caribbean cruise tiktok trend

Why the 9-month Ultimate World Cruise is social media's latest obsession

It only took two weeks into a nine-month global cruise for it to go viral on TikTok.

The Ultimate World Cruise, a 274-night voyage aboard the Serenade of the Seas by Royal Caribbean Cruises, departed from Miami on Dec. 10. The cruise, which promises passengers travel to more than 60 countries and almost a dozen world wonders during its course, was intended to give those aboard the opportunity to spend the months “bonding with like-minded explorers over global discoveries across all seven continents,” according to Royal Caribbean’s website .

Shortly after its departure, many aboard the Serenade of the Seas began documenting their time on the ship. Some showed off cabins in the style of the MTV show “Cribs” while others opted to give tours of the entire ship. One couple made videos onboard joking about how they spent their children’s inheritances on the price of the cruise.

As people began to share their experiences on board, those on dry land were already reveling in the reality show that they believed would soon unfold on the Serenade of the Seas. On TikTok, the #UltimateWorldCruise tag has more than 54.8 million views as users obsess over what they speculate will turn into seaside drama. 

One person began tracking all the content creators on board so that others could easily follow along. Another offered advice to those on the ship on how to stay safe and healthy.

“I’m so invested in this 9 month world cruise happening cause I know it’s gonna be some MESS,” one person posted on X. 

“There’s going to be mutiny,” said one TikTok user. “There’s going to be blood. Someone is going overboard. I want to watch. Bravo, where are you? I need eyes,” the person said. “We’re witnessing Fyre Festival, Alabama Rush and no one is rushing there.”

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. 

A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean Cruises did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment regarding the rumors, as well as the virality of the cruise itself. 

Although no major drama has unfolded aboard the ship, those following along on social media appear eager for reality TV-style turmoil to unfold. 

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.

“For the world cruise TikTok, I think it’s OK to think of the content we consume on TikTok as reality television,” she said. “But I think it’s important to remember these are real people, and that even reality television is scripted and coerced and is forced drama.”

Here’s everything we know.

Where is the cruise going and how much did it cost?

There are four legs of the cruise. The first traverses North America and South America over 67 nights and includes stops in Brazil, the Caribbean and Antarctica. 

The next leg of the cruise heads to the Pacific, stopping at 87 destinations in 87 nights. These stops include New Zealand, Japan, Australia, China and India, among other countries. 

The penultimate leg of the trip heads to the Mediterranean and Middle East destinations over the course of another 67 days. The stops include Egypt, Greece, Italy and Turkey. 

Finally, the last leg sees passengers touring Europe, with stops in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway over the final 63 nights. 

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. 

“Imagine eating unlimited cruise food for nine months, like what that’s going to do to your body. I just worry people aren’t going to pace themselves and it’s going to be really hard on their bodies. They’re vacationing for nine months. Like, you can’t vacation for nine months! You need to have balance,” one TikToker said in a video about concerns for the passengers aboard the ship. 

But travelers were not required to book the entire nine-month duration of the cruise. Instead, they were able to purchase either a nine- to 28-night duration aboard the ship or one of the four segments of the trip, rather than booking the entire trip, Royal Caribbean's website states.

Those who chose the full trip, prices started at $53,999, according to the Royal Caribbean website. 

What’s really happening onboard? 

The passengers on the Serenade of the Seas so far seem to be enjoying the cruise, according to several who spoke to " TODAY ." 

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. 

Brandee Lake, 46, said the staff and passengers have been “so friendly, so kind, so much energy,” quashing some of the online chatter that there’s tension among different travelers. 

She appeared to have one issue, according to a TikTok that she posted, saying she has been repeatedly asked if she is a member of the ship’s staff rather than a traveler. 

“If I get asked if I work on this ship one more time,” she said in the video. “After I said I was not working, then I was asked if I was independently wealthy — like, basically, how did you afford this?

But she told "TODAY" that after she posted her TikTok, the cruise’s hotel manager made it a point to greet her during dinner. She and Shannon Lake, 42, said that nothing has happened yet on the ship that would be worthy of reality TV.

Brandee Lake did not immediately respond to a request for comment made by NBC News. 

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. 

“Retirement age is not a guarantee. And so (there is) 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,” she said. 

So is there drama and why is social media obsessed?

Well, not really. 

Some have homed in on the fact that “pinnacle members,” Royal Caribbean’s highest tier of membership, have access to different excursions and have allegedly had town hall meetings. This doesn’t appear to be out of the norm for a cruise, Maddox said. 

But there have been some suggestions that people of different backgrounds might be experiencing different treatment on the ship. 

One person claimed that American and non-American guests were being treated differently on board the ship. 

Beyond that, those documenting their time on the ship have yet to report any reality TV-worthy drama for TikTok to consume. The posts from those on land have mostly consisted of documenting who is aboard the ship, creating “bingo cards” for events on the ship, and cheering on drama. 

“I don’t love the idea of people dubbing themselves ‘gossip director’ or ‘content curator,’ which I’ve seen to describe, like, talking about viral trends and events on the ship,” Maddox said. “These are real people with real lives on the other side of the screen.”

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. 

“There’s definitely this fascination that’s baked into TikTok that we see exacerbated in things like Bama Rush and the world cruise of ‘I could never live this life, so I’m now going to live vicariously through these people,’” Maddox said. 

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.

“It’s an ethical issue to hope and wish drama upon people who are just trying to do this fun thing with their lives and decided to share it with us,” Maddox said. “So I hope everybody, including the people who are enjoying watching this content, take a pause and remember that ethical social media use applies to them too.”

Kalhan Rosenblatt is a reporter covering youth and internet culture for NBC News, based in New York.

TikTok Turned a 9-Month World Cruise Into a Reality Show

By CT Jones

When Marc Sebastian heard about a nine-month cruise around the world, his first thought was that it sounded like the perfect premise for a reality TV show. 

“Put cameras on that goddamn ship,” Sebastian said in a TikTok that’s now been viewed 7 million times. “There’s gonna be mutiny. There’s gonna be blood. Someone is going overboard, I wanna watch. Alternatively, put me on the cruise. I’ll go. I’ll cause chaos. I’ll wreak havoc and I’ll record everything.”

Hashtags using the phrase #9monthcruise have upwards of 200 million views, with thousands of video additions from both cruise passengers and rubberneckers alike. TikTok users turning events into live reality television shows aren’t new. (Take The University of Alabama’s 2021 and 2022 sorority rush weeks, which were followed and dissected on #RushTok like the sports event of the century.) But the close quarters and increased demand for drama -centered content hasn’t just established a central hub for content creators on the ship. It’s also sparking questions about whether a cruise supposed to last the next nine months can keep TikTok’s collective attention — and whether that’s something passengers even want in the first place. 

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“The response has been crazy,” Oosthuizen says. “Everyone wants to know what we’re doing, how we’re doing. I’ve already had so many opportunities to work with friends.”

@amike_oosthuizen Spend the morning with us in Antarctica! ❄️📍🥶 #tavel #cruise #antarctica #ultimateworldcruise #worldcruise #worldcruise2023 #SAMA28 #royalcaribbean #viral #cruisetok #fyp #antarctica #drakepassage #snow ♬ original sound – Amike Oosthuizen

For retirees Joe and Audrey Martucci, the cruise was a well-deserved vacation after Joe’s retirement. But when their kids suggested putting their video messages on TikTok for their friends to watch, the two got an instant following. Now referred to as Cruise Dad and Cruise Mom, the couple shares videos with their 90,000 followers, about going on excursions, celebrating the birth of their first grandson, or how they’re keeping in touch with family. “We’re on FaceTime with each of the kids or texting with the kids every day,” Joe says. “They kind of say “Do you still have time for the OG kids since you have 90,000 others?”

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@aditaml2759 We’re not swingers, but we do love our Pineapples 🍍 #ultimateworldcruise2023 #ultimateworldcruise #royalcaribbeanultimateworldcruise #pineapples ♬ original sound – Adita

“I get that everybody’s really interested in the drama,” Leah says. “To me, it seems like they’re they’re continuing to watch because they want a front-row seat when it actually does happen. They’re expecting [a] reality show and I think what they should know but don’t is the producers on those reality shows tend to poke the bear to get that drama to come out. People don’t normally revert to that sort of behavior and that sort of interpersonal conflict on a normal basis.” 

@frugalvagabond Wind and waves while going through the Drake Passage #royalcaribbeancruise #cruisetok2023 #cruisetok2024 #serenadeoftheseas #royalcaribbeanultimateworldcruise #drakepassage ♬ Beautiful Life – Vin Music

“I literally do not give a fuck about playing bingo all day. I just wanted to look cunt,” Sebastian says.

Onboard, he set his sights firmly on roasting the decor, rating the limited facilities and entertainment on the ship, which he referred to as a “floating retirement home with a Cheesecake Factory attached,” and lambasting Royal Caribbean for making two employees split a $500 employee-of-the-month prize rather than giving them each their own.

“While I still feel like I did capture a lot of drama , quote-unquote, it just wasn’t the drama that people were expecting. I decided, let’s talk about the cruise industry and how this [billion dollar] company is treating their employees. Let’s have those conversations instead of me being mean to these people who paid $126,000 to be on this cruise.” (Royal Caribbean did not respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment.)

@marcsebastianf drake’s best work since hot line bling #ultimateworldcruise #worldcruise #serenadeoftheseas #royalcaribbean #cruisetok #cruise #9monthcruise #antarctica #drakepassage #northsea #mini #miniature #gashapon ♬ original sound – Marc Sebastian

But that isn’t to say the ride is boring. In fact, most of the drama that TikTok so desires seems to primarily stem from the app’s intrusion into the ship in the first place. Little Rat Brain (LRB), who has asked to only be identified by her handle, grew her TikTok following by documenting the trip, which she is on with her mother. But she tells Rolling Stone the TikTok fascination with the cruise, and the influx of people vlogging about their days meant the TikTokers and the other passengers had to agree about the rules of the boat — especially after many retirees were informed by their families and children that they were now the unwitting subjects of a social media reality show. 

@little_rat_brain There is so much meaning in this series of art, which I will go into a some point but I really wanted to highlight those that made this easily one of the most meaningful and creative days that I’ve had yet 🥰 also to you all, thank you, I’m still reading your comments and I appreciate every single one of them. . #ultimateworldcruise2023 #9monthcruise #9monthcruisetok #ultimateworldcruise #art #printmaking ♬ original sound – Little Rat Brain

The ethical questions about consent and personal privacy have begun to develop on the boat. Beth Anne, a 36-year-old creator, tells Rolling Stone that as dozens of unaffiliated accounts have sprung up recapping or breaking down events on the ship daily, TikTok creators on shore have also had to develop their own ethical guidance for what content they decided to share. Beth started “Ship Happens” on TikTok, where she does daily clips dissecting rumors and videos from the ship. She says that while she began making the videos because she needed a replacement for her favorite reality show, she’s more than aware that these are people — not characters. 

