- I spend half of my year living on a cruise ship for free with my husband, who works on it.
- I love not having to cook, clean, or do laundry while on the ship.
I spend half of my year living on a cruise ship for free.
Here are questions people often ask me about my lifestyle.
How do you live on a cruise ship for free?
I've lived on a cruise ship for free as a "wife on board" for years because my husband, who I met on a cruise ship, is chief staff engineer.
Not all staff members on cruises are able to have their partners sail for free on the ship, though. It's a privilege often reserved for high-ranking officers.
Where do you live on the ship?
We spend about six months out of the year on board in a pretty standard 336-square-foot cabin.
It has a small bathroom, but we have a pretty great wraparound balcony.
What's the best part of living on a ship?
Living at sea has tons of perks. I get to meet people from all over the world, and I'm in a new place when I wake up each morning.
I don't have to do laundry, clean, make my bed, or cook my own food.
Through my husband's job, we get our laundry done for free, but I always tip for the pickup and delivery of our clothes.
Our meals are also free unless we go to a specialty dining restaurant on the ship. I have access to dining rooms and buffets with just about everything, from burgers to pizza.
With my husband's intense work hours, we also get room service at least twice a week and we also tip for that. I also pay for my own drinks, but I get a 50% discount.
What do you do on the ship?
I used to work as a cruise director, but I pivoted to content creation in the past years, with a focus on my TikTok account, @Dutchworld_Americangirl.
Now, I work from the ship and make three times my old salary while sailing wherever my husband goes as his "wife on board."
We pay for internet on the ship at a discounted rate, and I always make time for Zoom calls with collaborators and businesses.
On port day, I wake up and get off the ship an hour after the guests. I let paying travelers get off the ship first and try to give them the utmost respect while I live on board. To me, they always come first.
When in port, I walk around, talk to locals, eat local cuisine, and find out tips and tricks for exploring the destination. I also film videos, edit them, and then share them on social media for my job.
I can also use pretty much all of the guest amenities, like the gym and pool, but I am not allowed to gamble on board.
Do you have a home on land?
Yes, and we are never far from the ocean.
When we aren't cruising the seven seas, we're living in our home on the beach in Vlissingen, Netherlands. Typically, we live on ship for three months and off ship for three months at a time.
We're typically three months at sea, then three on land. This year, we'll have sailed three months in French Polynesia and Hawaii and three months in Alaska. Soon, we'll be spending three months Caribbean and Central and South America.
But even when we're off of the ship and on land, we're traveling. On our last three-month break we went to nine countries.
I've now been to 108 countries. My husband has lost count of how many he's been to.
What scares you most about living at sea?
Many times when cruising we have crossings where we're at sea for a number of days. In some cases, we spend five to nine days just fully surrounded by the ocean.
I fear that, on one of these crossings, a family member could fall ill or pass, and I wouldn't be able to get to them right away.
This happened to me in 2017 when my grandpa passed away the first day into a crossing. I couldn't get home to the funeral as we were on our way to Europe from the Bahamas.
Fortunately, my parents cruise with us a lot (and take full advantage of the family discount we can offer them). This January, they'll be on the ship with us for two months as we cruise the Caribbean and Central and South America.