LONDON (AP) — A cruise ship taking passengers on a 3 ½-year around-the-world voyage lastly sailed from Belfast’s dockside, after spending 4 months caught within the Northern Eire capital.

Passengers cheered, applauded and hugged the liner’s chief when he confirmed on Monday evening that they had been prepared for departure. The Odyssey left dock and anchored within the sea inlet Belfast Lough in a single day. And there it stayed, because the ship’s operator stated it wanted to finish some remaining paperwork. The vessel was scheduled to go away Northern Eire’s waters late Tuesday.

The ship embarked from Southampton in Might and put in at Belfast to be outfitted for departure. It spent months on the Harland & Wolff shipyard, the place the doomed RMS Titanic was constructed greater than a century in the past, present process work on its rudder and engine.

Within the meantime, the ship’s operator, Villa Vie Residences paid dwelling bills for dozens of passengers, who had been allowed onto the ship throughout the day and supplied with meals and leisure, however couldn’t keep in a single day. Some went residence, whereas some stayed in resorts in Belfast or visited different components of Europe.

Cyndi Grzybowski, 69, from Appling, Georgia, stated she had at all times needed to see the world and was excited for the voyage to start, however had loved “each minute” in Belfast.

“We began out as strangers in Southampton and Belfast and now we really are household,” she stated. “Thanks all so very a lot – really, Belfast has been such a beautiful place.”

One pair of would-be voyagers turned engaged whereas ready for the cruise to start.

Gian Perroni from Vancouver, Canada, and Angie Harsanyi from Colorado, received to know one another strolling to and from the ship throughout the Belfast stopover. They’re now engaged and plan to be married aboard ship by the captain in April.

“We discovered our soulmates,” Perroni stated. He stated that throughout the months “marooned” in Northern Eire, “we’ve realized persistence and perseverance – and realized how fantastic the folks of Belfast have been.”

Inbuilt 1993 and operated underneath totally different names by a number of cruise strains through the years earlier than being becalmed by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the Odyssey was purchased by Villa Vie Residences in 2023.

The residential ship is the newest enterprise within the tempest-tossed world of steady cruising. It presents vacationers the prospect to purchase a cabin and reside at sea on a ship circumnavigating the globe. On its maiden voyage, it’s scheduled to go to 425 ports in 147 international locations on seven continents.

Advertising and marketing materials, geared toward adventurous retirees and stressed digital nomads, touts “the unimaginable alternative to personal a house on a floating paradise,” full with a fitness center, spa, leisure amenities, onboard hospital, enterprise heart and “culinary arts heart.”

Cabins – billed as “villas” — begin at $99,999, plus a month-to-month payment, for the operational lifetime of the vessel, not less than 15 years. Passengers also can join segments of the voyage lasting weeks or months.

Villa Vie Residences’ chief govt Mikael Petterson acknowledged he felt “slightly careworn” because the awaited remaining clearance to depart. And he gave Belfast a combined assessment.

“Your summer time is horrible,” he stated, and “you possibly can’t prepare dinner to avoid wasting your lives. However you do know tips on how to drink.”