Belfast’s stranded luxury cruise ship: Inside all the onboard drama

Transcript

00:00Stranded for months, hundreds of thousands of pound cabins and a meet-cute turned on-board

00:05wedding, here's what's been happening on the latest drama-filled, catastrophic world

00:09cruise.

00:10A luxury U.S. cruise ship finally set sail after being stranded in Belfast for over four

00:15months, only to hear it needs to return back to the Northern Irish port hours later.

00:19The Villa V Odyssey was due to depart on a three-and-a-half-year journey around the world

00:23on the 30th of May, however, was delayed due to necessary repairs.

00:27This meant the boat was stuck in the port in Belfast from the end of May until now.

00:32And after finally getting the green light to depart earlier today, passengers have been

00:35told they'll be returning to the port so some final pieces of paperwork can be done before

00:40setting off again this evening.

00:41So what's been happening on board for the last four months?

00:44Well, naturally, many passengers travelled home during this period, but around 100 are

00:48believed to have stayed in Northern Ireland.

00:51With cabins costing between £75,000 and £670,000, I can imagine many haven't been best pleased

00:57with all the delays.

00:58One couple sold up everything they owned to spend over $1 million on three cabins on board

01:03the ship, so for them, heading home wasn't really an option.

01:06But while being stranded has been a nightmare for some, it was a blessing in disguise for

01:11others.

01:12Two fellow passengers who decided to stay in Belfast ended up falling in love, are now

01:15engaged and planning to get married on board by the captain.

01:24The ship is scheduled to leave Belfast again at 11pm this evening, so fingers crossed it

01:29actually does.