May 20, 2024
Villa Vie Odyssey Details
Villa Vie Residences
ship's name is the Odyssey. We were originally due to leave out of Southampton, England on May 15th, but that has now shift back to May 30th out of Belfast, Ireland since the ship ahead of us in the drydock, the Margaritaville, is running late by two weeks, due to torrential rains and their elaborate paint scheme.
The VVR Odyssey,
which was previously called the Braemar by Joseph Olsen Cruises (and originally built for Cunard), had sailed for approximately 15 years in the Caribbean, Europe and Greek Isles. The ship has been sitting dormant for over 3 years in Scotland, since Covid shut down the entire cruise industry. Therefore, the ship needs to be gently woken up: testing & powering her 4 engines; put through the paces for all inspections of sea worthiness and then sail from Scotland to Belfast, for its dry dock overhaul. The renovations include replacing all the weather worn outside decking, a major overhaul to the pool deck, repainting and rebranding the exterior of the ship, minor upgrades to all the cabins and creating the new business and culinary centers. Then VVR has to load all the provisions and crew and get the Odyssey ship shape! Pun intended.
Amenities on the ship include: three restaurants, eight bars and four lounges, a heated salt water pool with two Jacuzzis, a spa and fitness center, a well-stocked library, game and craft rooms, culinary center, convenience store, bikes, scuba program with equipment and certificate, golf simulator and a golf around the world program & club storage, a newly added pickleball court, shuffleboard, an observation deck with firepits and star gazing equipment, a business center w/ sound proof rooms if you need for privacy / recording / music etc. Any activity / hobby a passenger has a penchant for they have been encouraged to start up and give VVR a list of equipment needed and they will supply. Residents are offering to lead yoga, tai chi, mahjongg and poker games and other interest. There is also a a chiropractor and massage therapist are also packing their specialty equipment and language experts willing to give lessons and help.
We have a resident only APP that we have all been conversing on since we signed up for the trip. The APP works great for keeping us current on everything going on at VVR, with regards to the ship and their vendors, and gives us passengers a way to get to know each other before we set sail. Once we are underway, they will use the APP to communicate all kinds of ship news. We will book our excursions and services through the APP and get all notifications on arrivals and departures, port / country news etc. Each of us also has a unique profile page where you can introduce yourself and passions to all. Through the App I was able to meet up with four other passengers in Puerto Vallarta, when I was there in January, as they noted they were too. They are the first residents I have met in person. Two of them are just down the hall from me, on deck 6.
On Saturday August 29, 2026 we achieved another historic milestone on this circumnavigation of the World , we cruised into Hong Kong Harbor. Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. The land encompassed by Hong Kong is confusing. It includes part of the southern coast of mainland China, just below Shenzhen, Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories . Looking at a map helps, but the rules changed so many times! I asked my buddy Chat several times, to tell me if what I was looking at was the Hong Kong that the British had owned for years. The answer was never straight forward!
Ha Long Bay in Vietnam is one of those bucket list places I have had in my sights for years. It's the iconic picture in my mind's eye, whenever I think of Vietnam . We had made plans to go with 8 others on a brand new, swanky Red Dragon Junk boat for a harbor cruise and overnight stay, but sadly the weather did not cooperate the whole 4 days we were in port. No ships were permitted to sail, per the local government. Many of us were bummed! This is typhoon session and there was a lot of rain and high winds our first couple of days - we were hoping it would blow out the last day and we could at least do a day trip but no luck!
To get to the final stop on our Vietnam FUN Tour in Hue, we had our driver take us on the scenic route called the Hai Van Pass. This 3 hour drive took us back through Da Nang and then into mountains and along coast for what is generally a very scenic route. Unfortunately for us, it was mainly covered in clouds and fog.