The Villa Vie Odyssey is now three months past its original launch date.
Passengers planning to travel the world on a three-year cruise are speaking out as they remain stuck on land, waiting for their ship to depart.
Holly Hennessy said she has been stuck in Belfast, Ireland, for three months as she and her fellow passengers wait for the cruise ship, the Villa Vie Odyssey, to be repaired.
“It’s cold. It’s windy. It’s damp. It usually rains,” Hennessy told “Good Morning America,” describing the past three months in Belfast. “I’ve been moved five times to different accommodations.”
ABC News
Johan Bodin and his partner Lanette Canen have spent the past three months traveling around Europe as they wait for the ship to depart from Belfast. The couple relocated from Maui, Hawaii, to spend the next several years on the Villa Vie Odyssey, according to their website, where they post travel content.
“We intend to stay on for a long haul, but who knows how we feel after a year,” Bodin told “GMA.”
Bodin and other passengers on the Villa Vie Odyssey, operated by Villa Vie Residences, have been waiting since May for the cruise to depart.
ABC News
Mikael Petterson, the founder and CEO of Villa Vie Residences, told “GMA” the Villa Vie Odyssey is a 30-year-old ship. He said the ship made the trip to Belfast on its own power before other maintenance issues were discovered.
“The rudder stocks took six weeks to get done, and now we’re dealing with a couple of other things,” Petterson said. “But overall, I think three months is actually not that bad given the circumstances.”
Petterson added that the ship’s repairs are in their final stages, and said he expects the ship to depart the week of Sept. 9.
The cruise is advertised to visit 475 destinations in 147 countries. The price to purchase an all-inclusive cabin starts at around $100,000, with an additional monthly fee for at least 15 years.
