CRUISE SHIP OFFERING 3-YEAR CRUISE HAS YET TO LEAVE PORT

[Note: This cruise ship story is similar to ANOTHER long-term cruise story from several months ago, but in that case the passengers showed up in Istanbul and discovered there was no boat!]
A cruise liner offering a three-year voyage around the world has been sitting in Belfast, Ireland, three months past its scheduled departure date. The Odyssey, operated by the US cruise line Villa Vie Residences, was scheduled to depart Belfast on May 30. But there were problems with the ship’s rudders and gearbox, so it’s still sitting in port. Passengers who had paid up to $900,000 for a cabin arrived in May. Some people had sold their houses, expecting to live on the boat for three years, but for the past three months they have been stuck in the city. They are permitted to spend their days onboard, and get meals and some entertainment there, but they can’t stay on the ship at night. The company is putting them up in hotels. Mike Petterson, the chief executive of Villa Vie Residences, said they are now in the last stages of departure and expect a successful launch next week “after which we will head to Bremerhaven, Amsterdam, Lisbon, then across the Atlantic for our Caribbean segment.”
* And if you believe that, I’ve got a leprechaun I’d like to sell you.
* Obviously the ship’s crappy rudders and gearbox were built by Boeing.
* No big deal. The rudders and gearbox just let you steer and go forwards.
* The biggest tourist attraction in Belfast is something called “The Titanic Experience.” Just what you want to visit when you’re waiting for your cheap-ass boat to be repaired before it sails across the ocean.
* The cruise ship company is offering all passengers a complimentary stomach virus while they wait.