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What Are the Longest Cruises You Can Take?

By Sally Macmillan

Last updated: November 6th, 2023

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Our longest cruises—those with itineraries of 15 nights and more—offer a wonderful opportunity to experience a variety of destinations in one memorable vacation. Also known as repositioning, transpacific or transatlantic cruises, depending on where they are sailing, ships on these voyages cruise “one way”, from point to point, rather than starting and finishing at the same port.

You might board your ship in one continent and disembark in another, cross the world’s biggest oceans, and tick off an enviable wish list of different countries along the way. Leisurely days at sea allow plenty of time to make the most of your ship’s restaurants, spas, sporting facilities, and enrichment classes—or relax and do absolutely nothing.

Here’s a selection of our six longest cruises and where they can take you.

1: 52-Night Grand Journey on Celebrity Edge

Celebrity Edge’s epic Grand Journey calls at more than 20 ports in 11 countries, spanning three continents over 52 nights—the ship’s longest cruise trip.

Greek Theater of Taormina in Sicily, Italy

Sailing from Rome to New Zealand, this cruise is packed with opportunities to explore myriad cultures, historic sites, and world-famous natural attractions, with a range of exciting shore excursions at every port.

Catania , a picturesque city on Sicily’s east coast, dates to ancient Greek and Roman times. One of the island’s finest ancient sites is the Greek Theater of Taormina. Built on Mount Tauro in the third century BC, it was designed to make the most of its stunning natural surroundings, with sweeping ocean views and a backdrop of Mount Etna. The theater’s auditorium seated thousands of spectators and is still used today for concerts, operas, and ballets.

Petra, Jordan

Celebrity Edge will head south from Sicily to the north coast of Africa, transiting the Suez Canal to the Red Sea. From Aqaba in Jordan, there’s a chance to visit the exquisite city of Petra, carved out of pink sandstone and accessed via a skinny canyon, deep in the mountains. Petra, built by the Nabateans, is believed to be 2,500 years old and is one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.

The ship then sails east across the Indian Ocean. Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay, by way of contrast to many of the ancient sites on this itinerary, is a contemporary classic.

Its three massive sculptural conservatories showcase extraordinary displays of horticulture and garden artistry. The Flower Dome houses exotic plants and flowers from around the world, while the Flower Fantasy is more like a surreal art gallery than a garden.

Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef, so big it’s the only living organism visible from space. From the coastal city of Cairns, you’ll have the chance to get up close to some of its spectacular underwater wonders on a thrilling day trip. Swim, snorkel or dive in colorful coral gardens among tropical fish and sea creatures—or gaze at the vivid world below from a glass-bottomed boat.

The Sydney Opera House is another must-see Australian treasure. Its distinctive design was inspired by its sublime setting on the harbor and it is the country’s foremost cultural institution. If time permits, book a show when you’re in town—world-class performances include opera, cabaret, classical concerts, comedy, and theater.

Milford Sound, New Zealand

On leaving Australia, Celebrity Edge’s longest cruise heads to New Zealand . One of the many highlights is Milford Sound on the country’s South Island. Known as the jewel of Fiordland National Park, Milford Sound is best experienced from the decks of a ship. You’ll spend several hours sailing quietly past sheer cliffs and dense rainforest, among awe-inspiring scenery that’s almost reminiscent of Alaska.

Read: A Guide to the Stunning New Zealand Fjords  

2: 18-Night Hawaii, Tahiti, & Bora Bora Cruise

Pearl Harbor National Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii

Board your ship in Honolulu for a memorable voyage across the Pacific Ocean to Sydney in the land Down Under on our second-longest cruise itinerary. If you can spare a few hours before embarking, a visit to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial is a rewarding, if sobering experience.

After five sea days, you’ll dock in Papeete, the capital of French Polynesia on the idyllic island of Tahiti . Around the port, you can shop for souvenirs at the open-air market and inspect (or buy) black pearls at the Robert Wan Pearl Museum. But you’ll most likely want to head out of town for the day.

Vaipahi Water Gardens in Tahiti, French Polynesia

There are ample opportunities to snorkel and swim in unbelievably clear tropical lagoons or explore the island’s lush interior. One driving tour of the breathtaking West Coast takes in Polynesian sacred sites, Tahiti’s biggest underwater cave, and a walk through the magical Vaipahi Water Gardens.

Bora Bora, French Polynesia

Bloody Mary’s restaurant is something of an institution on Bora Bora—check out the roll call of famous visitors over lunch when you join a full-day tour of this small but impossibly beautiful island. Highlights include a 4WD safari into the jungle, where you’ll see evidence of the GIs’ presence in World War II; snorkeling in colorful coral gardens; and swimming among rays.

One of the best things about cruising into Auckland on New Zealand’s North Island is that your ship docks right in the center of town. Many major attractions are within walking distance of the wharf, including the instantly recognizable Sky Tower. Take a trip to the top for panoramic views and, if you’re exceptionally brave, sign up for the 630-foot Sky Jump.

Haruru Falls in Bay of Islands, New Zealand

The Bay of Islands is not only a haven for wildlife lovers and adventure-seekers; it played a pivotal role in New Zealand’s history. A wonderful way to learn about Maori culture is by joining members of the Ngapuhi tribe on a river trip aboard a traditional war canoe. As you paddle the Waitangi River from the spectacular Haruru Falls, storytellers regale you with tribal tales and local legends.

This epic voyage ends in Sydney . You’ll want to be up early to enjoy the arrival in Sydney Harbour, surely one of the world’s most beautiful approaches to port. And without doubt, you should extend your stay to explore this dynamic city.

3: 15-Night Panama Canal Cruise

Bridge of the Americas, Panama

Bookended by either San Diego or Los Angeles, California and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a Panama Canal cruise is one of the most popular of our longest cruises. In between visiting five or six ports (depending on whether you’re on an eastbound or westbound cruise) and experiencing the engineering marvel that is the Panama Canal, you’ll enjoy seven leisurely days at sea.

El Arco in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Cabo San Lucas , on the southernmost tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, is known both for its glamorous resort scene and abundant natural attractions. Blessed with almost year-round sunshine, it’s the perfect place for watersports, horseback riding, and mountain biking. Don’t miss El Arco (“The Arch”), a dramatic rock arch at Land’s End where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean.

Los Arcos (“The Arches”) in Puerto Vallerta’s Banderas Bay is another instantly recognizable landmark that Mexico is known for , a series of granite rock arches, caves, and tunnels, around which the snorkeling is superb. The bay’s 60-plus miles of coastline takes in Los Arcos Marine Park plus an intoxicating mix of beaches, old Spanish colonial districts, and the busy El Malecon boardwalk.

Read: Best Beaches in La Paz, Mexico

Cloud Forest Reserve in Monteverde, Costa Rica

Costa Rica is renowned for its exotic wildlife and eco-adventures—and rare cloud forests. A trek in Monteverde’s mist-shrouded Cloud Forest Reserve reveals an incredible diversity of lush rainforest, rare tropical plants, dramatic waterfalls, and brightly colored birds and butterflies. The cooler climate makes a refreshing change—just remember to pack a lightweight rain jacket.

Panama Canal

Visiting the Panama Canal is the centerpiece of this cruise. Connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the 50-mile, man-made canal opened in 1914 and revolutionized sea journeys by cutting hundreds of miles from the original routes, which took ships all the way around South America. The vast freshwater Gatun Lake, 85 feet above sea level, forms a major part of the canal.

Cartagena, Colombia

Your ship will dock at Colon —a great spot for duty-free shopping—for a day, before heading to Cartagena on Colombia’s north coast. This beautifully preserved walled city dates back to the 16th century and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The best way to explore its many cultural and architectural treasures is on foot, with a guide to fill you in on its fascinating history.

Read: Best Things to Do in Cartagena, Colombia

4: 15-Night Azores & Spain Transatlantic Cruise

Transatlantic cruises are among our longest cruises. This Spanish-flavored sailing departs from Tampa, Florida and sails to Barcelona, Spain over 15 nights, calling at five unforgettable destinations.

Lagoa do Fogo, Azores

Your ship spends seven days at sea before docking at Ponta Delgada in the Portuguese Azores, with plenty of time to enjoy the rhythm of life onboard. Once you’re in port, get your land legs back on one of São Miguel Island’s best hiking trails, to Lagoa do Fogo (Fire Lake) in the mountains.

Read: Insider’s Guide to Ponta Delgada

Two sea days later, you arrive at Cadiz, the jumping-off point for the enchanting southern Spanish city of Seville . Exploring on foot is the most rewarding way to soak up the atmosphere of the historic center. Not only will you see Seville’s most significant landmarks, you can also wander down any number of medieval alleyways and find a tapas bar where you can sample traditional Andalusian cuisine with a chilled glass of sherry.

Royal Alcazar in Seville, Spain

Once you’ve visited Seville’s impressive Alcázar, the Moorish royal palace that’s still in use today, Granada’s Alhambra Palace will be top of your must-visit list. Allow a full day from Malaga to see the romantic citadel, a complex of ornate palaces, gardens, and an ancient fortress. The Alhambra has been described as “the last sigh of the Moors” and has inspired poets, artists and followers of many faiths since the 13th century.

Following a day in Valencia , where avant-garde modern architecture mingles with the charming historic center, you’ll disembark in Barcelona. If you only have time to take in one of this vibrant Catalan city’s many attractions, make sure it is La Sagrada Familia, designed by the visionary architect Antoni Gaudí.

La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain

Construction of the Catholic basilica began in 1882 and it is still a work in progress. The style of architecture is described as a mix of Art Nouveau, Spanish Late Gothic, and Catalan Modernism, and there is nothing in the world comparable to the flowing organic forms and impossibly spindly spires.

Read: 12 Famous Landmarks in Spain  

5: 15-Night Mediterranean Passage Transatlantic Cruise

This eastbound transatlantic cruise sets sail from Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, and finishes 15 nights later in Tampa, Florida . The itinerary includes calls in France, Spain, the Azores, and Nassau, interspersed by nine sea days.

The first stop is Toulon, a port established in Roman times. Toulon is the gateway to sought-after destinations such as Aix-en-Provence and Cassis and is a fascinating city in its own right.

Marseille, France

However, it’s well worth taking the short trip to Marseille to visit the new MuCEM (Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations). Even if you only take in one exhibition, the museum’s ancient waterfront setting and bold contemporary architecture are absolutely awe-inspiring.

Palma de Mallorca’s imposing La Seu Cathedral also blends old and modern architecture, but in a completely different way. It is the grandest of dozens of historic sites you’ll discover in the Spanish island’s buzzing capital. Book a tour of the roof terraces for panoramic city and sea views.

Cartagena, Spain

Cartagena has a long and many-layered maritime history. It is dotted with Roman ruins, including the impressive 2,000-year-old theater, which was only discovered in 1988. If you’re more into culinary history, you can book a fabulous hands-on foodie tour.

A Celebrity Cruises chef escorts you to Cartagena’s Market Hall, and on to a local restaurant to learn how to cook traditional Spanish dishes. The journey continues on board the ship, where you’ll enjoy an intimate dinner based on the day’s experiences.

Atlantis Resort in Nassau, Bahamas

Having crossed the Atlantic, your last port of call before disembarking in Tampa is Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. Cool off at Atlantis Paradise Island Resort, where you can play with sea lions, meet dolphins, relax on beautiful Caribbean beaches or spend the day at the action-packed Aquaventure water park.

Read: Cruises vs Resorts: Which Is Best?

6: 15-Night Bering Sea & Japan Transpacific Cruise

Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia

Vancouver is a marvelous place to embark on one of our longest cruises, a 15-night transpacific adventure that takes in Alaska and Japan, ending in Yokohama, the port for Tokyo.

If you have time, spend a day or two in Vancouver before you embark. There’s lots to see and do, from the old Gastown and Chinatown districts to First Nation art galleries, craft breweries, and boundless outdoor activities.

Stanley Park, one of the city’s best-loved attractions, is about 20 minutes’ walk from Canada Place Cruise Terminal. Book a bike tour that takes you along the Seawall, across forest trails and to see the totem poles at Brockton Point.

Tongass National Forest, Alaska

First Nations and Russian cultures merge in the intriguing Alaskan town of Sitka , set within the magnificent Tongass National Forest. This is the place to see eagles, bears, whales, and sea otters in the wild, kayak across pristine waterways, or join a professional sportfishing charter. Alaska certainly earns its “Last Frontier” moniker.

Your ship crosses the international dateline during eight sea days before you arrive in Japan . Sapporo, the biggest city on Hokkaido Island, is about two hours’ drive from Muroran port. A full-day tour gives an excellent overview of Sapporo’s historic and modern landmarks, including the lovely Odori Park which runs through the heart of the city.

Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse in Hakodate, Japan

Another important city on Hokkaido is Hakodate and the best place to learn about its international trading history is at the Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse. The restored waterfront buildings house shops, galleries, bars, and restaurants. Make sure you sample shio ramen , a salty broth served with pork belly, hard-boiled eggs, scallions, and wakame seaweed. It’s Hakodate’s signature dish.

Sensoji Temple in Tokyo, Japan

Vast, sprawling Tokyo is a mind-boggling mix of futuristic neon-lit buildings, tranquil gardens, high-end shopping, ancient shrines, and eateries ranging from street stalls to Michelin-starred restaurants.

Your must-visit list will overflow with possibilities, but Sensoji Temple should be at the top. It’s Tokyo’s oldest temple, a magnet for devout Buddhists and culturally curious visitors, and also a thriving marketplace—like Tokyo itself, a feast for the senses.

Read: 11 Famous Temples to Visit in Japan  

Celebrity Eclipse

Ready to plan your escape to sea? Browse itineraries on our website and start planning your time ashore and those long, relaxing days at sea.

