The Story

TikTok’s latest obsession is making waves. 

What’s this about?

#UltimateWorldCruise. On Dec 10, the Serenade of the Seas ship set off on a nine-month-long journey to visit more than 60 countries. On board: Recent grads, remote workers, and retirees who paid tens of thousands of dollars to take part. Naturally, many began to document their life at sea and quickly went viral — with #UltimateWorldCruise getting more than 150 million TikTok views. Now, many are dubbing the cruise as the newest reality TV series to make a splash. (Sorry, “Below Deck.”)

Sounds like people are rocking the boat. 

That’s one way to put it. The cruise has TikTok creators on land theorizing about all the drama at sea. One creator developed a virtual bingo card to track potential events like a “pirate takeover.” Still, there have been allegations of preferential treatment among passengers, reports of microaggressions, and COVID-19 and weather concerns on board. Experts say it’s a reminder that people on the cruise are not cast members on a scripted reality TV show.