The day after Donald Trump won the 2024 election, a cruise company called Villa Vie Residences saw an opportunity.

It launched a package called "Skip Forward": four years at sea, 140 countries, and a chance to fast-forward through Trump's second term like commercials on a DVR. A double cabin cost $159,999 per person. Going solo cost $255,999. The two-year version, timed to end right around the 2026 midterms, was named "Mid-Term Selection."

The midterms are Tuesday. The ship is tied up in Cambodia.

At 6 a.m. on October 27, the 203 residents of the Villa Vie Odyssey were told the voyage was over. They had until 2 p.m. to pack up their lives and get off the ship in Sihanoukville. The 156 crew members stayed on board with nowhere to go.

The Odyssey was sold as a floating neighborhood. Buyers paid six figures and up for permanent cabins, and some sold their homes to do it. They were promised at least 15 years of residency at sea.

They got two. And the trip started late. The ship sat in Belfast for months of repairs before it ever left port in the fall of 2024.

Carol Larson, 69, of California, paid $120,000 for her cabin. Her verdict: "I put most of the blame on Trump, but there was some probably not financially good bookkeeping."

"Some" is doing a lot of work there.

The company blames fuel. After the war with Iran began in late February, fuel prices tripled, and the Odyssey's monthly bills went from about $400,000 to $2 million. Per cabin, fuel went from roughly $1,800 a month to as much as $8,000.

Royal Caribbean buys fuel on the same ocean. So does Carnival. The difference is that well-run operators hedge their fuel, locking in prices ahead of time so one bad year doesn't sink the ship. One cruise industry lawyer called what happened at Villa Vie "disastrous mismanagement."

The warning signs showed up months before Cambodia. In August, company leadership acknowledged an "ongoing cash-flow problem" and referred to an earlier request asking passengers to chip in for fuel. The company's other big move was to slow down and spend extra days in port, hoping the Middle East would calm down. In other words, the business plan was waiting for gas to get cheaper.

It turns out you can't fast-forward through a presidency. You can fast-forward through a cruise line's cash reserves.

Villa Vie says it will spend 60 days hunting for financing and plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It admits no outcome is assured. The crew reportedly went about 45 days without pay. CEO Mikael Petterson calls those reports inaccurate but hasn't offered proof. The passengers are unlikely to see their money again.

Some of them are taking it well. "Money aside, it was a fantastic adventure," said passenger Randy Cassingham. Larson called the whole thing "well worth it."

Back in 2024, Petterson insisted the company had no "political view one way or the other." It just named its two-year package after the midterms.

Fifteen years promised, two years delivered, eight hours to pack.

In a way, "Mid-Term Selection" delivered. It just ended a week before the midterms, in Cambodia.