A Deep Dive Into the 9-Month Ultimate World Cruise

Table Of Content

• The nine-month cruise that took over TikTok
• Watch: The world's biggest cruise ship is meant for thrill seekers
• newsletter
• Site search
• This World Cruise to 140 Countries Will Set You Back as Much as $839,999
• How do cruise lines plan world cruises?
• Things I Loved (and Hated) About My First Big-Ship Cruise
• Are there really more things going wrong on airplanes?

For the next several months, she'll work remotely and will be taking advantage of the various stops and sights the voyage will have to offer. "We just kind of started running numbers and processing and thinking about it," Andrew Kenney adds. "We were like, 'Well, we can do it. We don't have a mortgage right now. We don't have kids yet.' We're just in a season of life where we could actually take nine months off and see the world." Some of these users, many deeming themselves as The Ultimate Real World Cruise cast, have started to hang out with each other on the ship and post content together.

The nine-month cruise that took over TikTok

Those sailings tend to occur in the spring and fall, and travelers can find them labeled as such on cruise line websites or through a travel agent. The couple is among the thousands of passengers on the global trip which departed Miami in December. The cruise is set to make 150 stops in 275 days before its planned last leg in September of 2024. The pair who met in 2020 sold their car and used savings to board this world cruise.

Watch: The world's biggest cruise ship is meant for thrill seekers

9-Month Royal Caribbean Cruise Passengers Vote for New Itinerary Around Africa After Forced Reroute - PEOPLE

9-Month Royal Caribbean Cruise Passengers Vote for New Itinerary Around Africa After Forced Reroute.

Posted: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

In viewing all the TikToks posted, creators have seemingly created a real-time view of the cruise and given they'll be on the ship for 9 months, TikTok has become obsessed with what they're calling "a reality show". Ticket rates are based on a range of 1,073 staterooms and the full 274-night trip ran from $53,999 per person to $117,599 per person. The cruise will depart from Miami on Dec. 10, 2023, and last until Sept. 10, 2024.

newsletter

‘Anything can happen.’ Inside the ‘real life reality show’ of the nine-month cruise - CNN

‘Anything can happen.’ Inside the ‘real life reality show’ of the nine-month cruise.

Posted: Wed, 17 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

The cruise differs from a typical seven-night voyage in several crucial ways. Mainly – you’re not just on a short-lived vacation with your fellow passengers. You’ve essentially moved into a floating apartment building with them for almost a full year. You’re also putting your real life, relationships, and potentially careers, on hold. Who can just depart from their everyday responsibilities for a 9-month jaunt around the world?

Site search

The hashtag #RoyalCaribbeanUltimateWorldCruise has already accumulated nearly 100 million views on the platform, and with the cruise liner ending its voyage on Sept. 10, 2024, that number has plenty of time to continue to climb. The spokesperson did not share details regarding the passenger’s identity or the circumstances of their death. Prospective cruisers can usually find "a lot of good deals at the beginning of the year" during wave season, Goldberg-Glazer said. "If you're looking for a deal over Christmas, you're probably not going to find it," said Stephanie Goldberg-Glazer, chief experience officer and owner of the travel agency Live Well, Travel Often. She recalled that when she started to put the items away, she thought, "OK, how do I win this game of Tetris." The trip was not only financially possible because of her parents, but their passing served as her reminder that "retirement is not guaranteed to any of us," Linderman said.

The penultimate leg of the trip heads to the Mediterranean and Middle East destinations over the course of another 67 days. The first traverses North America and South America over 67 nights and includes stops in Brazil, the Caribbean and Antarctica. Jessica Maddox, an assistant professor of digital media at the University of Alabama where Bama Rush takes place each year, said she knows first-hand how morally gray it can be to wish drama onto the lives of real people.

Unlike many of the other passengers on board the world cruise, Linderman had zero experience on massive vacation ships. She had, however, spent two years volunteering in West Africa with Mercy Ships, a nonprofit that operates floating hospitals. The world is a big place and luckily there's a ton of water a person can cruise on. "The adventure begins and ends in Miami, Florida, visiting all seven continents, 65 countries, over 150 ports of call, with 18 overnights and 11 World Wonders," per Royal Caribbean. For Lake, the trip is a chance to see new places – like Antarctica, which she “always wanted to do” but never thought she would – while spending quality time with family. No matter where they are in the world, she has a family dinner with her parents and sister every night.

"And so [I'm putting] an emphasis on just doing all of the things I can do now while I'm healthy, while I'm able, instead of putting them off in hopes that I can do them later, when in reality that may not happen." Angie Linderman, another young cruiser, said she had tested positive for the BRCA2 gene, which is linked to an increased risk of certain cancers, so there was no time like the present. The 274-night Ultimate World Cruise is scheduled to visit more than 150 ports of call in 65 countries on all seven continents, according to Royal Caribbean.

Are there really more things going wrong on airplanes?

“Silversea has a team of destination experts that select destinations that are unique and culturally diverse,” he said in an email. The line, also part of Royal Caribbean Group, sailed its first world cruise in 2007 and works to create destination themes and make segments distinct. Sisters Brandee and Shannon Lake, who are Black, said they’re sharing a cabin and said that quarantining  together during the pandemic prepared them to live in close quarters on the ship for nine months. Some said they cannot fathom what being on the cruise, traveling to that many locations while eating and drinking the days away, would do to a person physically. Rumors also quickly began to circulate on TikTok, with some people alleging that the ship wasn’t at capacity and how some travelers with better membership status were being treated differently than the others on board. And while the cruise has been going viral since it was first announced in 2021, it made more unfortunate headlines following the death of a passenger this month.

"They did at least take the time to come to me and you know, ask how everything's going now." Soon after the post began to circulate, she says the cruise’s hotel director made a point to greet her at dinner. She echoed these statements in separate interview that aired on TODAY Dec. 27, saying that the passengers are "one growing family" and that "everything has been great."

It's not too late to join the cast of Royal Caribbean's Ultimate World Cruise, turned what The New York Times has deemed "TikTok's favorite new reality show." "I think that, realistically, if you can book a year or more in advance and block off the time and know that's going to work for you, then that's perfect," she said. But remember that destinations can be seasonal, which may narrow the window of opportunity.

Maddox said it makes sense that people are trying to use the language of reality TV to understand what they see on TikTok, where “storytime” posts and drama are often posted episodically. Still, she urged viewers to remember that where reality TV is often scripted and planned behind the scenes, those on the Ultimate World Cruise are real people living their real lives. Like Maddox, many likened the cruise to the viral BamaRushTok — the time of year when sororities recruit new members at The University of Alabama, which is often shared by potential recruits on TikTok. Maddox, who has taught some of the women who became stars of the Bama Rush phenomenon, said she’s seen first-hand how real people being treated like figures on reality TV can be damaging and stressful. Other passengers told "TODAY" they were on the cruise to celebrate wedding anniversaries. One traveler, Angie Linderman, said she took the trip because she is at a higher risk for developing cancer in her lifetime and wanted to check off bucket list items while she is healthy.

World cruises aren't new, but this is the first one that Royal Caribbean has done and being a mainstream cruise line, the attention it's generating may be related to the fact it's more approachable than on smaller lines. The world cruise will take 274-nights and visit every continent in the world, including Antarctica. "That is something that has kind of helped to impact my desire to travel," she explains.