The Villa Vie Odyssey arrived in Belfast in May, where it remained all summer as it needed major repairs, but finally left the city harbour earlier this week and anchored not far off the coast, near Bangor. However, the luxurious liner was delayed once more as it waited for paperwork to be completed, before passengers could finally embark on their journey around the world. Ship residents were told, before departing on Monday, that they would be returning to Belfast on Tuesday afternoon, as some paperwork needed to be finished.
The Belfast Telegraph understands that the ship’s management told residents on Wednesday morning that they expect to set off in the afternoon. However, as of Wednesday afternoon, passengers say they are now hearing “conflicting reports” of when they will finally begin their lives on the open sea. The Belfast Harbour website’s cruise ship page now lists the Odyssey as returning to port in Belfast at 4:59pm on Wednesday.
The website further says that the ship will leave again on Thursday at 11pm. This information was first reported by cruise writer Dave Monk (or ‘Shipmonk’). His reporting appears to be news to some of the passengers, including Steve and Angela Theriac, who vlog their life onboard under the name ‘Midlife Cruising’.
“Thanks for breaking the news so we could follow...
ha ha,” read their response to Mr Monk’s post on Facebook. The Belfast Telegraph has also heard from other passengers about a lack of concrete information .