Travelers are reporting back from Royal Caribbean’s 9-month cruise — with at least one Black passenger recounting micro-aggressions onboard.
The world of travel continually offers surprises, and the recent surge in popularity of global cruises is causing quite a stir on social media. Specifically,
While it’s understood that cruise operators can’t control every interaction among passengers, including potential microaggressions or overtly racist behaviors toward Black travelers who’ve paid the same $53,999 to $117,599 fee per person — depending on the stateroom booked— as their white counterparts, there’s a reasonable expectation of awareness and sensitivity among the crew. Ideally, crew members should be educated and trained both before and during such voyages — and certain behaviors should be unequivocally unacceptable.
Even under normal circumstances, repeated experiences of racial bias can profoundly affect those targeted, leading to feelings of exclusion, invalidation, and other psychological distress. Given that this is a nine-month-long cruise, individuals might find it challenging, if not near impossible, to distance themselves from such situations, given limited spaces to escape onboard, rightly intensifying concerns about what should be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Obviously, the issues aren’t exclusive to ship life. “[Along] with those interactions comes a new set of excuses that are already in Lake’s comments but are also across multiple videos on this app,” points out TikTok user @culturework. “For the pictures, it’s just like, ‘Oh, they were just admiring your beauty or loved your outfit.’ For the cruise, it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s just day 3, wait until they get to know you, you have 9 months.’ No! How about that girl gets to enjoy her trip without having to build anti-racist defective strategies as part of it.”
Is that too much to ask?
In our contemporary era, numerous diversity officers, departments, and organizations exist to guide companies in ensuring inclusivity and working against micro- and macro-aggressive tones and behaviors. For an endeavor as extensive as a nine-month cruise, it’s essential to have established protocols in place to ensure that all guests are treated with respect and equality, particularly by the crew members. (In fact, how about including a braider among the ship’s salon services?)
Since the incident, Lake — who previously posted that she’d taken a break from corporate life to “[prioritize] self-care and quality time with loved ones” and is traveling with her sister Shannon Marie (also documenting her experience via TikTok) and their parents — has been contacted by a staff member.
“I think (TikTok users who watched the post) were tagging Royal Caribbean like, ‘You need to fix this,’” Brandee Lake told Today.com. “They did at least take the time to come to me and you know, ask how everything’s going now.”
As reported by NBC News, Lake has since praised the staff and passengers for being “so friendly, so kind, [and having] so much energy.” Royal Caribbean could not immediately be reached for comment, as their offices are closed during this holiday week, but along with TikTok, theGrio will anticipate additional updates regarding the overall #ultimateworldcruise experience.
Noel Cymone Walker is an NYC-based writer specializing in beauty, fashion, music, travel, and cultural anthropology. She has written and produced visuals for several notable publications such as The Recording Academy/The Grammys, The Fader, Billboard, OkayPlayer, Marie Claire, Glamour, Allure, Essence, Ebony, and more.
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The post The reality of traveling while Black on Royal Caribbean’s 9-month Ultimate World Cruise appeared first on TheGrio.
