They have paid as much as £27,000-a-month for an epic three-year luxury cruise voyage around the world - only to spend the last three months stuck in rain-lashed Belfast as their ship struggles with engine problems.
But cruise passengers on The Odyssey - including one who is sailing around the world with her cat - today insisted that they are looking on the bright side, and enjoying their time in Northern Ireland.
Typical of the remarkably upbeat passengers, who are mainly Americans, is retired wealth manager Holly Hennessy, 67, from Florida will celebrate her 68th birthday next week.
Like other passengers she left her normal life behind for the round-the-world trip, only to be stuck in the city since May 30.
But Holly, who is accompanied on her adventure by her pet cat 'Captain the Cruising Kitty', told us cheerfully: 'I love Belfast. Belfast people are wonderful.
Typical of the remarkably upbeat passengers, who are mainly Americans, is retired wealth manager Holly Hennessy, 67, from Florida (pictured) will celebrate her 68th birthday next week
Like other passengers Holly left her normal life behind for the round-the-world trip, only to be stuck in the city since May 30
Cruise passengers on The Odyssey today insisted that they are looking on the bright side, and enjoying their time in Northern Ireland
Cruise passengers who paid £27,000-a-month for a three-year voyage spanning Europe, Asia and the Americas have spent the last three months in Belfast
'I just want to thank everybody in Belfast who's been so kind to us. And I mean, it's been really nice.
'I have been to Bushmills. I've been to Giant's Causeway twice. Yeah, I think it's the best marketing job for a bunch of rocks in the whole wide world, but the best part of the trip was the stop at Bushmills.
'I love the traditional music being played in the pubs. I had a blast.
Holly, whose cat Captain has his own social media pages, went on: 'Originally, the ship was supposed to depart Southampton but they decided to bring her here for retrofits to Harland and Wolff so we were going to depart from Belfast on May 30.
'And then they found some things. For instance, our first major delay was the rudder stocks.. That repair on my own boat took 16 weeks.
'So I remember the conference call when they announced it, I audibly went, 'Oh, no.', I knew we were going to be here a long while.'
She added: 'I am from Florida so I get a medal for enduring your summer. I mean, today is beautiful, but it's still, this would be winter to me.
She knew she liked Belfast after visiting five years ago on a trip around Ireland: 'Everybody said 'Don't bother with Belfast'. I didn't listen, and I came, and it was my favourite part of the whole trip. I mean, I loved Belfast. The people are fabulous.
But Holly, who is accompanied on her adventure by her pet cat 'Captain the Cruising Kitty', told us cheerfully that she 'loves' Belfast. Pictured: Fran Paroissien withHolly Hennessy
The Odyssey, which is operated by US cruise line Villa Vie Residences and can hold nearly a thousand passengers, was set to leave the city on May 30
'I went to Titanic Belfast, and it was so incredibly moving to me. The Titanic Museum is spectacular.'
Holly added: 'I'm on the ship now. We can't stay aboard, but all day we can spend and they provide the buffet. It's open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
'They have trivia, they have fitness classes, they have entertainment movies.
'I mean, it's like being on the cruise, except we're not moving.
Asked if Captain is happy with boat life, she said: 'I used to live on my own boat with Captain the Cruising Kitty so he's used to it. Sometimes I stroll Captain around the city. 'But he doesn't love it when I'm gone all day, he decides he wants to play with me at 4am.'
Another cheerful passenger is Australian Rina Cavazza, 49 - because she has used the delay to travel around Europe anyway.
Rina said: 'I haven't had it as bad as everyone else, so I haven't had to do hotel, shopping and stuff like that like everybody else.
'I've been very lucky, and I've been able to travel around Europe and stuff like that, and I've been back home twice now.'
Another cheerful passenger is Australian Rina Cavazza, 49 - because she has used the delay to travel around Europe anyway. Pictured: Rinawith her friend with Sean Doherty.
Passengers, who are mainly Americans, left their normal lives behind for the round-the-world trip, with some selling their homes and possessions to pay between £75,000 and £700,000 to buy their cabins for the 15-year life of the vessel
Problems with the ship's rudders and gearbox mean it is still docked in the Northern Ireland port
But she's also become fond of Belfast while there: 'I love the culture, I love Belfast people. It's just the weather that's not the best, because compared to the weather they come back from home, that's the only negative other than that. Love it, okay, yeah, perfect.'
Shirene Thomas, 50, from North Carolina, said: 'The people in Belfast are so, so friendly. And there is a lot to see and do, a lot of history.