@livingmy_bethlife The main cast of our unintentional soap opera on the seas HAVE MET! Also… two new characters unlocked 🔐 #9monthcruise #cruisetok #royalcaribbeancruise #shiphappens #livingmybethlife @Nadine Bower @Lindsay @drjennytravels @joe @Amike Oosthuizen @Little Rat Brain @Andrew & Ale Kenney @Brooklyn Schwetje @Brandee Lake @Shannon Marie @Madison Schwetje ♬ original sound – Beth Anne

“It’s important that we have some boundaries in terms of what we share and how we share it,” Beth says. “Imagine if I’d saved up all this money and I was going on this trip of a lifetime and I felt like people were invading it and making it sound like something it’s not. And I think we have to be really careful of that because a lot of people worked super hard to be there.” 

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“I came in there as the reality person who’s like ‘I’m not here to make friends.’ I’m here to get content. I’m out of here for me,” Sebastian says. “And I left there as the person who really discovered that humanity and the kindness in people and left there feeling a little kinder themselves — even though I absolutely hated being on that ship.”

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Videos from Royal Caribbean's Ultimate World Cruise are captivating TikTok viewers

Rachel Treisman

Passengers on the epic around-the-world cruise are going viral as they share the voyage on TikTok. Over nine months, passengers are set to visit more than 60 countries.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Move over, "Below Deck" and "The Love Boat." The newest tales of life on a cruise ship aren't playing out on television. They're going viral on social media. A Royal Caribbean cruise is taking travelers around the world for nine months, captivating viewers on TikTok. Here's NPR's Rachel Treisman.

RACHEL TREISMAN, BYLINE: Shortly after the ship set sail from Miami last month, passengers of all ages started documenting their experience on TikTok.

(SOUNDBITE OF TIKTOK)

BROOKYLN SCHWETJE: Hey, guys. Welcome back for another day in my life. And today, we are in Fortaleza, Brazil.

JOE MARTUCCI: Hey, kids. It's been a fun day looking at Christmas decorations and lounging out at the pool.

TREISMAN: That's Brooklyn Schwetje and Joe Martucci, just some of the emerging, quote, unquote, "cruise influencers." Their videos started gaining traction around the holidays. People at home were spending extra time online and getting invested. Kisha Peart is one of them. The New York-based waitress and actress normally posts about dating and relationships, but as a former cruise ship employee herself, she decided to make a video sharing her thoughts.

KISHA PEART: Then I started recapping what was going on. It's like it took off. I think I gained over 30,000 followers since the cruise started.

TREISMAN: Peart is one of a handful of content creators covering the cruise in real time based on the videos coming out of the voyage, they're introducing new characters, answering viewers' questions and sharing the latest gossip.

PEART: Someone has already gone home. They've had weather mishaps. A person got sponsored to come on the boat. Cliques have formed. Oh, and they're running out of wine.

TREISMAN: There are a lot of questions and predictions about what might unfold over the next eight months. One creator, Kara Harms, even made a bingo card.

KARA HARMS: Petty neighbor drama, stowaways, pirate takeovers and, of course, you know, lots of diseases.

TREISMAN: Harms, the founder of a lifestyle travel website, says she hasn't seen anything like this in the social media space. Sure, there have been long cruises before.

HARMS: But not in a way where we're seeing it from, like, 30 different points of view. So it truly feels like a TikTok reality show.

TREISMAN: Though there are some key differences.

JAMIE COHEN: Reality shows are planned well in advance. In this case, it's kind of like as if you were to just throw everybody into the space and let the plot unfold in real time.

TREISMAN: That's Jamie Cohen, a media studies professor at Queens College who began his career as a reality TV producer. He says there's always the risk that people on board or on land will stir up drama for views. And he has some advice for the many people watching these videos.

COHEN: I think it's important to enjoy them. I don't think there's a reason to try to change reality.

TREISMAN: Cohen says internet audiences have a lot more power than they realize. As for the TikTokers, they don't appear to be going off the grid anytime soon. Rachel Treisman, NPR News.

Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Extremely Online

TikTok Can’t Get Enough Of #CruiseTok

It’s like Love Island and The White Lotus meets Below Deck .

Just two weeks into Royal Caribbean’s fabled nine-month cruise, TikTok is already anticipating some world-class sea-faring drama. Viewers of what’s now being called #CruiseTok are following every move of the Ultimate World Cruise on the Serenade of the Seas , a Royal Caribbean vessel that set sail from Miami on Dec. 10 for a nine-month expedition taking passengers to over 60 countries, 11 world wonders, and all seven continents. But not without a heavy dose of drama.

At least that’s what users following CruiseTok — with 2.7 billion views and counting — are hoping for. Several followers have pointed out that the Serenade of the Seas is basically a floating small town, where any of the nearly 700 guests can get in anyone else’s business. Cram them together on a ship for the entire gestation period of a human baby, and you’ve got an environment rife for spectacle.

To be clear, this nine-month cruise is not the subject of a new reality TV show, and Andy Cohen is nowhere to be found (at least not yet). But this specific cruise seems to have unlocked the imaginations of TikTok, where users are already dreaming up a binge-worthy Royal Caribbean–sponsored series that’s some mash-up between Love Island and The White Lotus, with a healthy dose of Below Deck . What could go wrong?

Tune In To The Ultimate World Cruise

Certain CruiseTok fanatics are hoping to spill some of what is surely some all-you-can-eat-buffet-style bottomless tea, should it ever boil over. TikToker @nchimad , self-dubbed the “Sea Tea Director,” has already racked up thousands of followers from the dozens of cruise-related videos that now populate their page analyzing everything from the cruise’s dance parties and theme nights to the passengers’ dedicated Facebook group.

@nchimad’s first CruiseTok video , which now has over 3 million views, captures the horror and fascination that many people feel when they think of nine months at sea. Among other things, they ask: “Can you imagine eating cruise ship food for nine months?” Sometimes, you just can’t eat another popcorn shrimp.

Get To Know The “Cast”

The Ultimate World Cruise, with prices starting at nearly $60,000, is one of the longest commercial cruises available anywhere and promises to visit “all four corners of the globe,” according to the cruise website . But CruiseTok seems less interested in the ship’s destinations and more invested in the passengers on board, although some highlights include The Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, the Pyramids of Giza, The Taj Mahal, and so much more.

Without any big network buy-in, TikTok has taken it upon itself to DIY a reality show, making videos to introduce cruise guests like a cast of characters.

Unsurprisingly, the ship is packed with plenty of influencers and social media professionals who will undoubtedly be racking up enough content to last them a decade. They’ve all been busy populating CruiseTok with exclusive tours of the ship and their rooms , with an emphasis on how they plan to stay organized throughout their trip.

But some cruisers have different reasons for being on board. USA Today reported Angie Linderman , an Oregon-based woman in her mid-30s with a genetic mutation that puts her at a high risk of developing breast, ovarian, and skin cancer, is on board. She recently underwent a double mastectomy and booked the cruise as a way to check off items on her bucket list.

Drama Aboard?

While CruiseTok waits with bated breath for a wave of drama — preferably, it seems, in the form of a “mutiny” or an “overboard” — so far passengers seem to actually be getting along. They’re even leaning into the TV show vibe, like when South African content creator and passenger Amike Oosthuizen posted a reel with about a dozen of her fellow cruisers set to the “Friends” theme song on Dec. 20. Text over the video read: “Introducing the Ultimate Real World Cruise cast!”

Still, those drama-hungry and devoted CruiseTokers on land will be watching closely in case anything fishy does arise.

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The nine-month cruise that took over TikTok

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On December 10, the Serenade of the Seas departed the Miami harbor. It is not a normal cruise: On board were hundreds of passengers who, for the ensuing nine months, will live aboard the ship as it travels to 150 ports of call, 60 countries, and seven continents. “All four corners, one epic voyage,” reads Royal Caribbean’s marketing materials for “The Ultimate World Cruise,” where prices range from around $54,000 to $117,000 per person.

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There have been round-the-world cruises before, the first almost exactly 100 years ago . There has not, however, been a world cruise that has captivated the internet as this one has, creating what many people online are referring to as its own real-time “reality show.” More than a dozen passengers and crew members have begun documenting their travels via TikTok and posting updates from the ship, while a handful of loyal recap accounts distill all the information into bite-size news updates. A few of the passengers came aboard with existing followings, like South African influencer Amike Oosthuizen , whose mother was a cast member on The Real Housewives of Pretoria, or University of Alabama graduate student Brooklyn Schwetje , who was already posting travel content prior to the cruise. For the most part, though, those who started posting about their journeys on the cruise watched their TikTok follower counts jump from basically zero to more than 100,000 in the span of a few weeks. On #cruisetok, the passengers are characters, the updates are “plot,” and the actual destinations are simply backgrounds on which to project the maximum amount of drama. As of January 22, videos hashtagged with #ultimateworldcruise have garnered a combined more than 340 million views.

@whimsysoul Ultimate World Cruise Bingo Card!!! who's playing with me? ️ #ultimateworldcruise #royalcaribbean #worldcruise #cruise #bingo #travel #whimsysoul ♬ original sound - Kara • Bingo Girl

It began just as the Serenade of the Seas embarked on its journey in December, when multiple videos about the cruise went viral. Among them: a video called “ things that stress me out the 9mo cruise, ” in which the poster listed everything from “alcoholism” to “serial killers” as potential threats, and a bingo card that included both a first and a second Covid outbreak, a pirate takeover, a wedding, mass STDs, a mental breakdown, and, naturally, a podcast upon return. One creator started a series called “Ship Happens” where she meticulously documents everything that happens on the boat, such as when a scheduled stop at the Falkland Islands was canceled due to rough seas or when the passengers spotted some whales ; another has christened herself the “ Sea Tea Director .”

This, obviously, is sort of an uncanny way to discuss regular people who are simply living their lives and going on a (yes, very extravagant) vacation. But it is an increasingly familiar one, as TikTok continues to determine what millions of people are looking at, and when. The Ultimate World Cruise’s closest relative might be the annual ritual of Bama Rush, where every August since 2021 , first-year students at the University of Alabama show off their outfits on TikTok for different sorority recruitment events. After a handful of those videos went viral, the women in them became brief celebrities , as did the people commenting on the phenomenon. Whether they were telling their own inside stories of Bama Rush, sharing which girls they were “rooting for,” or wondering how they ended up watching these videos to begin with, once the topic took off, more and more people started fighting for a sliver of that attention. The result was a media frenzy that lasted for about two weeks before the algorithm moved on.

