Villa Vie Residences

[VL1]

That is just a few days away.  Are people boarding the ship in preparation for embarkation?  Will this really happen, or will there be another last minute delay?

[JohnCA]

Out of dry dock and ready to board

 

 

[sandiego1]

On 7/28/2024 at 7:32 PM, JohnCA said:

Out of dry dock and ready to board

 

 

Not ready to board. Yes, the dry dock portion of the remodel is finished. However there are numerous “in water” tests and certificates that aren’t complete. Friends are still in Belfast waiting to move onto the ship. They were able to board and spend the day unpacking and enjoying the ship. However, they aren’t allowed to spend the night on the ship yet.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

There are several people on YouTube documenting their adventures - Sounds exciting - I hope it works out.

 

 

[gkbiiii]

Sadly, the Odyssey is not an attractive ship, inside or out. 

[VL1]

3 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

Sadly, the Odyssey is not an attractive ship, inside or out. 

Are you a passenger?  Have you seen it?

[Papadog]

57 minutes ago, VL1 said:

Are you a passenger?  Have you seen it?

No.......I have a Family member waiting to go on. HE IS VERY FRUSTRATED and staying in a hotel in Belfast.

[VL1]

I am sorry for his disappointment.

[MacMadame]

10 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

Sadly, the Odyssey is not an attractive ship, inside or out. 

I've been watching videos and tend to agree. I suspect that the company was planning to do a lot more work on the ship before all those mechanical issues were found.

 

In one of the videos, I watched, one of the employees (the CEO?) was talking about how the rooms were not what they wanted and they will continue to work on them. Not sure how that will work but I guess we'll see.

[VL1]

I wonder if there will be a monetary recompense for these problems. No

[Menocchio]

On 8/9/2024 at 7:24 AM, The-Inside-Cabin said:

There are several people on YouTube documenting their adventures - Sounds exciting - I hope it works out.

 

 

I mean no disrespect to the YouTuber couple, but the gasp I let out when I saw how small their room was (and how it was already packed with their stuff) is probably all the evidence I'll ever need that the residential cruise lifestyle is not for me and probably never will be. 

 

It's funny, I'm personally very okay with tiny staterooms. Even inside solo studios. But those are for vacations. 7-14 days, at least half of them port days. I'm not there to be in my room. But after enough time, I'm eventually going to want a break from exploring the ports or doing cruise ship activities. I'd want to just recharge by myself and just relax in a comfortable, familiar space. And that's just not enough, especially after I put enough of my stuff in there to really make in my own. I would go insane in a cabin like that. I think even a suite might be difficult. 

[MacMadame]

On 8/9/2024 at 10:49 PM, VL1 said:

I wonder if there will be a monetary recompense for these problems. No

They are being put up in a hotel room for free and have been giving pax all sorts of goodies since the first delay. Things like fancy dinners, excursions, etc. I think they even gave pax the option to fly back home and fly back when the ship was ready on the company's dime.

 

So not being given money but having money spent on them.

[S4POPO]

When is this ship departing?  I still see it in Belfast.

[Travel_Around_The_World]

On 8/12/2024 at 5:10 PM, MacMadame said:

They are being put up in a hotel room for free and have been giving pax all sorts of goodies since the first delay. Things like fancy dinners, excursions, etc. I think they even gave pax the option to fly back home and fly back when the ship was ready on the company's dime.

 

So not being given money but having money spent on them.

Well, the company is using a few "residents" as social media references. Not everybody got such a sweetheart deal. 

Last I heard they were allowed to move in but had to leave at night and go to a hotel because of issues with the firedoors. 

The real funny part is, a guy who rejected the MV Gemini as not fit for such an endeavor and fleeing his company right before bankruptcy, buys in his next endeavor the sister ship to the MV Gemini and thinks a 4 week drydock is enough - how can you not go wrong with that? 😆

Right now, I don't know if they will ever sail but if they do at some point they will eventually run into massive problems. You don't buy a 30-year old cruise ship and think you can make  it a home for people. This ship was build for a totally different purpose. 

