Royal Caribbean's world cruise to visit 150 destinations in nine months

The Serenade of the Seas is listed to start sailing from Miami in December 2023 to sail 274 nights before coming back to Florida in September 2024.

Tuesday, 26th October 2021

Royal Caribbean's world cruise to visit 150 destinations in nine months

A year ago, it would have been unimaginable to think about a world cruise due to the effects of COVID-19 and restrictions imposed by various countries. As the world opens to tourism, Royal Caribbean announced a nine-month-long journey that will voyage across 150 different countries and territories. The Serenade of the Seas is listed to start sailing from Miami in December 2023 to sail 274 nights before coming back to Florida in September 2024. Royal Caribbean International President Michael Bayley declared in a statement that the journey - called "The Ultimate World Cruise" - is created to help travel-hungry cruisers "make up for a lost time." Serenade of the Seas has been a stalwart of the Royal Caribbean Cruise fleet since 2003. The 96-foot-long ship has 13 decks and can accommodate up to 2,476 guests. Upon leaving Miami on the World Cruise in late 2023, the ship is scheduled to travel around the Caribbean before planned stops in Central and South America, including voyages to the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro and Argentina Iguazu Falls. Also on the globe are landmarks including the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal and the Pyramids of Giza. Travellers can book the full nine months experience or plan a specific piece of the trip and just travel to America and Antarctica, for example. Royal Caribbean stated that the price range full trip is around $ 66,000 and $ 112,000 per person. The pricing includes taxes and other associated fees. World cruises were a staple of the pre-pandemic cruise scene but usually increased to 150 days or so. Viking Cruises planned a 245-day voyage from August 2019 to May 2020 aboard Viking Sun, but that voyage was cut short when Covid-19 closed the cruise industry in spring 2020. Following the pandemic, some cruisers around the world decided to continue their months-long voyages - just without stopping passengers - due to closed ports and growing concerns around the Covid. Cruising has since resumed in many markets, with cruise companies happy to prove that a holiday at sea is a safe and viable tourist option. It is still more than two years until the Serenade of the Seas goes on its globe-spanning journey, but travellers can now reserve their cabins.