TikTok's latest obsession has turned some folks' months-long vacation into a digital reality show.
A subset of TikTok is ??? ??? ??closely following the Royal Caribbean's World Cruise. Why? Well, because the cruise lasts nine whole months. It stops all over the world, literally. You could enter this vacation not pregnant and leave it with a healthy baby. That's a capital-T Trip.
The cruise departed from Miami on Dec. 10, and for those staying onboard for its entire duration, it will come to a close on Sept. 10 of next year. It's not surprising that budding or aspiring influencers would end up on this cruise. What is a 274-night stint on a ship circling the globe if not a content opportunity?
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With the cruise now underway, folks have begun following the lives of those onboard — and awaiting the inevitable drama at sea.
Here, for instance, is a primer on some of the people taking the nine-month trip posted by @noelmulk0 on TikTok.
There's also @nchimad who has dubbed themselves the Sea Tea Director in their TikTok profile. In other words, they're spending a lot of time and energy figuring out the drama on the World Cruise. They plan to follow everyone on the boat, and see what happens.
"Everybody on board has access to unlimited alcohol," they helpfully pointed out in one post. "Unlimited alcohol for nine months."
And there is an opportunity for stuff to go down. Think about it: There's a bunch of people posting their every move while living on the sea for nine months. It's a little moving village that has unlimited booze, cafeteria food, and nothing but free time.
"Seven hundred people in the middle of the ocean. This is basically a community, a small town," @nchimad posted. "I have so many thoughts. I'm stressed. I'm excited. I'm nervous. It's kind of like a social experiment... I may not be able to handle it but I'm gonna live vicariously through the people who can."
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So far it seems the folks onboard are having a good time. After all, right now, a week in, they're still on a normal vacation. What happens in Month 6 is the real question.
The posts from folks onboard have mostly been positive. There have been lots of TikToks about the food, drinks, and outfits. Again, that's to be expected. We're nine days in. But you've got imagine someone is going to get fed-up with having scrambled eggs for breakfast yet again in...oh....three months or so.
As TikTok has pointed out, the potential for drama is high, whether it prove to be interpersonal beef, frustration with accommodations, or plain-old cabin fever. The voyage has barely begun and, rest assured, TikTok will be there to document it all.