Passengers aboard a round-the-world cruise that has been stuck in Belfast for five months have been hearing “conflicting reports” about when their much-delayed voyage will begin, as Belfast Harbour’s website indicates it is to return to port.
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.
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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 in recent hours.
Kit Cassingham, from Colorado, said feelings onboard the Odyssey were “mixed” this morning, as passengers waited for news.
Luxury liner sets off from Belfast after being stranded for four months
She said some people were “so annoyed” and others were “grumpy” but that some were “chatting up a storm”.
The delay yesterday “really was a surprise”, added Kit. “I heard reactions of everything from ‘Goddamn it, here we go again’ to ‘Let’s go have another drink’.
“People have learned how to party like the Irish. Being in Belfast was really bad for us. We picked up more drinking habits.
“People are frustrated when [management] don’t have answers. They can’t say anything other than ‘I don’t have answers’. That gets to be tedious, so they kind of go dark, which makes people annoyed.
“I’ve had a year of twists and turns and cold stops and fast starts. So, to me, this is just more of the same.
“My mood is just wait and see, it’s gonna be what it’s gonna be, but I’m on the ship. I’m in my home.”
People on the cruiseliner are getting used to the new amenities that are offered to them. A fine-dining restaurant opened last night, which Kit said drew mixed responses from guests.
“We’re now training the staff who ran the buffet on how take orders and serve, and all that stuff, and so that gave us something new and different to do. That was an interesting experience.
“One of my friends said: I don’t want it. If that’s the only option we have for dinner, I’m going to start eating my big meal at lunch. I don’t want to waste hours socialising being served. I get that.
“Others just relished it. Another person said: ‘This is not fine dining. You don’t have table numbers on the tables and your servers don’t even know where the table number is.’
“The manager came up and said: ‘Take them to whatever table she would like to sit at.’ Off they went. These people don’t get paid enough for this.”
The media interest in the delayed cruise has been a distraction for the residents as they wait for their journey to properly begin.
Kit said that news organisations in Northern Ireland have been joined by reporters from the towns and cities that residents come from with inquiries about the long-delayed start.
One was out on a boat on Wednesday morning taking pictures of the anchored ship, which Kit said was “pretty jovial”.
Steve and Angela Theriac (both 53), who are from Central Florida originally, have started social media accounts (‘MidLife Cruising’) to document their lives onboard the ship.
Steve and Angela Theriac onboard the ship
When asked why the ship even set sail at all on Monday night, given that it would have to return to Belfast, Angela said: “I think they just knew how desperate we all were — everyone from crew, staff, residents, leadership, the media. Everybody wanted us to get sailing, so once we had our insurance we were allowed to be onboard, so why not?
“We are just hoping for the best, whatever they have to do today, so that we can get going.”
On Tuesday, the couple said that their official travel itinerary had still not been released, and while it was understood they could be heading for the Caribbean after Monday night’s departure, it seems most likely that their next port of call, after eventually departing Northern Ireland, will be somewhere in France or Spain.
“That’s still pending. I don’t think they want to release anything until they actually know we are underway,” Angela continued.
“The residents are just so happy to be onboard. People partied all night. When I got up this morning, I heard that some people were just going to bed. It’s very electrifying and exciting onboard.
“Just imagine how thrilled we all are to just be onboard — we’ll take it.”
News Catch Up – Wednesday 2nd October