Northern Ireland

Luxury cruise passengers face further delay in their departure

There have been conflicting reports about when the luxury liner will depart Belfast again

Passengers boarded the Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship at Belfast Port’s Cruise Ship Terminal
The Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship remains anchored near Bangor. (Liam McBurney/PA)

A luxury cruise ship, which has been stranded in Belfast for five months, is now scheduled to set to sail on Thursday.

Passengers onboard the Villa Vie Odyssey have already waved goodbye to the city when they departed late on Monday night following more than a four hour delay.

However ship residents were told that they would be returning to Belfast on Tuesday afternoon, as some paperwork needed to be finished.

The ship anchored not far off the coast, near Bangor where it remains.

On Tuesday Belfast Harbour again moved the departure time back to 3pm on Wednesday, having previously listed it for Tuesday night.

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However, there have been conflicting reports around its departure.

Passengers were reportedly told by staff they would be departing for France on Wednesday evening.

Meanwhile, the Belfast Harbour website says the ship is now scheduled to depart at 11pm on Thursday 3 October.

Passengers from the Villa Vie Residences’ Odyssey cruise liner have been in Belfast for longer than expected after the first leg of their planned round-the-world cruise was impacted by delays.

Villa Vie Residences’ Odyssey was scheduled to leave Queens Island in the city in May.



Departure dates have since been revised several times.

The vessel had some final inspections to pass this week before it was signed off to sail.