Sally Macmillan

Sally Macmillan is a Sydney-based cruise and travel writer. Her cruise-writing career launched in 2008, editing Cruise Passenger magazine, and in 2013 she started writing a page on all things cruise for The Sun-Herald’s weekly Traveller section (‘temporarily’ paused). She has visited all seven continents on 60-plus cruises and her work has appeared in numerous print and digital publications.

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Go Big on a Global Adventure: Princess Cruises Offers Longest Voyage Ever with Epic 116-Day World Cruise in 2025

Island princess to traverse 51 destinations, 26 countries and six continents across more than 33,500 nautical miles around the globe.

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Princess Cruises is offering its longest voyage ever in 2025, with an epic 116-day World Cruise traversing over 33,500 nautical miles, visiting 51 destinations in 26 countries and six continents. Now on sale, this world adventure includes visits to Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific, the Mediterranean, Central America, Africa, Asia and beyond.

Sailing on Island Princess, the 116-day World Cruise offers two roundtrip options with departures from both Ft. Lauderdale, embarking January 5, 2025, and Los Angeles on January 20, 2025. This destination dreamers delight also includes Princess’ first-ever visit to historic Bar, Montenegro and Taranto, Italy, along with inaugural World Cruise calls to the idyllic Greek Island of Patmos and to Volos – for the Monasteries of Meteora. The full World Cruise itinerary, plus shorter World Cruise segment options can be found at http://www.princess.com/worldcruise .

“We’re highly regarded for our World Cruises and our 2025 voyage promises to be one for the ages as our longest adventure ever offered,” said John Padgett, president of Princess Cruises. “Our expert itinerary planners have assembled an unmatched combination of popular ports and off-the-beaten-path locales for a global journey not found anywhere else.”

All told, the 2025 World Cruise will provide access to 27 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the cruise line’s return to Alexandria for historic Cairo and the pyramids and ancient treasures of Giza. Additional sites include the Singapore Botanical Gardens, Old City of Dubrovnik, The Ancient Greek City of Ephesus (from Kusadasi) and The Monastery of St. John and the Cave of the Apocalypse (from Patmos).

This unique voyage includes an overnight in ultra-modern Dubai, as well as 11 More Ashore late-night calls to enjoy more time to exploring the old town of Cartagena, shopping in Casablanca or making a toast to the nightlife in Sydney. With and array of optional shore excursions, guests can tap into their inner Indiana Jones and discover the Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni, Malta’s oldest underground temple and necropolis. In addition, they can walk in the footsteps of ancient Romans wandering the District of the Roman Forum in Cartagena, Spain and stand in awe before Leonardo da Vinci’s magnificent The Last Supper in Milan, Italy.

World Cruise 2025 early booking benefits are available for guests booking the 116-day roundtrip Ft. Lauderdale or Los Angeles voyages and the 101-day World Cruise option from Los Angeles to Ft. Lauderdale by May 31, 2023. Benefits include:

• First-Class or Economy Roundtrip Airfare – guests booked insuites, Reserve Collection or mini-suites fly first class to and from LAX or FLL, while guests booking a balcony stateroom receive free economy airfare. Only valid on flights departing the United States or Canada.
• Princess Plus – gives guests almost 60% off a retail value of $140 if components are purchased separately. The enhanced package includes the Plus Beverage Package, single device wi-fi plan and daily crew appreciation, plus two premium crafted desserts, two smoothies or juices, two fitness classes and free shipping of Medallions prior to cruise.
• Onboard Spending Money – for shopping, shore excursions, spa treatments and more, with $500 per guest (for the first two guests in a stateroom).
• Specialty Dining – each guest can dine at award-winning specialty restaurants up to four times during the voyage without worrying about the cover charge.
• Captain’s Circle Benefits – as a thank you for their loyalty, Captain’s Circle Members enjoy an extra up to $1,000 USD in savings per guest, good for the first two guests in a stateroom.
• Limited Time Offer on Liners to or from Dubai – guests booking the 51-, 50-, 65- or 66-day World Cruise Liner itinerary options to or from Dubai, receive $200 per guest onboard spending money.

Guests paying in full for the World Cruise by May 31, 2023, receive an additional 5% Future Cruise Credit on their cruise fare.

Additional information about Princess Cruises is available through a professional travel advisor, by calling 1-800-PRINCESS (1-800-774-6237) or by visiting the company’s website at www.princess.com .

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The World’s Longest Cruise Is 245 Days, Costs $93,000

By Paul Brady

A view from the Viking Sun on a trip to Cuba in 2017.

Try getting this time off work: Viking Cruises just announced the longest-ever world cruise, a continuous, 59-country, 245-day journey that will fully circumnavigate the world and hit every continent except Antarctica. The trip departs London on August 31, 2019 and doesn’t end until you return to the city on May 2, 2020.

Among the stops scheduled for the 113-port trip are Reykjavik, quite a few Caribbean islands, many lesser-visited South American cities including a few in Patagonia, six stops in the South Pacific, tons in Southeast Asia, and a few key spots in the Mediterranean, including Valletta, Cagliari, and Algiers. (And this is like a fraction of the full list .) Overall, the voyage is almost twice as long as the world cruise Viking arranged in 2017 , which clocked in at a relatively pedestrian 141 days.

The 2019-2020 itinerary will be aboard the Viking Sun , the newest ship from one of the world’s top-rated cruise lines, according to Condé Nast Traveler ’s Readers’ Choice Awards . The 930-passenger vessel has a sleek Scandinavian look, a gorgeous infinity pool at the stern, and private balconies for every cabin. It’s also got a spacious spa complete with an appropriately Nordic sauna and a “snow grotto,” for chilling out between hot tub dips.

Rates for the journey start at $92,990—or $379.55 per day—but that includes “business class international air, transfers to and from the ship, all gratuities and service fees, three complimentary visa services, free luggage shipping services,” and pretty much any booze you’d like to drink on board, Viking says. And should 245 days be a bit too long a trip, Viking is also letting guests book portions of the trip: A 127-day spell goes from London to Los Angeles (for $47,995), while a 119-day voyage goes from L.A. back to the U.K. (for $45,995). Surely your boss would go for one of those?

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Life at sea: the longest cruise journeys in the world

With the popularity of cruises growing, some companies are offering increasingly longer journeys to capitalise on this heightened interest. What are the longest cruises available on the market right now?

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The popularity of the ‘grand expedition’ genre of cruise is growing, and with the total number of passengers carried by the cruise industry projected to reach 27.6 million by 2020, several companies are capitalising on this growth by offering longer and longer voyages.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises recently announced its 117-night round-the-world journey aboard the Seven Seas Mariner , setting sail in 2021. But even this mammoth journey is dwarfed by several options already on offer through competing cruise operators.

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Oceania cruises s de rl llc, regent seven seas cruises.

Oceania Cruises, for example, dominates the market. While the company might not have the title of ‘longest cruise’, Oceania has the widest array of journeys available to travellers.

Oceania Cruises: Around the World in 180 Days (180 nights)

Announced for January 2019 aboard Oceania’s Insignia vessel, the Around the World in 180 Days cruise is set to visit 96 UNESCO World Heritage sites, stopping at 90 ports over five continents, with 14 overnight stays.

Playing off Phileas Fogg’s famous adventure contained within Jules Verne’s ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’, Oceania describes the journey as one “perfectly designed for the seasoned traveller”, which invites passengers to “discover a more profound connection with cultures spanning the globe”.

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Oceania Cruises: Connoisseur’s Collection (182 nights)

Described as for the traveller who has “seen it all”, the Connoisseur’s Collection from Oceania is designed to show off parts of the world passengers might not have thought to visit, in addition to the more traditional cruise ports.

As well as San Francisco, Cape Town, Hong Kong and Tokyo, the cruise liner is scheduled to stop at the less-well-known Japanese ports of Oarai, Aomori and Hakodate, as well as Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in Russia – an area so remote it cannot even be reached by car. The Connoisseur Collection cruise sets sail in late January 2020.

Oceania Cruises: Global Quest (200 nights)

You can travel from Miami to New York in three hours, says Oceania, but you can also do it in 200 days. The Global Quest cruise really is just that – a round the world journey via 40 countries and over 100 unique destinations.

The cruise includes overnight stays in Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Singapore, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Kyoto and more, on top of day visits to an even wider array of destinations. Also taking place on-board Oceania’s Insignia mid-sized vessel, Global Quest is set to begin on 8 January 2020.

Viking Cruises: Ultimate World Cruise (244 nights)

Winning the prestigious title for the longest continuous cruise currently available anywhere in the world, the Ultimate World Cruise spans 113 ports in 59 countries, on six continents.

Taking place on-board the Viking Sun – Viking’s newest vessel – the trip is set to begin in London on 31 August 2019, and will mark Viking’s third voyage around the globe. The journey will nearly double the length of any cruise Viking has offered thus far. If the offering feels a touch too long, Viking does offer passengers the option for joining for specific legs of the trip – 127 days for the Viking World Treasures section, or 119 days for the Viking World Wonders leg.

Mundy Cruising: the 357 day package

Despite not being a continuous journey, the 357 World of Travel itinerary offered by speciality cruise-holiday storefront Mundy Cruising in 2017 surely deserves an honourable mention. The package deal promised travel on seven different cruise ships, featuring journeys to seven different continents.

Each leg of the journey was separate, allowing passengers to go home and re-pack, though the longest stints were across South America and Europe, which respectively took 94 and 92 nights.

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26 countries in 116 days: Princess Cruises will sail its longest cruise ever in 2025

Many cruise lines have seen higher demand for long sailings , and now Princess Cruises is going bigger than ever. The cruise line announced a new 2025 World Cruise that will take guests to 26 countries over 116 days, the longest itinerary in its history, the line said Thursday.

The voyage will take guests to 51 destinations around the world, including the Mediterranean, Central America, Africa, Australia and more on the Island Princess ship, according to a news release .

"We're highly regarded for our World Cruises and our 2025 voyage promises to be one for the ages as our longest adventure ever offered," John Padgett, the line's president, said in the release. "Our expert itinerary planners have assembled an unmatched combination of popular ports and off-the-beaten-path locales for a global journey not found anywhere else."

Cruise deal: Holland America Line is offering up to 45% off cruise fares

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When is Island Princess' 2025 World Cruise?

Passengers can sail round-trip from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Jan. 5, 2025, or from Los Angeles on Jan. 20, according to Princess' website . They can also cruise from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale on a shorter 101-day itinerary.

Where will Island Princess' 2025 World Cruise cruise go?

The cruise will take guests to ports across the world, from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Bali and Barcelona, among others, including some firsts for the line. Princess will make its inaugural stops in Bar, Montenegro, and Taranto, Italy, during the sailing, and its first World Cruise visits to Patmos and Volos in Greece, according to the release.

As part of the trip, passengers can visit more than 25 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, such as the Singapore Botanic Gardens and Croatia's Old City of Dubrovnik , and spend more time in port during an overnight stay in Dubai and more than 10 late-night calls.

How much does Island Princess' 2025 World Cruise cost?

The round-trip option from Fort Lauderdale starts at $20,539, and while the round-trip option from Los Angeles starts at $19,999 per person based on double occupancy, excluding taxes, fees and port expenses, according to the line's website .

Travelers who book the round-trip 116-day itineraries and the 101-day option by May 31 can get some perks, like free round-trip economy airfare for guests in balcony staterooms and first-class flights for those in suites, Reserve Collection or mini-suites; the line's Princess Plus package; $500 per passenger in onboard credit for the first two guests in a cabin and more.

Portions of the voyage are also available to book in shorter installments.

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [email protected].

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Royal Caribbean offers 9-month-long 'World Cruise' visiting 150 destinations

NEW YORK -- Royal Caribbean is planning for what it calls the longest and most comprehensive world cruise ever.

Passengers will be onboard the Serenade of the Seas for 274 nights - that's nine months!

It visits all seven continents, more than 150 destinations in 65 countries and 11 great wonders of the world.

Royal Caribbean is calling it the "ultimate world cruise."

"This is the world cruise of world cruises," said Michael Bayley, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean International. "Now more than ever, people have resolved to travel the world and make up for lost time. Royal Caribbean is making that a reality with the ultimate vacation that welcomes those seeking adventure and exploration to taste, dance and dream with us around the world. To travelers asking themselves where they should go next, we say everywhere."

The voyage will begin December 10, 2023 and wrap up on September 10, 2024.

Rates start at more than $60,000 per person.

People interested in booking can call Royal Caribbean's dedicated line for the Ultimate World Cruise at 800-423-2100 (US toll-free) or their travel advisor.

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Royal Caribbean announces world's longest cruise spanning nine months and seven continents

Ultimate world cruise is dedicated to travellers who wish to 'make up for lost time'.

The Royal Caribbean cruise ship Serenade of the Seas docked in Juneau, Alaska. AP

The longest and "most comprehensive" world cruise, lasting nine months, with stops in 65 countries and covering all seven continents, is set to sail soon. Bookings are now open for Royal Caribbean International's Ultimate World Cruise, which will begin its journey in Miami on December 10, 2023, and last through September 10, 2024.

The price range for the full excursion is between $66,000 to $112,000 per person, according to CNN Travel . Ticket prices are inclusive of business class airfare, transportation and accommodation at a five-star hotel before setting sail. Taxes and fees are not included.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Royal Caribbean International (@royalcaribbean)

“This is the world cruise of world cruises,” Royal Caribbean International's president and chief executive Michael Bayley said. “Now more than ever, people have resolved to travel the world and make up for lost time. Royal Caribbean is making that a reality with the ultimate vacation that welcomes those seeking adventure and exploration to taste, dance and dream with us around the world. To travellers asking themselves where they should go next, we say everywhere.”

