Woman who 'lives' on cruise ship with fiancé and toddler reveals all the perks of bizarre lifestyle

A Scottish woman who sporadically 'lives' on a cruise ship with her young family has opened up about the perks of their high-sailing lifestyle.

Life on a cruise ship seems like a sweet deal, doesn't it? You get to wake up in brand-new locations, and all your needs are more or less taken care of.

So much so, that a few people have made the decision to forgo a house on land and instead buy a cabin to live on a cruise ship - some even selling their possessions to do so.

Or you could work on a cruise ship, like Chelsea's fiancé, Domenico.

Due to his job as an officer on a cruise ship, Chelsea and their son, Mattia, can take advantage of the 'friends and family' opportunities afforded to loved ones by the cruise company for a limited time each year.

In a TikTok video on her account @chel.at.sea, the mum explained how they're allowed to stay in Domenico's living quarters free of charge, where there's a double bed and enough room for a travel cot inside.

The room space means they can have an inflatable bath for Mattia too, which they store in the shower when it's not being used.

Mattia's nappies and wipes take up quite a chunk of the wardrobe though - almost an entire shelf - but this isn't something that bothers Chelsea too much, as she enjoys the organisation of it and having all of his things laid out.

However, Chelsea went on to reveal to her followers that she and her son will live on the ship for up to eight weeks at a time when Domenico is fulfilling contracts onboard - although he might be at sea for as long as nine months.

During that time, Chelsea and her son will either go back to Scotland or the south of Italy, where they have a home.

So, while they technically aren't 'living here' while on a long cruise journey, Chelsea says it is like 'moving our life for that duration to be here'.

"And it means we can obviously be together for part of the long contract away from each other," she continued.

But because they are travelling as 'friends and family', there are a few rules in place.

If they want to dine at one of the ship's speciality restaurants or get any drinks, they must pay, otherwise they have access to the whole food package that passengers usually indulge in.

She further explained: "The baby care and club is completely free for everyone on board but it's baby care 10am-1pm [no parents, you leave the baby with the staff], then you can use the area to play freely with your baby 1pm-5pm, while 5pm-8pm is baby care!

"But my little one doesn’t like baby care [so] they always call me after like 10 mins!"

Another incredible benefit to being on the ship so much is that Chelsea doesn't have to pay to sort out her pile of laundry either - thanks to her other half's ranking.

Naturally, TikTok surfers had a few questions about the situation.

"Think this is a great option fiancé doesn’t miss the wee guy growing up. Is there other partners onboard so you have company? X" asked one individual, leading to a direct response from the content creator.

"Exactly why we do it!" she wrote back. "He would miss so much if we didn’t go visit all the time! And because I worked on ships I don’t find the life hard!

"There is actually I have a few friends now who are also officers wives/girlfriends, one just went home."

Meanwhile, someone else asked what was the 'longest time you have been on the ship', to which she responded that she'd previously spent '2 months consecutive as a passenger with a small break in between'.