Because what said algorithm constantly seeks is novelty with a healthy dose of timeliness, precisely what a nine-month cruise can best provide. Consider Joe Martucci, a 67-year-old retired CFO from St. Cloud, Florida, who boarded the cruise as a retirement celebration along with his wife, Audrey. “I was sending videos to my children, and they said, ‘Hey, Dad, put these on TikTok so we can let our friends see them too.’ I didn’t know ‘their friends’ were 90,000 people,” he tells me over video chat while the ship is docked in Ushuaia, at the southern tip of Argentina. His first cruise post , under the account @spendingourkidsmoney , hit 1.5 million views, and within weeks, fellow passengers started coming up to him to say they saw him online. Because he begins all his videos with, “Hey, kids!” his followers have come to see him like their own dad (sample comment: “just know that you’re also healing a little piece for those of us that never had a dad. enjoy your vaca, love you guys! - daughter”).

@spendingourkidsmoney #royalcaribbean #cruising #explore #WorldCruise #UltimateWorldCruise #UWC #Serenadeoftheseas #cruise #travel ♬ original sound - joe

He says he’s honored by the sentiment and it’s the reason he keeps it up. People are so charmed by Martucci that they’ve scheduled a meetup with him when the ship arrives at Southampton, England, on July 26 (after a TikTok of his itinerary revealed that he planned to shop at Primark that day, fans decided they would come along).

Or consider 23-year-old Little Rat Brain , who grew her account to nearly 150,000 followers and is a “fan favorite” on the cruise. (Little Rat Brain keeps her identity private from the internet and goes only by her username.) She posts funny, sometimes surreal, chaotically edited videos of what it’s like to live on a ship, even though she’d never used social media much before the trip. While she says she never aimed to get famous, she understands why people are fascinated. “We’re a very small group of people on an enclosed ship that you can’t leave,” she said. “And alcoholic drinks are free. It’s a perfect setup for drama.”

The problem, or so it would seem to the TikTokers recapping what’s going on on the ship, is that the stars of their reality show aren’t really posting much drama. There’s a pretty obvious explanation why, per Little Rat Brain: “I don’t think many people will create drama because they don’t want to put their vacation at risk. Like, you have to go to the buffet at breakfast and someone could be staring at you. They could be sitting next to you on the bus ride for an excursion for two hours. You cannot escape everyone who’s on this cruise.” Instead, the TikTokers on board have leaned into the absurdity, hosting a meetup where all the “cast members” get together and introduce themselves in a talk show format, even referring to themselves as “characters.” So far, most of the content has been deliberately anodyne.

That doesn’t mean there haven’t been the kind of hiccups you’d expect on a nine-month cruise. There was, at one point, a flood (it’s fine now). One cruiser was temporarily banned from reboarding the boat for 12 days after he took an unauthorized trip to Brazil. Some guests were upset at the difference in treatment for Royal Caribbean loyalty program members versus regular passengers (which is … the point of joining a loyalty program). The originally scheduled stops in Russia , Ukraine, and Israel were relocated, for obvious reasons. One guest was accused of being a swinger because she had a pineapple decoration on her cabin door (“Sorry to disappoint you,” she said in a response video ).

When I asked if anyone was flirting or hooking up, Little Rat Brain says she attended one of Royal Caribbean’s singles’ mixers but promptly left because no one else showed up. “Literally no one. I walked in, looked around, walked out to double-check I was in the right location, and went back up, got a drink, sat there for two minutes, and was like, I’m leaving. Love Island is not happening.” Perhaps most tragic, the ship briefly ran out of red wine; they’ve since stocked up.

@little_rat_brain The way i would have loved to be on that boat!!! Also there was no announcement that it was on board?? . #ultimateworldcruise2023 #9monthcruise #9monthcruisetok #ultimateworldcruise #antartica ♬ original sound - Little Rat Brain

The bulk of the intrigue is the meta-drama between the TikTokers on the ship and the non-TikTokers. The real shit is going down in private Facebook groups, of which the cruise has at least five. Apparently, many of the non-TikTokers are becoming annoyed about the amount of filming on board and don’t want their faces included in background shots. While the TikTokers I spoke to say they’re very aware not to post anything with other people on camera, Martucci says that tensions have spilled over onto the ship. “I saw an incident the other day where some guy went off on someone and said, ‘Are you one of those TikTokers? Don’t you point that camera toward me! I’ll be mad if you point that camera toward me!’” Martucci says. “I felt sorry for the kid. He wasn’t pointing the camera at him.”

Then came the arrival of a TikToker who had zero problem making enemies on board. After model and influencer Marc Sebastian made a video pleading for someone to pay for him to go on the cruise — “I’ll go cause chaos, I’ll wreak havoc, and I’ll record everything” — Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, took him up on the offer and booked him an 18-night leg beginning January 5. (The deal: He’d read one of the eight books they sent him and post about it.) Within days, he’d become Enemy No. 1 for a certain segment of cruisers, like the people who yelled at him for swearing or the lengthy hate threads in one of the Facebook groups. At one point, he was escorted out of an exclusive lounge area for club members after livestreaming when one of his viewers called the ship to rat him out.

One would imagine Royal Caribbean isn’t pleased with his presence either — he’s been calling out the company for their low worker pay while also making the experience of actually being on the ship seem … kind of miserable .

That the social media spectacle of the Ultimate World Cruise has spilled offscreen and onto the actual boat is maybe more interesting than the understandable highs and lows of living at sea with hundreds of other people. Americans have always taken a special liking to cruises; ever since the birth of the industry in the 1970s, there’s been an enormous market, perhaps because cruise companies have gamified vacation in the form of points and loyalty rewards, or perhaps because Americans love all-you-can-eat buffets and also the freedom from having to make any decisions. Cruises are indeed getting longer , though mishaps can certainly occur — just ask the would-be passengers who are now suing the three-year cruise that was abruptly canceled mere days before it was scheduled to depart.

It’s no wonder, then, that the passengers aboard such a voyage would become objects of fascination for those of us without the means or desire to be on such a vacation, or why the TikTok algorithm has boosted so many of their videos. The Ultimate World Cruise falls perfectly into the platform’s recipe for viral gold: niche with universal appeal, timely, and a little bit controversial. Yet now, the cruise TikTokers are becoming objects of fascination — and frustration — for their own fellow passengers. Those I spoke to said that since they went viral, more people from the ship are opening TikTok accounts in the hopes that they too might become one of its “main characters.” Even though Sebastian is, by my count, the only influencer who’s done a sponsored content deal on the ship so far, it doesn’t mean that more brand money couldn’t be infiltrating the cruise soon.

As for the TikTokers on the boat themselves, most of them view their newfound attention as funny happenstance — as long as it isn’t too mean. “We have some that we really love,” says Jenny Hunnicutt, a 34-year-old who’s running her writing consulting agency from the boat, of the drama recappers. “The positivity has outweighed any negativity.” As long as the other half of the ship doesn’t mutiny against the TikTokers, hopefully that will stay the case.

This column was first published in the Vox Culture newsletter. Sign up here so you don’t miss the next one, plus get newsletter exclusives.

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Meet the ‘cast’ of the 9-month cruise that’s taking over TikTok

There’s not much drama aboard the ultimate world cruise, but tiktok users are obsessed.

Joe Martucci was beginning the trip of a lifetime, and he intended to tell his kids all about it.

On Dec. 10, after two years of planning, the recently retired 67-year-old and his wife, Audrey, finally embarked on Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate World Cruise . The itinerary on the nine-month expedition includes 65 countries across every continent. They’d see the snowy shores of Antarctica, climb the ruins of Machu Picchu and feast across Southeast Asia. Between their ports of call, they’d play mini golf, attend lectures and relax at the spa on the 965-foot Serenade of the Seas.

To share it all with the folks at home, Martucci started recording updates for his four adult children, who encouraged him to post the videos online. Almost overnight, a star was born.

Unbeknownst to Martucci, an insatiable interest in his cruise had been growing since his ship left port in Miami. How could anyone stand to be on a cruise for nine months? How could anyone afford to with rates starting at $61,000? Across the internet, people were clamoring for as much information as they could find.

Dozens of TikTok accounts have popped up to document all things Serenade of the Seas. Some are run by a few of the 600-something travelers staying on board for the entire 274-night itinerary. Others are spectators on land. The culmination of their content — with hashtags such as #ultimateworldcruise, #worldcruise and #9monthcruise — has racked up hundreds of millions of views. The effect is comparable to a reality TV show, complete with “cast members,” drama and intrigue.

Unlike a traditional reality show, with meddling producers and forced cliffhangers, content from the nine-month cruise comes from average Joe Martuccis. That’s what makes #CruiseTok so captivating.

“Those of us who haven’t been on a cruise before or don’t even like the idea of it are probably thinking, ‘These people must be crazy,’” said Beth Fletcher, 39, who started a series recapping Ultimate World Cruise news called “Ship Happens” on her TikTok account a few days after it departed. “Like, we want to know more.”

While the internet loves the folksy content Martucci and others share, it’s also thirsty for reality-show infighting.

“Everybody likes to think there is conflict,” Fletcher said. “My first couple of posts, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, if I was traveling in a small cabin with anyone in my family, after a week or so I would want to throw them overboard.’”

Such plot twists have yet to actually emerge. To understand the appeal of TikTok’s favorite cruise, you’ve got to meet the “cast.”

The ‘mom and dad’

Joe Martucci: @spendingourkidsmoney

@spendingourkidsmoney #royalcaribbean #cruising #explore #WorldCruise #UWC #Serenadeoftheseas #cruise #cruisedad #UltimateWorldCruise #traveltiktok #travel #cruisemum #9monthcruise #cruisemom ♬ original sound - joe

Martucci’s family asked him to post his recaps online for their friends to see. He started a TikTok account with the handle “spendingourkidsmoney,” because he often jokes that the cost of the cruise could have been their inheritance. On Dec. 18, he published his first public check-in. It has now been watched more than 1 million times.

“People tell me, ‘Joe, you have 76,000 followers in three weeks, that’s amazing!’” Martucci said. “And I sit there and go, ‘Well, how many am I supposed to have?’”