The record-breaking journey will be on board the company's Serenade of the Seas , the 294-metre-long ship with 13 decks that can accommodate up to 2,476 guests. The ship's facilities include a mini-golf course, an arcade, rock-climbing wall, pool, theatre and spa.

Upon leaving Miami, the ship will travel around the Caribbean, before scheduled stop-offs in Central and South America, including trips to the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro and Argentina's Iguazu Falls. A total of 150 destinations will be covered across the 274 days, including stops at Casablanca in Morocco, Qaqortoq in Greenland, and Shimizu in Japan, as well as stops to visit 11 wonders of the world, from Peru’s Machu Picchu to the Taj Mahal in India.

Travellers can book the full nine-month experience or join for specific legs. The journey has been split into four main categories: the Americas and Antarctica, Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East and the Mediterranean, and northern Europe.

Royal Caribbean resumed sailing in June with vaccinated adult guests, ending a year-long hiatus brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In July, a luxury cruise starting at $73,499 per person, set to sail around 31 countries across four months, sold out within three hours of its announcement.

Called the Moments In Tim e world cruise, the journey by Regent Seven Seas Cruises promises to offer passengers the opportunity to “experience a lifetime of travel with one unforgettable adventure after another.” It is scheduled to depart from Miami in January 2024.

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BOLDER AND BIGGER

The world's largest cruise ships.

On the world’s largest cruise ships, bigger means bolder adventures.

On the world’s largest cruise ships, bigger means bolder adventures. There isn’t a holiday in the world that packs more adventure into one week than Oasis Class ships – Harmony®, Allure®, Symphony®, Oasis®, Wonder® and Utopia of the Seas℠. Whether you’re looking forward to a thrill-filled getaway with a squad that spans several generations, or a sun-soaked couples’ retreat elevated by world class dining and electrifying nightlife, each Oasis Class cruise ship offers experiences to wow every kind of traveler. Discover why the largest cruise ships sailing to Caribbean and Europe vacation destinations are consistently awarded Best Ship year after year by Travel Weekly readers. 

FIVE SHIPS, ENDLESS ADVENTURES

Larger than life thrills.

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DISCOVER THE BOLDEST ADVENTURES YET

With more than 16 decks and 20 restaurants, 7 distinct neighborhoods bustling with unique onboard experiences, and endless thrills to discover around every corner, the world’s largest cruise ships serve up expeditions filled with excitement drenched slides and rides, shows that transcend the stage, and gourmet globetrotting from Italy to Wonderland.

GAME CHANGER

When it debuted, Oasis of the Seas® won Best Cruise Ship — and now the Amplified game changer will set a new standard for making memories.

SHOW STOPPER

Awarded Best for Entertainment, Best Individual Cruise Ship, and Best Large Cruise Ship, Allure of the Seas® is a certified scene-stealer.

FAMILY FAVORITE

Named Best for Families in the Cruise Critic’s Choice Awards, Harmony of the Seas® delivers thrills to explorers of all ages.

BIGGEST & BOLDEST

The largest cruise ship in the world, Symphony of the Seas doesn’t just win awards — it wins over everyone who sets foot onboard.

NEWEST, BIGGEST AND BOLDEST FAMILY ADVENTURES

Go big on bold when you sail aboard the three largest cruise ships in the world. Deck-defying attractions aren’t the only things to look forward to when you sail onboard the newest cruise ships addition to the Oasis Class.

utopia OF THE SEAS℠

Introducing Utopia of the Seas℠ — the ship that’s totally transforming weekends for good. We’re talking bigger flavors. Bolder play. And better chill days than you’ve ever imagined. No craving goes unsatisfied with over 40 ways to dine and drink. New charttopping showstoppers blow your mind on stage, ice, water and air. This is not a routine recharge. This is the World’s Biggest Weekend — arriving in summer 2024 to Port Canaveral.

EXPLORE UTOPIA OF THE SEAS

WONDER OF THE SEAS®

Wonder of the Seas® brings even bigger adventures to the award-winning Oasis Class. Like eight unique neighborhoods, including the Suite Neighborhood. A totally redesigned pool deck with more ways to soak up the sun —or shade —than ever before. The most immersive AquaTheater ever, with a game-changing surround-stage that makes you feel part of the action.

EXPLORE WONDER OF THE SEAS

SYMPHONY OF THE SEAS®

One of the world’s biggest cruise ship, Symphony of the Seas®, the travel adventures are larger than life. From epic onboard thrills to revolutionary dining and entertainment, this ship will change how you vacation no matter what kind of experience you’re after.

EXPLORE SYMPHONY OF THE SEAS

DISCOVER THE WORLD’S LARGEST CRUISE SHIPS

There isn’t a vacation in the world that packs more adventure into one week than Oasis Class ships — Harmony®, Allure®, Symphony®, Oasis, Wonder®   and Utopia of the Seas ℠ . With ships this packed with adventure, next-level thrills never ends.

OASIS OF THE SEAS

Reimagined from bow to stern, the Amplified Oasis of the Seas® is loaded with fresh and exciting things to do to level up your romantic retreat — including bars, entertainment and dance floors that keep the fun going long into the night.

EXPLORE OASIS OF THE SEAS

ALLURE OF THE SEAS

The most awarded ship in the world is stealing the spotlight again for entertainment, dining, family activities and more, it’s filled with endless ways to make every moment incredible.

EXPLORE ALLURE OF THE SEAS

HARMONY OF THE SEAS

Rally the crew for the boldest family vacation ever. Harmony of the Seas® offers thrills for all ages, like the tallest slide at sea, surf sessions on the FlowRider®* and plenty of unique spaces just for kids of all ages.

EXPLORE HARMONY OF THE SEAS

Central Park

Ultimate abyss/flowrider*, splashaway bay, sugar beach, playmaker's.

DISCOVER. PERFECT DAY AT COCOCAY

Forget everything you thought you knew about beach days, because this private island destination is raising the standard to a whole new level. Experience elevated island vibes while lounging in The Bahamas’ only private overwater cabanas. Earn bragging rights on the tallest waterslide in North America. And take your vacation to new heights — literally — in a helium balloon ride above the island. This is Perfect Day at CocoCay — only on Royal Caribbean®.

EXPLORE PERFECT DAY AT COCOCAY

SEVEN NEIGHBORHOODS ENDLESS WAYS TO EXPLORE

Get ready for an unforgettable getaway filled with first-of-their-kind feats, including seven distinct and vibrant neighborhoods that each offer up bucket list adventures, palate-pleasing dining and inspiring entertainment to rival any cosmopolitan city on land — and they’re only found on Oasis Class ships by Royal Caribbean®. 

READ OUR GUIDE TO OASIS CLASS NEIGHBORHOOD'S

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One of the Longest Around-the-world Cruises Was Just Announced — and It Visits 25 Countries in 150 Days

It travels 36,295 nautical miles to 25 countries, 395 ports, and five continents.

Perhaps you've been on a cruise for a long weekend, a week, or maybe even two. But how does a 150-night cruise sound to you?

That's exactly what Regent Seven Seas Cruises is offering in 2025. The around-the-world cruise will cover 25 countries across five continents on its five-month itinerary, departing from Miami on Jan. 7, 2025, and ending in San Francisco on June 6. Guests will live aboard the Seven Seas Mariner , a 684-passenger luxury ship, where each cabin has a balcony, a walk-in closet, and a marble bathroom. This is the longest around-the-world cruise Regent has ever offered.

The ship will sail 36,295 nautical miles (41,768 statute miles for landlubbers) through the Caribbean and along the east coast of South America on its way down to Antarctica . Then it'll sail back up the west coast of South America and head into the Pacific to visit Robinson Crusoe Island, Easter Island, and French Polynesia. Next up is New Zealand and Australia, followed by a journey north through Southeast Asia and East Asia. Finally, the ship will cross the Pacific toward Alaska, then sail down the Pacific Northwest.

There are free excursions for guests at each of the 395 ports of call, and meals, alcohol, laundry (including dry cleaning), and entertainment are also included in the rate. First-class plane tickets to and from Miami and San Francisco are included as well.

"We know that our guests are looking for extended travel in exotic destinations, which is why we are incredibly excited to unveil the longest world cruise in our 30-year history," Jason Montague, president and chief executive officer of Regent Seven Seas Cruises, said in a statement released to Travel + Leisure . "Over 150 nights, travelers will not only experience the highest standards of service, cuisine, and enrichment, plus enjoy a delightful array of luxury amenities, but they will also sail as far south as Antarctica, as far east as Asia, and as far north as Alaska — all in one single, epic voyage."

If 150 days just isn't enough, guests can extend for 18 nights to make their sailing a round-trip journey — Seven Seas Mariner will continue from San Francisco to Miami via the Panama Canal.

Rates for Regent's longest around-the-world cruise start at $86,999 per guest for a Deluxe Veranda Suite. Learn more and book here .

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Crying Myself to Sleep on the Biggest Cruise Ship Ever

Seven agonizing nights aboard the Icon of the Seas

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Updated at 2:44 p.m. ET on April 6, 2024.

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MY FIRST GLIMPSE of Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, from the window of an approaching Miami cab, brings on a feeling of vertigo, nausea, amazement, and distress. I shut my eyes in defense, as my brain tells my optic nerve to try again.

The ship makes no sense, vertically or horizontally. It makes no sense on sea, or on land, or in outer space. It looks like a hodgepodge of domes and minarets, tubes and canopies, like Istanbul had it been designed by idiots. Vibrant, oversignifying colors are stacked upon other such colors, decks perched over still more decks; the only comfort is a row of lifeboats ringing its perimeter. There is no imposed order, no cogent thought, and, for those who do not harbor a totalitarian sense of gigantomania, no visual mercy. This is the biggest cruise ship ever built, and I have been tasked with witnessing its inaugural voyage.

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“Author embarks on their first cruise-ship voyage” has been a staple of American essay writing for almost three decades, beginning with David Foster Wallace’s “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again,” which was first published in 1996 under the title “Shipping Out.” Since then, many admirable writers have widened and diversified the genre. Usually the essayist commissioned to take to the sea is in their first or second flush of youth and is ready to sharpen their wit against the hull of the offending vessel. I am 51, old and tired, having seen much of the world as a former travel journalist, and mostly what I do in both life and prose is shrug while muttering to my imaginary dachshund, “This too shall pass.” But the Icon of the Seas will not countenance a shrug. The Icon of the Seas is the Linda Loman of cruise ships, exclaiming that attention must be paid. And here I am in late January with my one piece of luggage and useless gray winter jacket and passport, zipping through the Port of Miami en route to the gangway that will separate me from the bulk of North America for more than seven days, ready to pay it in full.

The aforementioned gangway opens up directly onto a thriving mall (I will soon learn it is imperiously called the “Royal Promenade”), presently filled with yapping passengers beneath a ceiling studded with balloons ready to drop. Crew members from every part of the global South, as well as a few Balkans, are shepherding us along while pressing flutes of champagne into our hands. By a humming Starbucks, I drink as many of these as I can and prepare to find my cabin. I show my blue Suite Sky SeaPass Card (more on this later, much more) to a smiling woman from the Philippines, and she tells me to go “aft.” Which is where, now? As someone who has rarely sailed on a vessel grander than the Staten Island Ferry, I am confused. It turns out that the aft is the stern of the ship, or, for those of us who don’t know what a stern or an aft are, its ass. The nose of the ship, responsible for separating the waves before it, is also called a bow, and is marked for passengers as the FWD , or forward. The part of the contemporary sailing vessel where the malls are clustered is called the midship. I trust that you have enjoyed this nautical lesson.

I ascend via elevator to my suite on Deck 11. This is where I encounter my first terrible surprise. My suite windows and balcony do not face the ocean. Instead, they look out onto another shopping mall. This mall is the one that’s called Central Park, perhaps in homage to the Olmsted-designed bit of greenery in the middle of my hometown. Although on land I would be delighted to own a suite with Central Park views, here I am deeply depressed. To sail on a ship and not wake up to a vast blue carpet of ocean? Unthinkable.

Allow me a brief preamble here. The story you are reading was commissioned at a moment when most staterooms on the Icon were sold out. In fact, so enthralled by the prospect of this voyage were hard-core mariners that the ship’s entire inventory of guest rooms (the Icon can accommodate up to 7,600 passengers, but its inaugural journey was reduced to 5,000 or so for a less crowded experience) was almost immediately sold out. Hence, this publication was faced with the shocking prospect of paying nearly $19,000 to procure for this solitary passenger an entire suite—not including drinking expenses—all for the privilege of bringing you this article. But the suite in question doesn’t even have a view of the ocean! I sit down hard on my soft bed. Nineteen thousand dollars for this .

The viewless suite does have its pluses. In addition to all the Malin+Goetz products in my dual bathrooms, I am granted use of a dedicated Suite Deck lounge; access to Coastal Kitchen, a superior restaurant for Suites passengers; complimentary VOOM SM Surf & Stream (“the fastest Internet at Sea”) “for one device per person for the whole cruise duration”; a pair of bathrobes (one of which comes prestained with what looks like a large expectoration by the greenest lizard on Earth); and use of the Grove Suite Sun, an area on Decks 18 and 19 with food and deck chairs reserved exclusively for Suite passengers. I also get reserved seating for a performance of The Wizard of Oz , an ice-skating tribute to the periodic table, and similar provocations. The very color of my Suite Sky SeaPass Card, an oceanic blue as opposed to the cloying royal purple of the standard non-Suite passenger, will soon provoke envy and admiration. But as high as my status may be, there are those on board who have much higher status still, and I will soon learn to bow before them.

