Many tourists dream of going on an unforgettable cruise journey that lasts days or even weeks longer than their normal holidays.
However, whilst it is not unusual for a cruise line to offer trips that can take several months to complete, visiting all manner of countries in the process, one company planned to create a staggering journey taking place over three years.
Organised by Life at Sea, the journey would have seen passengers on the MV Gemini cover over 130,000 miles in what would have been the trip of a lifetime to even the most experienced travellers.
The holiday, which would have cost $30,000 (£23,500) per year, was set to see passengers travel to all seven continents and 375 different destinations.
Compared to the majority of regular cruise journeys, which will arrive and leave from each port in the same day, more than 200 of the destinations the voyage would have visited were set to have been overnight stops, meaning passengers could experience a variety of attractions in each area.
Passengers taking the world’s longest cruise journey would have boarded the MV Gemini in Istanbul, Turkey in November 2023, heading to Barcelona, Spain to pick up additional passengers, before taking a gentle pace towards the Carribbean.
After visiting countries such as the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and Trinidad, the ship would sail down both the east and west coasts of South America, visiting various ports in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile, before exploring Mexico, America, and Canada.
After a few further days at sea, the Gemini would then have arrived in Asia, where passengers could have explored the likes of Japan, China, and the Philippines before heading to Australia and New Zealand, turning around to take in more of Asia, including Vietnam and Cambodia.
After several stop offs in India and the Seychelles, the Gemini would have arrived in East Africa, with passengers able to explore Madagascar, Mauritius, and Mozambique. Hugging the coast line, with a number of ports in South Africa, the ship would have then travelled to countries on the west coast, such as Senegal and Cape Verde, before arriving in the Canary Islands.
From there, passengers would have been able to enjoy the best of the Mediterranean, including Italy, France, and Spain, before heading north to experience Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavian nations like Norway and Sweden.
Turning around to visit a number of other southern European countries, such as Croatia and Greece, the Gemini would have sailed to Egypt, Israel, and Cyprus before finally finishing back in Turkey in late October 2026.
Whilst there were high hopes for the longest cruise journey, with more than 100 cabins booked, the trip was postponed and subsequently cancelled around two weeks before it was due to take place.
Life at Sea highlighted that the trip was forced to be cancelled due to investors dropping out of the project, unrest within some of the areas being visited, and problems with the ship, which was more than 30 years old.
Nevertheless, whilst journeys spanning several years are unlikely, many cruise lines have still offered journeys that have covered multiple seasons, including the Royal Carribean’s Ultimate World Cruise, which lasted from December 2023 to September 2024.