The most wholesome account on Serenade of the Seas, the Martuccis are a fantastic antidote to the increasingly chaotic nature of many viral videos . No real editing, no second takes, just your “cruise mum and dad” checking in.

“If I mess up, we just let it run,” Martucci said. “I have a little speech dyslexia, especially when it comes to pronouncing words, … and Audrey’s always correcting me, but we just leave that in.”

To feel like you have parents on the Ultimate World Cruise, this is your follow.

The bucket-lister

Angie Linderman: @angielinderman

@angielinderman Ultimate World Cruise Q&A or really FAQ since i dont know how to do a Q&A on here. Help! I tried to andwer as many as I could that I know a lot of people have, but let me kniw what else you want to know about what its like on @Royal Caribbean’s Ultiamte World Cruise. #RoyalCaribbean #crusing #explore #solotravler #worldCruise #UltimateWorldCruise #UWC #SerenadeOfTheSeas #cruise #travel #solofemaletraveler #cruiseship #cruisetok ♬ original sound - Angie

Passenger Angie Linderman became a breakout star thanks to an early Q&A sharing how she ended up on the ship.

After both her parents died of cancer, Linderman discovered that she also had an elevated risk for breast and ovarian cancer. She had a preventive double mastectomy and plans to have both of her ovaries removed in the near future. “To me there is no thought of retirement,” she shared in a TikTok, adding: “Doing all of the things I can do now is kind of the motto.”

Linderman spent her inheritance to book the Ultimate World Cruise with her brother’s family, and is continuing to work remotely along the way.

“She will be inspiring lots of people who receive cancer diagnoses, and cancer survivors, to go out and just live your life as if every day could be a last,” Fletcher said.

The swingers (or, not?)

Adita: @aditaml2759

@aditaml2759 We’re not swingers, but we do love our Pineapples 🍍 #ultimateworldcruise2023 #ultimateworldcruise #royalcaribbeanultimateworldcruise #pineapples ♬ original sound - Adita

Adita (last name unknown) has been drumming up fan interest with her sassy , slightly wacky videos that wink at the potential of her and her husband being swingers. The main culprit for the rumor: her obsession with pineapples. When shown upside down, the fruit is known to be a signal in the swinger community that you’re game. Many of her posts wink at the theory, although Adita has (perhaps unconvincingly ) denied the claim.

“She says that they aren’t and that she just likes pineapple,” Fletcher said. “But that’s a heck of a lot of pineapple.”

Adita also loves to clean and share tidbits of ship life , such as how she stays organized on board.

The crew member

Daniele Salvatore Arbisi: @singing.sailor

@singing.sailor Getting to know Crew! Pt.1 🛳️👨‍👩‍👧‍👦👀 #royalcaribbean #royalcaribbeancruise #rcltalent #singer #dancer #actor #performer #cruise #cruiseship #theatre #traveltheworld #friends #ultimateworldcruise #serenadeoftheseas #worldcruise #singingsailor @Royal Caribbean @Beth Anne @UK Secret Travel📍🗺️ ✈️ @L u l u @atseawithashleigh @BellaDonna ♬ Lo-fi hip hop - NAO-K

For a behind-the-scenes look at working life on the cruise, there’s the @singing.sailor Daniele Salvatore Arbisi. Originally from Essex in the United Kingdom, Arbisi comes to the ship as a performer and has amassed a following for his crew cabin tour s , thorough travelogues from port days and helpful Q&As, such as when he tapped the ship’s captain to find out the best side of the ship for whale watching.

“He’s very, very talented,” Fletcher said. “His content is fantastic. … He’s got a real good likability, and he’s very funny.”

The solo traveler

Anthony McWilliams: @anthonyantoine1021

@anthonyantoine1021 Good Morning ☀️ #ultimateworldcruise I’m joining the #christderedeemer #christtheredeemer excursion with my UWC Family. @Royal Caribbean #royalcaribbean don’t let me down! #anthonyantoine #worldcruise2023 #worldcruisetiktok #riodejaneiro #brazil🇧🇷 ♬ original sound - Anthony Antoine

Anthony McWilliams was working in public health at Emory University at a job he loved when tragedy struck. “I lost my husband to cancer in 2018,” McWilliams, who goes by Anthony Antoine on social media, told The Washington Post. “From diagnosis to his passing was literally eight months and one day.”

His late husband left him with a request: to travel the world. “He said traveling would be my salvation,” McWilliams said. So he retired and hit the road that year.

Now McWilliams is one of the most beloved passengers on the ship — both to fellow cruisers and online fans. After a mix-up with Brazilian cruise regulations , he had to fend for himself on land for a week until he was allowed to return. “Everybody was cheering for me to come back on,” he said.

He mostly posts joyous port recaps and musings, such as when he said he’d gained 10 pounds in five days on the ship. He gets messages constantly that his travels as a solo Black traveler is inspiring.

“That’s my number one travel rule : to not wait on the others. If you’re waiting on the others, you’ll end up going nowhere.”

The Lake sisters

Shannon Marie Lake: @swankalamode ; Brandee Lake: @iambrandeelake

@iambrandeelake #stitch with @Shannon Marie Finally the room reveal you all have been asking for! #ultimateworldcruise #serenadeoftheseas #blackworldcruiser #cruisetok #blackworldcruiser #melaninatsea ♬ original sound - Shannon Marie

Could you spend nine months sharing a room with your sister? That’s the social experiment Shannon Marie and Brandee Lake are carrying out in real time for fans. So far “it’s working well,” Shannon Marie told The Post.

“We travel together a lot, so we know each other’s hotel style, like, ‘Okay, you take long showers,’” Shannon Marie said.

When she’s not spending time with her parents, who are also on board, Brandee keeps in touch with her audience through “ sea day chats .” She made headlines in the first weeks of the cruise after sharing a post about her experience being regularly confused for a staff member, as she and her sister are among the few guests of color on board. “She was like, ‘Oh my God. Is this going to be the case for the next nine months?’” Fletcher said. “That seems to have settled down now, but obviously that leaves a bit of a bad taste in your mouth.”

Shannon Marie is more inclined to share street art from their on-land excursions. Both sisters answer tons of the public’s questions and dance their way around the ship . If you can’t get enough of their videos, you can also listen to their podcast , “Brannon Files.”

The other sisters

Brooklyn Schwetje: @brooklynschwetje ; Madison Schwetje: @madisonschwetje

@brooklynschwetje Look who we ran into!🫡⚓️🚢🌎 #ultimateworldcruise #royalcaribbean #serenadeoftheseas #royalcaribbeancruise #royalcaribbeaninternationalcruise #worldcruise2023 #cruisetok #worldcruise #royalcaribbeanworldcruise #uwc ♬ Merry Christmas and Happy New Year - neozilla

Traveling with their parents, Brooklyn and Madison Schwetje take their roles as the eyes and ears on the ship seriously, posting tons of content for their growing audience. They share vlogs of unglamorous sea days, featuring bad weather and laundry duties , as well as the highlights, such as what it’s really like to visit a World Wonder .

One of their most popular posts was an extensive tour of the ship Madison took in the wee hours of the night, giving us an eerie and fascinating look at the massive ship almost completely empty.

“They know how to create a post that’s engaging,” Fletcher said. “They’re good at highlighting things that people want to see.”

The wild card

Little Rat Brain: @little_rat_brain

@little_rat_brain There’s the beginning of the bathtub scene at the end 🫣 THE WAY I’M OBSESSED WITH MOVIE through my friends alone, however it’s not available due to my location!!! So I’m going off vibes and vibes ONLY . #ultimateworldcruise2023 #9monthcruise #9monthcruisetok #ultimateworldcruise #saltburnmovie ♬ Murder On The Dancefloor - Sophie Ellis-Bextor

For a dose of Gen Z bizarro comedy, there’s “Little Rat Brain,” whose real name has been kept private. Even the other “cast members” call her that in videos and interviews.

“We love Little Rat Brain,” Martucci said.

Little Rat Brain, who’s traveling with her mother, shares expertly edited, highly silly updates of life on board, such as experiencing the “Drake Shake” (the sort of turbulence that comes with crossing the Drake Passage) and itinerary changes .

The influencer

Amike Oosthuizen: @ amike_oosthuizen

@amike_oosthuizen A glimpse of what I would eat on a cruising day! There’s so many options, but we just ate at the buffet area on this day 🍔🌭 #SAMA28 #worldcruise #travelvlog #royalcaribbean #foryou #travel #fypシ゚viral #cruisetok #fyp ♬ Deck the Halls - Lofi - Gentle State

A seasoned social media user, Amike Oosthuizen posts highly satisfying day-in-the-life videos that bring you into her world. Since the South African boarded the cruise with her parents and her husband, she has taken us along for sea-day gym sessions , what it’s like to dine on board and how she learned to do gel manicures ahead of the cruise so she could save money.

Her mother, Renske Lammerding , has actual reality-TV experience as a cast member on “The Real Housewives of Pretoria” But Oosthuizen told The Post that people gravitate most to her everyday experiences.

She knows people are waiting for drama to erupt, but unfortunately (for them, not for her), “all of the people I’ve met on the ship are just so nice, and they’re all here with their loved ones for a vacation or to travel the world,” she said. “I just don’t think that expectation will become a reality, to be honest with you.”

More cruise news

Living at sea: Travelers on a 9-month world cruise are going viral on social media. For some travelers, not even nine months was enough time on a ship; they sold cars, moved out of their homes and prepared to set sail for three years . That plan fell apart, but a 3.5-year version is waiting in the wings.

Passengers beware: It’s not all buffets and dance contests. Crime data reported by cruise lines show that the number of sex crimes has increased compared to previous years. And though man-overboard cases are rare, they are usually deadly .

The more you know: If you’re cruise-curious, here are six tips from a newcomer. Remember that in most cases, extra fees and add-ons will increase the seemingly cheap price of a sailing. And if you happen to get sick , know what to expect on board.

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A 9-Month Cruise Is TikTok’s Favorite New ‘Reality Show’

Social media users, gripped by the potential for drama on Royal Caribbean’s world cruise, have turned the ship’s unwitting passengers into “cast members” overnight.

By Becky Hughes

In the last few months, Beth Fletcher, a 39-year-old photographer in Derbyshire, England, built a small following on TikTok by recapping and analyzing the British reality show “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!” When the latest season ended in early December, Ms. Fletcher was at a loss for content because, she said, “we don’t have another good reality TV show on until summer.”