In preparation for sailing, I have “priced in,” as they say on Wall Street, the possibility that I may come from a somewhat different monde than many of the other cruisers. Without falling into stereotypes or preconceptions, I prepare myself for a friendly outspokenness on the part of my fellow seafarers that may not comply with modern DEI standards. I believe in meeting people halfway, and so the day before flying down to Miami, I visited what remains of Little Italy to purchase a popular T-shirt that reads DADDY’S LITTLE MEATBALL across the breast in the colors of the Italian flag. My wife recommended that I bring one of my many T-shirts featuring Snoopy and the Peanuts gang, as all Americans love the beagle and his friends. But I naively thought that my meatball T-shirt would be more suitable for conversation-starting. “Oh, and who is your ‘daddy’?” some might ask upon seeing it. “And how long have you been his ‘little meatball’?” And so on.

I put on my meatball T-shirt and head for one of the dining rooms to get a late lunch. In the elevator, I stick out my chest for all to read the funny legend upon it, but soon I realize that despite its burnished tricolor letters, no one takes note. More to the point, no one takes note of me. Despite my attempts at bridge building, the very sight of me (small, ethnic, without a cap bearing the name of a football team) elicits no reaction from other passengers. Most often, they will small-talk over me as if I don’t exist. This brings to mind the travails of David Foster Wallace , who felt so ostracized by his fellow passengers that he retreated to his cabin for much of his voyage. And Wallace was raised primarily in the Midwest and was a much larger, more American-looking meatball than I am. If he couldn’t talk to these people, how will I? What if I leave this ship without making any friends at all, despite my T-shirt? I am a social creature, and the prospect of seven days alone and apart is saddening. Wallace’s stateroom, at least, had a view of the ocean, a kind of cheap eternity.

Worse awaits me in the dining room. This is a large, multichandeliered room where I attended my safety training (I was shown how to put on a flotation vest; it is a very simple procedure). But the maître d’ politely refuses me entry in an English that seems to verge on another language. “I’m sorry, this is only for pendejos ,” he seems to be saying. I push back politely and he repeats himself. Pendejos ? Piranhas? There’s some kind of P-word to which I am not attuned. Meanwhile elderly passengers stream right past, powered by their limbs, walkers, and electric wheelchairs. “It is only pendejo dining today, sir.” “But I have a suite!” I say, already starting to catch on to the ship’s class system. He examines my card again. “But you are not a pendejo ,” he confirms. I am wearing a DADDY’S LITTLE MEATBALL T-shirt, I want to say to him. I am the essence of pendejo .

Eventually, I give up and head to the plebeian buffet on Deck 15, which has an aquatic-styled name I have now forgotten. Before gaining entry to this endless cornucopia of reheated food, one passes a washing station of many sinks and soap dispensers, and perhaps the most intriguing character on the entire ship. He is Mr. Washy Washy—or, according to his name tag, Nielbert of the Philippines—and he is dressed as a taco (on other occasions, I’ll see him dressed as a burger). Mr. Washy Washy performs an eponymous song in spirited, indeed flamboyant English: “Washy, washy, wash your hands, WASHY WASHY!” The dangers of norovirus and COVID on a cruise ship this size (a giant fellow ship was stricken with the former right after my voyage) makes Mr. Washy Washy an essential member of the crew. The problem lies with the food at the end of Washy’s rainbow. The buffet is groaning with what sounds like sophisticated dishes—marinated octopus, boiled egg with anchovy, chorizo, lobster claws—but every animal tastes tragically the same, as if there was only one creature available at the market, a “cruisipus” bred specifically for Royal Caribbean dining. The “vegetables” are no better. I pick up a tomato slice and look right through it. It tastes like cellophane. I sit alone, apart from the couples and parents with gaggles of children, as “We Are Family” echoes across the buffet space.

I may have failed to mention that all this time, the Icon of the Seas has not left port. As the fiery mango of the subtropical setting sun makes Miami’s condo skyline even more apocalyptic, the ship shoves off beneath a perfunctory display of fireworks. After the sun sets, in the far, dark distance, another circus-lit cruise ship ruptures the waves before us. We glance at it with pity, because it is by definition a smaller ship than our own. I am on Deck 15, outside the buffet and overlooking a bunch of pools (the Icon has seven of them), drinking a frilly drink that I got from one of the bars (the Icon has 15 of them), still too shy to speak to anyone, despite Sister Sledge’s assertion that all on the ship are somehow related.

Kim Brooks: On failing the family vacation

The ship’s passage away from Ron DeSantis’s Florida provides no frisson, no sense of developing “sea legs,” as the ship is too large to register the presence of waves unless a mighty wind adds significant chop. It is time for me to register the presence of the 5,000 passengers around me, even if they refuse to register mine. My fellow travelers have prepared for this trip with personally decorated T-shirts celebrating the importance of this voyage. The simplest ones say ICON INAUGURAL ’24 on the back and the family name on the front. Others attest to an over-the-top love of cruise ships: WARNING! MAY START TALKING ABOUT CRUISING . Still others are artisanally designed and celebrate lifetimes spent married while cruising (on ships, of course). A couple possibly in their 90s are wearing shirts whose backs feature a drawing of a cruise liner, two flamingos with ostensibly male and female characteristics, and the legend “ HUSBAND AND WIFE Cruising Partners FOR LIFE WE MAY NOT HAVE IT All Together BUT TOGETHER WE HAVE IT ALL .” (The words not in all caps have been written in cursive.) A real journalist or a more intrepid conversationalist would have gone up to the couple and asked them to explain the longevity of their marriage vis-à-vis their love of cruising. But instead I head to my mall suite, take off my meatball T-shirt, and allow the first tears of the cruise to roll down my cheeks slowly enough that I briefly fall asleep amid the moisture and salt.

I WAKE UP with a hangover. Oh God. Right. I cannot believe all of that happened last night. A name floats into my cobwebbed, nauseated brain: “Ayn Rand.” Jesus Christ.

I breakfast alone at the Coastal Kitchen. The coffee tastes fine and the eggs came out of a bird. The ship rolls slightly this morning; I can feel it in my thighs and my schlong, the parts of me that are most receptive to danger.

I had a dangerous conversation last night. After the sun set and we were at least 50 miles from shore (most modern cruise ships sail at about 23 miles an hour), I lay in bed softly hiccupping, my arms stretched out exactly like Jesus on the cross, the sound of the distant waves missing from my mall-facing suite, replaced by the hum of air-conditioning and children shouting in Spanish through the vents of my two bathrooms. I decided this passivity was unacceptable. As an immigrant, I feel duty-bound to complete the tasks I am paid for, which means reaching out and trying to understand my fellow cruisers. So I put on a normal James Perse T-shirt and headed for one of the bars on the Royal Promenade—the Schooner Bar, it was called, if memory serves correctly.

I sat at the bar for a martini and two Negronis. An old man with thick, hairy forearms drank next to me, very silent and Hemingwaylike, while a dreadlocked piano player tinkled out a series of excellent Elton John covers. To my right, a young white couple—he in floral shorts, she in a light, summery miniskirt with a fearsome diamond ring, neither of them in football regalia—chatted with an elderly couple. Do it , I commanded myself. Open your mouth. Speak! Speak without being spoken to. Initiate. A sentence fragment caught my ear from the young woman, “Cherry Hill.” This is a suburb of Philadelphia in New Jersey, and I had once been there for a reading at a synagogue. “Excuse me,” I said gently to her. “Did you just mention Cherry Hill? It’s a lovely place.”

As it turned out, the couple now lived in Fort Lauderdale (the number of Floridians on the cruise surprised me, given that Southern Florida is itself a kind of cruise ship, albeit one slowly sinking), but soon they were talking with me exclusively—the man potbellied, with a chin like a hard-boiled egg; the woman as svelte as if she were one of the many Ukrainian members of the crew—the elderly couple next to them forgotten. This felt as groundbreaking as the first time I dared to address an American in his native tongue, as a child on a bus in Queens (“On my foot you are standing, Mister”).

“I don’t want to talk politics,” the man said. “But they’re going to eighty-six Biden and put Michelle in.”

I considered the contradictions of his opening conversational gambit, but decided to play along. “People like Michelle,” I said, testing the waters. The husband sneered, but the wife charitably put forward that the former first lady was “more personable” than Joe Biden. “They’re gonna eighty-six Biden,” the husband repeated. “He can’t put a sentence together.”

After I mentioned that I was a writer—though I presented myself as a writer of teleplays instead of novels and articles such as this one—the husband told me his favorite writer was Ayn Rand. “Ayn Rand, she came here with nothing,” the husband said. “I work with a lot of Cubans, so …” I wondered if I should mention what I usually do to ingratiate myself with Republicans or libertarians: the fact that my finances improved after pass-through corporations were taxed differently under Donald Trump. Instead, I ordered another drink and the couple did the same, and I told him that Rand and I were born in the same city, St. Petersburg/Leningrad, and that my family also came here with nothing. Now the bonding and drinking began in earnest, and several more rounds appeared. Until it all fell apart.

Read: Gary Shteyngart on watching Russian television for five days straight

My new friend, whom I will refer to as Ayn, called out to a buddy of his across the bar, and suddenly a young couple, both covered in tattoos, appeared next to us. “He fucking punked me,” Ayn’s frat-boy-like friend called out as he put his arm around Ayn, while his sizable partner sizzled up to Mrs. Rand. Both of them had a look I have never seen on land—their eyes projecting absence and enmity in equal measure. In the ’90s, I drank with Russian soldiers fresh from Chechnya and wandered the streets of wartime Zagreb, but I have never seen such undisguised hostility toward both me and perhaps the universe at large. I was briefly introduced to this psychopathic pair, but neither of them wanted to have anything to do with me, and the tattooed woman would not even reveal her Christian name to me (she pretended to have the same first name as Mrs. Rand). To impress his tattooed friends, Ayn made fun of the fact that as a television writer, I’d worked on the series Succession (which, it would turn out, practically nobody on the ship had watched), instead of the far more palatable, in his eyes, zombie drama of last year. And then my new friends drifted away from me into an angry private conversation—“He punked me!”—as I ordered another drink for myself, scared of the dead-eyed arrivals whose gaze never registered in the dim wattage of the Schooner Bar, whose terrifying voices and hollow laughs grated like unoiled gears against the crooning of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.”

But today is a new day for me and my hangover. After breakfast, I explore the ship’s so-called neighborhoods . There’s the AquaDome, where one can find a food hall and an acrobatic sound-and-light aquatic show. Central Park has a premium steak house, a sushi joint, and a used Rolex that can be bought for $8,000 on land here proudly offered at $17,000. There’s the aforementioned Royal Promenade, where I had drunk with the Rands, and where a pair of dueling pianos duel well into the night. There’s Surfside, a kids’ neighborhood full of sugary garbage, which looks out onto the frothy trail that the behemoth leaves behind itself. Thrill Island refers to the collection of tubes that clutter the ass of the ship and offer passengers six waterslides and a surfing simulation. There’s the Hideaway, an adult zone that plays music from a vomit-slathered, Brit-filled Alicante nightclub circa 1996 and proves a big favorite with groups of young Latin American customers. And, most hurtfully, there’s the Suite Neighborhood.

I say hurtfully because as a Suite passenger I should be here, though my particular suite is far from the others. Whereas I am stuck amid the riffraff of Deck 11, this section is on the highborn Decks 16 and 17, and in passing, I peek into the spacious, tall-ceilinged staterooms from the hallway, dazzled by the glint of the waves and sun. For $75,000, one multifloor suite even comes with its own slide between floors, so that a family may enjoy this particular terror in private. There is a quiet splendor to the Suite Neighborhood. I see fewer stickers and signs and drawings than in my own neighborhood—for example, MIKE AND DIANA PROUDLY SERVED U.S. MARINE CORPS RETIRED . No one here needs to announce their branch of service or rank; they are simply Suites, and this is where they belong. Once again, despite my hard work and perseverance, I have been disallowed from the true American elite. Once again, I am “Not our class, dear.” I am reminded of watching The Love Boat on my grandmother’s Zenith, which either was given to her or we found in the trash (I get our many malfunctioning Zeniths confused) and whose tube got so hot, I would put little chunks of government cheese on a thin tissue atop it to give our welfare treat a pleasant, Reagan-era gooeyness. I could not understand English well enough then to catch the nuances of that seafaring program, but I knew that there were differences in the status of the passengers, and that sometimes those differences made them sad. Still, this ship, this plenty—every few steps, there are complimentary nachos or milkshakes or gyros on offer—was the fatty fuel of my childhood dreams. If only I had remained a child.

I walk around the outdoor decks looking for company. There is a middle-aged African American couple who always seem to be asleep in each other’s arms, probably exhausted from the late capitalism they regularly encounter on land. There is far more diversity on this ship than I expected. Many couples are a testament to Loving v. Virginia , and there is a large group of folks whose T-shirts read MELANIN AT SEA / IT’S THE MELANIN FOR ME . I smile when I see them, but then some young kids from the group makes Mr. Washy Washy do a cruel, caricatured “Burger Dance” (today he is in his burger getup), and I think, Well, so much for intersectionality .

At the infinity pool on Deck 17, I spot some elderly women who could be ethnic and from my part of the world, and so I jump in. I am proved correct! Many of them seem to be originally from Queens (“Corona was still great when it was all Italian”), though they are now spread across the tristate area. We bond over the way “Ron-kon-koma” sounds when announced in Penn Station.

