It seemed that luxury cruises would fade away after the pandemic. Recently, however, the opposite has been true. In fact, you can rent cabins for as much as $100,000. Even top hotel chains are offering ultra-exclusive cruises. And among all the offerings, one stands out above the rest. Villa Vie Residences’ Odyssey was supposed to embark on the first voyage of a three-year around-the-world cruise on May 30. But things didn’t go as planned.
A fascinating idea. The more than 30-year-old ship, Braemar, was previously owned by Fred Olsen Cruise Lines. In December 2023, Villa Vie Residences bought it and renamed it Odyssey. According to the company’s itinerary, the ship had planned to set sail on a 1,301-day voyage in May. It would visit 147 countries on seven continents, including destinations such as France, Mexico, and Japan.
Buying a cabin. Spending 3.5 years traveling worldwide on a luxury cruise ship quickly attracted many people. To give you an idea of the ship, Villa Vie Residences states on its website that purchasing a cabin can range from $99,999 to $899,000.
Passengers could buy cabins instead of paying a daily rate like they would in a traditional hotel. By doing so, they could continue to live on the ship at the end of the three-year cruise. Many of them have told different media outlets that they paid the six-figure sums intending to live on board full-time for the ship’s expected 15-year lifespan.
If it ever sets sail, of course.
The issues. The Odyssey arrived in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, to be outfitted out by a Villa Vie Residences team before its scheduled departure on May 30 for the first leg of the three-year voyage. However, it hasn’t departed yet due to problems with its rudder and transmission. As such, the approximately 200 passengers on the round-the-world cruise have been stranded in that city for over three months.
According to the Associated Press, Sebastian Stokkendal, a marketing manager for Villa Vie Residences, said the company is “humbled by the scale of what it takes to reactivate a 30-year-old vessel from a four-year layup.” The ship is still at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, best known as the Titanic’s building enclave.
“Life” on a ship that doesn’t sail. The hundreds of passengers, who once seemed happy, have changed their mood since May. Villa Vie Residences allows them to stay on the ship during the day. For safety reasons, they must disembark every night while engineers repair the vessel. At that time, staff take them to hotels in Belfast or other European cities.
There are all kinds of stories, like that of self-proclaimed “cruise addict” Holly Hennessey, who has enjoyed the sights of Ireland time and time again. “I’ve been to the Giant’s Causeway twice,” she told the Daily Mail. “But the best part of the trip was the stop at Bushmills,” referring to an Irish whiskey distillery. Hennessey, who also shared her experience with the BBC, is traveling with her cat, “Captain, the Cruising Kitty.”
Traveling but not on the cruise. In addition to visiting the city’s many pubs and making friends with the locals, others have used their time off to visit destinations both near and far. Some have traveled as far as Greenland or the Canary Islands. Occasionally, and I assume to avoid complaints, the cruise line organizes some of these trips.
The situation is so surreal that one of the passengers has found time to return home to Australia (twice) while waiting.
The promise. Meanwhile, Villa Vie Residences CEO Mikael Petterson recently told the BBC that he hopes with all his heart that the Odyssey (the name is perfect) will set sail soon or as quickly as possible.
“When you’re the first at doing something, you will run into hiccups, but we’re definitely getting there, and although we are late, we will launch,” the executive stated. Interestingly, Petterson previously worked as CEO of Life at Sea, a cruise line that also canceled plans for a similar round-the-world voyage in 2023.
Image | Villa Vie Residences
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