Then the TikTok algorithm delivered: a video of Brooklyn Schwetje, a graduate student and influencer, sharing a day in her life on the Ultimate World Cruise, a nine-month-long, round-the-world voyage with Royal Caribbean. Ms. Fletcher was instantly rapt. “I’ve never been on a cruise, and the idea of a nine-month cruise blew my mind,” she said. After finding more videos from other passengers on the cruise, something clicked: “Maybe this is our own reality TV show, but better.”

Since the ship launched from Miami on Dec. 10, TikTok has been flooded with posts from voyeurs on land, dissecting the videos shared by cruise passengers and speculating on the ship’s potential as a floating arena for high-level drama. Some are declaring it a “nine-month TikTok reality show,” with the passengers becoming unintentional celebrities.

Videos with the hashtag #UltimateWorldCruise have had more than 138 million views on the social media app.

This isn’t the first time TikTok creators — competing for views with millions of other accounts — have mined videos posted by others to manufacture their own genre of online reality TV. In 2021, the University of Alabama’s sorority rush became an internet fixation known as #BamaRush (and eventually, a Max documentary ). But much as on reality TV, the truth behind the content can seem beside the point.

With a 274-night itinerary, the Ultimate World Cruise is the longest cruise ever offered by Royal Caribbean. Fares for the full trip — which stops in 65 countries — start at $53,999 per person and can go up to $117,599, excluding taxes and fees, according to Royal Caribbean’s website . The ship, called the Serenade of the Seas , has capacity for 2,476 guests, although a Royal Caribbean representative would not confirm how many are currently on board.

From England, Ms. Fletcher started posting videos of herself talking about the cruise, introducing passengers that she identified through their TikTok accounts as “cast members” and sharing tidbits about their life aboard the ship gleaned from their videos.

More accounts dedicated to the cruise emerged: One creator refers to herself as TikTok’s “sea tea” director, updating her followers with “breaking news” (claiming that someone had left the cruise , and another had tested positive for the coronavirus). Another TikToker made a virtual bingo card with predictions like “petty neighbor drama,” “a wedding,” “stowaway” and “pirate takeover.” That bingo card video amassed more than 300,000 views and hundreds of comments like, “This is the new Hunger Games,” and “It’s gotta be a social experiment.”

@amike_oosthuizen A glimpse of what I would eat on a cruising day! There’s so many options, but we just ate at the buffet area on this day 🍔🌭 #SAMA28 #worldcruise #travelvlog #royalcaribbean #foryou #travel #fypシ゚viral #cruisetok #fyp ♬ Deck the Halls - Lofi - Gentle State

Ryan Holland, a 28-year-old posting regularly about the cruise, says people are “curious how people afford it” and “how people can stand being on a boat for that long.” She sees two possible outcomes for the trending fixation. Either “it dies out,” she said, “or it changes the future of reality TV.”

One unlikely star of #cruisetok is Joe Martucci, a 67-year-old recent retiree from St. Cloud, Fla., posting from the ship with the handle @spendingourkidsmoney . Mr. Martucci’s four children encouraged him to post video updates on TikTok, which he’d never used before. His first video has nearly half a million views.

“This is not us trying to become famous,” said Mr. Martucci, who now posts daily with his wife, referring to themselves as “Cruise Mum & Dad” and opening each video with a cheeky, “Hi, kids.”

@spendingourkidsmoney #royalcaribbean #cruising #explore #WorldCruise #UltimateWorldCruise #UWC #Serenadeoftheseas #cruise #travel ♬ original sound - joe

Mr. Martucci, who now has more than 69,000 TikTok followers, says the attention is mostly positive, but he worries about fan accounts dedicated to drumming up drama. “I think they’re trying to manufacture something,” he said. “They’re in it for the views and for the followers.”

Another passenger, Lindsay Wilson, a 32-year-old teacher from Phoenix, said the attention “was very, very weird.” She and some of the other passengers who have amassed new TikTok followings have since connected in person and talk via group chats about their overnight stardom.

Apart from some grumblings about passengers of different customer tiers being treated unequally, few actual dramas have yet to emerge. One exception, however, was a video (currently at 2.5 million views) posted on Dec. 17 by Brandee Lake, a Black content creator and cruise passenger who said she had been mistaken for a crew member, once by a passenger and another time by a staff member. Neither Ms. Lake nor Royal Caribbean confirmed if they had been in contact regarding the issue.

Despite TikTok’s fixation with the cruise (and hope for drama), most of the videos coming from the Serenade of the Seas has been more mundane than gripping. Ms. Lake described a typical day at sea: Zumba class, breakfast, coffee at Café Latte-tudes and an activity such as doing a team puzzle or making gingerbread houses. After dinner, she will occasionally take part in the evening programming, like a silent disco , but usually she just retires to her room. “I’m trying to figure out where this drama is,” Ms. Lake said. “What am I missing?”

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2023 .

The Rise of TikTok

“Being labeled a “yapper” on TikTok isn’t necessarily a compliment, but on a platform built on talk, it isn’t an insult either .

“Who TF Did I Marry?!?,” the TikTok user Reesa Teesa’s account of her relationship with her ex-husband, is a story for grown-ups  in their midlife crisis era.

Return fraud is a rampant problem  for both shoppers and retailers — and the mishaps often make for viral videos on TikTok.

The Pink Stuff, a home cleaning paste, went from total obscurity to viral sensation — and Walmart staple — thanks to one “cleanfluencer” and her legion of fans .

Have we reached the end of TikTok’s infinite scroll? The app once offered seemingly endless chances to be charmed but in only a few short years, its promise of kismet is evaporating , our critic writes.

The TikTok creator known as “Tunnel Girl” has been documenting her attempt to build an emergency shelter under her home. She is not the only person with an off-the-books tunnel project .

Month 1 of the 9-Month Cruise Is in the Bag, Here's How It's Going

Here are the latest updates from passengers aboard the tiktok-famous ultimate world cruise..

Published on 1/10/2024 at 4:32 PM

It’s been one month since the Royal Caribbean Ultimate World Cruise departed from Miami and began its nine-month journey around the world. On the one-month anniversary of the cruise, the ship is celebrating by entering one of the most anticipated portions of its voyage: sailing through  the treacherous Drake Passage .

But outside of the many port stops that have already been visited, including Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, plenty of other happenings reported on the ship have entertained the TikTok users who are following every development. Some were not so surprising (multiple TikTok accounts reported that some passengers were diagnosed with COVID-19 as early as December 22, just 12 days into the cruise), others were worrisome but ultimately uneventful (some minor flooding occurred), and some were just sad (reports emerged of at least one couple arguing and wanting to leave the ship circulated rampantly during the third week of sailing).

Some new characters have even been added to the "cast," as TikToker Marc Sebastian was just brought on the ship for the Latin America and Antarctica leg of the trip. His early ruling? He wouldn't want to spend nine months on it.

Here's a little bit more context about that COVID story, courtesy TikToker @nchimad, the cruise's self-appointed "Sea Tea Director" who is sharing the cruise's every twist and turn on the social platform. Given how high infection rates currently are just in the US, it is not surprising that the illness has made it on to the cruise ship. 

Below is a passenger perspective of the ship flooding, which happened on cruise deck 12. The flooding occurred after the ship sailed through a storm that had 60 mph winds between Rio de Janeiro and Montevideo.

Most troubling for some, there has also reportedly been some wine drama aboard the cruise—namely, that the ship has been running out of it.

So, how has all this drama all played out? It seems like if you aren't directly impacted by flooding, COVID, or interpersonal drama, the cruise still seems like a total blast.

Cruise passenger Amike Oosthuizen, 26, told Thrillist that she has been overwhelmingly pleased with her experience on the ship thus far.

"Honestly, none of those things affected us at all. We have been having the best cruise ever and it's been such a fun time and we've met so many good people, and I honestly have nothing to complain about," Oosthuizen said via WhatsApp, while insisting that she wasn’t sponsored by Royal Caribbean.

"The people on the ship work so hard and they work and do such a good job, and they're so kind, and all the other guests we've met have been so nice. So none of that drama has had an impact on me or us at all," she continued.

Oosthuizen has been posting vlogs from the ship, and is one of several of the cruisers "cast" in the internet's fictional reality show version of the nine-month trip. We exchanged messages on January 9, right before the cruisers were scheduled to begin the leg of their journey that would take them through the Drake Passage, which is known as one of the most treacherous ocean passageways. Ooosthuzien said she's nervous about the passage, just because she hasn't liked it when the ship has rocked in the past.

"We're going through it and it's going to last 22 hours going through it and then going back as well, another 22 hours,” Oosthuzien explained. "I'm sure we'll be fine because I'm sure they won't put us in conditions that are dangerous, but I am definitely a bit nervous."

Another cruiser, only known to the world as Little Rat Brain, says the cruise feels like it has gone by in the blink of an eye. "I wouldn’t believe that it’s been a month if I didn’t have the date on my phone and the stack of cruise compasses in my room," she told Thrillist via email. 

"I've met friends that I would have never met, tried foods that I didn't know existed and been to places that I couldn't locate on a map before visiting," LRB, who also spoke with Thrillist after the cruise's first week , wrote. "While I'm sad that a month has already flown by, I can't wait to see what next month brings."

She wrote to Thrillist as the cruise was nearing the Drake Passage, noting that the ship "switched course to avoid the worst of the possible weather, but we should still be looking at some pretty intense conditions."

"We just finished having hurricane force winds and we haven't even reached the passage yet," she said. 

In a video she shared on TikTok, you can see LRB standing on the deck as the wind whips her hair and clothes around as a somewhat menacing sky stands gloomy in the background. 

Nerves around the Drake Passage aside, Oosthuizen had plenty of highlights to report from her first month aboard the ship. Her highlights specifically center on the 24-hour access to food and coffee. "There's so many food options, so it's just amazing that we don't have to cook. We can eat as much as we want, and everything is included and all the drinks are included," she explained.

Off the ship, Oosthuizen has been blown away by their stops in Rio de Janeiro, Aruba, and Buenos Aires.

“When we went to Christ the Redeemer [in Rio], it was such an amazing experience,” Oosthuzien said. “I also really enjoyed Aruba. It's such a beautiful island, and the water was just so nice and the beach was so beautiful.”

Little Rat Brain also cited Brazil as one of the top destinations so far. Her favorite port was Fortaleza, Brazil.

"It was such an alien landscape to see, and the contrast of the sky and stone were almost too intense to look at," LRB explained. "It was also such a thrilling adventure to zip across the beach in a dune buggy, I don't know how fast we were going—the speedometer was broken, thankfully."

But there are challenges, too. Oosthuizen said that getting used to living in such small quarters for an extended period of time has proven to be an adjustment, and she's also struggled to balance her schedule while working remotely from the cruise.