“Everyone is here for a different reason,” one of them tells me. She and her ex-husband last sailed together four years ago to prove to themselves that their marriage was truly over. Her 15-year-old son lost his virginity to “an Irish young lady” while their ship was moored in Ravenna, Italy. The gaggle of old-timers competes to tell me their favorite cruising stories and tips. “A guy proposed in Central Park a couple of years ago”—many Royal Caribbean ships apparently have this ridiculous communal area—“and she ran away screaming!” “If you’re diamond-class, you get four drinks for free.” “A different kind of passenger sails out of Bayonne.” (This, perhaps, is racially coded.) “Sometimes, if you tip the bartender $5, your next drink will be free.”

“Everyone’s here for a different reason,” the woman whose marriage ended on a cruise tells me again. “Some people are here for bad reasons—the drinkers and the gamblers. Some people are here for medical reasons.” I have seen more than a few oxygen tanks and at least one woman clearly undergoing very serious chemo. Some T-shirts celebrate good news about a cancer diagnosis. This might be someone’s last cruise or week on Earth. For these women, who have spent months, if not years, at sea, cruising is a ritual as well as a life cycle: first love, last love, marriage, divorce, death.

Read: The last place on Earth any tourist should go

I have talked with these women for so long, tonight I promise myself that after a sad solitary dinner I will not try to seek out company at the bars in the mall or the adult-themed Hideaway. I have enough material to fulfill my duties to this publication. As I approach my orphaned suite, I run into the aggro young people who stole Mr. and Mrs. Rand away from me the night before. The tattooed apparitions pass me without a glance. She is singing something violent about “Stuttering Stanley” (a character in a popular horror movie, as I discover with my complimentary VOOM SM Surf & Stream Internet at Sea) and he’s loudly shouting about “all the money I’ve lost,” presumably at the casino in the bowels of the ship.

So these bent psychos out of a Cormac McCarthy novel are angrily inhabiting my deck. As I mewl myself to sleep, I envision a limited series for HBO or some other streamer, a kind of low-rent White Lotus , where several aggressive couples conspire to throw a shy intellectual interloper overboard. I type the scenario into my phone. As I fall asleep, I think of what the woman who recently divorced her husband and whose son became a man through the good offices of the Irish Republic told me while I was hoisting myself out of the infinity pool. “I’m here because I’m an explorer. I’m here because I’m trying something new.” What if I allowed myself to believe in her fantasy?

“YOU REALLY STARTED AT THE TOP,” they tell me. I’m at the Coastal Kitchen for my eggs and corned-beef hash, and the maître d’ has slotted me in between two couples. Fueled by coffee or perhaps intrigued by my relative youth, they strike up a conversation with me. As always, people are shocked that this is my first cruise. They contrast the Icon favorably with all the preceding liners in the Royal Caribbean fleet, usually commenting on the efficiency of the elevators that hurl us from deck to deck (as in many large corporate buildings, the elevators ask you to choose a floor and then direct you to one of many lifts). The couple to my right, from Palo Alto—he refers to his “porn mustache” and calls his wife “my cougar” because she is two years older—tell me they are “Pandemic Pinnacles.”

This is the day that my eyes will be opened. Pinnacles , it is explained to me over translucent cantaloupe, have sailed with Royal Caribbean for 700 ungodly nights. Pandemic Pinnacles took advantage of the two-for-one accrual rate of Pinnacle points during the pandemic, when sailing on a cruise ship was even more ill-advised, to catapult themselves into Pinnacle status.

Because of the importance of the inaugural voyage of the world’s largest cruise liner, more than 200 Pinnacles are on this ship, a startling number, it seems. Mrs. Palo Alto takes out a golden badge that I have seen affixed over many a breast, which reads CROWN AND ANCHOR SOCIETY along with her name. This is the coveted badge of the Pinnacle. “You should hear all the whining in Guest Services,” her husband tells me. Apparently, the Pinnacles who are not also Suites like us are all trying to use their status to get into Coastal Kitchen, our elite restaurant. Even a Pinnacle needs to be a Suite to access this level of corned-beef hash.

“We’re just baby Pinnacles,” Mrs. Palo Alto tells me, describing a kind of internal class struggle among the Pinnacle elite for ever higher status.

And now I understand what the maître d’ was saying to me on the first day of my cruise. He wasn’t saying “ pendejo .” He was saying “Pinnacle.” The dining room was for Pinnacles only, all those older people rolling in like the tide on their motorized scooters.

And now I understand something else: This whole thing is a cult. And like most cults, it can’t help but mirror the endless American fight for status. Like Keith Raniere’s NXIVM, where different-colored sashes were given out to connote rank among Raniere’s branded acolytes, this is an endless competition among Pinnacles, Suites, Diamond-Plusers, and facing-the-mall, no-balcony purple SeaPass Card peasants, not to mention the many distinctions within each category. The more you cruise, the higher your status. No wonder a section of the Royal Promenade is devoted to getting passengers to book their next cruise during the one they should be enjoying now. No wonder desperate Royal Caribbean offers (“FINAL HOURS”) crowded my email account weeks before I set sail. No wonder the ship’s jewelry store, the Royal Bling, is selling a $100,000 golden chalice that will entitle its owner to drink free on Royal Caribbean cruises for life. (One passenger was already gaming out whether her 28-year-old son was young enough to “just about earn out” on the chalice or if that ship had sailed.) No wonder this ship was sold out months before departure , and we had to pay $19,000 for a horrid suite away from the Suite Neighborhood. No wonder the most mythical hero of Royal Caribbean lore is someone named Super Mario, who has cruised so often, he now has his own working desk on many ships. This whole experience is part cult, part nautical pyramid scheme.

From the June 2014 issue: Ship of wonks

“The toilets are amazing,” the Palo Altos are telling me. “One flush and you’re done.” “They don’t understand how energy-efficient these ships are,” the husband of the other couple is telling me. “They got the LNG”—liquefied natural gas, which is supposed to make the Icon a boon to the environment (a concept widely disputed and sometimes ridiculed by environmentalists).

But I’m thinking along a different line of attack as I spear my last pallid slice of melon. For my streaming limited series, a Pinnacle would have to get killed by either an outright peasant or a Suite without an ocean view. I tell my breakfast companions my idea.

“Oh, for sure a Pinnacle would have to be killed,” Mr. Palo Alto, the Pandemic Pinnacle, says, touching his porn mustache thoughtfully as his wife nods.

“THAT’S RIGHT, IT’S your time, buddy!” Hubert, my fun-loving Panamanian cabin attendant, shouts as I step out of my suite in a robe. “Take it easy, buddy!”

I have come up with a new dressing strategy. Instead of trying to impress with my choice of T-shirts, I have decided to start wearing a robe, as one does at a resort property on land, with a proper spa and hammam. The response among my fellow cruisers has been ecstatic. “Look at you in the robe!” Mr. Rand cries out as we pass each other by the Thrill Island aqua park. “You’re living the cruise life! You know, you really drank me under the table that night.” I laugh as we part ways, but my soul cries out, Please spend more time with me, Mr. and Mrs. Rand; I so need the company .

In my white robe, I am a stately presence, a refugee from a better limited series, a one-man crossover episode. (Only Suites are granted these robes to begin with.) Today, I will try many of the activities these ships have on offer to provide their clientele with a sense of never-ceasing motion. Because I am already at Thrill Island, I decide to climb the staircase to what looks like a mast on an old-fashioned ship (terrified, because I am afraid of heights) to try a ride called “Storm Chasers,” which is part of the “Category 6” water park, named in honor of one of the storms that may someday do away with the Port of Miami entirely. Storm Chasers consists of falling from the “mast” down a long, twisting neon tube filled with water, like being the camera inside your own colonoscopy, as you hold on to the handles of a mat, hoping not to die. The tube then flops you down headfirst into a trough of water, a Royal Caribbean baptism. It both knocks my breath out and makes me sad.

In keeping with the aquatic theme, I attend a show at the AquaDome. To the sound of “Live and Let Die,” a man in a harness gyrates to and fro in the sultry air. I saw something very similar in the back rooms of the famed Berghain club in early-aughts Berlin. Soon another harnessed man is gyrating next to the first. Ja , I think to myself, I know how this ends. Now will come the fisting , natürlich . But the show soon devolves into the usual Marvel-film-grade nonsense, with too much light and sound signifying nichts . If any fisting is happening, it is probably in the Suite Neighborhood, inside a cabin marked with an upside-down pineapple, which I understand means a couple are ready to swing, and I will see none of it.

I go to the ice show, which is a kind of homage—if that’s possible—to the periodic table, done with the style and pomp and masterful precision that would please the likes of Kim Jong Un, if only he could afford Royal Caribbean talent. At one point, the dancers skate to the theme song of Succession . “See that!” I want to say to my fellow Suites—at “cultural” events, we have a special section reserved for us away from the commoners—“ Succession ! It’s even better than the zombie show! Open your minds!”

Finally, I visit a comedy revue in an enormous and too brightly lit version of an “intimate,” per Royal Caribbean literature, “Manhattan comedy club.” Many of the jokes are about the cruising life. “I’ve lived on ships for 20 years,” one of the middle-aged comedians says. “I can only see so many Filipino homosexuals dressed as a taco.” He pauses while the audience laughs. “I am so fired tonight,” he says. He segues into a Trump impression and then Biden falling asleep at the microphone, which gets the most laughs. “Anyone here from Fort Leonard Wood?” another comedian asks. Half the crowd seems to cheer. As I fall asleep that night, I realize another connection I have failed to make, and one that may explain some of the diversity on this vessel—many of its passengers have served in the military.

As a coddled passenger with a suite, I feel like I am starting to understand what it means to have a rank and be constantly reminded of it. There are many espresso makers , I think as I look across the expanse of my officer-grade quarters before closing my eyes, but this one is mine .

A shocking sight greets me beyond the pools of Deck 17 as I saunter over to the Coastal Kitchen for my morning intake of slightly sour Americanos. A tiny city beneath a series of perfectly pressed green mountains. Land! We have docked for a brief respite in Basseterre, the capital of St. Kitts and Nevis. I wolf down my egg scramble to be one of the first passengers off the ship. Once past the gangway, I barely refrain from kissing the ground. I rush into the sights and sounds of this scruffy island city, sampling incredible conch curry and buckets of non-Starbucks coffee. How wonderful it is to be where God intended humans to be: on land. After all, I am neither a fish nor a mall rat. This is my natural environment. Basseterre may not be Havana, but there are signs of human ingenuity and desire everywhere you look. The Black Table Grill Has been Relocated to Soho Village, Market Street, Directly Behind of, Gary’s Fruits and Flower Shop. Signed. THE PORK MAN reads a sign stuck to a wall. Now, that is how you write a sign. A real sign, not the come-ons for overpriced Rolexes that blink across the screens of the Royal Promenade.

“Hey, tie your shoestring!” a pair of laughing ladies shout to me across the street.

“Thank you!” I shout back. Shoestring! “Thank you very much.”

A man in Independence Square Park comes by and asks if I want to play with his monkey. I haven’t heard that pickup line since the Penn Station of the 1980s. But then he pulls a real monkey out of a bag. The monkey is wearing a diaper and looks insane. Wonderful , I think, just wonderful! There is so much life here. I email my editor asking if I can remain on St. Kitts and allow the Icon to sail off into the horizon without me. I have even priced a flight home at less than $300, and I have enough material from the first four days on the cruise to write the entire story. “It would be funny …” my editor replies. “Now get on the boat.”

As I slink back to the ship after my brief jailbreak, the locals stand under umbrellas to gaze at and photograph the boat that towers over their small capital city. The limousines of the prime minister and his lackeys are parked beside the gangway. St. Kitts, I’ve been told, is one of the few islands that would allow a ship of this size to dock.

“We hear about all the waterslides,” a sweet young server in one of the cafés told me. “We wish we could go on the ship, but we have to work.”

“I want to stay on your island,” I replied. “I love it here.”

But she didn’t understand how I could possibly mean that.

“WASHY, WASHY, so you don’t get stinky, stinky!” kids are singing outside the AquaDome, while their adult minders look on in disapproval, perhaps worried that Mr. Washy Washy is grooming them into a life of gayness. I heard a southern couple skip the buffet entirely out of fear of Mr. Washy Washy.

Meanwhile, I have found a new watering hole for myself, the Swim & Tonic, the biggest swim-up bar on any cruise ship in the world. Drinking next to full-size, nearly naked Americans takes away one’s own self-consciousness. The men have curvaceous mom bodies. The women are equally un-shy about their sprawling physiques.

Today I’ve befriended a bald man with many children who tells me that all of the little trinkets that Royal Caribbean has left us in our staterooms and suites are worth a fortune on eBay. “Eighty dollars for the water bottle, 60 for the lanyard,” the man says. “This is a cult.”

“Tell me about it,” I say. There is, however, a clientele for whom this cruise makes perfect sense. For a large middle-class family (he works in “supply chains”), seven days in a lower-tier cabin—which starts at $1,800 a person—allow the parents to drop off their children in Surfside, where I imagine many young Filipina crew members will take care of them, while the parents are free to get drunk at a swim-up bar and maybe even get intimate in their cabin. Cruise ships have become, for a certain kind of hardworking family, a form of subsidized child care.

There is another man I would like to befriend at the Swim & Tonic, a tall, bald fellow who is perpetually inebriated and who wears a necklace studded with little rubber duckies in sunglasses, which, I am told, is a sort of secret handshake for cruise aficionados. Tomorrow, I will spend more time with him, but first the ship docks at St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Charlotte Amalie, the capital, is more charming in name than in presence, but I still all but jump off the ship to score a juicy oxtail and plantains at the well-known Petite Pump Room, overlooking the harbor. From one of the highest points in the small city, the Icon of the Seas appears bigger than the surrounding hills.

