A WOMAN who “lives” on a cruise ship with her almost two-year-old son and fiancé has revealed some of the perks of her unique lifestyle.
Chelsea spends months at a time on the ship with her husband-to-be and their little boy Mattia, on a “friends and family” basis.
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While her man works as an officer on board the boat, she and the tot are able to make the most of some of the benefits, including amazing food and free accommodation.
They share a room with Chelsea’s Italian fiancé Domenico, which means they don’t have to pay for it – although it’s a tight squeeze thanks to the travel cot Mattia sleeps in.
They also have an inflatable bath that they store in their shower when it’s not in use, and Mattia’s nappies and wipes take up almost an entire shelf in the wardrobe.
In videos on her TikTok page, Chelsea has been sharing an insight into her life at sea, as she said she does up to eight weeks at a time on board while her other half works – the limit for friends and family.
However, Domenico’s assignments mean he can spend up to nine months at a time on a ship.
So during that time Chelsea and Mattia split their time between the boat, Scotland – where she’s originally from – and south Italy, where they have a house.
“I say ‘living’ because we’re not actually living here,” she explained in a video on TikTok.
“We’re still passengers, but we are family and friends cruisers.
“But when we do really long cruises it’s basically 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 added.
While Chelsea’s hands are full looking after Mattia, she is no stranger to life on board a cruise ship – as she used to work on one as a dancer.
And she knows about the best perks of temporarily relocating to the ship – including the amazing food.
She and Mattia are treated like any other passenger with the food that comes included with their “friends and family” tickets, which means they have to pay for drinks or if they want to dine at one of the speciality restaurants for a change.
There’s also a kids’ club on board, and that’s free too – although Mattia isn’t a fan.
Pros and cons of going on a cruise ship
Whether you’re considering a long holiday, working remotely or even living on board a cruise ship for a few months or years, here are the pros and cons from a former cruise shipper.
Pros
- Travel the world, learn and experience new cultures
- Meet new people
- Don’t have to think or worry about room cleaning, or food
Cons
- Internet connection can be painfully slow and expensive
- Limited luggage allowance so have to wear the same clothes on rotation
- Having no control of where the ship would go next and the possibility of visiting the same ports
- Having the same onboard entertainment, on-demand movies, and little choice of TV channels
- No fresh newspapers or new books unless someone adds them to the library
- Relatively the same food week after week unless major menu changes occur seasonally.
- Occasional rough seas, bad weather and viral outbreaks while inboard.
“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!” Chelsea explained in response to another comment.
“But my little one doesn’t like baby cafe they always call me after like 10 mins!”
Another benefit of joining Domenico on the ship is that Chelsea gets her and Mattia’s laundry done for free.
Domenico gets his done for no cost thanks to his job ranking, while Chelsea and Mattia are included in that too.
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