When Mark Sebastian heard about a nine-month round-the-world cruise, his first thought was that it sounded like the perfect premise for a reality TV show.
“Put cameras on this damn ship,” Sebastian he said on a TikTok that has now been viewed 7 million times. “There will be a mutiny. There will be blood. Someone is crossing the sea, I want to watch. Alternatively, put me on the cruise. Will go. I will cause chaos. I'm going to wreak havoc and record everything.”
Billed as “the world's most epic cruise ever to set sail,” Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas ship left port in December to take its passengers to all seven continents, 11 wonders of the world and 60 countries throughout its nine-month journey. But once it left its dock in Miami, interest in the voyage blossomed on TikTok — from simple fascination to an insatiable desire to learn about the ship. Users of the app ramped up demand for any videos about the world cruise, turning passengers and crew into TikTok personalities seemingly overnight.
Hashtags using the phrase #9monthcruise have over 200 million views, with thousands of video additions from both cruise passengers and cruise enthusiasts alike. TikTok users turning events into live reality TV shows is nothing new. (Check out the University of Alabama's 2021 and 2022 rush weeks followed and analyzed on #RushTok like the sporting event of the century). for content creators on board. It also raises questions about whether a cruise that's supposed to last the next nine months can hold TikTok's collective attention — and whether that's something passengers want in the first place.
Amike Oosthuizen is a South African influencer who joined the cruise with her parents and husband to celebrate her dad's retirement and plans to be on board for the entire nine months. But after posting cruise videos alongside her regular content, she saw a significant jump in engagement and interest — which helped fill the time on her “vacation of a lifetime.”
“The response has been crazy,” says Oosthuizen. “Everyone wants to know what we do, how we do it. I've already had so many opportunities to work with friends.”
For retirees Joe and Audrey Martucci, the cruise was a well-deserved vacation after Joe's retirement. But when their kids suggested they put their video messages on TikTok for their friends to see, the two gained an instant following. Now referred to as the Cruise Dad and Cruise Mom, the couple share videos with their 90,000 followers about their travels, celebrating the birth of their first grandchild or how they keep in touch with family. “We're on FaceTime with each of the kids or texting with the kids every day,” Joe says. “They're kind of like 'Do you still have time for the OG guys after you've got another 90,000?'
But their newfound hobby of content creation—and the demand for it—still has a learning curve. “I really struggled at the beginning of TikTok because I felt, like both of us, really protective of this world cruise. This is an amazing thing we do and I didn't want anyone to cause drama because it's not what it should be,” says Audrey. Rolling rock. “But now I'm a little bit more, you know, happy to be in the videos. I'm doing more appearances.”
While the cruise has been weeks into people's FYPs, the majority of passengers have spoken Rolling rock describe two worlds: what TikTok talks about the cruise and what actually happens. Viral clips on the social media app captured the vessel's journey through the Drake Passage – the infamous Antarctic waterway known for its vomit-inducing seas – and a flood on board. (Solved quickly.) Shots of decorated door signage sparked wild rumours of a cabal of swingers running through the ship. (Adita, the cruise passenger who graced her door, said she's not a swinger, but has since taken to making cheeky videos of herself entertaining affairs while displaying her collection of pineapple-themed clothing.) Leah B., the passenger behind the account @ frugalvagabond, says Rolling rock that while each creator has built a large following for their particular niches (art, history, travel content), there will likely always be interest in the original as the cruise continues — even if nothing happens.
“I understand that everyone is really into drama,” says Leah. “To me, it looks like they keep watching because they want a front row seat when it happens. They are waiting [a] reality show and I think what they should know but don't know is that the producers on these reality shows tend to beat the bear to get this drama out. People don't usually go back to that kind of behavior and that kind of interpersonal conflict on a regular basis.”
Instead of filming all-out brawls from every possible angle, the rise of #CruiseTok has had the unexpected effect of creating a floating collective home for creators on board. TikTokers have hosted their own meetups, done collective TikTok Lives, and featured each other in their videos. And that doesn't just include people who started the cruise from scratch. After the viral video of Sebastian begging to be on the cruise, publishing company Atria Books sponsored an 18-day stay on the ship, during which Sebastian promised to take tea to the “characters”, promote Atria's upcoming release and to paint himself as the reality TV villain. Instead, while on the ship, Sebastian found himself teaching newfound TikTokers how to keep following — and instead turned his dramatic content to exposing the problems he had with the ship's amenities and the cruise industry in general.
“I literally don't mind playing bingo all day. I just wanted to look like a pussy,” says Sebastian.
On board, he firmly set his sights on baking the decor, rating the limited facilities and entertainment on board, which he described as a “floating nursing home with a cheese factory attached,” and criticizing Royal Caribbean for making two employees split $500 employee of the month award instead of giving them each their own.
“While I still feel like I captured a lot Drama, quote-unquote, it just wasn't the drama people expected. I decided, let's talk about the cruise industry and how it [billion dollar] company treats its employees. Let's have these 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.)
But that doesn't mean the ride is boring. In fact, most of the drama that TikTok so craves seems to stem primarily from the app's intrusion into the ship. Little Rat Brain (LRB), who asked to be identified only by her handle, grew her TikTok following by documenting the journey she takes with her mother. But he says Rolling rock TikTok's fascination with the cruise and the influx of people vlogging their days meant that TikTokers and other passengers had to agree on the ship's rules – especially after many retirees were informed by their families and children that they were now the unwitting subjects of a social media reality show.
“There was a bit of, 'What if we don't want to be shot?' What if we don't want our faces on the internet? How will this be dealt with?' says the LRB. “We have a private Facebook group for all passengers and people basically said, 'Listen, this is what we want. Don't film us doing Zumba.” I think something like this makes it easier for everyone with TikTok and filming in general. Because now it's become more of a way to document your journey, not necessarily speak for everyone.”
Ethical questions about consent and personal privacy have begun to grow on board. Beth Anne, a 36-year-old creator, says Rolling rock that as dozens of offline accounts have been created recapping or analyzing the events on the ship daily, TikTok creators on shore have also had to develop their own ethical guidance for the content they decide to share. Beth started 'Ship Happens' on TikTok, where she makes daily clips analyzing rumors and videos from the ship. She says that while she started making the videos because she needed a replacement for her beloved reality show, she knows more than that it's about people — not characters.
“It's important to have some boundaries about what we share and how we share it,” says Beth. “Imagine if I had saved up all this money and was going on this trip of a lifetime and felt like people were invading it and making it sound like something it's not. And I think we have to be very careful with that because a lot of people worked very hard to be there.”
Among both TikTokers and cruise citizens alike, the big question of whether interest in the voyage will extend for nine months seems easily dismissed. All creators who spoke Rolling rock it looked very well that their following might slow down as the cruise continued. That doesn't mean there isn't still interest. The daily recaps continue, and even as Sebastian left the ship this week, another influencer, Christian Hull, has already announced that he will be joining the ship soon. But many passengers say that even if people stop watching, the creators on the cruise will still enjoy using their TikToks as a digital scrapbook of their vacation for a lifetime.
“I'd be shocked if that continued over those nine months, just because that's an incredibly long time to keep anything interesting, especially on TikTok,” says LRB. “But I enjoyed the community that was created. And I hope to continue that.”
“I went in there as the face of reality that says 'I'm not here to make friends.' I'm here to get content. I'm out of here for me,” says Sebastian. “And I walked away as the person who really discovered that humanity and goodness in people, and I walked away feeling a little kinder — even though I absolutely hated being on that ship.”
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/royal-caribbean-world-cruise-tiktok-viral-obsession-1234954914/
