Let me know if you’re around.
Wise decision to part company with MK Ultra (Mike, Kathy and sycophants). If you get a chance, you'd be doing any prospective Odyssey passengers a favor if you'd buy the JJ Cruise boys a shitty beer and tell them how the cow ate the cabbage on Odyssey. Without input from pax like you who have nothing to lose (other than another run-in with Mr. Fong), the JJ Bros will get nothing but rosy scenario bovine excrement from Captain's Mom et al.
I was thinking the same thing, meeting up with JJ Cruise. They drink fancy stuff tho. I first heard about VVO from them a year & half ago. They are cheerleaders. They are "guests" of VVO I believe, so paid to say nice things. I hope they are honest about the experience (lack of hot tubs etc) when they disembark in another week or so.
I got banned from CruiseCritic (probably thanks to Kathy not liking my posts about how screwed up the company's management was) just before the 3rd edition of Villa Vie Residences on CC was shut down permanently. I decided I'd had enough of following VVR and have moved on to other more interesting and upbeat leisure-time pursuits, preferably legal but not necessarily so. One thing I definitely won't leave behind is you and your writing -- which I will follow until you get tired of me and send me packing like Kathy did. Hope you can enjoy the rest of your time on the ship, and I'll look forward your future posts letting your fans know what mischief you're up to in your new adventures post Odyssey! :-)
Haha, nice one. I got banned too! Wear it like a badge of honour Claire!
I kept gently baiting a chap about the sticky, dirty carpets on VVO, just for my own selfish amusement. He lost his shit every time, and I got banned half way through the second CC edition, just as it was boarded by Kathy’s Cheer-Troopers.
It has been a delight getting to hear your perspective via Hyperfixed and this newsletter. Looking forward to whatever happens in the future.
Five months of Ville Vie evil eye? Watch your back and may the force be with you.
Julie No! ;-) I now have nightmare visions of Joe floating face down in the sea of Japan, grasping a fancy can of Sapporo Black in his cold, dead hand.
A dark lager, 5%, known for its smooth, crisp and balanced taste. It features roasted dark malts, refined hop bitterness and notes of chocolate and coffee creating a unique flavour profile. The beer is often described as having a clean, dry finish, making if a refreshing option for those tossed overboard in the middle of the night.
Oh no say it isn’t so, Mr. Bill…I mean Mr Rhodes! If I had to hear “Hi, friends” from one of your shipmates again I would vomit…and the JJ happy cruisers in that suite. All laughable. I admire your stamina to stay to recoup as much money as possible and will miss your humor and honesty about the whole experience. Enjoy the rest of your sail and Oh, the stories you can tell!
I am so glad to hear that there is some one else has the same reaction to 'Hi, friends". I am also shocked that those 2 guys from DC would continue dumping huge amounts of money into redoing their cabin, again. If I had purchased I would be thinking about how to minimize the financial pain. I guess they are live for today kind of people.
The DC guys have more teeth than a Steinway & Sons Grand Piano has keys, that’s not a criticism, just a statement of fact.
Joe Rhodes - you are, and continue to be, an absolute legend.
This was beautifully written; the tone heartfelt and sincere. You nearly made me cry, you bastard.
I’m already looking forward to hearing your future plans…
- A tour of Italy’s Amalfi coastline on a Lambretta Scooter?
- A tour of Bavaria, Germany in a VW Camper. (Think of the beer!)
- A month of musings from the French Riviera?
…or just freeze your tits off with an Antarctic cruise to Villa Vie (Deception) Island to tickle those fluffy little penguins. You know you want to.
Whatever you choose to do, I’m sure it will be epic.
As ever, do please write again soon.
I am so glad you are leaving the clustter#### ship. Enjoy Cairns, it a beautiful little port city, nice bars and clubs along the waterfront. You cant swim at the beach as you could get bitten by crocodiles, deadly jellyfish and big sharks and other things, but no mean girls.
Thanks Joe for another riotous post! It sounds like the medical treatments went well and that you passed the mini mental status exam with flying colors...as you've correctly reasoned your November departure based on recalled events. 🙂
Please consider a heart-to-heart on-camera interview with JJ so they can report the balanced truth. It will also increase their viewership 2 fold!
Looking forward to your next post!
Cruising, no matter how glossy the brochure, is a mixed bag at best. Even the biggest names in the industry, with their polished fleets and endless repetition of the same itineraries, still manage to get it wrong. Barely usable internet, lacklustre food, missed ports and queues for dining rooms, bar service and activities. And don’t get me started on waiting for elevators, trying to find a deck chair on a sea day or the outrageous bar prices. And to finish it all off, embarkation always feels like a crowd-control clusterfuck.
I’ve been on a lot of cruises, and I can’t remember a single one where things didn’t go wrong at some point. The better experiences have usually come from lines where I splurged, and couldn’t afford to cruise with long-term anyway.
