A passenger unwittingly committed a cruise ship taboo, and it involves saying one particular word...
From not whistling or singing into the wind, to not stepping onto a boat with your left foot, and not having flowers on board, there are a number of different nautical superstitions people tend to avoid - the ocean is a dangerous place after all.
But TikToker Marc Sebastian (@marcsebastianf) - who has been entertaining people with updates about his 18-day stay on board the widely talked about Royal Caribbean Ultimate World Cruise- shared how he shocked fellow cruisers by saying a forbidden word.
This word being "Titanic," the famous ship that was hit by an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912.
In the video, Marc said: “I brought it up to an entire room of people having lunch that our ship is only 100 feet longer than the Titanic — when I tell you that utensils dropped. Waiters gasped. It’s dead silent.”
He later found out why people were so taken aback, thanks to his friend Nadine who was aware of the superstition and informed him with a whisper: "You’re not allowed to talk about the Titanic.”
@marcsebastianf someone get whoopi on the line girl i have some goss for her #ultimateworldcruise #worldcruise #serenadeoftheseas #cruisetok #cruise #9monthcruise #titanic
Marc did note that given this superstition isn't talked about on board, there is no way he could have known not to say it, - although talking about a famous ship sinking while on board a ship isn't the most comfortable small talk topic.
The TikToker added: “Well, it wasn’t like that was in the f***ing handbook.”
In the comments section, some people agreed with Marc that the Titanic would definitely be something they brought up if they were on board, while others shared they were aware of the superstition.
One person said: "I’m sorry if I’m going on a boat I’m talking about Titanic and Ocean Gate."
"When I went on a cruise my mom told me saying 'Titanic 'was equivalent to screaming a bomb at an airport," another person wrote.
Someone else asked: "Is the Titanic thing for cruises the same as like Macbeth for theatre?"
" I want to go on a cruise now just to talk about the Titanic in my outside voice," a fourth person commented.
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