What it's really like to cruise around the world for 124 days: 'Home away from home'

USA Today

18-05-2025

What it's really like to cruise around the world for 124 days: 'Home away from home'
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Real ID explained: what it is, why it matters, and how to get yours
Real ID requirements: everything you need to know about getting compliant for travel and ID.
Repeat passengers make up half of the Grand World Voyage clientele, drawn to the ever-changing itineraries and onboard community.
While some passengers experience homesickness or challenges adjusting to smaller living quarters, many appreciate the convenience and stress-free lifestyle.
For most travelers, a world cruise is a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Not for James and Diane Brill. The veteran cruisers just completed their seventh sailing around the globe – more than two cumulative years living at sea, around 140 countries visited and no plans to slow down.
Retirees based in Florida, the Brills, both 75, love the cruising lifestyle and especially long voyages. This was the couple's fifth time on Holland America Line's Grand World Voyage, and they're already planning to join the 2026 sailing for 133 days. "We wouldn't keep coming back if we didn't like it so much," James Brill said. Before that, they sailed around the world twice with Princess Cruises.
The line's Zuiderdam ship was their home for the past four months for its 2025 Grand World Voyage. In 124 days, the 1,964-passenger vessel traveled to 49 ports of call in 34 countries across six continents. They visited Sri Lanka, Rapa Nui and the Great Barrier Reef, to name a few.
Cruise cabin math: When booking two rooms makes more sense than one
"We love to see in the world, we love to see the different cultures, we love the crew and the ports of call to get off," said Brill about why they keep returning to the Grand World Voyage. "Nobody is pestering me – no doctor's appointments, no meetings." It's all about seeing the world.
For these passengers, Holland America Line's Grand World Voyages seamlessly combine their love of travel with the ease and comforts that come with cruising. For the several months at sea, passengers get to forgo responsibilities like laundry, cooking, cleaning and coordinating logistics, yet wake up in a new destination, including some that are hard to reach on your own.
There's a reason why repeat passengers make up half of Grand World Voyages.
Here's what it's like to sail on a Grand World Voyage with Holland America.
Seeing the world, made easy
Living out at sea for a third of the year, life aboard the Grand World Voyages varies from your long weekend sailing down to the Caribbean. From all the bucket list destinations to the relationships that are built and the slew of activities to keep guests engaged onboard, this is not your average cruise.
Each year, the itinerary of the globe-spanning sailing looks different – one of the reasons travelers keep coming back.
At the end of each Grand World Voyage, guests are invited to complete a survey to share feedback on future destinations they'd like to visit, which the cruise line works to incorporate into the next one. The 2027 Grand World Voyage will return to the classic circumnavigation route going west to Australia, through Southeast Asia, below South Africa and up the Atlantic.
Mari Subbiah and Viji Mari, a couple from Houston, joined their first World Grand Voyage in 2023 and attended a segment of 2025's. Since that first trip, the couple has been cruising nearly nonstop for 30 months after Mari quit his fast-paced tech job in Oct. 2022 – the two set out to travel as much as possible while still young.
Such extensive travel and visiting destinations across Asia and Africa, where Mari, 51, had never been before, has given him a deeper sense of gratitude along with a more open mind. "Anybody who has an opportunity should do it," said Mari. "No matter what you think, it will change your perspective meeting so many people." From time to time, Mari does get homesick after cruising for long periods of time.
For Subbiah, 41, who said she can't sit still in one place for long, the Grand World Voyages makes it easy to stay on the move. "The cruise is the perfect place for me, to know every day is a different port in a different country with different people," she said.
For her, cruising is the best method to see the world. "Packing, unpacking, moving and then finding or researching where to go eat food – there is no way to cover 130 countries well by ourselves," she said.
"It's logistically impossible," Mari added. Still, there are some comforts to give up for life on the ship. Living in small quarters for a prolonged period of time has been a "mental" adjustment for Mari, compared to the space of his home in Texas.
Building a life at sea
Living on a ship for a prolonged period might sound boring to some, but the Grand World Voyages features an exhaustive list of experiences to keep passengers occupied. "Some sea days are busier than port days," Subbiah said.
Throughout the day, even when the ship is in a port of call, activities are taking place all over the vessel and there's a myriad of themed parties, like a masquerade ball. Diane Brill joined the mahjong group, but there's also line dancing, pickleball, Hebrew classes and more to choose from. Guests have even made suggestions based on their interests that have come to fruition, such as a Zumba dancing group.
These opportunities keep passengers engaged and productive on such a long trip, but also can spark social connections. Unlike a shorter cruise, when people are just focused on making the most of their vacation, the Grand Voyage guests are seeking more of a community. "Here, they want to engage and share their life and experiences," said Mari.
Story continues below.
Cruisers and crew also naturally foster a tight-knit community, to the point where they add each other on Facebook and build authentic friendships. In fact, that's how Mari and Subbiah were convinced to join the Grand World Voyage in the first place.
They had met and grew close to Mila Mawikere Castellon, the cruise line's assistant hotel general manager on a circumnavigation of Australia, who told them she was working the extended sailing. "I said, okay, Mila is there, let's do it," said Mari.
To deepen guests' connection to each destination, Holland hosts culturally immersive events – such as a professor lecturing on the history of Pompeii while in Naples, or a Polynesian cultural ambassador coming aboard during voyages through Oceania. Sail-away parties are often held when departing destinations, like a variety of personal pizzas being served while leaving Naples, Italy. In Barcelona, the Zuiderdam met with the Volendam, which was doing the Grand Voyage: Pole to Pole, and both ships threw a party.
The cruise line also invites culinary ambassadors for relevant segments of the Grand World Voyage. Seattle-based chef with Italian roots Ethan Stowell boarded the Zuiderdam for Naples, Rome and Sardinia, hosting a pasta cooking demonstration and curated course menu in the specialty restaurant.
Unlike indulging for a week on regular vacations, the cruise's generous food options – though often delicious – can be a bit overwhelming for some passengers after a few months. A few choose to cut out bread, while others miss the ability to choose specific ingredients, such as organic produce.
A home away from home
It's hard for most passengers to complain about the conveniences of living on a cruise ship. "The cruise life is tension-free, worry-free, I don't need to worry about what to cook or clean my house," said Subbiah. "When we are going out and come back, my room is ready, bed is ready, bathroom is ready. It's a completely different life (from) the outside world."
Even though repeat passengers often have their own homes, the Grand World Voyages call to them. Some call it their home away from home, with the crew as their second family.
Many end up creating their daily routine. They discover their go-to spots around the ship, like which nook they like to read at or bar to work remotely from. Mari and Subbiah have their favorite table in the dining room, where they often go to hang out, people watch and chat with the staff or other guests – even if they're not hungry. It helps them relax, but is also a way to get some breathing space from their stateroom.
At the end of the day, being able to travel the world and connect with those from other cultures – and each other – is worth it.
For the Brills, home is wherever the two of them are, and the long cruise fosters quality time with one another. "We spend a lot of time together, that's what it's all about for me," said Brill. "And what's around the corner."