Passengers bought berths for a three-year cruise. Months later, the ship is still stuck in Belfast

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Lanette Canen and Johan Bodin gave up their lives on land to become sea nomads on a years-long cruise.

Months later, the couple still haven’t spent a night at sea. Their ship, the Odyssey, is stuck in Belfast for repairs, delaying their planned departure in May for a three-and-a-half-year round-the-world cruise.

Bodin said on Friday that they had enjoyed their stopover in the Northern Irish capital, but “after visiting every pub and trying every fish and chip shop and listening to every place that played Irish music, we were ready to go somewhere else.”

“We are definitely ready to set sail,” Canen added.

The Odyssey by Villa Vie Residences is the latest project in the turbulent world of long-distance cruising.

It offers travelers the opportunity to buy a cabin and live on a ship that sails around the world. On its maiden voyage, it is scheduled to call at 425 ports in 147 countries on seven continents. Cabins – billed as “villas” – start at $99,999, plus a monthly fee for the life of the ship, a minimum of 15 years. Passengers can also sign up for voyages lasting several weeks or months.

Marketing materials aimed at adventurous retirees and restless digital nomads tout “the incredible opportunity to own a home on a floating paradise,” complete with a gym, spa, putting green, entertainment options, a business center and an “experiential culinary center.”

But first the Odyssey has to get out of the dock.

Today it stands at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, where the doomed RMS Titanic was built over a century ago.

Sebastian Stokkendal, marketing manager at Villa Vie Residences, said the company was “shocked by the scale of the effort required to bring a 30-year-old ship back into service after a four-year layup.”

He said the ship was almost ready to depart after work on the rudder shafts, steel work and engine overhaul.

“We are expecting a much-anticipated successful launch next week, heading to Bremerhaven, Amsterdam, Lisbon and then across the Atlantic to our Caribbean leg,” he said in an email to the Associated Press.

The company has now covered the accommodation costs for around 200 passengers. They are allowed on the ship during the day and are provided with meals and entertainment, but cannot stay overnight. For those who want to explore more of Europe while they wait, the cruise line has paid for hotels in Belfast and other European cities.

Passenger Holly Hennessey from Florida told the BBC she could not leave Northern Ireland because of her shipmate, her cat and the captain.

She said that at first she “thought I was going home or that the ship had sent some people to the Canary Islands. And then I found out that because I had my cat with me, I couldn’t go at all.”

“I would like to thank Belfast for its warm welcome to all of us,” she said.

Bodin and Canen – a Swede and an American who met while both living in Hawaii – have used the time to travel to Italy, Croatia and Bodin’s hometown in Sweden, where they are awaiting news about the Odyssey.

Canen plans to operate her Arizona-based auto glass business from the ship. Bodin, a carpenter, runs a YouTube channel documenting the couple’s temporarily stalled journey.

The Odyssey was built in 1993 and operated by several cruise lines under different names over the years before being stalled by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. In 2023, she was purchased by Villa Vie Residences.

The private cruise business has proved difficult. MS The World, launched in 2002, is currently the only ship of its kind in operation. Another company, Life at Sea, cancelled its planned three-year voyage late last year after being unable to find a ship.

Canen and Bodin paid a deposit to Life at Sea – they got their money back – and also placed a bet on Victoria Cruises, another faltering company from which they are still seeking repayment.

But they don’t let themselves be deterred.

“We can be crazy, stupid, naive or resilient,” Bodin said. “I don’t know, you can put any label you want on it.”

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Lawless reported from London.