Woman Lives On Cruise Ship For Free And Spends Less Than £35 A Week

A woman has opened up about her life on a cruise ship - and how little it costs her. Watch here:

Christine Kesteloo, from Vlissingen, Netherlands, spends half of each year cruising and has been sailing on and off for the past 12 years.

She used to be a cruise and travel director, until she lost her job in 2020 as a result of the pandemic - but that hasn't stopped her living the cruise life.

Her husband still works on cruise ships as a staff chief engineer, and Christine is now a 'WOB', or 'wife on board'.

It means she doesn't have to pay to live on her floating home, and Christine and her husband's weekly costs come in at about £65 a week.

"Some would say I live like I'm on vacation every day — and I do," she admitted in a piece penned for Insider.

"Every day, I'm in a new place and my biggest decisions are whether I want to go to teatime, lie in the sun, or do a wine tasting."

While living this life of decadence, Christine only has to fork out $20 (£15) a week for internet access and $10 (£7) a week on tips for her room steward - which is a bargain really, given that he cleans the room for her.

"I try to keep our room tidy, but we also have a wonderful room steward who comes by each day," Christine explained.

"He vacuums, changes the sheets, dusts, cleans our small bathroom, and leaves us fresh towels.

"A room steward is a perk for high-ranking officers on the ship, and we choose to always leave a tip."

Her laundry is also done on a daily basis free of charge, meaning her only remaining expenditure is meals at speciality restaurants.

You can get by without paying for food on the ship, as there is a whole host of free dining options available, but Christine and her hubby like to splash out from time to time.

"The majority of our food on board is free and I'm well fed," Christine wrote.

"There's a wide selection, including a buffet, pizza, hamburgers, hotdogs, ice cream, and sushi — basically, anything you can dream of.

"We pay for food only if we decide to dine at one of the ship's specialty restaurants, which usually costs between $20 and $50 a person. We usually tip between $5 and $10.

"Room service is free to order on the ship, and we usually tip between $2 and $5 each time."

So in total, she calculates that they spend about $87 (£66) a week, so $43.50 (£33) each - and even that minimal expenditure is all optional.

Doesn't sound half bad, right?

I sampled the cruise life for myself recently, going straight in at the deep end on the first sailing of the world's biggest cruise ship - and lemme tell ya, it was eye-opening. Read all about it here.