When it was announced that the residential cruise ship Odyssey would set sail around the world this year, visiting more than 425 ports in 147 destinations over the course of three and a half years, some passengers immediately knew that they needed a place on that ship.
What they did not know, however, was that before this ‘trip of a lifetime’, the new residents would have to endure four months stuck in Belfast after a string of last-minute repairs.
Delay after delay haunted the vessel as its sailing date continued being pushed back. The summer slipped away from the cruise, leaving dozens of ports not visited and countries unexplored as the ship remained stuck in Northern Ireland.
As the setbacks continued, residents on the cruise formed lasting bonds, yet the devastation still lingered among some due to their new lives being put on hold.
Yet on 30 September, four months to the day Odyssey was supposed to embark, the ship finally left Belfast behind, having finally passed its sea trials and convinced authorities it was safe to sail.
Here’s everything we know about Villa Vie Odyssey’s journey before, and after, it set sail.
Where did the ship come from
The 542ft-long Odyssey cruise ship was built in 1993 in Valencia, Spain, consisting of eight decks, 485 cabins and can carry up to 650 residents.
Before it became Odyssey, the vessel started life under a different name, Crown Dynasty, owned by Crown Cruise Lines, and was passed through a number of hands before being taken over by Fred Olsen Cruise Lines to become Braemer.
Villa Vie Residences, a US-based company specialising in ‘residential’ cruising, then bought the 31-year-old ship in 2023, with the ship arriving at Queen’s Island in Belfast to be outfitted in April 2024.
The ship was extensively refurbished at a historic dry dock in the Northern Irish capital, owned by Harland and Wolff, a maritime engineering company that produced the ill-fated Titanic.
Odyssey then took on a new concept, housing residents in cabins or ‘villas’ that could be bought outright, with guaranteed ownership for as long as 15 years, or using a pay-as-you-go plan.
Before its journey around the world, the ship was transformed to include a pub,…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Independent Travel…