However, Paterson didn’t want to give up on his idea. He attacked Miray online, and the company sued him for tortious interference and defamation. (The lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed.) He announced that he was developing his next project, Villa Vie Residences: “With complete transparency and integrity, we will make the dream come true stronger and better than any other project on the market today. Stay tuned for Explorers.” His lover and colleague Villalba joins him as co-founder and CEO of Villa Vie. Public records show both companies have declared bankruptcy in the past; Paterson did so just a few years ago.
Odyssey is billed as “the first truly affordable residential world cruise ship.” In March 2024, a couple bought a cabin for $179,000. For an additional $6,000 a month in maintenance fees (which should remain the same in perpetuity), they will all receive three meals a day, housekeeping and laundry services, basic medical care, and wine or beer with every meal forever. Riders who pay more upfront will not have to pay monthly fees. “There will be no unexpected costs going forward,” Patterson told Fox Business.
A former Villa Vie employee told me that Paterson was a skilled public speaker who seemed to know what he was talking about, but that his business plan “seemed like a guess.” The former employee recalled Pettersson and Villalba saying the business would be financially sustainable as long as the Odyssey’s cabins were sold out. The employee was concerned that they were “really just trying to complete a multi-million dollar project.” Nonetheless, the company managed to purchase and refit a 485-cabin boat built in 1993.
The Odyssey was originally scheduled to sail from Belfast, Northern Ireland, in May 2024, and some cabins are already full. Claude Sadovsky, a retired emergency room doctor from Illinois, was one of the passengers who traveled to the area before departure. He previously paid a small deposit to Life at Sea, which has since been returned, and also paid $100,000 for the Odyssey’s interior cabins. But residents soon learned that the departure would be delayed due to maintenance and ship certification issues. The Odyssey needed a new rudder stock, a vertical metal shaft that helps with steering, but when the rudder arrived, the crew didn’t seem to know how to install it. An expert was called. “The first thing the experts said was, ‘Why try to put it horizontally when it’s going to be vertical?'” Sadowski told me. Another incoming passenger, Jenny Phenix, complained about the frustrations in a WhatsApp group. Villa Vie informed her that her cottage contract had been cancelled. Phoenix is currently suing the company in U.S. District Court.
Odyssey finally sets off in early October 2024. This was unlike other cruises Sadowski had been on. Residents were invited to give PowerPoint presentations on topics of their choice; a retired forensic psychologist gave a lecture on nature versus nurture, and a retired coroner spoke about resuscitation. The furniture is basic and the pool seems to be closed for maintenance as often as it is open. The food is decent but not decadent and the menu is often repetitive. Yet Sadowski began to have a good time. He met people and saw the world. The itinerary kept changing; Villa Vie canceled about half of the ship’s planned stops in Alaska and instead spent ten days sailing up and down the coast and had to skip the Galapagos Islands because the ship, carrying more than a hundred people, couldn’t stop there. But Sadowski increasingly cherishes the opportunity to visit lesser-known sights. One time, while having dinner with some neighbors, he realized he would happily pay twice the $2,500 a month. “That’s what I think the value of this is,” he told me. If anything, he’s worried he won’t pay enough. “How can you guarantee that you’ll never raise the monthly fee?” Sadowski said.
Thirteen years ago, Toni Trombecky and her husband moved to Las Vegas after she retired from her job with the federal government. They love to travel, but as they get older, long distance flights are hard to come back from. When she read about the Odyssey online, she was excited. “You don’t have to pack your bags,” Trombek told me. “Your whole neighborhood will follow you.” The couple signed a fifteen-year porthole contract for $150,000 and boarded the ship in Australia in January 2026. Eight weeks later, they paid an extra $20,000 to upgrade to a cabin with large windows. Their room was only one hundred and forty square feet, but Trombeck considered the Odyssey’s two dining rooms her dining rooms and the ship’s library her living room. There are fitness classes and games on board. She bought wallpaper, furniture and new tiles for the cottage. Fellow passengers often invited her and her husband to dine with them. “This is not a holiday,” she said. “It’s a way of life.”