"The hardest part of the ship life so far has been the work, travel, and life balance," she said. "I still need to work as well. So that has been challenging and making me a bit tired. I want to do everything."

Want more Thrillist? Follow us on Instagram , TikTok , Twitter , Facebook , Pinterest , and YouTube .

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TikTok’s nine-month cruise: what is it and and why can’t I stop watching?

A cruise trip advertised as the longest in the world has become its own reality show, with passengers regularly going viral for their video diaries. But is anything actually … happening?

Patrick, I do not pretend to understand the arcane machinations behind my TikTok algorithm, but lately it has been delivering me video after video of people sailing the world in a nine-month cruise. They are all on the same cruise and there is the same quiet desperation behind each of their vacant gazes. What is happening?

What is HAPPENING, Michael, is essentially a social experiment being broadcast in real time, and some of us absolutely cannot get enough of it.

The Royal Caribbean Ultimate World Cruise is a nine-month cruise taking place on a ship called the Serenade of the Seas, which aims to travel to more than 60 countries across all seven continents – and which is being advertised as the world’s longest cruise. We don’t know the official number of passengers on board, though one TikToker reports that it’s around 1,000. Most are just normal cruise types, but some began documenting it on TikTok – basically just explaining what they do in a day, and showing their viewers the rooms, the meals, the other passengers – and despite that sounding like the worst reality television premise you’ve ever heard, it started going mega viral.

Two months in and we now have a boat full of influencers who are trapped together on the high seas: a place where people famously love to go mad and get obsessed with hunting huge sexy whales. Nothing much has really happened yet, but it’s a perfect recipe for disaster; a guarantee of a horrible mari-time.

How did this start? And who are the main characters?

Like most things on TikTok ( Bama Rush , sea shanties ) we will never know the exact science behind how it became a massive phenomenon – but one of the first passengers to go viral was @ angielinderman , who posted a video explaining that she decided to join the cruise after both her parents died of cancer. She found out she also had an elevated risk of cancer, she says, so she spent her inheritance on a cruise ticket. She now has almost 180,000 followers.

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Most of the content is day-in-the-life style videos and confessionals, like the TikToks made by sisters @ swankalamode and @ iambrandeelake (who have close to 300,000 followers between them) as well as South African creator @ amike_oosthuizen (275,000 followers), who was already an influencer before the cruise. There’s also @ little_rat_brain (139,000 followers), an anonymous passenger who makes short comedy skits on board, as well as smaller accounts such as @ singing.sailor , a crew member working as a performer and posting to his 7,000 followers.

Being on board a boat for nine months sounds like an antiquated punishment. But people are actually paying for this right?

Yes, and it is NOT CHEAP. People can opt to join any part of the tour, or stay for the whole thing; the cheapest option for the whole nine months starts at $US59,999 per person – and goes all the way up to $US117,999. One couple, who self-describe as a “cruise mum and dad”, started an account while on board called @ SpendingOurKidsMoney . They’ve accrued close to 90,000 followers.

But the interesting thing is how … janky it all looks. A lot of the facilities are giving university dorm common room. In fact, after the cruise started to blow up, TikTok influencer Marc Sebastian begged to be sent on board, and was finally sponsored by a publishing company to go on for 18 nights. His review? “ I hate it here. ”

He captioned a video touring his room by writing: “For 18 nights? fine. But for 9 months? No can do babe.”

He also claimed the showers are small with inconsistent hot water, the travel excursions to see penguins are often cancelled, and there’s music blaring everywhere, constantly. Nightmare.

So to reiterate: currently on board is a dubious melange of old, rich cruisers, digital nomads, and influencers, which is almost exactly the plot of Triangle of Sadness. Has there been any actual drama so far?

No, but everyone is prepared for it. It’s like we’re in the opening scenes of the disaster movie at the moment, where everyone is still bright and happy, we’re meeting all the characters, and scientists keep finding weird things that nobody is paying attention to.

We have had a lot of gossip however, which could turn into real drama – one account claimed that a passenger has Covid and is in fact hiding it, which could lead to another Ruby Princess style plague vessel.

Another recent video is sharing a rumour that the cruise could be ending much sooner than anticipated, due to conflicts in the Middle East – however a representative from Royal Caribbean confirmed that the plan is to continue the trip as scheduled.

Of course a lack of anything big happening hasn’t stopped an entire ecosystem of gossip, commentary and criticism from TikTok users marooned on the land. The people on board have become characters in a soap opera, and those watching are writing the storylines.

It very much feels like getting halfway through a season of Real Housewives when nothing is happening but everyone is talking in pointed whispers as if something is happening. Why are we still so invested?

I’d guess it’s a combo of factors. There’s something truly intoxicating about watching rich people eat it while trapped on big boats – think Below Deck and Triangle of Sadness – and big boats themselves have become main characters in the wake of Covid cruises and that one that got stuck .

On top of that, people are sick of how curated and produced reality TV is these days, and there’s potential for real and true chaos on this trip. It’s like putting a bunch of bats and spiders and eggs and fireworks into a box and shaking it. Something will happen. And we’ll be watching.

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Passenger dies during 9-month Royal Caribbean world cruise

The viral nine-month Royal Caribbean cruise has experienced a death on the high seas.

“A guest sailing onboard Serenade of the Seas has sadly passed away,” a Royal Caribbean spokesperson shared in a statement to NBC News Feb. 13.

The spokesperson did not share details regarding the passenger’s identity or the circumstances of their death.

“We are actively providing support and assistance to the guest’s loved ones at this time. Out of the privacy of the guest and their family, we have nothing further to share at this time,” the statement concluded.

The 9-month-long cruise aboard the Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate World Cruise captured the attention of social media towards the end of last year.

On Dec. 10, Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate World Cruise kicked off its round-the-world tour. TikTok's obsession with the voyage and its partakers quickly followed suit. 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.

A corner of TikTok has been closely tracking activity on the cruise ship, called Serenade of the Seas, with many users pointing out that so much can happen within the span that it’s at sea, including new relationships, falling outs, pregnancy, death and more.

“Can you imagine the type of drama that is gonna happen on that boat?” user @nchimad on TikTok said in a video posted soon after the trip set sail. “If something big goes down, I want to hear from different people, different angles, perspectives.”

TikTok is turning the 9-month-long cruise ship into an official reality TV show.

Read on for everything we know.

What is the 9-month cruise all over TikTok?

Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate World Cruise is a 274-night trip that began on Dec. 10, 2023, when it left from Miami and is expected to come to an end in the same place on Sept. 10, 2024.

Passengers are currently staying on Serenade of the Seas, a ship that had its maiden voyage in 2003 .

Serenade of the Seas will tour the world in four segments: the Americas, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Mediterranean and "Europe and beyond."

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. Tickets for different legs of the trip are still available to book.

Why is the 9-month cruise all over TikTok?

TikTok users h ave become highly invested in the cr uise 's passengers, likening them to a cast of characters that would typically appear on a reality show.

For people tracking the day-to-day lives of cruise ship passengers, many have predicted that the 9-month trip has the potential for drama equivalent to or even larger than a reality TV series production. After all, the footage being streamed on TikTok is created and edited by real people, not a major network.

“I made an Ultimate World Cruise Bingo card for anyone else who is buckling in for this nine months TikTok reality show,” user @whimsysoul shared in a video posted shortly after the ship’s voyage began.

Her curated game of predicted events includes “minor mystery to solve,” “stowaway,” “podcast following the trip,” “2nd COVID outbreak” and “staff dates passenger.”

Some users following the events of the cruise ship appear to be ogling the voyage with a sense of suspicion and a sobering dose of reality. After all, the voyage's 9-month set up brings back memories of isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine.

As user @megseestheworld notes , the entire experience reminds her of an episode of "Suite Life on Deck" when the sea days repeat themselves, a similar vibe to the movie "Groundhog Day."

"I think that's what it would start to feel like, with all those sea days, like I couldn't do it," she says in the clip.

"But then on the flip side, when they get to Europe in the last segment of the cruise, like the last part of the itinerary, it's almost too intense," she continues. "I think I counted at some points, they're going 18 days in port with no sea days, and the last segment means that you're probably six months into this cruise, you're probably going to be really tired? I don't know, I'd be tired."

What has happened so far on the 9-month cruise?

Month 1 highlights — december to january.

• First scheduled port is canceled: Passengers experienced their first canceled scheduled port on Devil's Island due to inclement weather, but TikToker Angie Linderman shrugged it off in her video as something to be expected while on the high seas.
• Minor flooding on deck: There was some minor flooding. Video captured on board the cruise showed that on deck 12 of the ship, water spread across the floor carpets and small streams flowed down the corridor.
• Seeing Antarctica from a distance: After sailing through the trepidatious conditions of the Drake Passage, passengers weren't able to step foot on Antarctica due to it being a protected area. The TikToker known as Little Rat Brain expressed her disappointment with a video about the visit , writing, "Not stepping foot on Antarctica.” According to the TikToker, passengers were able to see an up-close slab of ice extracted from the area that was brought on the ship.
• Influencer joins the cruise and stirs up drama: On Jan. 6, fashion influencer Marc Sebastian announced that he received sponsorship from Atria Books, a part of Simon & Schuster, to track and stir up the drama on board for 18 nights out of the 274-day trip. In his next-day post, Sebastian revealed his tense-filled interaction with a member of the cruise’s Pinnacle Club when he let out a curse word. 

Who are the TikTokers on the ship?

While the exact number of current passengers on Serenade of the Seas, which can hold up to 2,476 guests, is unknown, recent footage from traveler @brooklynschwetje shows a cruise meeting when it was revealed 1,093 membership passengers were on board.

A select few passengers have been consistently posting on TikTok since the voyage began, and the list includes but isn't limited to: @aa.kenney , @ iambrandeelake , @angielinderman , @brooklynschwetje , @madisonschwetje , @amike_oosthuizen , @little_rat_brain , @drjennytravels , @spendingourkidsmoney and @livingphase2 .

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.

Alé Kenney and Andrew Kenney, @aa.kenney

Alé and Andrew Kenney will celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary during the Ultimate World Cruise tour.

Speaking to TODAY.com, 29-year-old Alé Kenney says that the cruise isn’t just a massive voyage made up of TikTokers and Generation Z.

"I would say the majority, like the overwhelming majority of passengers, are retirees (or seniors)," she explains, summarizing that number as being at least 90% of the passengers.

According to the Kenneys, the two decided to hop on board the Serenade of the Seas after her father died two years ago.

"My dad got sick and passed away, and he was only 57," she explains.

"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."

