Villa Vie's Odyssey Sets Sail After Lengthy Delay in Belfast

Villa Vie’s Odyssey embarked on a short journey from the Harland & Wolff Shipyard to the Belfast cruise terminal on Monday evening. Roughly 100 guests boarded the ship, following a nearly five-month postponement to the residential cruise line’s inaugural voyage.

The next step for the ship is a significantly altered global cruise route, with Brest, France, slated as the first stop on the itinerary.

The vessel could potentially depart as early as Tuesday, continuing to Brest before heading across the Atlantic towards Bermuda and the Bahamas.

In a video shared on social media on Monday, CEO Mike Petterson confirmed the ship had obtained full clearance from DNV, its class society.

Petterson had previously expressed concerns in a CNN interview about what he perceived as inconsistent certification standards applied to the ship compared to its former operations as Fred. Olsen Braemar before the pandemic.

“It’s been such a rollercoaster, it’s been hard to explain. We’re here and we’ll be sailing away shortly,” Petterson remarked.