Villa Vie's long-delayed 3.5-year world cruise officially sets sail; 'It’s festive'

Villa Vie Residences’ 3½-year cruise has officially begun.

The long-delayed sailing departed Belfast, Northern Ireland, where its Villa Vie Odyssey ship has been docked in recent months, for its first stop on Thursday, according to an Instagram Story posted by the company.

The ship will spend a day at sea before arriving in Brest, France, late on Friday according to resident Victor Torres. “You can see everyone’s mood,” Torres, who was previously was based in Los Angeles, told USA TODAY. “It’s festive, exciting.”

Torres, 53, who is sailing with his wife, Shristie, said residents boarded the ship Monday night but were told it would take until at least Tuesday to leave Belfast because of remaining paperwork. “Even though we weren’t able to leave the harbor for the first two days or two nights, you know, everyone's still very upbeat,” he said.

A spokesperson for Villa Vie confirmed the ship was on its way to Brest but did not provide a comment on the specifics of Torres’ experience.

The cruise had been scheduled to start in May but faced a number of setbacks. Villa Vie CEO Mikael Petterson told USA TODAY in August that the company had “been quite humbled by the scale of what it takes to reactivate a 30-year-old vessel from a four-year layup. After the lapse of all certifications of class we are now considered (a) new ship where all machinery and equipment must work as if new.”

The Odyssey had sailed as Fred Olsen Cruise Lines’ MS Braemar. Villa Vie purchased it in 2023.

Torres, who is retired, already planned to visit other countries, three months at a time, over the next several years before learning about Villa Vie. When the opportunity to travel without repeatedly unpacking arose, he jumped at it, selling most of his belongings and moving with three suitcases.

What is a world cruise?: It's not a 'shoot-from-the-hip decision'

Torres spent the months during the delays traveling anyway. He said he took a weeklong cruise and a trip to the Canary Islands – paid for by Villa Vie – and set out on his own to explore Europe, where he had never been, from Barcelona, Spain, to Prague in the Czech Republic and many other destinations (Villa Vie also offered reimbursement for those trips).

Torres said he’s “always taken everything in stride.”

“You can either sit here and gripe and complain, or you can look at the positive side of things and say, ‘What can I do to change it?’”

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Villa Vie's 3.5 year cruise officially departs following delays