More than 100 passengers who left Belfast harbour on a round the world luxury cruise two days ago are still anchored a couple of miles offshore.
The cruise company says it cannot set course for the open seas until some final paperwork is sorted.
It headed out of the port on Monday night, but travelled only a short distance before dropping anchor.
The ship, the Villa Vie Odyssey, remains just off Groomsport at the mouth of Belfast Lough.
The ship was supposed to leave in May and should be in the Caribbean by now, but its departure was delayed for technical reasons.
One couple, Angela and Stephen Theriac said they were glad to be on board, but keen to get underway properly.
"We're just so happy to be on board, now maybe in a week if we're still here in a week we'll feel differently, but for right now, we're ok and as long as it's all about safety first and they have to take care of whatever they have to take care of, we're ok with that," said Ms Theriac.
A total of 125 passengers have paid large sums of money for either lengthy luxury cruises, or in some case to live on the ship.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Those who have bought what are described as "villas" on board have paid between €100,000-€300,000.
It guarantees them a place on board the Odyssey for at least 15 years.
The passengers embarked on Monday night and set off with everyone assuming that was the last would be seen of the ship, but it stopped at the mouth of the lough.
Passengers were told that some final bits of paperwork needed to be signed off.
The Odyssey underwent a major refit in Belfast and needed required trials and accreditation before it could sail commercially.
A delay in delivery of a rudder and issues with the gearbox held things up.
The four month layover saw many of the passengers put in Belfast hotels while they waited for the work to be completed.
The cruise ship company has said the delay cost them £10m (€12m).
Despite the delay the passengers appear to remain upbeat that they will soon leave Belfast Lough.
"All the items have now been cleared. We just have to head back into Belfast and pick up a few items and then we can be on our way this evening for France," said one passenger John Frim.
