After months of delays, the Villa Vie Residences’ Odyssey finally set sail from Belfast Harbour on the evening of Monday, 1 November before dropping anchor nearby overnight. Scheduled to leave Belfast in May, the ship was beset with delays and remained anchored off the coast until time for departure. According to BBC News NI, some final paperwork for the ship remains incomplete, with passengers taking the delay as “another day to explore a lovely city”.
Passengers have described the mood on board as positive, despite the delay, telling BBC News NI that a “big release, a lot of energy, very jubilant to say the least” was had on Monday night. Many plan on living on board the ship, treating it like a permanent home, with the option to live on the Odyssey for beyond its initial three-year tour.
If the ship had kept to its original departure date in May the vessel would have reached the Bahamas by now. Instead, it was still in a Harland and Wolff repair yard long after the scheduled boarding time of 17:00 on Monday. As passengers wait for paperwork to be completed, the ship is expected to depart Belfast later on Tuesday.
Despite costing the company millions of pounds due to the unexpected layover in Belfast, CEO Mikael Petterson remains positive. It seems the ship has fostered a strong sense of resilience among its passengers, with one telling BBC News NI that they should all get the word “resilience” tattooed on themselves
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