The Kenneys told TODAY Dec. 27 that when they first came on board, they had 200 followers, and that today, they now have 90K followers.

The couple declined to share what they do for work and whether they will work during the trip.

Brandee Lake @ iambrandeelake , Shannon Lake @swankalamode

Brandee Lake, 46, and her 42-year-old sister, Shannon, decided to join their retired parents on their trip.

“I’m like, you’re not leaving us behind. I don’t really know what you think is going on here,” Shannon Lake quips in their interview with TODAY.com

Brandee Lake worked in marketing and advertisement and lived in Los Angeles, California, before the trip. Shannon Lake runs her own consulting business and plans to work remotely from the ship while making up her own hours.

The sisters say they'll share the same cabin during their 9 months on the trip, and that they don't expect to butt heads too much with each other or their parents, since they're close and quarantined together during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Users have expressed interest in following the Lake sisters in particular to see their perspective of traveling the world and taking part in a cruise as Black women.

"We definitely are the youngest Black people on the boat," Brandee Lake explains.

"I think that's why my TikTok skyrocketed so fast, because I was the first Black person that people were seeing post that was actually on the ship," Shannon Lake adds.

During their joint interview, the sisters agreed in unison that the people and staff for the "most part are amazing."

"So friendly, so kind so much energy," Brandee Lake says, quashing any drama that users have attempted to stir up so far. "Our people at dinner are like family already, you know, we have people who we don't even interact with normally (who) are like family already. And of course, the staff itself is quite diverse."

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."

Though both sisters note that within days of setting sail, they did experience a loaded bump: “Apparently it seemed far fetched to some that a Black woman (and family) could be a guest on the once in a lifetime experience,” Brandee Lake wrote alongside a recent video she shared on her TikTok.

Soon after the post began to circulate, she says the cruise’s hotel director made a point to greet her at dinner.

"I think (TikTok users who watched the post) were tagging Royal Caribbean like 'you need to fix this,'" Brandee Lake explains. "They did at least take the time to come to me and you know, ask how everything's going now."

The Lake sisters tell TODAY.com that other than this, they've yet to encounter any reality television-worthy bits of drama to mark on a Bingo card, but they do have a podcast where they plan on sharing their journey with followers.

Angie Linderman, @angielinderman

Linderman tells TODAY.com that when she first boarded Serenade of the Seas, she had less than 100 followers. Now she has over 115K followers.

"I think that it is surprising out there to people that there's so many on the younger side who are on the cruise," she explained. "I think that's really resonating with people or gathering their attention, maybe."

For Linderman, she wants to use her new platform to share with others why she signed up for the cruise in the first place. Linderman has the BRCA2 gene , which means she is at a higher risk for certain cancers .

"That is something that has kind of helped to impact my desire to travel," she explains. "Retirement age is not a guarantee. And so (there is) 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."

Linderman says that she left her cozy three-bedroom home in Oregon to tour the world for nine months in her current 250-square-foot balcony stateroom.

To prepare for the 9-month voyage, she arranged for a friend to stay at her home with her dog and reduced the hours of her job in marketing. 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.

Where is The Ultimate World Cruise going?

The Serenade of the Seas' Ultimate World Tour has an extensive itinerary that promises to take its passengers to 11 Wonders of the World and 65 countries in 274 nights flat. The destinations are broken down into four travel segments. Check out the four segments and their stretches below:

Ultimate Americas Cruise 

• 64 nights from Dec. 10, 2023, to Feb. 11, 2024
• 36 destinations, including Cozumel, Mexico; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Los Angeles, California
• 4 Wonders, including Iguazú Falls and Machu Picchu

Ultimate Asia Pacific Cruise 

• 87 nights from Feb. 11, 2024, to May 9, 2024
• 40 destinations, including Kailua-Kona, Hawaii; Manila, Philippines; and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• 3 Wonders, including the Great Barrier Reef and the Taj Mahal

Ultimate Middle East and Med Pacific Cruise 

• 63 nights from May 9, 2024, to July 10, 2024
• 44 destinations, including Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Alexandria, Egypt; Rhodes, Greece; Barcelona, Spain; and Provence, France
• 4 Wonders, including the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Temple of Artemis

Ultimate Europe and Beyond Cruise 

• 63 nights from July 10, 2024, to Sept. 10, 2024
• 40 destinations, including Casablanca, Morocco; Paris, France; Bruges, Belgium; and Nuuk, Greenland

Alex Portée is a senior trending reporter at TODAY Digital and is based in Los Angeles.

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Everyone Worth Following on the 9-Month Cruise

If you spent your holiday break mindlessly scrolling through TikTok in order to avoid your mother’s questions about your job/romantic life/plans for the future, then you probably know about the nine-month cruise. If not, you’re in for a treat. Get ready to learn about a group of people whose dads have not explained the plot of The Wager to them.

What is the nine-month cruise?

Well, it’s exactly what it sounds like. On the Royal Caribbean website , the cruise — officially called the Ultimate World Cruise — is advertised as “the most epic cruise to ever set sail.” (The Taylor Swift cruise would like a word.) The people who have booked the entire voyage will be on the ship for 274 nights and travel to over 60 countries including Antarctica. If spending most of the year on a boat eating buffet food doesn’t sound appealing, you can just go for one of the trip’s “segments,” which still entails being on the ship for months at a time. Wrapping your head around what you might do on a cruise for nine months can be hard, but thankfully there are plenty of “day in my life” videos that can help you out.

@angielinderman Day 5; At Sea on @Royal Caribbean’s 9-month Ultimate Workd Cruise. It was more of a relaxing day, starting to feel more routines in the ship which I need. #RoyalCaribbean #crusing #explore #solotravler #worldCruise #UltimateWorldCruise #UWC #SerenadeOfTheSeas #cruise #travel #9monthcruise ♬ original sound - Angie

@amike_oosthuizen Spend a day with us in Brazil!! 🇧🇷🩷 #SAMA28 #cruise #travel #worldcruise #ultimateworldcruise #ultimateworldcruise2023 #royalcaribbean #foryou #foryoupage #cruisetok #fyp #viral #brazil ♬ original sound - Amike Oosthuizen

How much does a nine-month cruise cost?

It ain’t cheap, I’ll tell you that much. Assuming you’re going for the full cruise, the cheapest option is an interior stateroom that costs $59,999 per person. If you were to ball out for a junior suite, you’d be paying $117,599 per person. There is a loophole, though. You can get on the cruise for free if you go viral for saying you want to go on the cruise. So far, this has only happened to TikToker Marc Sebastian, who is going on the cruise for a couple weeks courtesy of a brand that has not yet been revealed. My guess is Dramamine.

@marcsebastianf #stitch with @Marc Sebastian next time on survivor #ultimateworldcruise #worldcruise #royalcaribbean #realitytv #cruise #serenadeoftheseas #Uwc #royalcarribeancruise #drakepassage #antarctica ♬ original sound - Marc Sebastian

Who should I be following?

There are two different ways you can go about this. You could either follow the people who are actually on the ship, or you could follow the people who are following all the people who are on the ship. Of the latter group, the most in-depth reportage is coming from @livingmy_bethlife , who has turned the cruise into a reality show that she’s calling “Ship Happens.”

@livingmy_bethlife The main cast of our unintentional soap opera on the seas HAVE MET! Also… two new characters unlocked 🔐 #9monthcruise #cruisetok #royalcaribbeancruise #shiphappens #livingmybethlife @Nadine Bower @Lindsay @drjennytravels @joe @Amike Oosthuizen @Little Rat Brain @Andrew & Ale Kenney @Brooklyn Schwetje @Brandee Lake @Shannon Marie @Madison Schwetje ♬ original sound - Beth Anne

There’s also @whimsysoul , who has created a bingo card for the cruise that already has more checked off than you might imagine.

@whimsysoul Replying to @Abigail G got inside tea on this! @Marc Sebastian is heading to the world cruise for a brand partnership and it's gonna be SO FUN to watch!! 🍿 👀 Make sure you're all following him since this like nothing we've seen before. What brand do we think it is? 🤔 I honestly think this could change the industry & way some brands approach content partnerships in the future so I'm soooo keen to see what unfolds on the Ultimate World Cruise #ultimateworldcruise #bingo #royalcaribbean #ultimateworldcruisebingo #whimsysoul #marcsebastianf #cruise #cruisetok #brandpartnerships #influencermarketing ♬ original sound - Kara • San Francisco

My personal favorite is @yourdatingtipbestie , who has been doing weekly recaps of what’s happening on the cruise.

@yourdatingtipbestie ICYMI!! Here is this weeks recap of everything that has happened since the last video! Tried to condense as much as i could. 🥹 #worldcruise2023 #worldcruise #ultimateworldcruise #lifeatsea #royalcaribbean #cruisetok #cruiseshiplife #cruiser #cruiseship #worldcruisebingo @Kisha Peart #greenscreen ♬ original sound - Kisha Peart

If you’re looking for a more boots-on-the-ground situation, you are in luck. A plethora of people on the cruise have realized that there is content to be made on the ship, and they’re starting to link up. The most prolific creator so far has been @amike_oosthuizen , a South African influencer with more than 200,000 followers.

@amike_oosthuizen A look into the shops & activities on board! 🚢🛍️🏓✨ #cruise #travel #pickleball #shop #rockclimbing #SAMA28 #cruisetok #travel #worldcruise #ultimateworldcruise #ultimateworldcruise2023 #royalcaribbean #foryoupage #viral #fun ♬ Rio de Janeiro - Carlos Henrique Lima & H Music

If you are tired of well-produced, professional influencers and just want a boomer’s version of what the cruise is like, I must recommend Joe of @spendingourkidsmoney .

@spendingourkidsmoney #royalcaribbean #cruising #explore #WorldCruise #UltimateWorldCruise #UWC #Serenadeoftheseas #cruise #travel ♬ original sound - joe

And if you’re looking for a kind of upstairs-downstairs flavor to your cruise content, you must follow the people who work on the cruise, such as @cooljul1 .

@cooljul1 Ultimate world cruise CREW DAY OFF EDITION :) #ultimateworldcruise #worldcruise #crewlife #cruiseship #royalcarribean #royalcaribbean #serenadeoftheseas ♬ original sound - Julian Mendoza

So … is there drama?

God, everybody wishes. The closest thing to drama is that some people are saying that pinnacle members — people with the highest loyalty status with Royal Caribbean — are being treated better than the regular people onboard. This has not gotten much traction, presumably because that’s the point of a loyalty program.

