Passengers aboard the 3.5-year Villa Vie Odyssey residency voyage can finally breathe a sigh of relief as the ship has officially left port to begin its 147-country world cruise, ending a long saga of delays and paperwork issues.

The 24,344-gross-ton vessel carrying over 100 passengers (one guest was just removed on September 17, 2024, due to negative texts) initially attempted to set sail on October 1, 2024. Still, it was again delayed due to incomplete paperwork, keeping the ship anchored in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Frustrated passengers, who have been living in Ireland since Odyssey’s original sail date in May 2024 was delayed, couldn’t believe the false start and feared returning to Belfast instead of continuing to its first port of call, the Faroe Islands in Scotland.

It turns out, during the four months of delays, Villa Vie Odyssey’s paperwork for sailing in Norway, where it is scheduled to visit after Scotland, had expired.

Now, after a final inspection by Norway’s DNV, the ship’s class certificate has been extended until Christmas Day, allowing the vessel to continue its journey.

Villa Vie Odyssey CEO Mike Petterson shared the good news with passengers this morning, October 3. “We are not going to Belfast,” he said.

The ship is now headed to Hunterston, Scotland, for refueling and an overnight, with Petterson telling crew, he “doesn’t care where we go, just go – but not to Belfast.”

Passengers celebrated the long-awaited moment with a christening at sea as Petterson ceremoniously broke a bottle of champagne – though it took three tries to crack.

Odyssey’s Troubled Start and Future Plans

Since arriving in Belfast months ago, the Villa Vie Odyssey has been fraught with complications. Initially set to serve as a small, all-inclusive residency ship circumnavigating the globe with 425 port visits, the ship was held up by various technical and administrative setbacks.

These have included issues with the ship’s outfitting and delays in obtaining essential components and finalizing construction. Even after leaving dry dock, the ship was delayed further as it struggled to complete regulatory requirements and safety checks.

Guests, who invested heavily in the promise of an extended cruise experience with villas starting at $99,999 plus a monthly fee, were stranded in Belfast.

For months, the cruise company paid the living expenses for passengers who eagerly awaited updates on when the ship would be ready to sail.

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Now that the vessel is finally at sea, its itinerary, updated in mid-July, begins with destinations like Norway, Iceland, and Scandinavia. Originally scheduled to take place during the summer months, it is unsure if the residences will revise the schedule.

As of the last update, the ship will travel to Spain and Portugal after Scandinavia, before crossing the Atlantic Ocean and arriving first in Bermuda and then continuing to the Caribbean.

There, the ship is expected to visit the Bahamas, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands. It will then continue to Mexico, Belize, Honduras, and Colombia before island hopping across 16 different countries in the Caribbean.

While it’s fairly certain Villa Vie Odyssey, purchased by Villa Vie Residences in 2023, will have many itinerary changes in its future, guests are ecstatic to finally begin the journey of a lifetime.

The future of the iconic ocean liner SS United States may be coming into focus after years of legal battles regarding overdue rent payments at the Philadelphia pier where the derelict ship is docked. 

The Okaloosa (Florida) County Board of County Commissioners announced on October 1, 2024 that it has approved a contingent contract to buy the ship and sink it off the coast of Destin-Fort Worth Beach where it will become an artificial reef. 

The county also would create a shoreside museum dedicated to the history of the ship. The Destin area is located in the Florida Panhandle, on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.

County officials issued a conservative estimate of $10 million for the purchase, transport, and other actions required to turn the ship into an artificial reef. The offer is contingent on the outcome of a court-ordered mediation that began in late September.

The ship’s caretaker, SS United States Conservancy, has been battling in court with the landlord of Philadelphia’s Pier 82, Penn Warehousing & Distribution, over unpaid rent. The landlord in 2021 raised the rent at the pier to $1,700 per day, far more than the conservancy could pay.

The group has been trying to find another location for the ship, and has racked up unpaid back rent. It also had been working with Okaloosa County on a proposal to turn the ship into an artificial reef. 

U.S. District Court Senior Judge Anita B. Brody recently ruled that the conservancy and the landlord must engage in mediation to resolve the financial issues, and the mediation began around September 24, 2024.

It is not entirely clear how the purchase offer from the Florida county will impact the mediation process, but the contingent contract is the most formal option yet to emerge in the case.

Before the SS United States was retired in 1969, she held — and still holds — the transatlantic speed record.  The ship was designed by naval architect William Francis Gibbs and constructed in 1952. She was, at the time, the biggest passenger ship built. in the US.

“The vessel is widely considered the pinnacle of American post-war maritime engineering and a soaring symbol of her namesake nation. The SS United States Conservancy has kept the famous ocean liner safely afloat since acquiring her in 2011,” a statement from Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners said. 

“Once deployed off Destin-Fort Walton Beach, at nearly 1,000-feet long, the SS United States will be a home for a diverse range of marine life and attract divers and anglers from around the world,” the statement added. 

Artificial Reefs Are Big Business in Florida

Artificial reefs off the Florida Panhandle are big revenue makers, thanks to economic activity and job creation to build and maintain the reefs. A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission estimates that for every dollar spent on artificial reefs in that area, the economic benefit of a reef system over its life span is $138.

Read Also: Discovering Abandoned Cruise Ships and Ocean Liners

The Destin-Fort Worth Beach area is known as the World’s Largest Artificial Reef, and is a haven for divers, recreational fishermen, and others.

“The SS United States will be an exciting addition to the many artificial reefs and wrecks available in Destin-Fort Walton Beach for divers to explore while providing essential habitat for the fishery that our fleet is so dependent on,” said Jennifer Adams, tourism director of Destin-Fort Walton Beach. 

Calling the SS United States a symbol of American pride and excellence, the conservancy believes the ship, as an artificial reef and with an accompanying shoreside museum, would become a world-class destination.

“We are confident that the experienced and committed team in Okaloosa County fully appreciates the historic significance of the SS United States and our longstanding commitment to educating and exciting future generations about this unique expression of American maritime history and technological innovation,” said Susan Gibbs, president of SS United States Conservancy.

The group originally intended to repurpose the aging ship as a mixed-use development, similar to the Queen Mary attraction in Long Beach, California. However, a court order that effectively evicted the ship from its Philadelphia pier, due to nonpayment of rent, pushed the group toward other solutions. An appeal of that order was denied in August 2024.