A luxury cruise ship which was stranded in Belfast for four months is to return to the port just hours after it finally set sail because of “incomplete paperwork”.
Villa Vie Odyssey was slated to depart the city in May but was beset with delays as it needed repairs.
Passengers cheered and hugged on Monday when the three year round-the-world cruise liner anchored off the coast of Northern Ireland overnight.
However, on Tuesday, the ship remained docked off the Co Down coast and information on the Belfast Harbour website indicated that it was expected to return to the port in the afternoon.
Another departure was scheduled for 11pm.
Chief executive of Villa Vie Residences Mike Petterson said the liner still had to complete administrative paperwork before it could finally depart the Belfast area.
He said passengers would not disembark when the ship returned to port and the liner would leave when the paperwork was completed before midnight.
Residents of the Villa Vie Odyssey on Monday waved goodbye to the Northern Ireland city they grew so familiar with on Monday night.
Individuals on board were “resilient” in waiting for repairs to be completed according to passenger Andy Garrison, 75 who had arrived in Belfast for what he thought was three days in August.
He said he wanted something to do after becoming stranded so he ordered a model of the Titanic which he built over three or four days.
Asked if he was worried it could signify as a bad omen, he said: “No, I’m not. As a matter of fact I’m going to put this on the wall of my room.”
“I would stay in Belfast and enjoy myself except I’m leaving on a ship,” he said, explaining the cruise is to stop in various locations including France and the Bahamas.
One woman from Georgia said she had always wanted to see the world, but thanked Belfast for hosting them, calling it “a wonderful place”.
Meanwhile, a pair of would-be voyagers became engaged while waiting for the cruise to begin.
Gian Perroni, from Vancouver in Canada, and Angie Harsanyi, from Colorado in the US, got to know each other as they walked to and back from the ship in the past few months.
After a proposal under a supermoon, they said they found their soulmates.
Cyndi Grzybowski, 69, from Appling, Georgia, said she had always wanted to see the world and was excited for the voyage to begin.
“My better half passed away three years ago so this is giving me an opportunity to get off the farm, literally, and see the world, which is something that I have wanted to do,” she told reporters on Monday.
“My son has been so supportive of this because when this opportunity came up, I was really humming and hawing because I’ve been on the farm for 27 years, and he said, ‘Mom, the only thing I’ve heard you talk about is going to see the world’.
“We started out as strangers in Southampton and Belfast and now we truly are family. We had two amazing parties yesterday with the pedal bikes… and last night at Revolution de Cuba, we had a get-together with fantastic food.
“Thank you all so very much – truly, Belfast has been such a wonderful place. I have so enjoyed every minute here.”
The luxury cruise offers rentals from 35 to 120 days, or villas can be purchased ranging from £90,000 to £260,000.
Owning a villa on board guarantees the room for a minimum of 15 years, but the ownership stays valid for the entire operation of the ship.
