To share everything with people at home, Martucci began recording updates for her four adult children. Children were encouraged to post the videos online. Almost overnight, a star was born.
Unbeknownst to Mr. Martucci, his insatiable interest in cruising had grown ever since his ship left the port of Miami. Who could survive a nine-month cruise? Who could afford to pay prices starting at $61,000?On the Internet, people wanted as much information as possible.
Dozens of TikTok accounts have sprung up to document everything about Serenade of the Seas. Some are run by just a few of his more than 600 travelers who stay on the ship for the entire 274-night itinerary. Others are track and field spectators. A culmination of content with hashtags like #ultimateworldcruise, #worldcruise, and #9monthcruise racked up hundreds of millions of views. Its cumulative effect rivals his reality TV show, complete with “cast members,” drama, and intrigue.
Unlike traditional reality shows, with their meddling producers and forced cliffhangers, The Nine Month Cruise’s content comes from your average Joe Martucci. That’s what makes #CruiseTok so appealing.
“If you’ve never been on a cruise before, or don’t even like the idea of cruising, you’re probably thinking, ‘This “People must be crazy,” he said. Days after her departure, she was dubbed “Ship Happens” on her TikTok account. “For example, we want to know more.”
While the internet loves the profane content shared by Martucci and others, it’s also hungry for reality TV infighting.
“Everyone likes to think there’s a conflict,” Fletcher said. “For the first few posts, I thought, ‘Oh my God, if I’m traveling in a small cabin with my family, after a week I’m going to want to throw them overboard.’ ”
Such a plot twist has not actually appeared yet. To understand the appeal of TikTok’s popular cruise, you have to meet the “cast.”
Joe Martucci: @SpendingOurKidsMoney
Martucci’s family asked him to post a summary online for his friends to see. He started a TikTok account under the handle “spendingourkidsmoney” because he often jokes that the cost of their cruises might have been their inheritance. On December 18th, he released his first public check-in. It has now been viewed over 1 million times.
“People say, ‘Joe, you’ve got 76,000 followers in three weeks, that’s amazing,'” Martucci said. “And I sat there thinking, ‘So how many should I have?'”
Serenade of the Seas’ most wholesome account, Martuccis is a great antidote to the increasingly chaotic nature of many viral videos. There are no real edits or second takes, just “mom and dad on a cruise” checking in.
“If I mess up, I’ll leave it at that,” Martucci said. “I have mild dyslexia, especially when it comes to pronouncing words…Audrey always corrects me, but we leave it at that.”
Follow this to feel like you have your parents on the Ultimate World Cruise.
Angie Linderman: @angelinderman
Passenger Angie Linderman became a star after sharing her story about how she ended up on the ship in an early Q&A.
After her parents died from cancer, Linderman realized she was also at high risk for breast and ovarian cancer. She underwent a prophylactic double mastectomy; intend to do something I plan to have both ovaries removed in the near future. “Retirement is never a thought for me,” she shared on TikTok. “Her motto is to do the best she can.”
Linderman used up his inheritance to book the Ultimate World Cruise with his brother’s family and continues to work remotely along the way.
“She will inspire many people diagnosed with cancer and cancer survivors to go out and just live their lives as if each day might be their last,” Fletcher said. Ta.
Adita (last name unknown) has captured the attention of fans with her saucy and slightly quirky videos that suggest she and her husband may be swingers. The main reason for the rumors is her obsession with pineapples. When you turn the fruit upside down, It is known in the swinger community to be a signal that you are in the game. Although many of her posts have given a nod to this theory, Adita (perhaps unconvincingly) denies the claim.
“She says no, she just likes pineapples,” Fletcher said. “But that’s a huge amount of pineapple.”
Adita also loves cleaning and sharing tidbits about ship life, such as how to stay organized on board.
Daniele Salvatore Albisi: @singing.sailor
For a behind-the-scenes look at working on cruises, check out Daniele Salvatore Albisi from @singing.sailor. Urvisi, a native of Essex, England, came aboard the ship as a performer, offering crew cabin tours, a thorough travelogue of his time in port, and informative interviews like when he taps the captain to find the best aspects of the ship. We are gathering fans with our Q&A. A boat for whale watching.
