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Villa Vie Residences’ Odyssey cruise ship was set to embark on a round-the-world voyage in May.
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But the vessel has been undergoing repair work at a shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
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Villa Vie Residences said the ship could start sailing again this week.
Passengers looking to embark on a 3 ½-year round-the-world voyage on Villa Vie Residences’ Odyssey cruise ship have been left hanging for the past three months.
In December, the company announced it had bought Fred Olsen Cruise Lines’ Braemar vessel, which it later named Odyssey.
The ship, which is more than 30 years old, was meant to set sail in May.
On the planned 1301-day journey, the cruise liner is set to visit 147 countries across seven continents, including destinations such as France, Mexico, and Japan, according to Villa Vie Residences’ itinerary.
But mechanical problems have left the Odyssey stuck in Belfast, Northern Ireland, instead.
Sebastian Stokkendal, a marketing manager for Villa Vie Residences, told the Associated Press that the company was “humbled by the scale of what it takes to reactivate a 30-year-old vessel from a four-year layup.”
According to a Villa Vie Residences’ webpage on the Odyssey, the cruise ship was lengthened in 2009 and refurbished in 2019.
The vessel is now docked at Belfast’s Harland & Wolff shipyard, which is best known for being where the ill-fated Titanic ocean liner, was built.
The need for repairs means the Odyssey’s passengers have also been stuck in Belfast.
The AP reported that roughly 200 passengers had been residing in the city, with Villa Vie Residences paying for their living expenses.
Notably, passengers are allowed to stay on the ship during the day but have to disembark every evening, and the AP reported that they could spend the night at 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,” a passenger, Holly Hennessey, told the BBC in a report published Wednesday.
“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 told the AP that the Odyssey could set sail soon once the repair work on its rudder shafts, steel work, and engine overhauls was completed.
“We expect a very anticipated successful launch next week where we will head to Bremerhaven, Amsterdam, Lisbon, then across the Atlantic for our Caribbean segment,” Stokkendal said.
Representatives for Villa Vie Residences didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.
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Source Agencies
