After 9 months at sea touring the world from Australia to Antarctica, passengers on the Ultimate World Cruise have lastly reached their dwelling port.
Travelers are actually revealing what 274 days on a ship was like and the way they made life modifications to organize for the “trip of a lifetime” that went viral on TikTok with tens of millions of views beneath the hashtag #RoyalCaribbeanUltimateWorldCruise.
Jennifer Hunnicutt, PhD, a medical researcher from Las Vegas, was one of many a whole bunch of passengers aboard the Royal Caribbean World Cruise and not too long ago returned to regular life again within the U.S.
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Hunnicutt mentioned she and her husband booked the cruise after seeing an announcement of the journey in 2021.
“This is 2021, so we’re coming out of the pandemic or at least still in the pandemic, and we had a lot of pent-up energy,” Hunnicutt advised Fox News Digital.
Jennifer Hunnicutt and 600-plus passengers on the Ultimate World Cruise have lastly made it again to land after spending 9 months at sea. (Jennifer Hunnicutt)
“We had wished to journey so unhealthy, and we wished to see the world [and] have been like, ‘Maybe we just do this.’”
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Hunnicutt mentioned she had many questions earlier than packing up and leaving, from work life to web accessibility. She was completely happy to study that web use was included in the price.
Hunnicutt and her husband continued to work on the ship and needed to navigate the completely different time zones whereas sustaining a distant job. (Jennifer Hunnicutt)
Leading as much as the journey, Hunnicutt and her husband made preparations to nonetheless be employed whereas having fun with their time on the water.
They transitioned to proudly owning their very own enterprise, which meant the workload was “super flexible” and so they obtained to resolve “how much or how little work” they might take on, Hunnicutt mentioned.
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One factor Hunnicutt didn’t anticipate main as much as her time on the ship was the fixed shifting of time zones, she mentioned.
Hunnicutt mentioned she and her husband went on a mini cruise earlier than the 274-day journey as a “test run” to see what life may be like on a ship. (Jennifer Hunnicutt)
“It’s part of being remote and owning your own business and traveling, but it was challenging,” Hunnicutt added.
Hunnicutt mentioned she and her husband went on a “world cruise test run” the place they booked an identical cabin on one other boat to organize for the longer journey.
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Hunnicutt’s favourite a part of the journey, and one of many essential causes she determined to go on the journey, was experiencing Antarctica. (Jennifer Hunnicutt)
“We went to the gymnasium. I particularly scheduled work conferences throughout that time to see if it was attainable to take work calls, and it was on that little check run that we have been like, ‘All right, we got this.’ We are so stoked to be doing this for 9 months,” she mentioned.
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Hunnicutt mentioned that because the journey grew nearer, she considered what it could be prefer to be surrounded by strangers virtually 24/7.
“We had the most incredible experiences and learned so much, and it was definitely all worth it.”
“I just had a lot of social anxiety about being around all these people who are much older than us, maybe different parts of life than us … and, after the fact, I can say that was not a concern,” she added.
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“We met the most amazing people, people who will be lifelong friends … I wasn’t expecting that.”
Hunnicutt mentioned the spotlight of the voyage was seeing Antarctica, however there have been eight days of touring in tough waters via the Drake Passage earlier than the ship lastly made it to the continent.
The Ultimate World Cruise passengers stopped at seven continents, 65 nations and world wonders over the course of 274 days. (Amike Oosthuizen)
The cruise’s itinerary was damaged up into 4 geographic “segments” for a complete of 17 distinctive sailings, and friends additionally had the chance to individually choose and select sure locations versus touring the total 9 months. Starting costs for the expertise vary between $60,000 and $117,000 per individual, not together with excursions, in keeping with the Royal Caribbean web site, FOX Business reported.
Amike Oosthuizen, 26, from South Africa, additionally booked the cruise and went together with her dad and mom and her husband.
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“It was definitely the trip of a lifetime. It was really a dream come true,” Oosthuizen advised Fox News Digital.
Amike Oosthuizen (second to the fitting) was amazed by all of the issues she discovered concerning the world after 274 days on the Ultimate World Cruise. (Amike Oosthuizen)
“I saw so many places and learned from so many cultures and people from across the world, and it really broadened my perspective [on] the world. I feel really educated, in a sense, because there’s so much stuff I didn’t know. And I’m like, ‘Wow, there’s so much out there.'”
Oosthuizen mentioned she and her husband sought out jobs three years earlier than the cruise that would permit them to work remotely through the cruise.
She mentioned she additionally discovered mates to remain in her dwelling and maintain her canines.
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“It was a weird thing to think you’re going to pack up your life and just go on this world cruise. And then life is basically going to stop for nine months while you’re on the cruise. But, I mean, life goes on. We kept on working. Everything worked out.”
Oosthuizen and her husband labored remotely on the ship after particularly discovering a job three years forward of the cruise that allowed them to nonetheless work exterior of South Africa. (Amike Oosthuizen)
Oosthuizen mentioned the expertise allowed her to study extra about herself and the world.
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Not all the pieces went in keeping with plan, Oosthuizen mentioned, as there have been some tough seas. She additionally mentioned packing her belongings for a nine-month journey and holding climate modifications in thoughts was difficult.
More than 600 passengers took half within the Ultimate World Cruise throughout the world, and now they’re wanting again at what it was like spending 9 months on the boat. (Jennifer Hunnicutt; Amike Oosthuizen)
“A lot of people would come up to me and, like, say, ‘How can you do that? Like, it’s nine months of your life.’ And now, looking back, the nine months went so quick,” Oosthuizen mentioned.
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“I feel like this [was an] experience money really can’t buy … It was definitely all worth it,” she added.
Fox News Digital reached out to Royal Caribbean for remark.
Fox News Digital’s Kristen Altus contributed to this report.