I usually tan very evenly, but something about the discombobulation of life at sea makes me forget the regular application of sunscreen. As I walk down the streets of Charlotte Amalie in my fluorescent Icon of the Seas cap, an old Rastafarian stares me down. “Redneck,” he hisses.

“No,” I want to tell him, as I bring a hand up to my red neck, “that’s not who I am at all. On my island, Mannahatta, as Whitman would have it, I am an interesting person living within an engaging artistic milieu. I do not wish to use the Caribbean as a dumping ground for the cruise-ship industry. I love the work of Derek Walcott. You don’t understand. I am not a redneck. And if I am, they did this to me.” They meaning Royal Caribbean? Its passengers? The Rands?

“They did this to me!”

Back on the Icon, some older matrons are muttering about a run-in with passengers from the Celebrity cruise ship docked next to us, the Celebrity Apex. Although Celebrity Cruises is also owned by Royal Caribbean, I am made to understand that there is a deep fratricidal beef between passengers of the two lines. “We met a woman from the Apex,” one matron says, “and she says it was a small ship and there was nothing to do. Her face was as tight as a 19-year-old’s, she had so much surgery.” With those words, and beneath a cloudy sky, humidity shrouding our weathered faces and red necks, we set sail once again, hopefully in the direction of home.

THERE ARE BARELY 48 HOURS LEFT to the cruise, and the Icon of the Seas’ passengers are salty. They know how to work the elevators. They know the Washy Washy song by heart. They understand that the chicken gyro at “Feta Mediterranean,” in the AquaDome Market, is the least problematic form of chicken on the ship.

The passengers have shed their INAUGURAL CRUISE T-shirts and are now starting to evince political opinions. There are caps pledging to make America great again and T-shirts that celebrate words sometimes attributed to Patrick Henry: “The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people; it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.” With their preponderance of FAMILY FLAG FAITH FRIENDS FIREARMS T-shirts, the tables by the crepe station sometimes resemble the Capitol Rotunda on January 6. The Real Anthony Fauci , by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., appears to be a popular form of literature, especially among young men with very complicated versions of the American flag on their T-shirts. Other opinions blend the personal and the political. “Someone needs to kill Washy guy, right?” a well-dressed man in the elevator tells me, his gray eyes radiating nothing. “Just beat him to death. Am I right?” I overhear the male member of a young couple whisper, “There goes that freak” as I saunter by in my white spa robe, and I decide to retire it for the rest of the cruise.

I visit the Royal Bling to see up close the $100,000 golden chalice that entitles you to free drinks on Royal Caribbean forever. The pleasant Serbian saleslady explains that the chalice is actually gold-plated and covered in white zirconia instead of diamonds, as it would otherwise cost $1 million. “If you already have everything,” she explains, “this is one more thing you can get.”

I believe that anyone who works for Royal Caribbean should be entitled to immediate American citizenship. They already speak English better than most of the passengers and, per the Serbian lady’s sales pitch above, better understand what America is as well. Crew members like my Panamanian cabin attendant seem to work 24 hours a day. A waiter from New Delhi tells me that his contract is six months and three weeks long. After a cruise ends, he says, “in a few hours, we start again for the next cruise.” At the end of the half a year at sea, he is allowed a two-to-three-month stay at home with his family. As of 2019, the median income for crew members was somewhere in the vicinity of $20,000, according to a major business publication. Royal Caribbean would not share the current median salary for its crew members, but I am certain that it amounts to a fraction of the cost of a Royal Bling gold-plated, zirconia-studded chalice.

And because most of the Icon’s hyper-sanitized spaces are just a frittata away from being a Delta lounge, one forgets that there are actual sailors on this ship, charged with the herculean task of docking it in port. “Having driven 100,000-ton aircraft carriers throughout my career,” retired Admiral James G. Stavridis, the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, writes to me, “I’m not sure I would even know where to begin with trying to control a sea monster like this one nearly three times the size.” (I first met Stavridis while touring Army bases in Germany more than a decade ago.)

Today, I decide to head to the hot tub near Swim & Tonic, where some of the ship’s drunkest reprobates seem to gather (the other tubs are filled with families and couples). The talk here, like everywhere else on the ship, concerns football, a sport about which I know nothing. It is apparent that four teams have recently competed in some kind of finals for the year, and that two of them will now face off in the championship. Often when people on the Icon speak, I will try to repeat the last thing they said with a laugh or a nod of disbelief. “Yes, 20-yard line! Ha!” “Oh my God, of course, scrimmage.”

Soon we are joined in the hot tub by the late-middle-age drunk guy with the duck necklace. He is wearing a bucket hat with the legend HAWKEYES , which, I soon gather, is yet another football team. “All right, who turned me in?” Duck Necklace says as he plops into the tub beside us. “I get a call in the morning,” he says. “It’s security. Can you come down to the dining room by 10 a.m.? You need to stay away from the members of this religious family.” Apparently, the gregarious Duck Necklace had photobombed the wrong people. There are several families who present as evangelical Christians or practicing Muslims on the ship. One man, evidently, was not happy that Duck Necklace had made contact with his relatives. “It’s because of religious stuff; he was offended. I put my arm around 20 people a day.”

Everyone laughs. “They asked me three times if I needed medication,” he says of the security people who apparently interrogated him in full view of others having breakfast.

Another hot-tub denizen suggests that he should have asked for fentanyl. After a few more drinks, Duck Necklace begins to muse about what it would be like to fall off the ship. “I’m 62 and I’m ready to go,” he says. “I just don’t want a shark to eat me. I’m a huge God guy. I’m a Bible guy. There’s some Mayan theory squaring science stuff with religion. There is so much more to life on Earth.” We all nod into our Red Stripes.

“I never get off the ship when we dock,” he says. He tells us he lost $6,000 in the casino the other day. Later, I look him up, and it appears that on land, he’s a financial adviser in a crisp gray suit, probably a pillar of his North Chicago community.

THE OCEAN IS TEEMING with fascinating life, but on the surface it has little to teach us. The waves come and go. The horizon remains ever far away.

I am constantly told by my fellow passengers that “everybody here has a story.” Yes, I want to reply, but everybody everywhere has a story. You, the reader of this essay, have a story, and yet you’re not inclined to jump on a cruise ship and, like Duck Necklace, tell your story to others at great pitch and volume. Maybe what they’re saying is that everybody on this ship wants to have a bigger, more coherent, more interesting story than the one they’ve been given. Maybe that’s why there’s so much signage on the doors around me attesting to marriages spent on the sea. Maybe that’s why the Royal Caribbean newsletter slipped under my door tells me that “this isn’t a vacation day spent—it’s bragging rights earned.” Maybe that’s why I’m so lonely.

Today is a big day for Icon passengers. Today the ship docks at Royal Caribbean’s own Bahamian island, the Perfect Day at CocoCay. (This appears to be the actual name of the island.) A comedian at the nightclub opined on what his perfect day at CocoCay would look like—receiving oral sex while learning that his ex-wife had been killed in a car crash (big laughter). But the reality of the island is far less humorous than that.

One of the ethnic tristate ladies in the infinity pool told me that she loved CocoCay because it had exactly the same things that could be found on the ship itself. This proves to be correct. It is like the Icon, but with sand. The same tired burgers, the same colorful tubes conveying children and water from Point A to B. The same swim-up bar at its Hideaway ($140 for admittance, no children allowed; Royal Caribbean must be printing money off its clientele). “There was almost a fight at The Wizard of Oz ,” I overhear an elderly woman tell her companion on a chaise lounge. Apparently one of the passengers began recording Royal Caribbean’s intellectual property and “three guys came after him.”

I walk down a pathway to the center of the island, where a sign reads DO NOT ENTER: YOU HAVE REACHED THE BOUNDARY OF ADVENTURE . I hear an animal scampering in the bushes. A Royal Caribbean worker in an enormous golf cart soon chases me down and takes me back to the Hideaway, where I run into Mrs. Rand in a bikini. She becomes livid telling me about an altercation she had the other day with a woman over a towel and a deck chair. We Suites have special towel privileges; we do not have to hand over our SeaPass Card to score a towel. But the Rands are not Suites. “People are so entitled here,” Mrs. Rand says. “It’s like the airport with all its classes.” “You see,” I want to say, “this is where your husband’s love of Ayn Rand runs into the cruelties and arbitrary indignities of unbridled capitalism.” Instead we make plans to meet for a final drink in the Schooner Bar tonight (the Rands will stand me up).

Back on the ship, I try to do laps, but the pool (the largest on any cruise ship, naturally) is fully trashed with the detritus of American life: candy wrappers, a slowly dissolving tortilla chip, napkins. I take an extra-long shower in my suite, then walk around the perimeter of the ship on a kind of exercise track, past all the alluring lifeboats in their yellow-and-white livery. Maybe there is a dystopian angle to the HBO series that I will surely end up pitching, one with shades of WALL-E or Snowpiercer . In a collapsed world, a Royal Caribbean–like cruise liner sails from port to port, collecting new shipmates and supplies in exchange for the precious energy it has on board. (The actual Icon features a new technology that converts passengers’ poop into enough energy to power the waterslides . In the series, this shitty technology would be greatly expanded.) A very young woman (18? 19?), smart and lonely, who has only known life on the ship, walks along the same track as I do now, contemplating jumping off into the surf left by its wake. I picture reusing Duck Necklace’s words in the opening shot of the pilot. The girl is walking around the track, her eyes on the horizon; maybe she’s highborn—a Suite—and we hear the voice-over: “I’m 19 and I’m ready to go. I just don’t want a shark to eat me.”

Before the cruise is finished, I talk to Mr. Washy Washy, or Nielbert of the Philippines. He is a sweet, gentle man, and I thank him for the earworm of a song he has given me and for keeping us safe from the dreaded norovirus. “This is very important to me, getting people to wash their hands,” he tells me in his burger getup. He has dreams, as an artist and a performer, but they are limited in scope. One day he wants to dress up as a piece of bacon for the morning shift.

THE MAIDEN VOYAGE OF THE TITANIC (the Icon of the Seas is five times as large as that doomed vessel) at least offered its passengers an exciting ending to their cruise, but when I wake up on the eighth day, all I see are the gray ghosts that populate Miami’s condo skyline. Throughout my voyage, my writer friends wrote in to commiserate with me. Sloane Crosley, who once covered a three-day spa mini-cruise for Vogue , tells me she felt “so very alone … I found it very untethering.” Gideon Lewis-Kraus writes in an Instagram comment: “When Gary is done I think it’s time this genre was taken out back and shot.” And he is right. To badly paraphrase Adorno: After this, no more cruise stories. It is unfair to put a thinking person on a cruise ship. Writers typically have difficult childhoods, and it is cruel to remind them of the inherent loneliness that drove them to writing in the first place. It is also unseemly to write about the kind of people who go on cruises. Our country does not provide the education and upbringing that allow its citizens an interior life. For the creative class to point fingers at the large, breasty gentlemen adrift in tortilla-chip-laden pools of water is to gather a sour harvest of low-hanging fruit.

A day or two before I got off the ship, I decided to make use of my balcony, which I had avoided because I thought the view would only depress me further. What I found shocked me. My suite did not look out on Central Park after all. This entire time, I had been living in the ship’s Disneyland, Surfside, the neighborhood full of screaming toddlers consuming milkshakes and candy. And as I leaned out over my balcony, I beheld a slight vista of the sea and surf that I thought I had been missing. It had been there all along. The sea was frothy and infinite and blue-green beneath the span of a seagull’s wing. And though it had been trod hard by the world’s largest cruise ship, it remained.

This article appears in the May 2024 print edition with the headline “A Meatball at Sea.” When you buy a book using a link on this page, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic.

The 10 biggest mistakes cruise ship passengers make on port days

You can spend so much time and energy picking the right cruise itinerary, line and ship that once you've booked your cruise, you're ready to be done with vacation planning. But you're making a huge mistake if you don't think about what you're going to do on port days on your cruise. A little research into the destinations your ship is visiting can go a long way toward turning an average trip into a memorable adventure.

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Don't miss out on land-based fun because you couldn't take the time to come up with a plan. Here are the 10 biggest mistakes cruise ship passengers make on port days, so you know better and do better — and make lasting memories in the destinations you visit on your cruise.

Missing the ship

Let's get this one out of the way early. The biggest mistake cruisers make on port days is not getting back to the ship on time and getting left behind. Nothing ruins a cruise vacation like paying out of pocket to fly to the next port or back home because you weren't on the pier before your ship sailed into the sunset.

There are three key things you can do to avoid making this mistake.

Memorize the all-aboard time. This is different from the sailaway time, typically a half hour earlier. The all-aboard time is when you need to be back on the ship, and it's posted at the gangway when you disembark and also in your daily planner.

Set your watch to ship's time. Sometimes cruise ships don't change their clocks to match the different time zones in port. The all-aboard time is always set to the ship's clock, not the time in port. Make sure your smartwatch, fitness tracker or cellphone remains on ship time to avoid confusion.

Plan to return to your ship early. It's always smart to build buffer time into your port-day plans. Don't schedule your day to return exactly at the all-aboard time; plan to arrive an hour or two earlier. This way, you're protected if you get lost, hit a traffic jam or get distracted by a shop along the way. If all goes well and you're back early, there's often shopping or dining at the port that you can enjoy before you need to board.

It's easy to think you'll walk off the ship in port and make a plan on the spot. That's fine if you want to go to the nearest beach or walk into town for some shopping. But in many ports, you can make better use of your day if you do your research in advance.

Shore excursions sell out, so if you have your heart set on a particular tour or activity, you might be out of luck if you wait until you're on board to book. If you're a foodie, you might want to research must-visit local restaurants in advance and make a reservation. If you love outdoor pursuits, you might want to look up hiking trails or bike rental companies before your trip.

