Nine-month world cruise, would you go?

[BSR]

Royal Caribbean is offering its first ever world cruise, and they're going BIG.  It leaves Miami on December 10, 2023, and returns to the same port on September 10, 2024 -- 9 months, 150+ destinations, all 7 continents.  While it sounds like the adventure of a lifetime, I have to wonder who can actually go.

First, you would either have to be retired or have a very nice, understanding boss.  Then you'd need a heckuva lot of disposable income.  Even an interior stateroom is $61K (times two for double occupancy), a balcony stateroom is $79K, plus $4700/passenger in port taxes.  Of course, you'll spend for all sorts of extras:  shore excursions, gratuities, Wi-Fi, drinks, laundry, etc.  You would need someone to take care of your house & car for 9 months.   And you'd need to be in good health because the shipboard physician will be able to handle only basic medical issues.

Granted, very few people have the time & money for a 9-month cruise, but If you could, would you go?  You could see so much of the world yet unpack only once.  You'd see so many places you might not visit otherwise.  Transportation from place to place is on the same ship, as opposed to a nonstop chase of planes, trains, and buses.  You never have to worry about meals & entertainment.

Plenty of downsides too, however.  You'd be on the same ship in the same room for a very long time.  You'd be in close quarters with the same people for 9 months, which is great if you like your fellow passengers, not great if you don't.  Most passengers will be older, if not much older.  You might not end up liking some destinations yet spend too little time in places you love.

All told, it seems like the kind of thing that sounds great in theory, but I have my doubts that reality would match up to expectations.  I think I'd feel too claustrophobic after a while.  If I did have 9 months and a big budget to travel the world, I'd prefer to pick my own destinations and timeframes as opposed to being locked into a preset itinerary.  But hey, if I met a smokin' hot sugarbaby with no particular plans for 9 months ...

[Rudynate]

Nine months on a cruise ship?  No thanks.

[+ sync]

After nine months of the Royal Caribbean 24 Hour Eatery Cafe Promenade, along with the daytime buffets and restaurants, I would have to be discharged at a container port.

[Danny-Darko]

1 hour ago, BSR said:

Royal Caribbean is offering its first ever world cruise, and they're going BIG.  It leaves Miami on December 10, 2023, and returns to the same port on September 10, 2024 -- 9 months, 150+ destinations, all 7 continents.  While it sounds like the adventure of a lifetime, I have to wonder who can actually go.

First, you would either have to be retired or have a very nice, understanding boss.  Then you'd need a heckuva lot of disposable income.  Even an interior stateroom is $61K (times two for double occupancy), a balcony stateroom is $79K, plus $4700/passenger in port taxes.  Of course, you'll spend for all sorts of extras:  shore excursions, gratuities, Wi-Fi, drinks, laundry, etc.  You would need someone to take care of your house & car for 9 months.   And you'd need to be in good health because the shipboard physician will be able to handle only basic medical issues.

Granted, very few people have the time & money for a 9-month cruise, but If you could, would you go?  You could see so much of the world yet unpack only once.  You'd see so many places you might not visit otherwise.  Transportation from place to place is on the same ship, as opposed to a nonstop chase of planes, trains, and buses.  You never have to worry about meals & entertainment.

Plenty of downsides too, however.  You'd be on the same ship in the same room for a very long time.  You'd be in close quarters with the same people for 9 months, which is great if you like your fellow passengers, not great if you don't.  Most passengers will be older, if not much older.  You might not end up liking some destinations yet spend too little time in places you love.

All told, it seems like the kind of thing that sounds great in theory, but I have my doubts that reality would match up to expectations.  I think I'd feel too claustrophobic after a while.  If I did have 9 months and a big budget to travel the world, I'd prefer to pick my own destinations and timeframes as opposed to being locked into a preset itinerary.  But hey, if I met a smokin' hot sugarbaby with no particular plans for 9 months ...

That would be a dream! I'd love to go!! 

[jeezifonly]

9 months.

