How Long is Too Long for a Cruise? | Travel Research Online

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How Long is Too Long for a Cruise?

Susan Schaefer

What is your definition of a world cruise?  When you research world cruise options, you’ll typically find something ranging between 106 and 180 days in length.  The longest world cruise on record to date is Oceania’s 180 day world cruise departing in January 2017.  My definition of a world cruise is one continuous itinerary, all onboard one ship, with an itinerary that circumvents the globe.  Note that I don’t include how many ports, countries, or continents that they have to include in the itinerary in order to qualify.

Now Mundy Cruising is launching a 357 day adventure that they are touting as the world’s longest cruise. I’m calling it a cheat.

Oceania’s cruise is 180 days long, without any breaks, and is only on one ship.  What Mundy Cruising is touting as the world’s longest cruise at 357 days is more like a series of different cruises that have been strung together in some fashion.  They’ve even built in time where you can return home to do laundry, check on the pets, cull through the mail that has stacked up, and then go onto the next cruise segment.

Granted the idea is a cool one, but I won’t refer to it as a world cruise, or as the world’s longest world cruise.  It does hit all seven continents, and just might check off every possible bucket list destination out there.  But this mega-adventure takes place on seven different ships: Ponant Cruises’ Le Soleil, Holland America’s ms Maasdam, Crystal Cruises’ Crystal Serenity, Oceania’s Nautica, Regent’s Seven Seas Mariner, Silversea’s Silver Spirit, and Seabourn’s Seabourn Sojourn.  With breaks built in between some of these segments, these are just seven cruises sewn together into a larger itinerary.

Who would this adventure be for?  First, it would a client that can afford it.  Of course this is not going to be cheap, no matter how you slice it.  Second, it would have to be a client that is retired or independently wealthy.  Taking 357 days off work isn’t an option for most folks, not even travel agents who think they’d work while away.  Third, someone with a long bucket list they’d like checked off within a one year time frame.  Fourth, and I’d surmise, someone with a strong constitution that won’t be easily affected by motion sickness; so, maybe retired Navy.  After cruising for nearly a year, you’d definitely earn your sea legs.  Although re-acclimatizing to living on land could be a challenge.

I think one true benefit of what Mundy Cruising is proposing is that you aren’t stuck on one (small) ship with the same people for the whole length of your 357 day adventure.  The seven ships being used in this experiment range from 264 berths up to 1,258 berths.  Yes, anyone else booking this 357 behemoth trip will keep crossing paths with you, but you’ll have a mix of strangers popping in and out as you go.  You won’t be seeing the same people, every day for 357 days.


Susan Schaefer is the owner of Ships ‘N’ Trips Travel located in Tennessee, and specializes in leisure travel with a focus on group travel and charity fundraisers. Through their division Kick Butt Vacations, she focuses on travel for 18 to 23-year-olds. Susan can be reached by email at susan@shipsntripstravel.com or by phone at (888) 221-1209.

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