26-05-2025
We earn $200k and live free on cruise ship
A woman who works and lives aboard cruise ships with her husband has revealed how she enjoyed free food and accommodation every day for more than a decade.
Christine Kesteloo worked as a cruise director for many years and currently lives aboard ships run by Holland America Line where her husband is a chief engineer.
Average salaries for cruise directors are about $100,000 while chief engineers can earn in excess of $200,000, bringing their combined annual income when both were working at the same time to $300,000.
Not a bad income for a couple who don't pay for food and accommodation aboard the ships they work.
Kestaloo has more than 1 million followers on TikTok where she shares her cruising experiences.
MORE: Couple sell home to live on 15-year cruise
She enjoys the privileges of both a guest and crew but says there are several rules she has to follow despite living the high life at sea.
'I am not allowed to sit at a slot machine and play my heart until I win because it would look a little weird if I, as the wife of the chief staff engineer, won like a big jackpot. So I am not allowed to gamble on the ship,' she said in one video.
In a separate video Kestaloo also claimed she wasn't allowed to win bingo.
'It is sea day and we are off to play bingo with our group,' she said.
MORE: What you get in a $86m cruise ship home
'Mother, have you won bingo yet? No because you're not allowed to win bingo. Because she's my mum she can't win the prizes.'
Kestaloo accesses her free food and accommodation because crew members' spouses stay for free.
She also receives a 50 per cent discount on extras such as drinks, shops, and spas..
Kestaloo does have some official duties despite being a guest, routinely hosting guests at dinner.
'This is my table for the night that I am hosting,' she said. 'And I am so excited because the Parmesan-crusted chicken breast is on the menu. With the honey-mustard sauce … so good,' she said in a recent video.
MORE: True cost of living on a cruise ship revealed
'It did look pretty … with mash potatoes of course.
'By the way on the Holland America Line ships this honey-mustard chicken meal, when it comes out, is my favourite.'
Despite have access to all the ship's leisure activities, Kestaloo said she also tried to make space for holiday guests whenever possible.
'If the pool is packed, I make sure to get off and give the guests a seat, it's just the right thing to do,' she said.
'I totally understand how to give guest the best time and I don't think a crew member taking their seat is the right thing to do.'
Kestaloo said living abord the cruise ship was like being 'on vacation every day'.
'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,' she said.
'When the pandemic hit in 2020, I lost my job because of organisational shifts. Now, I sail with my husband as a 'wife on board,' also known as a WOB. When we aren't living on a cruise ship, we call Vlissingen, Netherlands, home.'
Kestaloo isn't alone when it comes to living aboad cruise ships, although others are actually aiming to beat the cost of living crisis by selling their home and hitting the high seas.
One US woman went as far as .
Others choose to cruise-hop by securing deal after deal on conventional holiday cruise ships.