Related: Avoid these 10 mistakes when booking cruise shore excursions

I skipped a long line on a port call in Naples because I had previously bought museum tickets online. In France, I booked a private tour to Carcassonne not offered by the cruise line by researching options before my trip. My time in port would have been less well spent had I walked off the ship with no plan in mind.

Venturing out unprepared

Another mistake cruisers make is not packing a stocked day bag for their time ashore. Embrace your inner mom or boy scout and be prepared for your day off the ship.

Check the weather forecast and bring along any necessary rain gear, warm layers or sun protection. For beach days, you might want sand toys for the kids, extra sunscreen and a change of clothes. Bring a dry bag or zip-top bag to protect your electronics on a water-based tour, and cash for a visit to a local market. For any day off the ship, you'll want a water bottle and some packaged snacks, just in case.

Related: 26 cruise packing hacks you need to know before you sail

Not protecting your belongings

Tourists worldwide are a target for pickpockets and petty thieves. You're making a mistake if you don't protect your belongings while exploring in port.

Carry your wallet and cellphone in a zippered purse or backpack, preferably with interior compartments where you can hide valuables. Don't put them in your back pocket or an open bag that someone can easily reach into. Don't leave your bags unattended, and use lockers where available. You can even buy pouches to carry cash, credit cards or your phone around your neck when swimming at the beach.

Related: Top 10 anti-theft crossbody bags, backpacks and accessories that stop pickpockets

You don't need to bring all your cash, credit cards or even your passport when you disembark your cruise ship for the day. Take only what you need so it's not as big of a hardship if your wallet or bag goes missing.

Sleeping in

It's tempting to sleep in after a late night of onboard partying, but you'll make better use of your cruise if you plan those lie-ins for sea days. You can maximize your time ashore if you get off the ship early rather than late.

With a full day in port, you can take a road trip to a destination or attraction that's outside of the port city. You'll have time to see several sites in town or get to the beach before it gets too hot or crowded. You can buy ferry or train tickets before they sell out.

Plus, if your ship has an early departure, you'll get in a full half day rather than a couple of hours of exploration. Of course, if your ship has a late arrival planned, go ahead and enjoy that extra-long sleep.

Overdoing it

It's easy to go overboard when planning your day in a city or country you've never visited before. If you want to see all the main sights, you might cram too many activities into one day, rushing from place to place with little time to appreciate what you see — and exhausting yourself and your travel party.

Accept that you cannot see everything you want in one port call and instead focus your time on a few key attractions or activities. If you have kids, build in time for snacks or play. That way, you can fully enjoy what you do without feeling overwhelmed. If you love the place, you can always book a future trip to visit it again.

The same applies to physical activities in port. Don't book that cycling tour if you haven't ridden a bike in 10 years. If you have mobility issues, think twice about an excursion that involves a lot of walking on cobblestone streets. Know your limits and plan your day and your activities around them.

Skipping the local cuisine

You've already paid for food on your cruise ship as part of your fare, so it's tempting to want to eat all your meals on board to maximize your investment. But it's a mistake not to try some of the local cuisine while you're in port.

You don't have to book an expensive meal at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Trying the local ice cream, visiting a bakery or sampling a regional beer will give you a taste of the food scene and an insight into local life. It's always fun to try something new, like conch salad in the Bahamas or a sandwich of tortilla espanola in Barcelona.

Another favorite is to find a market or grocery store near the cruise port. In Stockholm, I had a field day at the 7-Eleven buying salty licorice and other foreign candy for my family back home. In Belize, I tried all the Fanta soda flavors I'd never seen before. You don't have to spend much money or even have a full meal to taste something new in port.

Sticking around the port

First-time cruisers often make the mistake of not leaving the port area because they're nervous about traveling in a foreign country. You can usually find plenty of tourist attractions, such as restaurants and shops, close to your ship. But you'll get a more in-depth and authentic feel for the port city if you venture out.

In some places, that means making your way to the city center via shuttle bus or taxi. In other ports, such as Civitavecchia or Livorno, Italy, you might need to book a tour outside the port city to places like Rome or Florence. Maybe you need to head to the other side of the island or out into the countryside to find your perfect day in port. Whether you need to book a tour or rent a car, take the opportunity to venture farther afield — as long as you have enough time in port to return before the all-aboard time.

Only taking tours

Another port-day mistake common among first-time cruisers is exclusively booking the ship's tours. Maybe you feel pressure to book a tour every day, or perhaps you're nervous about independent exploration. Shore excursions are wonderful ways to see a destination's highlights, but they're not the only way — and they're not always necessary.

In some ports, you can have the perfect day wandering around town, getting lost in cute side streets, shopping for souvenirs and sampling local cuisine. In others, you need only to call a cab to experience a beautiful beach day.

In Flam, Norway, I skipped the ship's tour to hike to a gorgeous waterfall — no guide required. In Hilo, Hawaii, my family rented a car to explore Volcanoes National Park at our own pace instead of with a group of 40 other cruisers. In these cases, my experience was enhanced by going it alone.

Related: Ship-sponsored vs. independent shore excursions on cruises: Which should you book?

Never taking tours

On the other hand, some travelers pride themselves on never taking tours and always exploring independently. It's great to take control of your port day, but it's a mistake to never consider a tour.

Sometimes, like at the ruins of Pompeii, a guide can enhance your experience of a place by providing context and color. In others, where you're venturing more than an hour's drive from the port, you'll want the security of knowing that the ship will wait if you're delayed in returning. A tour guide familiar with the area can handle the complicated logistics of getting from one attraction to the next or can allow your group to skip ticket or entrance lines.

Never say never, and keep an open mind to the best way to spend your day in port.

Bottom line

You book a cruise as much for the places it visits as the ship itself. Make the most of your time ashore by properly planning and preparing for your day. Don't let silly mistakes keep you from enjoying a wonderful day off the ship.

Planning a cruise? Start with these stories:

• The 5 most desirable cabin locations on any cruise ship
• A beginners guide to picking a cruise line
• The 8 worst cabin locations on any cruise ship
• The ultimate guide to what to pack for a cruise
• A quick guide to the most popular cruise lines
• 21 tips and tricks that will make your cruise go smoothly
• Top ways cruisers waste money
• The ultimate guide to choosing a cruise ship cabin

The top 10 biggest cruise ships in the world

M odern cruise ships continue to grow in size, with the biggest cruise ship, the Icon of the Seas , launching at the start of this year, and her sister ship the Star of the Seas expected to surpass her in size.

Both of these ships are operated by Royal Caribbean International, which operates five of the ten largest cruise ships in the world. Carnival Corporation, arguably the biggest cruise company in the world, features three times on the list through its subsidiaries P&O Cruises and Costa Cruises.

All of the heaviest cruise ships in the world were built within the last 20 years, although the majority – six of the ten – were built within the last five years.

So, here are the top ten biggest cruise ships in the world, by gross tonnage. 

10. P&O Cruises MS Arvia : 185,581 gross tonnes

The MS Arvia is P&O Cruises’ fourth ship to be built by German shipyard Meyer Werft. Weighing in at 185,581 gross tonnes, the 345m (1,130-foot) Arvia is slightly larger than her sister ship, the MS Iona . The 20-deck ship is the largest ship commissioned for the British cruise market and has a maximum passenger capacity of 6,264 passengers, with 1,800 crew onboard. 

The ship is the second liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered Excellence-class vessel for P&O, following the Iona . Arvia is powered by a 61,760kW LNG drive system, with a propulsion power of 37 megawatts. The LNG-powered propulsion system allows the vessel to sail at a maximum speed of 21.5 knots.

After being floated out in August 2022, the Arvia mainly operates itineraries around the Caribbean or the Mediterranean.

9. Costa Cruises – Costa Smeralda : 185,010 gross tonnes

The Costa Smeralda is the first LNG-powered vessel in the Costa Cruises fleet. With a gross tonnage of 185,010gt, the 20-deck Excellence-class ship measures 337m (1,106 feet) in length. The second LNG-powered cruise ship to enter operation in the world, she has a maximum capacity of 6,554 passengers with 1,646 crew and a service speed of 21.5 knots.

Construction of the Costa Smeralda began at the Meyer shipyard in Turku, Finland, in September 2017. Meyer Turku collaborated with the Meyer Werft Papenburg shipyard to develop and integrate the LNG propulsion plant for the ship. She is fitted with four 16-cylinder, Caterpillar MaK 16VM46DF engines, with 15.4 megawatts (20,710 horsepower) output per engine, resulting in a maximum power of  37 megawatts (50,000 horsepower).

The ship, which was named after the Emerald Coast of Sardinia, entered service in December 2019 , departing Savona on its maiden voyage in the Mediterranean, where it has sailed since.

8. Costa Cruises – Costa Toscana : 186,364 gross tonnes

The Costa Toscana is the sister ship of the Costa Smeralda and is also powered by LNG . measuring 337m (1,106 feet) long and weighing in at 186,364 gross tonnes, the Toscana has a maximum capacity of 6,338 passengers and 1,678 staff across her 20 decks.

Like her sister ship, the Toscana was also built at the Meyer shipyard in Finland, with construction completed in 2021. She is also powered by four MaK-Caterpillar engines, with a total power of 57.2 megawatts (76,706 horsepower), and two ABB Azipod motors , resulting in a service speed of 17 knots.

Named in homage to the Tuscany region of Italy, Costa Toscana mainly sails around the Mediterranean Sea but Costa Cruises has also used the ship to sail itineraries further afield, such as around Brazil and the UAE.

7. MSC Cruises – MSC World Europa : 215,863 gross tonnes

The only entry in the top ten from MSC Cruises, MSC World Europa measures 333m (1,094 feet) in length. With 215,863 gross tonnage, she can house more people than any other ship in the MSC fleet: up to 6,762 passengers across 2,633 cabins spread over 22 decks, in addition to 2,138 crew.

Built by Chantiers de l’Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire, France, the World Europa ’s LNG-power propulsion system was subcontracted to Finland-based Wärtsilä. Five LNG-powered, 14-cylinder Wartsila 46DF dual-fuel engines power the vessel, with a propulsion power of 44 megawatts ( 59,005 horsepower). She also features nitrogen oxide reduction (NOR) units, two Wartsila LNGPac fuel storage and supply systems, seven thrusters, and two fixed-pitch propellers. 

The MSC World Europa was floated out at the end of 2021 and was initially used as an accommodation vessel for fans attending the 2022 FIFA World Cup, with the ship berthed at Doha Port in Qatar during the tournament. Following the competition, the ship subsequently travelled several routes around the UAE, before sailing to the Mediterranean, where it has sailed itineraries since.

6. Royal Caribbean International – Allure of the Seas : 225,282 gross tonnes

The first of many entries on this list operated by Royal Caribbean, Allure of the Seas weighs in at 225,282 gross tonnes. Measuring 362m (1,187 feet), she is only 50mm (2 inches) longer than her sister ship the Oasis of the Seas . The Allure has a maximum capacity of 6,780 passengers and 2,200 crew across 18 decks.

Built at the Turku Shipyard in Finland, the Allure took two years to build , floating out in 2010. She features six Wärtsilä 46 diesel engines with a total power output of 97 megawatts (130,053 horsepower). It is propelled by three electric Azipod azimuth thrusters. The ship can travel at a cruising speed of 22 knots.

With a homeport of Galveston, Texas in the US, the Allure mainly serves itineraries around the Bahamas but she is scheduled to sail routes around the Mediterranean in 2025.

5. Royal Caribbean International – Oasis of the Seas : 226,838 gross tonnes

The oldest ship on this list, the Oasis of the Seas has been in service for over a decade. She was the biggest cruise ship at the time when floated out in 2009, with a gross tonnage of 226,838gt and a length of 360m (1,181 feet). The Oasis has a maximum capacity of 6,699 passengers and 2,181 staff across 18 decks.

The Oasis took two years to build at the Meyer shipyard in Turku, Finland, with the keel laid on 12 November 2007 and the ship arriving at her homeport of Port Everglades in Florida, US, on 13 November 2009.

The Oasis is powered by eight Wärtsilä V12 diesel engines, which generate 5.6 megawatts (7,500 horsepower) each, alongside four bow thrusters. The main propulsion system consists of three 20-megawatt (26,820 horsepower) electric Azipod motors, resulting in a combined propulsion power of 82 megawatts (109,964 horsepower) and a standard cruising speed of 23 knots.

The Oasis mainly operates routes around the Caribbean, but occasionally repositions to offer itineraries in the Mediterranean.

4. Royal Caribbean International – Harmony of the Seas : 226,963 gross tonnes

The third Oasis-class ship built by Royal Caribbean, Harmony of the Seas weighed in bigger than her existing sister ships at launch in 2016, with 226,963 gross tonnage, but she has since been surpassed by newer vessels. With a total length of 362m (1,188 feet), Harmony has a maximum capacity of 6,780 passengers and 2,300 staff across 18 decks.

Royal Caribbean placed an order with STX France for the construction of Harmony of the Seas in December 2012. The first steel for the ship was cut at STX France’s Saint-Nazaire shipyard in September 2013, while the keel-laying ceremony was held in May 2014.

The Harmony is powered by three 18.9-megawatt Wärtsilä 16V46 16-cylinder main generator diesel engines and three Wärtsilä 12V46 12-cylinder engines producing 13.9 megawatts each. The propulsion power is provided by three electric Azipod azimuth thrusters and manoeuvring is assisted by four 5.5-megawatt Wärtsilä CT 3500 tunnel thrusters. The propulsion system results in 82 megawatts (109,964 horsepower) and enables the ship to sail at a standard speed of 23 knots.