'Early on we did a lot of sight seeing. I learned so much about Titanic, even though I had always been to exhibits before, it had never really struck a chord with me until I saw the violin exhibit.
'The were all so young. I found it very moving. I was in such tears.
'I also learned so much about the Troubles. I did a work abroad trip to Dublin years ago after colleague. It was nice to have another perspective.
'I would sum up this experience with 'hurry up and wait'. You gotta be flexible and roll with the tide, pun intended!'
She added: 'Now that we are able to get on the ship I have been spending a lot of time trying to get organised, and make the cabin feel like home.'
Fred Bush (75) from Washington DC told the Mail Online he worked for three former US presidents - and now backs Trump.
Shirene Thomas, 50, from North Carolina, said that to locals have been friendly and she has filled her days sightseeing
She added that she has enjoyed learning about Northern Ireland's history - including the Titanic. Pictured:Shirene Thomas and other passengers disembark from a shuttle bus to reboard the stricken cruise ship
He too was upbeat about the ship's delay in Belfast. He said: 'It's a start up and every start up has its problems. And I think they are solving them one by one.
'It is taking them a long time, and I think there is a lot of people here who are very anxious to get into their new homes.
'I have done a lot of things in Belfast that most tourists would do, went to some places around the area, go on the ship, and socialise.
'I have been to the shore, the Titanic museum, and walked around town a lot.
'The people are great, real friendly.
'I have sometimes had difficulty understanding everybody, our accents aren't the same.
'The launch, everyone is anticipating it so.
'All we know is it will be soon.
Fred Bush (75) from Washington DC told the Mail Online he worked for three former US presidents - and now backs Trump
Retired writer and actor Joey Martino, 60, from Chicago, Illinois was very positive about his experience - joking that he knows how to 'cut loose'
'They had been working so hard. I don't know how many hundreds of workers they have here working on all the things that need doing.'
Retired writer and actor Joey Martino, 60, from Chicago, Illinois was very positive too.
He said: 'I love Belfast. Absolutely love this city. The architecture here. The people have been so friendly. It does rain a little bit, it gets a little cold, bit besides that, it reminds me of my home in Chicago. The same type of feel.
'Rudyard Kipling said in his magic If poem 'If you can wait, not be tired by waiting' and I go by that. Great things come to those who wait, and this ship is a beautiful, classic ship.
'If you look inside it, it's just one of those ships you just fall in love with it.
'I have looked at this delay as an opportunity. I have been back and forward to Budapest and Amsterdam, and just enjoyed everything about this process.'
He added: 'Sometime in the future I will develop a script on all this.'
Holly told Mail Online 'Joey dances like John Travolta'.
Retired school head teacher Fran Paroissien (76) from Melbourne in Victoria, in Australia said that for her the cruise will be what she calls 'KIing' - spending the kids' inheritance'
While they are able to stay on the ship during the day and use its facilities - which include three restaurants, four lounges, a library, gym, golf simulator and spa with a pool and two hot tubs - they have to disembark at night and stay in local hotels
Joey said: 'That's one thing I know, how to cut loose.'
Retired school head teacher Fran Paroissien (76) from Melbourne in Victoria, in Australia said that for her the cruise will be what she calls 'KIing' - spending the kids' inheritance.'
She told us: 'Most of my working life I spent teaching primary and secondary school.
'In Australia we call what we are doing now SKIing, Spending the Kids Inheritance.
'There were so many of us here in Belfast that we formed a community in pubs, on excursions, walking down to somewhere for lunch, you know, you'd see someone else that you'd seen on the boat, or we knew from it, was and that sort of thing.
'And so we sort of, we were a real community before we actually even stepped on here.
'Some have done wonderful excursions from here to Canary Islands and Europe.
I haven't, because I my idea of going on a ship for the rest of my life. I've bought a cabin, so it's worth 15 years, and I'm 76 so it's enough!
'I hate airports so I have done everything here in Belfast, gone further north, I have gone down to the Republic (of Ireland).
'I have been over to Scotland last weekend by ferry.
'I wasn't as put out by the weather in Belfast as some because I come from Melbourne in Australia, and we have the reputation of having four seasons in one day as well as they do here
'The Belfast people are fantastic. No, no worries at all. If I want to get on a bus and I use this walker. I just say, just turn around and say, 'will someone lift this onto the bus for me', and I walk up the steps.
'Everyone's been terribly helpful, whether it has been in the shops or post office or whatever. Perfect.'
