People left their homes, quit their jobs, and cashed in their inheritances for the adventure of a lifetime.
About 650 travelers paid between $59,999 and $117,599 for the once-in-a-lifetime, nine-month, around-the-world cruise, which called at more than 150 destinations.
Royal Caribbean's Ultimate World Cruise offered stunning views and custom food (like Subway sandwiches and Cincinnati chili) for those suffering from homesickness, but it also brought plenty of drama on board the 962-foot luxury cruise ship, the Serenade of the Seas, including nausea, fires, flooding and rude social media posts.
Throughout the 276 days, sources interviewed by The Washington Post said they had a great time.
The cruise ship was due to depart in December 2023 and finally docked permanently last week. Not everyone was able to return home, with two passengers dying at sea.
“The average age on this trip was pretty high,” Joe Martucci, 67, who was very proud of his seven-continent voyage, told The Washington Post. He resented the people who stayed on the ship for just a short trip and were luxuriating in their World Cruise T-shirts. “So, some people are going to die.”
One woman he recalled “was there with her daughter, son and husband. She stopped to go to the bathroom, got up and… [collapsed]With her death, our numbers are reduced by one.
Another passenger, Andrew Kenny, 27, said the average age of those on board was “around 70”.
Of the many must-see destinations, Martucci was particularly fascinated by Antarctica, saying “the purity of it was just amazing.” But even the most enviable tourism can get tedious.
“When I got to Europe about five and a half months later, it started to feel like a job, leaving the ship at 8 a.m. and coming back at 5 a.m.,” said Martucci, who set out on the epic voyage with his wife, Audrey, as a retirement gift to himself.
“I hadn't been out at sea for 20 days, so I felt like I had to be in port every day and see what was out there.”
In addition to the exhaustion of the journey, some of the ports of call felt forced. “When I got off the ship, I wondered why I was there,” he said, recalling a less-than-memorable town in Spain. “We were there on a Monday, and Monday is the holiday for everything.”
A Royal Caribbean spokesman told The Washington Post the company doesn't comment on specific cruise issues.
Then there were delays caused by protesters from Amsterdam “who chained themselves to the bridge to protest against over-tourism,” Kenny said. [damage to] Environment” and rerouting due to Middle East conflict.
Of course, he could have stayed on the ship and taken a more comfortable excursion, but Martucci felt he couldn't miss out on what he'd paid for. “I went because I planned to spend my money and see a lot of things, but some of the ports were disappointing.”
Plus, the long hours on board didn't always feel like a fun cruise.
As they approached the Antarctic, temperatures became too cold for passengers to spend any significant amount of time on deck, so most passengers gathered in the Centrum, the central space of the ship.
“Typically we'd be spread out in different locations,” Kenny said. Professional Videographer“But back then, most people were in the same place,” he told the Post. “So while some people wanted to quietly have their morning coffee, others were doing loud Zumba. And there were egg-drop contests and guitar playing.”
For Kenny, retreating to his stateroom wasn't always an option. “Any room at the front of the ship is the one most vulnerable to the rocking of rough seas, and that's where we were. I felt pretty sick at first, and there were a few days when I came in and thought, 'I've got to get out of here. I can't stay here.'”
It probably didn't help that the place was packed with souvenirs. There were magnets from various places affixed to the metal walls, and Andrew's wife, Ale Kenny, 30, said: “We're big Disney fans. We went to all the parks on our travels – Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris. And of course, [Disney’s] “There were special popcorn tubs and memorabilia from the French Olympics. And then there was a sound bath installation from India. The list goes on and on.”
Martucci's love of lobster wasn't widespread. Before he left, lobster was one of his favorite delicacies. “I ate lobster about 20 times on the cruise, which was too much,” he said, admitting that he wasn't sure when he'd next crack the crustacean's shell.
Flirtatious behavior with other passengers may have been an option — some of the doors were apparently adorned with upside-down pineapples, the cruise ship symbol used to signal that cabin passengers were welcome to frolic — but the desire to get drunk on board could only take passengers so far.
“We used the term 'water,'” Andrew says. “Basically. [when passengers were becoming overly tipsy]The bartender stopped giving them drinks and started giving them bottles of water. They were very gracious and didn't say no. But we all looked out for each other.”
At least, that's what most people thought. Shortly after the trip began, people began taking an interest in Supercruise and what was going on on the ship. Dozens of passengers posted innocently on social media, while Martucci's tongue-in-cheek handle read: Spending kids' money At least two people got carried away in the name of gaining more followers.
Martucci recalls that someone tried to capitalize on the passenger's death. “Someone on social media blew the story out of proportion,” he says. “She was walking down the hallway and… [the deceased lady] She was taken out of the shed. That's not true. Her TikTok [about the incident] It has been withdrawn.”
That may be forgivable, but another TikTok rip-off is not: Despite desperate attempts to get him water, one passenger ended up in what Andrew describes as a “pretty drunk” state and posted on TikTok that he “made a lot of racist comments about minorities. I don't think he had a very good time on the ship after that.”
on the other hand, Brandy LakeOn a cruise with her sister Shannon and parents, Brandy had no desire to stop having fun: After cashing in her inheritance and joining her family on the Serenade of the Seas, Brandy took a train to the Taj Mahal, got her hair braided at a salon in Africa, ran with bulls in Pamplona, and took a pasta-making class in Tuscany.
“This trip has been a dream come true,” Brandy, who quit her job at an advertising agency and gave up her Los Angeles apartment just before the trip, told The Washington Post.
“The best part is that this was a family trip, and both my parents were healthy so the trip was possible.”
While Lake said he'd like to embark on another trip around the world, not everyone is on board: “Nine months is too long,” Martucci said, giving the impression that his days as a deep-sea marathon runner are over.
But none of the passengers interviewed by The Washington Post are opposed to the idea of cruising. In fact, they can't wait to cruise again. “We booked the reunion cruise as soon as it was announced,” Kenney said.
