The Villa Vie Odyssey, which called into port on its maiden voyage to the port of Pago Pago Monday morning, is not your typical cruise ship. It is actually a floating residence and all 348 passengers on board actually live on the cruise ship for multi year journeys. That’s according to Michael Panem, the Agency Manager for Trans Am, local agents for the cruise ship.
Built in 1993 the cruise ship travels to 147 countries every 3 1/2 years. The passengers or residents own or rent villas (staterooms) for multi-year journeys circumnavigating the globe.
The ship is actually spending two days in the territory. It docked Monday morning and wont be leaving until 4 pm on Wednesday, the longest any cruise ship has spent in American Samoa.
Panem explained that the passengers on board are a mix of American and European and other nationalities. The American Samoa Visitors Bureau welcomed the cruise ship with entertainment on the main dock and also provided an entertaining group in the evening. There are no set tours for the tourists, they are pretty much on their own.
“The passengers are the adventurous type and it’s really up to them how they will spend their time on island,” said a spokesperson for the Visitors Bureau. There were also vendors at the Fagatogo marketplace but hardly any passengers stopped by Monday morning. A few were seen boarding aiga buses.
The liner sailed from Apia where it spent three days and after leaving Pago Pago it will head to Bora Bora, French Polynesia.
