Cruise ship passengers stuck in port must disembark every evening

The planned 1,301-day voyage will see the cruise ship visit 147 countries across seven continents, including destinations such as France, Mexico and Japan, according to the Villa Vie Residences itinerary.

But mechanical problems left the Odyssey stranded in Belfast, the Associated Press reported Sunday.

Sebastian Stokkendal, marketing manager for Villa Vie Residences, told the press that the company was “humbled by the scale of what it takes to reactivate a 30-year-old ship from a four-year layup”.

According to a Villa Vie Residences webpage about the Odyssey, the cruise ship was extended in 2009 and refurbished in 2019.

The vessel is now docked at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, which is best known for having built the ill-fated liner Titanic.

The need for repairs means Odyssey’s passengers are also stranded in Belfast.

About 200 passengers live in the city, with Villa Vie Residences paying their living expenses, according to the AP.

In particular, passengers are allowed to stay on the ship during the day but must disembark each evening, where they can spend the night at hotels in Belfast or other European cities, the AP reported.

“We can spend the whole day on the ship and they provide shuttle buses to get on and off,” passenger Holly Hennessey told the BBC in a report published on Wednesday.

“We can have all the meals and they even have movies and trivia entertainment, almost like a cruise except we’re at the dock,” she added.

The Odyssey, Stokkendal told the AP, could depart soon once repair work on the rudder shafts, steel work and engine overhauls are completed.

“We are expecting a highly anticipated successful launch next week where we will head to Bremerhaven, Amsterdam, Lisbon, then across the Atlantic for our Caribbean segment,” Stokkendal wrote in an email to the station.

Representatives for Villa Vie Residences did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.