This particular cruise you are on is something else entirely. It’s less a vacation and more a floating social experiment. And when you consider the financial rollercoaster they’ve survived just to keep this thing moving, the fact that it’s still afloat, and they remain in operation is genuinely impressive. They might be unprofessional at times, but they sure have fight in them.
Now, the flaws here are obvious. But for some, the disappointment runs so deep they can't move past it. At some point, you either get over it, or you get off.
I completely understand how some folks felt blindsided when this turned out to be a work-in-progress, not a five-star floating retirement village. But stewing in that frustration doesn’t help anyone. This isn’t for everyone, and that’s fine. The people still sailing deserve a chance to enjoy themselves without the constant cloud of complaints from those who left, or never came aboard in the first place.
I’ve genuinely enjoyed your banter, and I’m bummed you’re getting off. You were one of the last people on board providing honest insight. But to be fair, it has started to feel like we’re circling the same ground over and over. I imagine it’s hard to enjoy yourself when some of the people onboard don’t want to engage with you either because of your honesty, bluntness, speaking out, or the fact that you might just be an annoying, grumpy negative person. But from the sidelines, I have very much enjoyed your wittiness. I would go as far as to say that some of your writing has been the most enjoyable I have ever had the pleasure of reading.
In the end, my reflection from following this journey since the beginning, is a lifestyle like this should realistically cost far more than what people have paid. At that entry-level price point, in hindsight, disappointment was always going to be part of the deal. Sailing the world, sitting in hot tubs, drinking craft beer, sailing to a new port, all while your room gets cleaned, the ship gets maintained, and dinner is being prepared - every-day for 10+ years, without any issues, and with a small community of diverse people, that all get along - that does sound nice.
And that’s what truly fascinates me. This opportunity made this extraordinary travel opportunity financially accessible so many people. But to truly “do it right, with a newer ship with working hot tubs, structured management, and fewer headaches, would push the cost far beyond most people’s reach.
That’s the punchline, really. We complain about what we have, but the solution is probably something we couldn’t afford anyway.
All that is true but what you fail to acknowledge is the total lack of honesty, accountability, transparency, integrity and professionalism on the part of management. So much of the negativity could be avoided if those at the top were open, honest, willing to accept responsibility, willing to accept constructive criticism and to seek professional management help. Their stubborn resistance and thin-skinned pettiness has brought much of the problems upon themselves.
I would make a few points here.
First, their lack of traditional professionalism may have shown in all sorts of ways, but ironically, that same unpolished, stubborn determination is probably the reason this thing even got off the ground. Plenty of companies with fully staffed, polished management teams would have folded long ago and quietly slipped into administration. These guys pushed through when most would’ve pulled the pin.
Second, I can only imagine how draining it must be to run a ship full of older passengers who are constantly complaining, the kind of people who are never happy, who say “you don’t have the beer I like,” or “we missed a port,” or “sure, you fixed that, but what about this?” You get the point. That kind of relentless negativity would suck the energy out of anyone trying to keep things running.
Third, there’s the issue of accepting blame. Owning up to mistakes sounds nice in theory, but in practice, it opens the floodgates for people to demand compensation. When you’re managing a business, especially one walking a financial tightrope, you have to be strategic about what you acknowledge. Sometimes your hands are tied, not out of arrogance, but out of necessity.
Now, I fully acknowledge the many shortcomings. They’re real. But at this point, there are clearly two bandwagons rolling through, one full of positivity, and one full of negativity. And let’s be honest, both are packed.
"These guys pushed through when most would’ve pulled the pin."
So what does that portend for the future of the venture that has completely maximized pull-forward receipts and guaranteed no escalation in monthly maintenance fees for the lion's share of its paying customers? All while raking as much as possible off the top for the 3 top officers and practicing the absolute zenith in crisis management.
Is that "stubborn determination" something to praise? Or something to decry? Bernie Madoff and SBF had a lot of stubborn determination too, ya' know.
I mean, sure, but I don’t think we’re quite at the “Madoff–SBF yacht party” stage just yet. Stubborn doesn’t always equal sinister. Sometimes it’s just messy, imperfect humans trying to build something that’s never really been done before, without unlimited cash, figuring it out as they go, while being dissected by a crowd of very smart people with a little too much time on their hands. Time will tell whether they’ve just kicked the can or actually laid the foundation for something that lasts.
FWIW Windstar Cruise has no lines, plenty of deck chairs, excellent itineraries, almost no dress code and gets into smaller ports. I mix up my trips, but if I want to cruise, that’s my go to.
Windstar is great, but it does average about $500 per person per night. For a couple, that's not cheap, if you plan on cruising for years. I do acknowledge that it's a great cruise line, with great reviews. Some friends just got off and they loved it.