[Guest]

Not at all interested. For one, I have a dog. If I had that much money to burn, as you said, I'd like to pick my destinations and do them one at a time, picking the best time of year to go to each destination. That being said, I'll do cruises of up to 2 weeks or so. "Chris" and I are taking a cruise which goes around Iceland, then to Greenland, Newfoundland, Halifax, and Boston in late August. I hope our dogs don't think we've abandoned them. Unclear if we'll hire a house-sitter or board them. I suppose we could have mail held or ask the neighbors. We do have gardeners and a pool dude who come once a week. 

I've lost the weight, but did gain weight even during our 2-week trip around Switzerland. I thought I could eat more because we were doing a lot of walking and hiking around, but I guess I mis-estimated. And I do exercise almost every day at home, I suppose, taking my bitch down Runyon Canyon, swimming, or using a cross-trainer. Too much fondue, I guess. 

Edited October 29, 2021 by Unicorn

[handiacefailure]

If I was retired and had the money and didn't have my cats, hell yes.   $65K really isn't too bad for nine months if that includes your meals.   Look at how much you would pay in airfare, hotels and restaurants if you were to travel for nine months straight.

 

[BSR]

1 hour ago, handiacefailure said:

If I was retired and had the money and didn't have my cats, hell yes.   $65K really isn't too bad for nine months if that includes your meals.   Look at how much you would pay in airfare, hotels and restaurants if you were to travel for nine months straight.

 

A balcony cabin (I'd get so claustrophobic in an interior room) + port taxes (mandatory) + gratuities (optional, but don't be an asshole) divided by 274 nights comes to about $645 per night for 2 passengers.  Since that covers all food, entertainment, transportation, and lodging, you're getting pretty good bang for your buck.  But how many couples have $177,000 to plop down up front?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, BSR said:

A balcony cabin (I'd get so claustrophobic in an interior room) + port taxes (mandatory) + gratuities (optional, but don't be an asshole) divided by 274 nights comes to about $645 per night for 2 passengers.  Since that covers all food, entertainment, transportation, and lodging, you're getting pretty good bang for your buck.  But how many couples have $177,000 to plop down up front?

I’d do it.   I know three people who have done the condo ship “The World” and tired of it after several months.  I believe they paid around $2million.  This would be the experience at a fraction of the cost without the baggage of ownership. 

Edited October 29, 2021 by BnaC

[+ Cash4Trash]

And savvy shoppers will wait to reserve 2 days before the cruise leaves and get a much cheaper rate. Since so many ships leave from NYC and area we wait and I once got a 14 day Caribbean cruise for $500.00 or $600.00 (?) - ocean view single occupancy. 

[lonely_john]

Covid is still pretty much alive around the world, so NO!

[Epigonos]

I love cruising but would NEVER consider a cruise of that length.  I far as I'm concerned the perfect length of a cruise is ten to fourteen days.  Just the thought of nine months of repetitious banquet food gives me nightmares and indigestion.  Cruise food is NOT gourmet food – it cannot be when they are feeding the number of guests they are.  After a while on ANY long trip I begin to miss my own cooking.  On very long cruises, for me at least, the ports seem to run together and look alike.  Additionally, I would become very weary of the limited living conditions.  I love my condo where and I can move around without bumping into myself.  NO WAY!!!!!

[+ Charlie]

The only cruises I have ever taken were from New York to Bermuda and back, and a ten day windjammer cruise in the Leeward Islands, and although I enjoyed them,  each time I was very happy to get back home. I can't imagine being stuck on a ship for nine months. Considering that the majority of people on such a cruise are probably elderly, how do they manage their regular medications (an extra trunk?)? What happens if you become ill or injured halfway around the world? What if there is some emergency back home that you need to attend to? How easy is it to maintain communications with family/banks, etc., back home? (What if you lose/break your phone or iPad?) Of course, these are problems that one may face on any kind of trip, but they seem magnified when you are essentially living on a vessel on the ocean far from home, and are committed to being there for many months.

[+ azdr0710]

https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2016-05-06/this-man-has-been-living-on-cruise-ships-for-twenty-years

[+ sync]

A former co-worker of mine told me she put cruise vacations out of her mind because taking out an entire floating city could be a consideration for terrorists.  😨

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

YES!   When I retire in 2028, I will be taking a 6 to 9 month cruise.  That has been my plan for the past few years.

The longest cruise I've been on so far is 15 nights.  I've never cruised for less than 7 nights.

