If you've got the the time and the cash – and assuming you’re not prone to seasickness or claustrophobia – there's a lot to like about cruises. They tend to be family-friendly, have good food (and lots of it), provide plenty of pampering and fun activities, and offer great value on all-inclusive deals. Oh yeah, and then there's the chance to see the world.
Cruise lovers who really want to go all out (and all over the place) should check out Royal Caribbean's Ultimate World Cruise, which will be the world's longest cruise when it launches in December. The 274-day voyage will involve visits to more than 150 destinations in 65 countries across all seven continents.
With prices starting at $61,000, the Ultimate World Cruise will depart from Miami on December 10, 2023 and return on September 10, 2024. It's split into four segments: the Americas and Antarctica, Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East and the Mediterranean, and northern Europe. Passengers will be traveling on Serenade of the Seas, which can accommodate 2,500 passengers and over 800 crew members. The ship has 13 decks and onboard amenities such as a pool, theater, mini-golf course, spa, rock-climbing wall, and an arcade.
Get cruising:
- Planned stops include Antarctica, the Great Barrier Reef, Iguazú Falls, Machu Picchu, the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids of Giza, the Colosseum, and dozens of others.
- Passengers on the Ultimate World Cruise will need to pay $65,000 if they want an oceanview stateroom. A balcony stateroom will cost $79,000, while a junior suite will cost $112,000 (all prices per person).
- The COVID-19 pandemic hit cruise lines hard when it brought world travel to a halt. In June 2020, Carnival Cruises announced that they would sell six cruise ships after losing $4.4 billion USD.
