PHOENIX — The viral nine-month-long cruise around the world that began last December has ended, bringing a Valley woman, who was one of more than 600 passengers aboard, back home after traveling to more than 150 places.
Leslie Nilsen and her longtime partner, Roy, booked their cabin in 2021 the moment tickets opened for Royal Carribean’s “Ultimate World Cruise” aboard the Serenade of the Seas.
“Our maximum cruise was seven days before I signed up for 274 days, so this was a huge leap of faith,” Nilsen said. “We’ve talked about seeing the world for years and years and years and like, what better way?”
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With two years to plan to be gone for nine months, Nilsen began making a list of every single payment she made, every person she spoke with, and everything she did in 2022 to plan for what she wouldn’t be in Arizona for in 2024.
The ship departed from Miami on December 10, 2023, and circumnavigated the entire globe, docking last week in Miami.
"I'm still kind of processing it all, because this is a life-changing experience on so many levels. We met local people. We were immersed in cultures that we're not familiar with at all. We met people on board that are all over the world, and we experienced things that you know, very few people will ever experience in their lifetimes," Nilsen said.
The trip took them to more than 150 destinations from the Great Barrier Reef to the Great Wall of China, even up to Antarctica.
“Our captain is a 30-year captain for the Serenade of the Seas and he hadn’t been to a lot of those areas so he was, you know, just crawling us all around in Antarctica and through the Chilean Fjords,” Nilsen said. “And that - it's just hard to get your head around - like, this exists!”
Throughout the nine months, Nilsen documented the trip on social media.
There were about 100 “sea days” aboard with the same 600+ world cruisers, Nilsen said.
“I was worried that I was going to have to hide from people, and in the end, I brought a whole bunch of people back as part of my family,” Nilsen said.
The couple lived out of their 179 square-foot cabin with a balcony, Nilsen said. It became their home. Videos from their time on board show pictures of their dogs on the walls.
The couple’s cabin with a balcony started at $75,000 a person, Nilsen said, including several amenities like laundry service, and WiFi.
“I'm a minimalist at heart, but I am crystal clear on the things that we think we need, we definitely do not need, right? We lived in 179 square feet. We had everything that we needed. And we are so rich, right, and so full from all of these experiences, and we don't need all of this stuff,” Nilsen said.
In the middle of the trip, Nilsen said the ship was unable to pass through the Suez Canal because of unrest in the Middle East, and the world cruisers voted to go around Africa instead. Nilsen and her partner ended up spending 40 days off the ship to see Egypt, Italy and stop in Paris to see the Olympics.
Nilsen said she’ll be processing the trip likely through 2025, with plans to go back to some places they’ve visited and plans to visit others more inland.
“If you have an opportunity to go anywhere, anytime, with anyone, you should absolutely go. The world is an incredible place,” Nilsen said.
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