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

11 hours ago, handiacefailure said:

Look at how much you would pay in airfare, hotels and restaurants if you were to travel for nine months straight.

Would you really be straight for nine months?  I prefer to travel for nine months gay

[Guest]

29 minutes ago, Vegas_nw1982 said:

Would you really be straight for nine months?  I prefer to travel for nine months gay

Don't knock it 'til you try it

 

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

40 minutes ago, BnaC said:

Don't knock it 'til you try it

 

I'm not giving up my Platinum Star Gay stutus

[+ bigjoey]

There are people who live on cruise ships now.  My mother met a few of them on her twice yearly Crystal Cruises.  Some thoughts:

1-normally while you are on the ship for nine months, other passengers are only doing certain segments so you meet new people all the time.  One woman told my mother she plays bridge almost every day and she loves having new partners every 10-15 days as people come and leave for different segments.

2-another woman told my mother that she has different grandchildren join her for different segments so that about half the time she has a grandchild (or child) with her.

3-they love having “staff”: maid service daily, all meals not only in various restaurants but room service 24/7, a butler, laundry, casino and nightly entertainment, high tea, spa services like massages and hair salon, lectures, etc.  Shore excursions if they want (most were well traveled and had been to the ports many times and just stayed on board).

4-they loved meeting new people as segments changed.  New stories to hear and a new audience to hear their stories.

5-many had sold their homes and had a fixed address with a child so the cost of the ship was offset by savings of having a house (taxes, utilities, up keep, insurance), food, entertainment, automobile, etc.

I had the feeling that many of them were wealthy widows and had full suites.  I think many liked the attention of the crew.  Crystal Cruises were geared to an “older” crowd with formal nights and the ship’s officers danced with the ladies.  The dining room had a captain’s table and I’m sure the handsome captain lavished attention on these residents. 

The medical care on the Crystal ships was good.  The infirmary had multiple dialysis machines!! (My mother’s comment was with multiple dialysis machines, they knew their client base well😀).

[handiacefailure]

2 hours ago, Vegas_nw1982 said:

Would you really be straight for nine months?  I prefer to travel for nine months gay

most cruises have plenty of gay people on them.   Both passengers and staff

[BSR]

5 hours ago, Charlie said:

The only cruises I have ever taken were from New York to Bermuda and back, and a ten day windjammer cruise in the Leeward Islands, and although I enjoyed them,  each time I was very happy to get back home. I can't imagine being stuck on a ship for nine months. Considering that the majority of people on such a cruise are probably elderly, how do they manage their regular medications (an extra trunk?)? What happens if you become ill or injured halfway around the world? What if there is some emergency back home that you need to attend to? How easy is it to maintain communications with family/banks, etc., back home? (What if you lose/break your phone or iPad?) Of course, these are problems that one may face on any kind of trip, but they seem magnified when you are essentially living on a vessel on the ocean far from home, and are committed to being there for many months.

My uncle had a brief stint as a piano player on Holland America.  The crew told him that because the world cruise was so long (120 nights at the time) and because world cruise passengers tend to be quite a bit older, 2-3 passengers die during most world cruises.  They even had a separate fridge on board to store the bodies!  So how many passengers on this 274-night cruise are going to expire before it's over?  The ship better have a really big fridge.

[alrajee]

I'm not a usual client of cruises so I don't think being stuck in the same environment for nine months is something I would go for.

[+ WilliamM]

No. I don't even like week long tours on land.

[Merboy]

Well that does seem a tad too long.  Maybe a three month cruise around the world, but only really Europe, some gay-friendly parts of Asia, Oceania, the Pacific Ocean, gay-friendly Latin America, and then North America... I wouldn't want to honestly go to anyplace where I'd get off the boat and then get shoved into a jail cell for being queer... or a place where right after I paid for dinner, the waiters would round me up and put me in front of a court of Islamic fundamentalist judges for wearing too much lipstick or something... those places avoid at all costs (even the infamous trendy "Dubai" or that city the Sex and the City girls went to in that god-awful sequel) and stick to the basics - Italy, France, Germany, Scandinavia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Thailand, I'd say Brazil but it's gotta be until that nutcase leaves office....maybe Mexico's coasts, like Puerto Vallerta... but the cruise would be nice right about now, as long as COVID was gone.