“He’s a very, very talented guy,” Fletcher said. “His content is great…He’s really likeable and very funny.”
Anthony McWilliams: @antonyantoine1021
Anthony McWilliams was working in public health at Emory University, a job he loves, when tragedy struck. “I lost my husband to cancer in 2018,” McWilliams, who goes by Anthony Antoine on social media, told The Washington Post. “It was literally eight months and one day from her diagnosis to her passing.”
Her late husband left him with the desire to travel the world. “He said traveling would be my saving grace,” McWilliams said. So he retired that year and went on a journey.
Today, McWilliams is one of the ship’s most beloved passengers, both to fellow cruisers and online fans. Due to an error in Brazil’s cruise regulations, they had to fend for themselves on land for a week before being allowed to return home. “Everyone was rooting for me to come back,” he said.
He mostly posts fun port summaries and musings. Like when he said he gained 10 pounds in the five days he was on the ship. He constantly receives messages that his travels as a solo black traveler are inspiring.
“That’s my number one rule of traveling: don’t wait for others. If you wait for others, you’ll never get anywhere.”
Shannon Marie Lake: @swankalamode; Lake Brandy: @ambrandeelake
Could you share a room with your sister for nine months? That’s the social experiment Shannon Marie and Brandi Lake are conducting in real time for their fans. So far, “it’s going well,” Shannon Murray told The Washington Post.
“We travel a lot together, so we know each other’s hotel style. We’re like, ‘Okay, we’re going to take longer showers,'” Lake said.
When Brandi isn’t spending time with her parents, who are also on the boat, she stays in touch with viewers through “Sea Day Chat.” Because she and her sister are one of the few guests of color on the ship, she posted about her experience of being mistaken for a staff member on a regular basis, making headlines during the first few weeks of the cruise. “She was like, ‘Oh my god,’ is she going to be like this for the next nine months?” Fletcher said. “It seems to have calmed down now, but it definitely leaves a bit of an aftertaste in your mouth.”
Shannon Marie has a penchant for sharing street art from her overland travels. Her sisters answer lots of public questions and dance around the ship. If you can’t get enough of their videos, you can also listen to their podcasts.
Brooklyn Schwetsche: @BrooklynSchwegger; Madison Schwetsche: @madisonschwetje
go on a trip with your parents, Brooklyn and Madison Schwetsche take their role as the eyes and ears of the ship seriously, posting tons of content to an ever-growing audience. They share low-key beach day vlogs featuring highlights like bad weather and laundry jobs, as well as what it’s really like to visit the wonders of the world.
One of their most popular posts was Madison’s extensive tour of the ship in the wee hours of the night, giving us an eerie and fascinating look at the gigantic ship, which is almost completely empty. .
“They know how to create engaging posts,” Fletcher said. “They’re good at highlighting what people want to see.”
Little mouse brain: @little_rat_brain
Another bizarre Gen Z comedy is “Little Rat Brain,” whose real name is kept secret. Her other “cast members” also refer to her as such in videos and interviews.
“We love ‘Little Rat Brain,'” Martucci said.
Traveling with his mother, Little Rat Brain shares some of the most silly stories compiled by experts on life on a ship, from experiencing a “Drake Shake” (a type of turbulence that accompanies crossing the Drake Passage) to changing itineraries. We share the latest information.
Amike Oosthuizen: @amike_oosthuizen
Amike Oosthuizen, an experienced social media user, posts satisfying daily videos that draw you into his world. A South African took us on a cruise with her parents and husband since We talked about gym sessions on sea days, what food is like onboard, and how she learned how to get a gel manicure ahead of a cruise to save money.
Her mother, Lenske Ramarding, previously appeared as a contestant on the reality show The Real Housewives of Pretoria, but Oosthuizen told the Washington Post that people don’t know much about her daily life. He said he is most attracted to experiences.
She knows people are waiting for drama to break out, but unfortunately (for them, not her), “everyone I met on board was very nice and everyone was with their loved ones.” We’re here together, we’re going on vacation, we’re going to travel the world,” she said. “To be honest, I don’t think those expectations will come true.”