By Adanya Day
274 Nights, 11 World wonders, 60+ countries. This sounds like an experience of a lifetime right? Something you’d only see in the movies.
But what if I told you that this rat race-like experience is happening right now aboard the Royal Caribbean. That’s right, one of the most famous cruise lines in the world is taking on this colossal trip that spans nine months.
This singular cruise has generated a lot of buzz on social media the hashtag, #RoyalCaribbeanUltimateWorldCruise 100 million views on TikTok. It seems that this cruise may be the cruise of the century. However, things already seem to be going awry with a passenger unfortunately passing away earlier this month from unknown causes. TikTokers are getting more into this cruise than anybody else; seeing this cruise as a “Keeping up with the Kardashians” type reality show. TikTok user @whimsysoul even created a bingo card of what may happen on this cruise with options like COVID breakout, someone being left behind, and even mass STIs!
This cruise departed from Miami, Florida on Dec. 10, 2023 and made its way down to the Bahamas. Now a little over three months into the cruise, the Serenade of the Seas is on its way to the Middle East and Mediterranean. The cruise still has a long way to go, with stops in Rome, Italy, France, and Greece. The Serenade of the Seas doesn’t plan on returning to Miami, Florida until Sept. 10, 2024.
Personally I would never go on a 9 month cruise especially considering all that can go wrong. I have never been on a cruise myself and don’t think I ever will simply due to the fact that the vast endlessness of the ocean absolutely scares me, I believe it’s known as Thalassophobia.
But after surveying a few Peace students I found that while a majority of us have never been on a cruise, it’s split pretty evenly on who would go on this nine month cruise. 54% would go on this cruise while 45% wouldn’t. I side with the people who wouldn’t there’s just too much that could go wrong. After all, who wants to experience Titanic 2.0?