A 9-Month Cruise Is TikToks Favorite New Reality Show The New York Times

Table Of Content

• TikToker on 9-Month World Cruise Says ‘I Hate It Here’ Amid Canceled Excursions, Hate from Other Passengers
• Meet the ‘cast’ of the 9-month cruise that’s taking over TikTok
• What's the best part of ship life?
• How social media algorithms 'flatten' our culture by making decisions for us
• These are the 11 best bronzing drops we tested for glowy, sun-kissed skin every time
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There are already allegations of a class system emerging, rumours of swingers, a flood, allegations of racism, and outrage at the cramped conditions. One creator, who refers to herself as TikTok’s “sea tea” director and updates her followers with “breaking news”, claimed that someone had already left the cruise. He started making daily videos to send to their four adult children, who live all over the world.

TikToker on 9-Month World Cruise Says ‘I Hate It Here’ Amid Canceled Excursions, Hate from Other Passengers

The "cruise influencers" have also gained a lot, chiefly, hundreds of thousands of social media followers each. But most of them couldn't have predicted they would go viral overnight — let alone have to add "film and post daily TikToks" to their vacation to-do lists. 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. At the time of this writing, the hashtag #ultimateworldcruise has earned over 150 million views on TikTok, with several passengers propelled to online stardom from posting about their time onboard the 2,490 passenger Radiance-class ship.

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

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. Sisters Brandee and Shannon Lake, who are Black, said they’re sharing a cabin and said that quarantining  together during the pandemic prepared them to live in close quarters on the ship for nine months. Some said they cannot fathom what being on the cruise, traveling to that many locations while eating and drinking the days away, would do to a person physically. Finally, the last leg sees passengers touring Europe, with stops in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway over the final 63 nights. The penultimate leg of the trip heads to the Mediterranean and Middle East destinations over the course of another 67 days. 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.

What's the best part of ship life?

The spokesperson did not share details regarding the passenger’s identity or the circumstances of their death. “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. He also complained about other guests having trouble lining up in an orderly fashion ahead of scheduled activities.“I don’t know why this is so difficult.

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. For LRB, her family made a goal in her early childhood to visit all seven continents and all 50 states. They've been working toward that goal ever since—this cruise is going to get them to the finish line. Both Linderman and LRB set up autopay for their bills and found trusted people to live in their homes while they were on the cruise. Linderman has a dog, and she has friends and family helping out with his care while he lives with the person staying in her home while she’s away.

Accounts chronicling the cruise from users on land have also quickly emerged, with creators obsessively analysing passengers’ videos and anticipating the ship’s potential for drama. It's Triangle of Sadness meets Titanic meets Below Deck — and it has got TikTok in a chokehold; in only two weeks, the hashtag #UltimateWorldCruise has attracted more than 150 million views. “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. We don’t know the official number of passengers on board, though one TikToker reports that it’s around 1,000.

"I would say the first 24 hours, for us personally, were really spent finding a space for every packing cube, bottle of sunscreen and my art supplies. However, less than 16 hours after sailing, we were standing on the beach of our first country." 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. "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."

What you've missed so far on the viral nine-month Royal Caribbean world cruise - Yahoo News UK

What you've missed so far on the viral nine-month Royal Caribbean world cruise.

Posted: Tue, 09 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Sign up here so you don’t miss the next one, plus get newsletter exclusives. 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. But there have been some suggestions that people of different backgrounds might be experiencing different treatment on the ship.

Sebastian even went to a vlogger meetup on the ship where he met the “main characters” of the world cruise. “Marc brought so many interactive and engaging ideas about how to incorporate our books into his travels. And, of course, what better companion for a long journey than a good book,” a representative for Atria Books told the outlet. Royal Caribbean International later responded that there are currently no plans to change the Ultimate World Cruise itinerary – but not before the video received over 5,000 views and hundreds of comments.

The popular cruise line set sail on a massive voyage set to last 274 nights between December 2023 and September 2024. Even some of the staff on board have started posting videos, such as Julian Mendoza with the handle @cooljul1. Mike and Nancy, an older couple whose TikTok bio says they are "finding fulfilment in life's second phase", have been sharing wholesome content on their account @livingphase2, racking up almost 30,000 followers at the time of writing. If you’re wondering just how entertaining a group of tech-illiterate retirees could be, think again.

Royal Caribbean's 9-month world cruise is getting attention for "drama", but it's nothing new - Royal Caribbean Blog

Royal Caribbean's 9-month world cruise is getting attention for "drama", but it's nothing new.

Posted: Sat, 30 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

A subset of TikTok is closely following the Royal Caribbean's World Cruise. You could enter this vacation not pregnant and leave it with a healthy baby. 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. While the internet loves the folksy content Martucci and others share, it’s also thirsty for reality-show infighting. Unbeknownst to Martucci, an insatiable interest in his cruise had been growing since his ship left port in Miami. Across the internet, people were clamoring for as much information as they could find.

Love Island is not happening.” Perhaps most tragic, the ship briefly ran out of red wine; they’ve since stocked up. Each week we’ll send you the very best from the Vox Culture team, plus a special internet culture edition by Rebecca Jennings on Wednesdays. 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.

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. They were aboard a ship for nine months, in a new routine, with a constantly changing yet also stagnant environment, with a bunch of new people to meet.

One person claimed that American and non-American guests were being treated differently on board the ship. The first traverses North America and South America over 67 nights and includes stops in Brazil, the Caribbean and Antarctica. 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. 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. "When we got onboard, our luggage was already in our rooms, so arriving at our cabin had the same feeling and excitement of moving into a dorm room," LRB says.

"And this is their vacation. This is their life story. And they need to be able to enjoy their life's dream." The couple doesn't plan to start monetizing their videos, or stop posting them, anytime soon. The 26-year-old had done some influencing back home in South Africa (her mom, incidentally, is one of the stars of Real Housewives of Pretoria). Oosthuizen says she joined the trip with plans to post "day in the life" videos, with a focus on makeup and fashion. On the high seas, it’s content creators versus the other passengers. 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.

"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. "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. 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.