Residential Cruise Ship Prepares to Depart Belfast After Long Delay

After a four-month delay for maintenance and inspection at Harland & Wolff, the residential cruise ship Villa Vie Odyssey has passed sea trials and is preparing to depart Belfast. The vessel could leave as soon as Wednesday, according to UK media. 

The 1993-built Odyssey began a refit period to refurbish her interior and renew her classification at H&W in March, aiming to finish work and depart in May. That timeline slipped, and managing director Mike Petterson told CNN that the vessel's class society appeared to take a stricter line with Villa Vie than it had with the previous operator, UK cruise operator Fred. Olsen - and class required a larger scope of work than his team had expected.

"There is an evident double standard between what’s acceptable for us now and what was acceptable in 2017 and 2019 [at the last class survey]," he said. "Fred. Olsen has been around a long time – it’s a relatively low risk company. I expected continuity, but I got zero credit."

Fred. Olsen told CNN that the vessel was laid up during the pandemic, and said that it passed an independent survey before the sale to Villa Vie. 

Villa Vie Residences markets a residential cruise operating model, like previous offerings from startups like Life at Sea, Storylines, Utopia, Njord, Dark Island and Blue World. The company offers cabins aboard the Odyssey from $99,999 - a fraction of the entry price for The World, the only currently-operating residential cruise ship. Villa Vie guarantees leaseholders a residence aboard the Odyssey for 15 years, and the company also offers a "pay as you go" program offering shorter-term rentals of 35-120 days. 

Passengers who had leased cabins aboard Odyssey began to arrive for the ship's original departure date in May, and many were held over in Belfast for months because of the delays. Some traveled to other destinations in the meantime or took in the sights of Northern Ireland; some were reportedly displeased, and two individuals were removed from the voyage and had their contracts canceled for allegedly making negative comments, Villa Vie confirmed.