This Couple Is Paying $6,500 for Wi-Fi Alone on Their 9-Month World Cruise

Four months into the viral 9-month World Cruise on Royal Caribbeans's Serenade of the Seas, couple Joshua Terry and his fiancée Ina Ar said that they are now paying $25.99 per day for Wi-Fi on the ship, which equates to $181.93 per week and about $6,500 for the duration of the 9-month voyage!

The couple is among the thousands of passengers on the global trip which departed Miami in December. The cruise is set to make 150 stops in 275 days before its planned last leg in September of 2024. The pair who met in 2020 sold their car and used savings to board this world cruise. They secured the cheapest place on board as 'back-to-backers' with 17 individual trips, rather than the full-price ticket, via Yahoo News. 

Speaking to Yahoo News UK, about life on board, Terry, 34 said he initially thought that the Royal Caribbean trip was unaffordable (full single tickets start at £42,462), so didn't consider booking. However, later the cruise company started selling mini segments of the trip. “They came out with a new one with 17 small legs and then it became the whole cruise, so then we noticed the price is much better than the chunky one booking," said Ina.

Now, the two are paying heavily when it comes to the onboard internet charges. So far, the couple has paid around $332 (£266) in WiFi charges, and they have only come halfway now. Joshua even told the publication that he's requested free Wifi whilst on board as compensation for finding a maggot in his food during one meal, and the phone not working in their room, but only been offered a bottle of wine by Royal Caribbean instead.

Joshua has been constantly updating his followers on TikTok about the trip and has so far gained 15k followers since the boarding. "There are people on the ship who are like, 'I hate TikTokers and social media'. They're here trying to enjoy the cruise, and some people are just filming. There was an announcement at one point where a staff member said: 'We won't have wifi, so there'll be no more TikToks for a bit', and everyone cheered," he told Yahoo News. 

Moreover, the couple is also considering getting married on the cruise, but due to the itinerary changes, they have not been able to pull it off. The couple is currently not paying rent for any house and plans on moving to a new property after this trip. "We already got rid of everything and just hopped on the world cruise, so we’re not paying rent anywhere," Joshua stated.

This epic voyage has been generating tons of new stories every month. The cruise which is labeled as "the most epic world cruise ever to set sail" by Royal Caribbean includes trips to all the 7 wonders of the world and 60+ countries with 274 nights on board. Currently, the cruise is sailing near the coast of Japan and is set to make a stop in Vietnam later this month.