The travel hack of pretending to be on your honeymoon to weasel your way into a free upgrade is all the talk nowadays, and it looks like a couple on social media did exactly that — and received very warm congratulations.
Ricky Liu and his boyfriend, Thomas, were vacationing on a cruise ship in Vietnam when they put the classic “old school trick” to the test. As he shared the hilarious experience on TikTok, viewers on the app blew it up with more than 14M views and upwards of 3M likes.
Highlights
- A couple pretending to be on their honeymoon during their cruise and were faced with rather unexpected dramatic celebrations.
- The TikTok video showing their experience got more than 14M views and 3M likes.
- The staff blasted Whitney Houston and brought out rainbow drinks in celebration.
- Ricky confirms he would repeat the experience despite the embarrassment.
“The view, the balcony, the bathtub, the roses… I could get used to this,” Ricky gushed.
But, little did he know, the theatrics were only just beginning.
A couple’s lie of being newly married to get a free upgrade on a cruise ship went a little beyond what they initially planned
Image credits: rickyrliu
The “royalty” treatment started even before they stepped foot on the cruise, with a handful of the staff giving them a warm greeting and escorting them to the lobby — all of this being done before the honeymoon announcement.
After the little lie was planted, Ricky went on to show his viewers the gorgeous suite they were placed in, which consisted of a large circular bed sprinkled with rose petals and adorned with two swan towels facing one another.
However, as the two went out for a casual dinner, they were taken aback as things started to get “more and more intense.”
Image credits: rickyrliu
Their dining table was, once again, decorated with various rose petals with a wooden sign reading “HAPPY HONEYMOON” to the right.
And for the grand finale, multiple staff members came out with rainbow-colored drinks, waving their phone flashlights in the air as Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You blasted in the background.
“It was like okay, you’re on a honeymoon? We’re gonna tell the whole world,” Ricky joked. “We’re gonna make sure if you lied by any chance, you feel the full weight of that guilt."
Image credits: rickyrliu
“We are going to stop dinner so we can play some Whitney Houston so that if you actually got married, it would be a genuine sweet moment but if you’re fraudsters, you will feel like sh–t human.”
He also pointed out how a neighboring couple kept raising a toast in congratulations and suspected they were the ones who actually got married.
“Look, this was fun at all but would I do this again?” Ricky asked in conclusion.
After a moment’s pause, his verdict was simple: “Abso-f–cking-lutely yes.”
Just like the video, comments were light-hearted, especially those that poked fun at the drinks the servers brought out.
“They said BE WHO YOU AAARE 😍✨” read the top comment with nearly 350K likes.
“The rainbow drinks are sending me 🤣🤣” another echoed.
Image credits: rickyrliu
The logic that followed for most netizens was that the two weren’t technically lying if they had planned to marry one another sometime in the future.
“Okay but you guys are dating sooo no harm no foul 😂” someone penned.
“Unfortunately I wouldn’t have felt the guilt bc that’s my boo anyway,” one person admitted.
Image credits: rickyrliu
Most people can’t exactly blame Ricky for wanting to indulge in a little extra special treatment — especially in this economy.
And it seems that the couple took all the right steps, except for, of course, wearing a shiny engagement ring.
Pav Klair, a Spa Relations Expert at SpaSeekers, gave a little insight into why soon-to-be-married couples are more likely to get room upgrades.
“From personal experience, I think newlyweds or people celebrating a particular occasion will receive ‘special treatment’ over others,” he told Express.co.uk.
“This is because they’re potentially prone to spending more at the hotel if they’re celebrating and therefore will react even more positively to a room upgrade.”
Image credits: rickyrliu
“It’s known amongst the hotel staff that people who are celebrating an occasion will indulge themselves more with luxury items, such as spending a bit extra on a meal or buying an extra bottle of champagne.
“So, to encourage this increased spending a bit more, we typically will offer an upgrade. It gives them the aura of having an even more expensive and affluent experience.”
According to the comments, the next step would be for them to get married
