A woman who packed up her entire life to live on cruise ships permanently has revealed her ten biggest pet peeves about her lifestyle.
Lynnelle, better known on YouTube as the person behind the 'Poverty to Paradise' channel, took a leap of faith and landed on a cruise liner following her retirement at the age of 53.
"I sold everything - my house, my car, I quit my job, I got a divorce," she told her 84,700 subscribers in one of her latest videos.
Despite putting all her eggs in the cruising basket, Lynnelle admits the reality of sailing the seven seas full-time isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Advert
She explained: "There are some things about living on cruise ships that totally frustrate me, it's just very aggravating. Even though I still love living on cruise ships, it is not all oceans and buffets.
"There are some things that will totally drive you mad. Fortunately, the pros for me outweigh the cons."
For starts, Lynnelle isn't a big fan of having to use tender boats to head to shore on some ships, instead of pulling right up at the dock and being able to simply walk off.
"They're putting 150-200 people, sometimes more, on a floating vessel," she said. "And having to stand in the long lines and deal with the people...a lot of people are are not used to it, and they just they frustrate everybody else around them. So you have to bring your patience in those situations."
Advert
As well as this, the US woman isn't too keen on 'waking up in a different time zone and not knowing what the heck the time is' on a regular basis.
Dubbing it 'time zone whiplash', Lynnelle said: "That's happened to me so many times. When you are sailing and the clock changes, your body is like, 'Girl, I don't know what you're talking about - it's still blah blah blah time'. And the ship is like, 'No girl, it's this time, you got to get up and get up off this ship'."
Her next gripe with calling a cruise ship home is that it's made doing laundry a 'nightmare' for Lynnelle, as her clothes never 'come out as clean' as they used to.
She explained that on some ships, she has to pay extra to use the laundry services too, so her washing bill can tot up quite quickly - so sometimes, she ends up laundering her smalls by hand.
Failing that, Lynnelle will try to sort all of her dirty clothing out in bulk during the few days she spends on land here and there.
Advert
Another element of cruise life which doesn't sit well with the YouTuber is the crowds which seem to linger in every corner of the vessels she calls home.
Whether she's trying to relax by the pool, head to the gym for a workout, or watch a movie in a communal area, Lynnelle said she is constantly surrounded by swarms of people.
"The things that I want to do are usually the things that are popular to everybody else," she said. "That's one thing that unfortunately comes with the territory, but I do hate that about full-time cruising."
The lack of 'personal transportation' also really gets Lynnelle's goat, as she often feels frustrated that she can't just 'pick up and go to where ever she wants'.
Advert
"I have to find other methods of transportation, whether it's Uber, walking, taking a city bus or whatever the case may be," Lynnelle said, before adding: "I have learned how to deal with it and I can get around."
The cruising content creator went on to explain that she also finds it difficult to 'part ways with a place she has fallen in love with', given that her itinerary is dictated by the ship's schedule.
"If I find a place that I love, unfortunately, I'm stuck to just those six, seven, eight hours that the cruise ship is going to be docked," Lynnelle said. "And then I've got to say bye-bye, and who knows when I'll get back to that place?"
Another 'frustrating' part of living on a cruise ship for Lynnelle is that errands which are easy to complete on land become a 'whole task' when you're stuck on a ship.
Advert
She added: "Getting supplies, getting toiletries, personal things like prescriptions, getting my hair done, things like that...it is a whole day event, instead of just a minor thing."
Lynnelle also complained that she is 'never alone' because she lives on a cruise ship - as if she's not surrounded by fellow holidaymakers, she's being disturbed by housekeepers who want to clean her cabin.
"You might find some quiet areas, but it's not 100% guaranteed that you'll be alone," she told viewers. "Whereas back when I owned my house, if I wanted to go sit on my porch, I didn't worry about nobody else being there."
Lynnelle said she also doesn't think it is ideal that 'you can't escape' the motion of the ocean, which is particularly tough to deal with when the vessel encounters rough seas or a patch of bad weather. And on top of all that, she explained that there are 'so many rules' she has to abide by while living onboard a cruise liner.
Despite these drawbacks, Lynnelle says she loves her lifestyle.
Topics: Cruise Ship, Travel, Lifestyle, YouTube
Olivia Burke