A luxury cruise liner which was stuck in Belfast for four months finally departed Irish shores this week. Passengers reportedly partied until 7.30am after leaving the port on Monday, only to discover they had travelled only a short distance down Belfast Lough and were anchored off the coast of Bangor, Co Down.
Q. Did I hear that right? A cruise ship has been stuck in Belfast for four months?
A. That’s right. The Villa Vie Odyssey arrived in Belfast in April to be outfitted, and was scheduled to leave the following month on the first leg of its three-year, round-the-world cruise.
Some of its passengers have sold their homes to move there permanently, buying on-board villas priced at €106,900-€308,900.
The cruise was due to begin on May 30th, but rudder and gearbox problems kept it in Belfast since then. Its grand departure was set for September 30th, but paperwork held it back. It left Belfast Lough, finally, on Thursday evening.
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Q. I’m sure Belfast isn’t what they imagined when they signed up for their round-the-world cruise. Have they been enjoying their stay?
A. Well, the passengers have certainly become more familiar with the city and its environs than they ever expected.
Some have been making the most of it – Angela and Stephen Theriac, who lived in Nicaragua, told the BBC they’ve travelled around Spain by train and visited England and Greenland.
“We are travellers, and we want to make the most of the place we are in,” said Ms Theriac said.
“We have eaten in every restaurant and had a Guinness in every pub,” Mr Theriac said. “It is just all part of our adventure.”
Holly Hennessy, from Florida, said it had been a “remarkable experience” and “what you lack in warmth of temperature [in Belfast], the people make up for”.
Q. So they’re on their way, finally – what’s next?
A. France, and then the world! When the passengers departed Belfast this week, they took with them souvenirs – including a hand-built model of the Titanic – and plenty of memories.
Asked how he would remember Belfast, the chief executive of Villa Vie Residences, Mike Petterson, told the Press Association “your summer is horrible” and “you can’t cook to save your lives, but you do know how to drink”.
But Gian Perroni, from Vancouver, and Angie Harsanyi from Colorado will remember their four months in Belfast for the rest of their lives. The pair got to know each other on their walks back and forth to the ship and got engaged following a proposal on the Lagan Weir bridge.
“I don’t think we could have picked a better place to end up. It’s always going to be close to our heart,” said Perroni.
They are due to get married on board next year, with a “gigantic wedding” planned between Costa Rica and Panama.
