A woman who lives on a cruise ship as a “wife-on-board” says she wouldn’t gamble on board.David Friedman/Getty Images
Christine Kesteloo is a former cruise director and has lived on ships for over a decade.
After losing her job in 2020, she became a “wife-on-board,” as her husband works for Holland America.
Kesteloo said she never gambles on board or doesn’t disembark with paying guests.
A woman who’s lived on cruise ships for more than 10 years said there are two things she’s not allowed to do on board.
Christine Kesteloo has lived on cruise ships “on and off” since 2012, working as a cruise director, according to Newsweek. Last year, Kesteloo told Insider that she typically spends half the year living on a cruise ship.
Kesteloo said in the Insider article that she lost her cruising job in 2020 because of the pandemic. She continues to live on cruises as her husband works as a staff chief engineer for Holland America, a subsidiary of Carnival.
“So in 2021, I started sailing as wife on board with my husband and we are on the ship three months and then off the ship for three months,” Kesteloo, 42, told Newsweek, adding that the couple most recently lived on Holland America’s Koningsdam cruise ship.
Kesteloo said in a viral TikTok posted on August 7 that as “wife-on-board,” her accommodation and food on board are free. In the Insider article, Kesteloo said that she and her husband typically spend less than $100 a week on WiFi, tips, and specialty dining.
In the video, while applying her face makeup, Kesteloo shared what it’s like to live on a cruise ship. “I can do most everything that the crew can do, and I can do most everything that the guests can do,” Kesteloo said.
But she goes on to share two things she’s not allowed to do while cruising: gambling and disembarking with paying guests.
“I am not allowed to go sit at a slot machine and play my heart out until I win,” Kesteloo said in the video, which has since garnered 14.4 million views and 1.2 million likes.
She added that it could look weird if she won a big jackpot, considering her husband is a staff member.
In the video, Kesteloo also said she could only leave the ship when the crew disembarked.
“The guests get off first, and the crew usually get off the ship about an hour after the guests,” Kesteloo said.
Kesteloo did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider on this story.
Read the original article on Insider