[VL1]

Good grief.  I thought they might be just days away from sailing.  I am back to believing that I shall believe it when they sail out of Belfast.

[MacMadame]

2 hours ago, Travel_Around_The_World said:

The real funny part is, a guy who rejected the MV Gemini as not fit for such an endeavor and fleeing his company right before bankruptcy, buys in his next endeavor the sister ship to the MV Gemini and thinks a 4 week drydock is enough - how can you not go wrong with that? 😆

It is not clear who was thinking or doing what back then. I got the impression that the Life at Sea people were okay with the original ship and it was Miray Cruises who said No and tried to buy a bigger ship. All these people seem to me to be not the best at organizing things though.

[cassieroll]

Living Life on a Cruise just put up an update yt video that says "Due to an unviable risk assessment, our boarding has been delayed until at least 08/28/24".

[VL1]

Here it comes. It will soon be deemed unfit for sea and the wailing will begin.  Good luck with refunds.

[MacMadame]

What is "Living Life on a Cruise"? Do you mean "Villa Vie"?

[cassieroll]

58 minutes ago, MacMadame said:

What is "Living Life on a Cruise"? Do you mean "Villa Vie"?

 Apologies! They are a couple on YouTube documenting their Villa Vie experience. Their channel is called Living Life on a Cruise. 

[MacMadame]

I was following some of the cruisers too but there's only so much of "we aren't sailing yet" I could take. 🤣

[walkingsoon]

Watching from the sidelines and rooting for their success. The concept is great and the pace, three and a half years to circumnavigate the globe with frequent long stops, is perfect. But I'm sad 😟

 

I wonder if the big players, CCL NCL & RCI, don't have an army of evil minion lobbyists working behind the scenes to get this daring upstart over regulated to death before it can get out of port.

 

Walkingsoon

[Travel_Around_The_World]

1 hour ago, walkingsoon said:

I wonder if the big players, CCL NCL & RCI, don't have an army of evil minion lobbyists working behind the scenes to get this daring upstart over regulated to death before it can get out of port.

 

Why? That company is no risk to them. There is a reason those big cruiselines got rid of their 30-year old ships. They have become inefficient, expensive to maintain and out-of-date. 

What Villa Vie should have done is:
a) buy the ship
b) get it into drydock
c) get all the fixing done
d) get all the inspections done
e) float it out
f) set a cruising date and sell the inventory to potential cruisers

TBH, why would anybody buy a 30-year old ship which was layed up for several years and think that a 4-week drydock is enough? Most simple refurbishing drydocks are longer than that. 
 

[Papadog]

I  AGREE

46 minutes ago, Travel_Around_The_World said:

Why? That company is no risk to them. There is a reason those big cruiselines got rid of their 30-year old ships. They have become inefficient, expensive to maintain and out-of-date. 

What Villa Vie should have done is:
a) buy the ship
b) get it into drydock
c) get all the fixing done
d) get all the inspections done
e) float it out
f) set a cruising date and sell the inventory to potential cruisers

TBH, why would anybody buy a 30-year old ship which was layed up for several years and think that a 4-week drydock is enough? Most simple refurbishing drydocks are longer than that. 
 

I agree with all the above.......... Also are they being transparent about all the maintenance records were lost. 

[Travel_Around_The_World]

40 minutes ago, Papadog said:

I  AGREE

I agree with all the above.......... Also are they being transparent about all the maintenance records were lost. 

Yeah, those records are somewhere. But at this point what could they tell you? The ship was rottening away for 4 years. There is a reason Fred Ohlsen never put the ship back into service and rather put it up for sale. 
With this ship Villa View should have expected the worst. There is nothing worse for an old ship than being just laid up for years. 

I would like to hear from other 'residents' though and not only from the same two or three Youtubers and/or bloggers. According to the Wiki page they sold 70% of the cabins. That is a lot of 'residents' we have not heard yet from. Maybe their NDAs prohibit that. (would like a confirmation to the rumors that purchasers had to sign an NDA)