Harmony of the Seas embarked on her inaugural seven-night Western Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona, Spain, in June 2016, and currently operates itineraries around the Western Caribbean from her homeport of Galveston, Texas in the US.

3. Royal Caribbean International – Symphony of the Seas : 228,081 gross tonnes

At launch in 2018, the Symphony of the Seas surpassed the Harmony as the biggest cruise ship, weighing in at 228,081 gross tonnes. Measuring 361m (1,185 feet), the Symphony has a maximum capacity of 6,680 passengers and 2,200 staff across 18 decks and was the testing ground for Royal Caribbean's new muster drill . With a total length of 361m (1,185 feet), She is roughly 30 metres (98 feet) longer than the largest military ships , the US Nimitz-class aircraft carriers and the USS Gerald R. Ford .

The keel-laying ceremony for the Symphony of the Seas was held in October 2015 at STX’s Saint-Nazaire shipyard in France, and the ship sailed out in June 2017. She is powered by six diesel sets, each composed of three Wärtsilä 16V46D engines and three Wärtsilä 12V46D engines, as well as three 20-megawatt electric Azipod main engines – resulting in 82 megawatts (109,964 horsepower) of propulsion power and a standard cruising speed of 22 knots.

The Symphony commenced her seven-day maiden voyage from Barcelona in April 2018, and since then has mainly operated itineraries around the Caribbean from her homeports of Miami, New York, and Fort Lauderdale.

2. Royal Caribbean International – Wonder of the Seas : 235,600 gross tonnes

Royal Caribbean's flagship, Wonder of the Seas is the fifth Oasis-class cruise ship built for the cruise company. Weighing in at 235,600 gross tonnes, the Wonder was the largest ship in the world when she was completed in January 2022. Measuring 362m (1,187 feet) in length, the 18-deck Wonder has a maximum capacity of 7,084 guests across its 2,867 staterooms, as well as housing 2,369 crew.

Built by Chantiers de l’Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire, Wonder is powered by two Wärtsilä 16V46D engines and four Wärtsilä 12V46D engines; and uses three 20-megawatt electric Azipod engines for propulsion, combining for a propulsion power of 82 megawatts (109,964 horsepower and a standard cruising speed of 22 knots.

The Wonder sailed her maiden voyage in March 2022 from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and has since served itineraries around the Caribbean from her homeports of Miami and Cape Canaveral.

1. Royal Caribbean International – Icon of the Seas : 248,663 gross tonnes

Weighing 248,663 gross tonnes and measuring 365 metres (1,1967 feet), the Icon of the Seas is the largest cruise ship in the world. Christened on 23 January 2024, the Icon has a maximum capacity of 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew across 20 decks. She is the lead ship of the new Icon-class, with a sister ship the Star of the Seas due to be delivered in 2025 and another ship planned for delivery in 2026.

Built by Meyer Turku in Finland, the Icon is the first ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet that can be powered by LNG. It uses three Wärtsilä 14V46DF and three Wärtsilä 12V46DF for its main generator engines, which provide 67.5 megawatts of energy to run the ship. She is propelled by three 20-megawatt Azipod thrusters as well as five 4.8-megawatt Wärtsilä WTT-45 CP bow thrusters, with a cruising speed of 22 knots.

After sailing her maiden voyage on 27 January 2024, the Icon now sails year-round itineraries of seven-night trips around the Eastern and Western Caribbean from her homeport of Miami, Florida.

"The top 10 biggest cruise ships in the world" was originally created and published by Ship Technology , a GlobalData owned brand.

The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.

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Father of florida cruise passenger, 20, who jumped off royal caribbean ship after argument believes his son is still alive: report.

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The father of the 20-year-old passenger who jumped off a Royal Caribbean cruise ship last Thursday in a reportedly drunken, impulsive leap believes his son is still alive nearly a week later.

Francel Parker, dad of missing Levion Parker, told the Daily Sun that he believes his child — whom he called a master diver — is still alive in the waters off the Bahamas.

“As soon as he went off the side, I prayed over him. I was confident the prayers I said over my son were heard. I stand on the word of God. I believe he is alive,” Francel Parker said to the local Florida paper Wednesday.

The US Coast Guard called off its search for the North Port man a day earlier.

The younger Parker allegedly jumped off the 18-story Liberty of the Seas around 4 a.m. in front of his helpless dad and younger brother after getting into an argument with his father, witnesses previously told The Post.

But Francel, who runs an AC business in Port Charlotte, told the local newspaper that he wasn’t arguing with Levion and that his son wasn’t trying to take his own life.

He said Levion is a skilled diver who works on a commercial fishing boat, and he is demanding to know how his underage son was given alcohol on the four-day cruise to Cuba and the Bahamas’ Grand Inagua Island.

“We don’t drink,” Francel said. “I’d like to know how my son was served so much alcohol.”

Another passenger onboard the cruise who witnessed Levion’s heart-stopping jump said Francel was “fussing at him for being drunk.”

Bryan Sims told The Post that he was hanging out with Levion and his 18-year-old brother, Seth, in the hotel tub of the ship in the early hours of April 4 before they went their separate ways.

After Sims had used the restroom and dried off, he bumped into the brothers and their father near the elevators.

“As we were walking from the hot tub back to the elevators, his dad and brother were walking towards us. His dad was fussing at him for being drunk, I guess,” Sims said of the moment before Parker jumped.  

“When we got to them, he said to his dad, ‘I’ll fix this right now.’ And he jumped out the window in front of us all,” Sims said, calling what he witnessed “surreal.”

Another cruise guest described the frantic chaos that followed.

“There was a lot of yelling, and the crew was alerted immediately,” Deborah Morrison told The Post.

“His family was horrified. Just beside themselves. I can’t even begin to imagine what they’re going through.”

Francel told the Daily Sun that he threw six life rings off the ship in hopes of saving his son before the massive vessel was able to come to a stop about 20 minutes later.

Royal Caribbean said it “immediately” launched search boats to look for the 20-year-old and alerted the Coast Guard, which later took over the search.

At least 406 people on major cruise lines and ferries have gone overboard between 2000 and 2024, according to data collected by retired professor and cruise industry researcher Ross Klein.

Death rates among overboard passengers and crew members vary significantly among cruise lines, but even the safest cruise companies were only able to rescue about 40% of people who fall or jump off the ship, Klein told the Washington Post in July.

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Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York and additional reporting by Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gregorio and Deepa Babington

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The unspoken rules about how to behave on a superyacht

• The superyachting world is very small, with only 5,800 yachts longer than 30 meters at sea.
• That insularity has bred a specific etiquette, which is often hard for outsiders to know about.
• These are the de facto rules of the most expensive billionaire toys, superyachts .

For the owners of superyachts , privacy is often the most valuable thing money can buy. It's one reason centimillionaires and billionaires pay eight or nine figures for a palace at sea, far from the prying eyes of land dwellers.

Even the most gossipy crew members should stay tight-lipped about the name of a former owner or charter guest, and many brokers shy away from answering benign questions.

That means that, aside from basic safety guidelines, most of the rules of superyachting are unwritten. The very few who need to know them — there are only about 5,800 yachts longer than 30 meters at sea, according to SuperYacht Times — already know them.

But if you do happen to be a lucky guest at a party on a billionaire's $500 million ship or find yourself included in a $1 million-a-week vacation, there are a few things you need to know.

After four days of touring superyachts that sell for as much as $75 million and chatting with the people who buy, sell, and work on them at the Palm Beach International Boat Show , Business Insider gleaned a few key edicts. Given the discreet nature of the industry, almost all the people we spoke with requested anonymity to protect their working relationships, but here's what they had to say.

Take off your shoes

While it's a basic rule for anyone in boating, it may come as a surprise to an outsider that no matter how rich you are or how expensive your heels are, in the vast majority of cases, you can't wear shoes on board.

It's partly for safety — you don't want anyone slipping on a wet deck — but partly to keep the yacht clean. So expect to see barefoot billionaires, and if you forgot to get a pedicure, bring a set of special boat shoes.

Don't make any assumptions about money — but know the signs

In the superyacht world, it's safe to assume almost everyone you meet is very, very rich, and many brokers and builders say you can't judge a book by its cover when it comes to prospective clients.

"It has nothing to do with how they're dressed," one broker told BI. "It's the biggest mistake you can make because a complete slobby-looking guy or couple could be a multibillionaire."

There are, however, a few clues. Watches are one; new footwear is another.

"Rich people always have new shoes," a superyacht expert said. But because of the shoe rule mentioned above, this tip probably applies only when they're on land.

Book your massage early

Wellness areas, including spa rooms with a massage bed or two and a professional-grade facial machine, are becoming must-haves on superyachts . Most have a customized spa menu and a crew member who doubles as a trained masseuse or beautician — and they're usually in high demand.

One captain said he'd implemented a booking system to ensure people weren't fighting for the same spots. A broker said sometimes masseuses would be so busy they wouldn't leave the small spa cabin for hours on end.

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So if you want to make the most of your relaxing time on board, reserve your pampering slot as soon as you get your welcome cocktail.

Pirates are more real than you'd think, and many superyachts have hidden safe rooms

While you might dress up as a fake pirate for an onboard theme party, there are very real ones — and other dangers — on the high seas.

In certain areas, including parts of the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, pirates are a cause of concern . In the Red Sea, owners are concerned about the Houthis .

Superyachts can come equipped with sonic weaponry, lockdown systems, and anti-drone protection. Builders are even designing safe rooms — which are apparently just as plush as the rest of the ship.

The longer the boat, the closer to $1 billion

While you can't judge a buyer based on appearances, you can judge them on the length of their boat.

One rule of thumb: If someone has a brand-new 50-meter vessel, chances are they have $1 billion to their name. If it's over 100 meters, expect the owner to have at least $2 billion. And for a boat bigger than that — like Jeff Bezos' 127-meter megayacht Koru — it takes many, many billions.

Money can't buy you everything

The world's biggest, most expensive yachts are custom-built by shipyards that produce only a handful of boats a year.

But no matter how many tens of millions of dollars clients are spending, there are things to which builders will refuse to say yes.

"In the end, the boat has our name," an executive from one of the world's biggest shipyards told BI.

They recalled a client who requested a yellow hull to match his Lamborghini . The shipyard declined, steering the client in another direction.

"If I don't like it, I don't build it. I finalize two or three contracts a year," another builder said. "If somebody can say your vessel is ugly, my reputation is bad."

Yacht crews are trained to make the impossible possible. A guest requests fresh caviar flown into the middle of the Caribbean? No problem. Fresh flowers every day while at sea? It'll cost you, but it can be done.

But they can't time travel, and captains and crew members say the thing that causes the most friction is when a client or owner wants to go from point A to point B — right now.

"The hardest request is when they want the boat in a place — yesterday," one captain said.

The best person to know? A friend with a superyacht

Superyachts are expensive to build and expensive to maintain . According to the industry standard, owning a superyacht will cost 10% of its new-build price annually. For a $100 million yacht, that's at least $10 million yearly going to crew, regular maintenance, insurance, fuel, and dockage.

Chartering, too, is costly . Beyond the list price, which can be hundreds of thousands a week, guests must pay for provisions, which are pegged at 35% of the charter fee, and are expected to tip between 10% and 20%.

So the most important unspoken rule of superyachting is actually that the only thing better than owning a superyacht is knowing someone else who does — and invites you along, of course.

Watch: Why it costs $1 million a day to run one of the world's biggest cruise ships

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Heavy traffic congestion alert as cruise ships arrive in Cape Town

City of cape town officials warn commuters to expect delays.

The City of Cape Town has warned there will be heavy traffic congestion over the next three days due to incoming cruise ships, including one of the world’s largest ocean liners.

“While traffic congestion is a headache at the best of times, it is important to keep in mind that events such as these are a sign of economic prosperity that ultimately enhance quality of life for all our residents,” the city said.

“We are going to try to manage the traffic congestion, but if you are heading into town ... please choose your route wisely to avoid being stuck in traffic,” cautioned safety and security MMC JP Smith.

“A lot of passengers will be boarding. It is also bringing a lot of tourists. But what we need the most, it also brings a lot of jobs,” he added.

The Queen Victoria is due to dock on Thursday morning and depart on Friday evening. Its sister ship the Queen Mary 2 is due on Friday morning and departs on Saturday evening. The scheduled times are dependent on the weather.

Traffic officials plan to use CCTV cameras “to pinpoint the location and extent of vehicle queues throughout the day and activate appropriate signal timing plans to best manage the queues,” said the city’s head of urban mobility Rob Quintas.

Cruise liner collides with cargo carrier in Cape Town harbour

“Operators will be in constant contact with Cape Town traffic services and operations personnel at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. Where appropriate, variable message signs of the Cape Town freeway management system will be used to alert motorists to areas of congestion on roadways.”

South African ports have seen a welcome increase in visiting ships due partly to security problems in the Red Sea that have forced some shipping companies to divert vessels around the Cape, rather than risk the shorter route through the Suez Canal.

The increase in marine traffic coincides with growth in the cruise sector, with 67 cruise ships counted in Cape Town so far this summer season — up from the average of 35-40 ships counted between 2016 and 2019.

“This is a sector of tourism that is deeply valuable for us, with research by Wesgro (travel and investment promotion agency) revealing that cruise tourism injected R1.2bn into the Western Cape economy between November 2022 and May 2023,” said the city’s head of economic growth James Vos.

“In addition, for every 30 arriving cruise passengers, the Western Cape cruise industry created one full-time job. This is worth bearing in mind when considering the thousands of passengers on board the Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria. The city will continue working closely with its partners to make Cape Town stand out on the global cruise travel map.”

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