Sawt Falasteen - Stranded cruise ship passengers bid bitter-sweet farewell to Belfast

"Belfast has been a good place to wait," Randy Cassingham told AFP, sitting in a rented apartment alongside his wife Kit and scrolling on a laptop through photographs of their unexpected temporary home.

"But we sure didn't expect to wait here for four months, so we're really looking forward to leaving," said the 65-year-old writer from the US state of Colorado.

The Odyssey cruise ship, owned by US-based firm Villa Vie Residences, was scheduled to set sail from Belfast on May 30 on a three-and-a-half year cruise.

But outfitting, certification processes and engine repairs all took much longer than expected.

The delay had an unexpected benefit for two of the passengers.

Initially strangers, they fell in loved while walking around Belfast with other stranded passengers and are now engaged to be married at sea.

After passing sea trials this month, the Odyssey is finally due to leave "within seven days", its agents, Hamilton Shipping Port Services, told AFP on Wednesday.

They did not specify an exact date.

"It's bitter-sweet. I have loved being in Belfast but we have been trying to get on this cruise for so long and off we go, hopefully this weekend," said Kit Cassingham.

- Delays -

Passengers are able to either buy or rent long-term cabins on the so-called "residential" cruise ship, with the promise of unlimited voyages around the globe.

The floating town, which can accommodate around 600 passengers, is due to visit all seven continents and has more than 425 stops in 147 destinations planned.

Port stays will stretch from two to seven days.

Many passengers -- including the Cassinghams -- sold their homes and possessions, and rehomed pets so they could live permanently on board.

But instead of spending the northern hemisphere summer months in exotic climes like the Azores islands and the Caribbean, the cruise liner remained in dry dock at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.

"We don't have a home to go back to, so we stayed in Belfast," said Randy.

"The weather has been a bit dreary, especially since it's been a cold summer, cold even for Belfast," said Randy, shaking dry an umbrella after a stroll around his neighbourhood of red-brick terraced streets.

"Although we're both from Colorado so the cold doesn't really bother us," he laughed.

- Not stranded -

Passengers could spend all day on board the ship but were not allowed to sleep there, so spent the nights in hotels or rented apartments.

Some decided to explore Northern Ireland, while others used the opportunity to travel in Europe or join other cruises while the Odyssey remained stuck.

Kit, 69, decided to walk 70 miles (112 kilometres) from Belfast to Northern Ireland's second largest city, Londonderry, which is also known as Derry.

Part of her motivation "was to show that the ship people are not 'stranded' as most people perceived, that we can come and go as we want", she said.

The Cassinghams shared their rented apartment with Richard Namikas, a retired doctor from Florida who joined Kit on her walk.

Namikas said he enjoyed meeting the people of rural Northern Ireland during the hike.

"People who signed up for this cruise are people who want to go somewhere and do something, so I asked Kit if I could come along on her walk," he explained.

"I'm not looking forward to leaving here -- the countryside and people are a blessing. It's rather that I'm looking forward to getting on the ship and going to the next place, and the next place, and on and on," he said.

- Wedding bells -

Passengers are now flocking back to Belfast for the expected departure, which will see the Odyssey head to the Azores, then across the Atlantic towards the Caribbean.

"We couldn't have picked a better place to be stuck than Belfast," said Gian Perroni, a 62-year-old Canadian, after returning from a trip to Portugal.

Exploring Belfast by foot with other passengers during the summer, he first bonded with then got engaged to Angela Harsanyi, 53, also from Colorado.

"We started walking back and forth. Our friendship deepened and quickly blossomed into a romance. We are totally aligned on everything and can't imagine spending our lives with anyone else," he said.

The couple plan to get married on board the Odyssey somewhere between Panama and Costa Rica, where Perroni lived for the last six years before selling his home to join the cruise.

"It's like the honeymoon was already set in place before we met," he joked.

H.Nasr--SF-PST