The world revolves around social media, but when it comes to Royal Caribbean, their latest Ultimate World Cruise is going viral. Since the Serenade of the Seas sailed with 700 guests from Miami on December 10, it has gained huge popularity. Social media streams from the passengers are even better than reality TV. Readers can watch some of the TikTok videos throughout the article.

Royal Caribbean Ultimate World Cruise is a viral social media sensation

Fans enjoy reality TV shows like The Love Boat and Below Deck, but those shows are now being usurped by real-life passengers on social media. The guests are sharing their everyday life on the Serenade of the Seas since the ship left Miami on December 10, 2023.

Meanwhile, similar to reality TV, folk on social media aren’t that fascinated by the cruise itineraries or its destinations. They are fascinated with the passengers that make up the “cast” on social media platforms.

Meanwhile, users can’t get enough of virtually experiencing the day-to-day lives of the privileged passengers. As many can’t afford the nine-month, round-the-world itinerary, people can’t get enough.

Serenade of the Seas stars on TikTok

A hashtag on TikTok, #CruiseTok, shares viral videos, gaining more than 2.7 billion views before completing the ship’s tour of the Americas. Meanwhile, Richard Turen of Travel Weekly has enjoyed an Ultimate World Cruise himself. He says he has perused the social media posts and watched many of the TikTok videos and analyzed the phenomenon, writing:

The sailing is also on its way to becoming the most productive social media factory in history, and I believe it will end up being the most shared travel experience in history.

Moreover, Turin notes that no celebrities are currently sailing aboard the Serenade of the Seas, so that is not the reason for social media popularity. In fact, Royal Caribbean made a decision years ago that “real” celebrities cannot book passage on the Ultimate World Cruise. Moreover, the cruise line aimed to prevent the cruise from becoming a publicity bonanza. Clearly, that hasn’t helped at all.

Travel influencers and social media folk

While no celebrities are allowed on board, the ship sees many serious travel influences aboard the Ultimate World Cruise. Moreover, there are plenty of amateur social media personalities who love posting about their experiences on the cruise. Due to this, the latest sailing has gone viral.

While influencers are on the cruise to provide some publicity, Turin wrote, “I also suspect that the marketing team at Royal Caribbean underestimated the impact of this itinerary.”

Positive response to the Ultimate World Cruise

So far, social media posts relating to the cruise are mostly positive. According to some of the posts, passengers are getting along really well. Moreover, it turns out crew members are also getting into the game with some truly awful singing. However, it seems the social media posts are all good fun, but it could lead to reality programming in the future.

As for the crew, when the cruise finally comes to a close, most of them will have rotated off-duty. However, travel influencers and amateur social media stars onboard for the full cruise will have visited 65 countries on all seven continents. They will also have made a stop in 150 ports of call before the Serenade of the Seas returns to the dock.