Villa Vie Residences' Odyssey cruise ship

In June 2024 I was on a cruise from Iceland to Belfast. In Belfast on 14 June I saw a small cruise ship in the Harland and Wolff’s dry dock, so Googled it. It was the Villa Vie Residences' Odyssey and I saw that it was a residential cruise ship where passengers have the chance to buy their cabin for US$99,999 to $899,000. 

The ship arrived in Belfast  to be outfitted before it was scheduled to leave on 30 May for the first leg of a three-year cruise. But at the end of August the ship has still not left yet thanks to problems with its rudders and gearbox. Passengers already on a round-the-world cruise have been left stranded in Belfast for three months.

Passengers are allowed to spend time on the ship during the day, but must disembark in the evenings and go to a hotel. 

Passengers on the cruise were given the option of buying their cabin outright rather than paying a daily rate for their room like a traditional hotel. It allows them to remain onboard beyond the Villa Vie Residences' Odyssey's initial three-year tour.

Some of the passengers have been able to travel to other countries whilst waiting for the ship to be repaired. 

It is now estimated the ship will launch early Sept.

It is of interest to me as the ship used to be MS Braemar - a 31-year-old ship belonging to Fred. Olsen. The 24,000-tonne cruise ship was built for Crown Cruise Line and then passed through a number of upscale cruise lines before the UK-based, Norwegian-owned Fred.Olsen bought and renamed her MS Braemar in 2001. Under Fred.Olsen the ship had even set a record: In 2019 it became the longest ship to squeeze through the Corinth Canal. That was when I started cruising, and I thought I'd like to do the Corinth Canal - but it wasn't to be. I still have the brochure and this is the front cover -

After Fred owning her, the original ship was enlarged during a refit in 2009 and then renovated again in 2019 - just months before being laid up. 

Villa Vie bought Braemar during Covid. The ship's hull was apparently in excellent condition due to MS Braemar’s being laid up in cold water. This virtually eliminated the build-up of marine life on that hull, something that was most apparent as we walked alongside the ship in Harland and Wolff’s drydock. The hull is also flatter than on many other ships, so she can navigate inland waterways.

As the Odyssey, she will have 8 decks, and a capacity of 924 passengers or residents in its 485 cabins. It also allows for pets. And of course there is a business centre that will provide wifi virtually everywhere. 

Once the ship sets sail, Odyssey will circumnavigate the world every 3½ years. The itinerary will include visiting more than 420 ports in 147 countries across all seven continents. Passengers either purchase a cabin to own onboard or join Villa Vie Residences Voyagers Program and do any from one to 16 world cruise segments. 

From All Things Cruise -

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My 2022 blog on Harland and Wolff "Harland & Wolff to work on cruise ships again".

BBC New 28 Aug "Three months into their global cruise, they've not left Belfast".

All Things Cruise 15 June "The Most Awaited Launch in Cruising … Villa Vie Residences “Odyssey” will now set sail from Belfast June 15th"

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UPDATE Sept 2024 :

Sept 10 cruiseindustry news  "Villa Vie: More Delays as Company Asks Guests to Cover Own Expenses". In a letter sent to guests on Tuesday, the company said it had spent approximately $500,000 covering guest expenses during the delay including hotels, excursions and more, and is now asking passengers to cover their own expenses for “at least the next seven days,”. The company had covered guest expenses since May, when the ship was originally scheduled to sail from Southampton but was subsequently delayed. 

Sept 30  Ville Vie was finally ready to leave, and the ship sailed from Belfast at 11.30 pm on its 3 year cruise. BUT it didn't go far, it had to anchor off the coast of Northern Ireland as there was administrative paperwork to be completed. The ship finally set sail on the evening of 3 Oct and was on its way at long last.

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Harland & Wolff to work on cruise ships again

 The historic Belfast shipyard is to work on cruise ships again after winning maintenance contracts from Cunard and P&O Cruises. Harland and Wolff is best known for building the Titanic. It also built many other liners as well as the Canberra which was a troop ship in the Falklands War.

The shipyard will work on Cunard’s Queen Victoria and P&O’s Aurora. 

The city of Belfast in Northern Ireland is dominated by the two cranes, Samson and Goliath. I saw them Sept 2019. At that time, the company was looking for a buyer. Workers were outside with placards to save H & W.

Harland & Wolff was formed in 1861. Having built many of the world's ocean liners the demand for those ships declined after the Second World War, especially with the increase in air travel. The shipyard was modernised in the mid 1960s, a large dry dock was made and Samson and Goliath arrived. 

After years of problems, see Wikipedia, fast forward to 2018 when the then parent company, Fred Olsen, put Harland & Wolff up for sale. As there was no buyer by August 2019, the company announced that they would cease trading and entered formal administration. I was there on 7th September when the workers were campaigning to save the shipyard. On 1 October it was announced the yard had been bought. 

So this historic shipyard was saved and is now doing maintenance work on cruise ships. The two ships. Queen Victoria and Aurora will be inside the dry docks in May and June respectively. This is the first time a liner has been inside the dry docks for more than 20 years. And the Queen Vic will be the largest cruise ship to dry dock in any UK shipyard. See was constructed in Italy. I last saw her in the Amazon in Jan 2020 -

View of the Belfast dockyard from the cruise terminal - 

Another P&O ship. Azura, was in dock in Belfast from June - Dec 2021. She was just being stored there during the covid pandemic, waiting to return to service. I saw her there July 2021 -

And another view of Samson and Goliath (through a coach window!).

So it is good to know this historic shipyard is back in business and now maintaining cruise ships.