A luxury cruise ship has spent its second full day moored in Belfast Lough after apparently setting off on a round-the-world journey - but passengers appear to remain in festive spirits.

Residents on board the Villa Vie Odyssey cruise liner told the News Letter last night that they were very relaxed about having spent their second full day off the coast of Bangor - but were hoping that they would set sail for France last night.

The world's media watched with fascination on Monday night as what is hoped to be the world's first perpetual round-the-world cruise liner launched from Belfast City Harbour.

However, at the time of going to press tonight, the vessel, owned by US company Villa Vie Residences, had still not moved out of Belfast Lough and was possibly looking at spending a third night anchored off the coast of Bangor.

Cruise blogger Dave Monk pointed out tonight that the Belfast Harbour cruise ship schedule showed that the vessel was due to dock in Belfast at 5pm today and depart at 11pm. But as the vessel had not docked by 5pm, he suggested that the departure time of 11pm was also incorrect.

On Tuesday CEO Mike Petterson told the News Letter that the vessel was waiting for final engineering paperwork before it would leave the lough.

The groundbreaking concept for the ship is that it will sail to 147 countries in 3.5 years - before beginning the trip all over again.

It was due to launch from Belfast in May but has been beset by repair requirements to meet maritime regulations.

placeholder image — Victor and Shristie Torres from Los Angeles take a selfie from the Ville Vie Odyssey while anchored in Belfast Lough.

Passengers can buy cabins from around £75,000 and live on board for the remaining lifespan of the ship - 15 years.

One man to have done just that is Victor Torres from Los Angeles, 53.

"They did say that we will be looking to leave tonight [Wednesday]," he told the News Letter last night.

The ship has not re-docked in Belfast since it launched on Monday, he said, but it is possible it might do so briefly before heading for France – possibly to collect fresh water.

Despite the two days moored in Belfast Lough, all images of passengers show them smiling from ear to ear.

"Right now, it's very festive," Victor said "You know, everyone's enjoying themselves.

"The music's going on, we have trivia [quizz] going on, we have salsa classes going on. We had the morning workouts happening."

"I got up at 6am and did two miles of walking around the deck [four laps per mile]. From there I went to a stretching class and then went back to the room to get showered and dressed. Then my wife and I went for breakfast."

At 4pm he also went salsa dancing.

On Monday night, a dozen passengers stayed up to watch a beautiful sunrise from the deck, he said.

"And just to let you know, the food is amazing. I mean, almost every meal that I've had here has been top mark.”

There was no official update yesterday from Villa Vie Residences on travel plans.

CEO Mr Petterson told the News Letter on Tuesday that they were awaiting a technical explanation from a Finnish marine technology company for a tiny unexpected bend in the ship’s structure – about the thickness of a human hair – that has been there since it was launched 30 years ago.

• Track the Villa Vie Odyssey online here.