The infamous cruise ship which spent months stuck in Belfast before it could go out and begin a voyage around the world soon ran into another problem which caused an almighty stink.
This is the Villa Vie Residences cruise ship Odyssey, which had been scheduled to leave port in Belfast on 30 May, but had issues with the rudders and gearbox – meaning it couldn’t set sail until 30 September.
Even then, it had to turn around and return to Belfast once more, because some of the proper paperwork was missing.
Finally, it managed to get underway properly after several months of delays.
But any passengers wondering if, perchance, the Odyssey could now take them on a the round-the-world trip without further issue ended up being somewhat disappointed as a new issue hit the ship.
Fortunately, this one didn’t mean they had to turn around once again and go back to Belfast, but they did end up wishing they could deprive themselves of a sense of smell for a bit.
They’re supposed to be sailing around the world, but the Odyssey has been beset by a plethora of problems. (Villa Vie Residences)
Writing on Substack on 14 October, Odyssey resident (which he says is the correct terminology) Joe Rhodes dubbed the vessel the ‘SS Clusterf**k’ as he said that after a ‘joyful departure’, much had not gone to plan on board the vessel.
He said the swimming pools don’t work, ‘the beer sucks’, and the hot water stopped working pretty early on.
However, the real water problems came when the ship had made it to the French port of Brest and overnight, all of the water on board the ship was switched off.
Rhodes explained that because of this timing, most of the folks on board were unaware that they were without running water, meaning that they were in for a shock went they had their morning bowel movement and discovered the flush didn’t work.
As Rhodes poetically put it, residents ‘awakened to the faint smell of s**t marinating in a hundred unflushed bowls’.
Charming.
They have finally managed to get underway on their global voyage. (PAUL FAITH/AFP via Getty Images)
Fortunately, they were able to fix that problem pretty quickly, and the smell of faeces has somewhat dissipated.
Villa Vie’s CEO Mike Petterson told The Independent in a statement that: “We transferred water to the rear overnight where we had to turn off water temporarily.
“This affected all water including toilets. This lasted ‘til the morning hours where residents did not have water when they woke up in the morning.
“Water was back on in the morning and has since been operational. Residents have been able to enjoy every port since.”
He also said that the ship’s ‘forward water tanks were full’ due to being stuck in Belfast for so long, and that the ship’s swimming pools ‘needed complete replacement’, which could mean they wouldn’t be up and running until the cruise ship arrived in the Caribbean.
LADbible has contacted Villa Vie Residences for further comment.