Passengers eager to embark on a 3 ½-year global journey aboard Villa Vie Residences’ Odyssey cruise ship have been in limbo for the past three months.
The company announced in December that it had purchased the Braemar vessel from Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, renaming it Odyssey.
The 30-year-old ship was scheduled to depart in May for a 1301-day voyage, visiting 147 countries across seven continents, including France, Mexico, and Japan.
However, mechanical issues have kept the Odyssey stranded in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Sebastian Stokkendal, a marketing manager for Villa Vie Residences, told the Associated Press that the company underestimated the challenges of reactivating a 30-year-old ship after a four-year layup.
According to Villa Vie Residences, the Odyssey was lengthened in 2009 and refurbished in 2019. It is currently docked at Belfast’s Harland & Wolff shipyard, where the Titanic was built.
Due to the need for repairs, passengers have also been stuck in Belfast. About 200 passengers have been residing in the city, with Villa Vie Residences covering their living expenses.
Passengers can stay on the ship during the day but must disembark each evening, spending nights in hotels in Belfast or other European cities.
“We can spend all day aboard the ship, and they provide shuttle buses to get on and off,” Holly Hennessey a passenger said. “We can have all of our meals, and they even have movies and trivia entertainment, almost like cruising except we’re at the dock,” she added.
Stokkendal reported that the Odyssey could set sail soon once repairs on its rudder shafts, steel work, and engines are complete.
“We expect a highly anticipated launch next week, where we will head to Bremerhaven, Amsterdam, Lisbon, and then across the Atlantic for our Caribbean segment,” Stokkendal said.
