The woman, who loves to wake up each day in a different part of the world, says she struggles with this challenge a lot of time.
Christine Kesteloo (@dutchworld_americangirl) is living out her dream, spending half the year traveling the world on cruise ships as a “wife on board.” She and her husband Pete share a cozy 336-square-foot cabin, waking up daily to a sunlit balcony and stunning ocean views. While this might sound like a fairytale, Kesteloo revealed in a 2023 TikTok video that living on a cruise ship comes with its own challenges—the toughest being “surrounded by food all the time.”
Kesteloo is a former cruise director turned content creator based in Vlissingen, Netherlands. She told Newsweek that she's been on ships "on and off" since 2012. Speaking to Insider, she also revealed that she lost her cruising job during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her husband is a staff chief engineer for the Holland America Line cruise company who manages the engineering department.
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Kesteloo has famously shown in her TikTok videos how she lives a life of luxury onboard the cruise ship, often not having to do any household tasks, and getting all food for free. "I don't make my bed or clean or have to do my laundry" or "pay for food or usual household utilities," she told Newsweek. She also gets access to crew facilities, including the crew bar, gym, and the main crew areas. Plus, she told Insider that she and her husband typically spend less than $100 a week on WiFi, tips, and specialty dining. However, her life is no cloud cuckoo land. She faces her own share of challenges.
One of the biggest challenges she faces on a cruise is struggling to control her food cravings, as food is so easily available all the time. “One of the hardest things about living on a cruise ship is that I know right now, if I just leave my cabin, I can go have cookies, pizza, a shake, a candy,” she said in the video. “I could have anything I wanted. And I want it, I absolutely want it."
She continued, "I’m lying here, it’s 2 o’clock. I had a salad for lunch, along with some fresh fruit, but that didn’t fill me up. Right now, all I can think about is, eating a burger with some French fries and some mayonnaise. That folks, is the absolutely hardest part about living on a food ship (cruise ship.) I am surrounded by food all the time. I really want a cheeseburger.” In the caption, she noted, “The hardest part is telling myself not to eat.”
In another video posted a day ago, she showcases a log of her “room service on the cruise ship,” depicting again how the cruise trip comes with a bounty of free food. In the video, she shows a meal she and her husband ordered via room service. She uncovers the dishes one by one, revealing a tray of chocolate-covered strawberries, a cheese and fruit plate, a pasta platter, some ice cream, and a chocolate cake, among other items.
@dutchworld_americangirl The hardest part about living on a cruise ship is that I am surrounded by free food all of the time anything I want I just had lunch but it’s 2 o’clock in my body tells me it’s either cookie time or time for a hamburger. The hardest part is telling myself not to eat. #hardestpart #cruiseship #livingatsea #koningsdam #weliveonacruiseship #cruisefoodie #foodtok #itsaproblem #halcruises #hollandamericaline ♬ Pieces (Solo Piano Version) - Danilo Stankovic
You can follow Christine Kesteloo on TikTok to catch a glimpse of her cruising adventures.
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