There was briefly a moment where we thought there might be swingers on the ship, when a woman and her husband put a pineapple (a symbol used by swingers to flag other swingers) on their door. Unfortunately, the woman just “liked pineapples.” For what it’s worth, there are definitely swingers on the ship who just aren’t posting TikToks.

@aditaml2759 We’re not swingers, but we do love our Pineapples 🍍 #ultimateworldcruise2023 #ultimateworldcruise #royalcaribbeanultimateworldcruise #pineapples ♬ original sound - Adita

But fear not, we have many more months to go. The cruise is currently in the honeymoon phase, in which a Belgian waffle for breakfast every morning still sounds like a good idea and the crossing of the Drake Passage is yet to come. Give it a few months and I’m sure something wild will happen. I think I’ll be putting my money on “old couple splits up” or “mystery illness rips through the ship.” In any case, I will be tuned in.

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Money Report

How Royal Caribbean is leading the charge in the cruise industry comeback

By ryan baker,cnbc • published april 15, 2024 • updated on april 15, 2024 at 11:23 am.

Americans are cruising again — and at record-breaking levels.

Carnival , Norwegian and Royal Caribbean all reported entering the year with record highs for individual bookings and cruise pricing.

It's an impressive turnaround after the industry was largely halted for 15 months after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a no-sail order in March 2020 at the onset of the Covid pandemic in the U.S.

And Royal Caribbean has been leading the way. It's seen the highest ticket revenue increase relative to 2019 out of the big three cruise giants. And last month, its share price surpassed its pre-pandemic high. Carnival and Norwegian both trade more than 50% lower than their 2019 levels.

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"The No. 1 reason why Royal Caribbean has outperformed its peers and recovered the fastest is because they issued the least amount of equity during the pandemic. All of the companies had to issue equity. … All the companies had to issue convertible debt, and Royal Caribbean was able to manage its cash position in a way that utilized the least amount of equity," said Brandt Montour, Barclays senior equity research analyst.

Watch the video to learn more.

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How Royal Caribbean is leading the charge in the cruise industry comeback

By ryan baker,cnbc • published april 15, 2024 • updated on april 15, 2024 at 10:22 am.

Americans are cruising again — and at record-breaking levels.

Carnival , Norwegian and Royal Caribbean all reported entering the year with record highs for individual bookings and cruise pricing.

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It's an impressive turnaround after the industry was largely halted for 15 months after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a no-sail order in March 2020 at the onset of the Covid pandemic in the U.S.

And Royal Caribbean has been leading the way. It's seen the highest ticket revenue increase relative to 2019 out of the big three cruise giants. And last month, its share price surpassed its pre-pandemic high. Carnival and Norwegian both trade more than 50% lower than their 2019 levels.

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"The No. 1 reason why Royal Caribbean has outperformed its peers and recovered the fastest is because they issued the least amount of equity during the pandemic. All of the companies had to issue equity. … All the companies had to issue convertible debt, and Royal Caribbean was able to manage its cash position in a way that utilized the least amount of equity," said Brandt Montour, Barclays senior equity research analyst.

Watch the video to learn more.

• Friday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Microsoft, Boeing, First Solar, Schwab & more
• Citi says this ‘high risk’ but ‘attractive’ global stock has 280% upside
• This AI stock could fall 50% and has an ‘exaggerated artificial intelligence narrative,’ Morningstar says
• Morgan Stanley names 3 overlooked global tech stocks, giving one almost 100% upside

Also on CNBC

• Here's how cruise leaders made their comeback
• An introvert’s guide to surviving group travel
• Richard Branson’s cruise line launches month-long cruise for remote workers

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Royal Caribbean responds after father of 20-year-old man who 'jumped off' cruise ship claims he was 'served alcohol' underage

Other passengers say he was 'pretty drunk' when the incident occurred.

Royal Caribbean has responded following claims that a 20-year-old man who jumped overboard had been served alcohol despite being underage.

On April 4, Levion Parker, from North Port, Florida, jumped overboard from the 11th deck of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship after an argument with his dad.

The Liberty of the Seas was returning to Fort Lauderdale following a four-day cruise when the incident occurred.

The cruise line immediately launched a search and rescue mission alongside the US Coast Guard, but it was suspended five days later on April 9.

Other passengers have since come forward to share what happened.

Bryan Sims told The Post that he was hanging out with Parker and his brother in the hot tub 'until 3:30am.'

He said that Parker, who was 'sat right beside [him] the whole time], was 'pretty drunk'.

He continued: "As we were walking from the hot tub back to the elevators, his dad and brother were walking towards us. His dad was fussing at him for being drunk, I guess.

"When we got to them, he said to his dad, 'I’ll fix this right now.' And he jumped out the window in front of us all."

The 20-year-old's father, Francel Parker, has since accused the cruise line of serving alcohol to his underage son.

"We don't drink. I'd like to know how my son was served so much alcohol," he demanded.

But, in a statement from Royal Caribbean, the cruise company reiterated it had a strict underage drinking policy.

They told UNILAD: "Our hearts go out to the family, and we continue to offer them our support and assistance during this difficult time.

"Our policies strictly prohibit guests under the age of 21 from being served alcohol onboard."

It has been suggested that Levion had gotten drunk while the ship was docked in the Dominican Republic earlier that day, where the legal drinking age is 18.

"The ship was docked in the Dominican Republic that day, so we cannot speak to what guest did when he was off the ship," a source told the Daily Mail.

Eight days on from Levion's disappearance, Francel is still holding out hope for his son.

“As soon as he went off the side, I prayed over him," he told the Daily Sun.

"I was confident the prayers I said over my son were heard. I stand on the word of God.

"I believe he is alive."

Topics:  Royal Caribbean , Travel , US News , Cruise ship

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This Small-ship Cruise Line Just Announced 2 New All-suite Vessels Will Join Its Fleet

Windstar Cruises is scheduled to launch Star Seeker in 2025 and Star Explorer in 2026.

Courtesy of Windstar Cruises

Boutique small-ship cruise line Windstar Cruises is growing its fleet, adding two 224-passenger vessels — both acquisitions from Mystic Cruises —  in the next two years. Star Seeker is slated to make its debut in December 2025 and Star Explorer is scheduled to follow a year later in December 2026. 

Star Seeker is under construction, while Star Explorer is currently sailing as Quark Expeditions' World Explorer. B oth ships will be reworked to include signature features of Windstar ships, from a watersports platform to Owners Suites with wraparound balconies to a whirlpool on the bow. 

Dining, in particular, will be a main focus on the ships, as Windstar has a partnership with the James Beard Foundation. The ships' dining options spaces will be expanded to include the on-deck Star Grill, the casual Yacht Club café and lounge, and a re-imagined Amphora main dining room, which will now have outdoor seating.

“Our goal was to ensure these ships are unmistakably Windstar, and a significant amount of effort has gone into achieving this,” Christopher Prelog, Windstar Cruises’ president, said in a statement provided to Travel + Leisure . “We are thrilled for this expansion, building on the success of our game-changing Star Class in small-ship cruising with guests and travel partners, while offering new experiences. This growth reflects the dedication of our incredible crew and team, allowing us to broaden our destination portfolio and even bring one of our Wind Class sail ships back to Tahiti.”

Though both ships have ice-strengthened hulls capable of sailing in the polar regions, Windstar doesn't currently operate such itineraries, focusing primarily on the Americas, Europe, and the Pacific Islands. But these new ships may open doors to adventures in the years to come.

“As part of our company’s expanding portfolio, Windstar Cruises is poised for remarkable growth and an exciting future ahead," Andrew N. Todd, president and CEO of parent company Xanterra Travel Collection, said in a statement. "We’re excited about the possibilities of where Windstar will sail and the opportunities it brings our officers, crew and staff, and our guests.”

Itineraries and booking information for Star Seeker will be announced in June 2024. You can sign up for updates at windstarcruises.com/newships .

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Father of florida cruise passenger, 20, who jumped off royal caribbean ship after argument believes his son is still alive: report.

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The father of the 20-year-old passenger who jumped off a Royal Caribbean cruise ship last Thursday in a reportedly drunken, impulsive leap believes his son is still alive nearly a week later.

Francel Parker, dad of missing Levion Parker, told the Daily Sun that he believes his child — whom he called a master diver — is still alive in the waters off the Bahamas.

“As soon as he went off the side, I prayed over him. I was confident the prayers I said over my son were heard. I stand on the word of God. I believe he is alive,” Francel Parker said to the local Florida paper Wednesday.

The US Coast Guard called off its search for the North Port man a day earlier.

The younger Parker allegedly jumped off the 18-story Liberty of the Seas around 4 a.m. in front of his helpless dad and younger brother after getting into an argument with his father, witnesses previously told The Post.

But Francel, who runs an AC business in Port Charlotte, told the local newspaper that he wasn’t arguing with Levion and that his son wasn’t trying to take his own life.

He said Levion is a skilled diver who works on a commercial fishing boat, and he is demanding to know how his underage son was given alcohol on the four-day cruise to Cuba and the Bahamas’ Grand Inagua Island.

“We don’t drink,” Francel said. “I’d like to know how my son was served so much alcohol.”

Another passenger onboard the cruise who witnessed Levion’s heart-stopping jump said Francel was “fussing at him for being drunk.”

Bryan Sims told The Post that he was hanging out with Levion and his 18-year-old brother, Seth, in the hotel tub of the ship in the early hours of April 4 before they went their separate ways.

After Sims had used the restroom and dried off, he bumped into the brothers and their father near the elevators.

“As we were walking from the hot tub back to the elevators, his dad and brother were walking towards us. His dad was fussing at him for being drunk, I guess,” Sims said of the moment before Parker jumped.  

“When we got to them, he said to his dad, ‘I’ll fix this right now.’ And he jumped out the window in front of us all,” Sims said, calling what he witnessed “surreal.”

Another cruise guest described the frantic chaos that followed.

“There was a lot of yelling, and the crew was alerted immediately,” Deborah Morrison told The Post.

“His family was horrified. Just beside themselves. I can’t even begin to imagine what they’re going through.”

Francel told the Daily Sun that he threw six life rings off the ship in hopes of saving his son before the massive vessel was able to come to a stop about 20 minutes later.

Royal Caribbean said it “immediately” launched search boats to look for the 20-year-old and alerted the Coast Guard, which later took over the search.

At least 406 people on major cruise lines and ferries have gone overboard between 2000 and 2024, according to data collected by retired professor and cruise industry researcher Ross Klein.

Death rates among overboard passengers and crew members vary significantly among cruise lines, but even the safest cruise companies were only able to rescue about 40% of people who fall or jump off the ship, Klein told the Washington Post in July.

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