A cruise ship taking passengers on a 3-and-a-half-year around-the-world voyage finally sailed from Belfast’s dockside, after spending four months stuck in the Northern Ireland capital.
Passengers cheered, applauded and hugged the liner’s chief when he confirmed on Monday night that they were ready for departure. The Odyssey left dock and anchored in the sea inlet Belfast Lough overnight. And there it stayed, as the ship’s operator said it needed to complete some final paperwork. The vessel was scheduled to leave Northern Ireland’s waters late Tuesday.
The ship embarked from Southampton in May and put in at Belfast to be outfitted for departure. It spent months at the Harland & Wolff shipyard, where the doomed RMS Titanic was built more than a century ago, undergoing work on its rudder and engine.
In the meantime, the ship’s operator, Villa Vie Residences paid living expenses for dozens of passengers, who were allowed onto the ship during the day and provided with meals and entertainment, but could not stay overnight. Some went home, while some stayed in hotels in Belfast or visited other parts of Europe.
Cyndi Grzybowski, 69, from Appling, Georgia, said she had always wanted to see the world and was excited for the voyage to begin, but had enjoyed “every minute” in Belfast.
“We started out as strangers in Southampton and Belfast and now we truly are family,” she said. “Thank you all so very much – truly, Belfast has been such a wonderful place.”
One pair of would-be voyagers became engaged while waiting for the cruise to begin.
Gian Perroni from Vancouver, Canada, and Angie Harsanyi from Colorado, got to know each other walking to and from the ship during the Belfast stopover. They are now engaged and plan to be married aboard ship by the captain in April.
“We found our soulmates,” Perroni said. He said that during the months “marooned” in Northern Ireland, “we’ve learned patience and perseverance – and learned how wonderful the people of Belfast have been.”
Built in 1993 and operated under different names by several cruise lines over the years before being becalmed by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the Odyssey was bought by Villa Vie Residences in 2023.
The residential ship is the latest venture in the tempest-tossed world of continuous cruising. It offers travellers the chance to buy a cabin and live at sea on a ship circumnavigating the globe. On its maiden voyage, it is scheduled to visit 425 ports in 147 countries on seven continents.
Marketing material, aimed at adventurous retirees and restless digital nomads, touts “the incredible opportunity to own a home on a floating paradise,” complete with a gym, spa, entertainment facilities, onboard hospital, business centre and “culinary arts centre.”
Cabins – billed as “villas” — start at US$99,999, plus a monthly fee, for the operational life of the vessel, at least 15 years. Passengers can also sign up for segments of the voyage lasting weeks or months.
Villa Vie Residences’ chief executive Mikael Petterson acknowledged he felt “a little stressed” as the awaited final clearance to depart. And he gave Belfast a mixed review.
“Your summer is horrible,” he said, and “you can’t cook to save your lives. But you do know how to drink.”