Chelsea lives in a cruise ship cabin with her two-year-old – here’s how she does it

• A Tiktok user has shared her unique life at sea, where she lives part-time with her husband, a cruise ship officer, and her almost two-year old child.
• She also shard shareed some of the perks she gets and what her life onboard is like.
• Cruise lines generally organise temporary living arrangement for family and friends of senior crew members, so they can maintain contact with their families while off on assignment.

Cruise ships are known as one of the best holidays to take your children on. But it’s not a common place for kids to grow up on.

Tiktok user Chelsea has documented her journey which involves just that, she lives at sea with her young toddler and shares videos on how she attempts to manage her life.

Chelsea’s husband works on MSC cruise ships which means she lives part-time on the ships, with her almost two-year old. They spend eight-weeks at a time on the ship, where young Mattia gets his very unique upbringing, with a life half at sea.

@chel.at.sea

Thankyou @Lauren | Life in Dublin for your question, finally showing you all a detailed response 🤣 #cruiselife #livingonacruise #shiplife #managingspace #cabinwithatoddler #cruisingwithababy #cruisingwithatoddler #cruisetok #support #mscworldamerica #sahm #ditl #msccruises #stayathomemom #miami #dayinthelife #cruiseshipcabin #toddler #20monthold #lifeonnboard #fyp

♬ original sound – CHELS | CRUISING | SAHM ✨

The family is able to live in the cruise ship living quarters free of charge, with the main challenge coming in the form of attempting to keep everything neat and tidy, even with a toddler running around.

They also get the same food privileges as passengers, meaning they can eat for free at many restaurants, but they would have to pay if they wished to visit a specialty dining venue.

In general, they get all the same privileges as other cruise ship passengers, such as access to the kids clubs, onboard activities and so on.

@chel.at.sea

a little chit chat video! Thankyou all for 3000 followers eeeek! Never thought I’d reach or surpass my old TikTok but here we are you all loved the cruise videos! Rest assured there will be more in the near future, but stay tuned for life in Italy – wedding coming up EEEK and soooo on 🩷!!!! #momlife #mumlife #mumsoftiktok #italy #italianlife #scottish #livinginitaly #livingonacruiseship #cruiselife #shiplife #msccruises #mscworldamerica #cruisingwithatoddler #travellingwithatoddler #sahm #stayathomemom #fyp #support #life #dailylife #lifeupdates #ditl

♬ original sound – Headbangers Dan

Another huge bonus for the lifestyle is that her and her family get access to a free laundry service, taking a big burden off her day to day.

Chelsea says it’s a great way for her husband to not have to miss the younger years of their son growing up, and that there are some other families onboard that she’s befriended.

“Exactly why we do it! He would miss so much if we didn’t go visit all the time! And because I worked on ships I don’t find the life hard!

“There is actually I have a few friends now who are also officers wives/girlfriends, one just went home.”

As for some of the other logistics, Chelsea explains that she has an inflatable bath that gets store in the shower, which she inflates to bath Mattia when she has to, and that Mattia sleeps in a portable travel cot in the corner of the room.

@chel.at.sea

The boy only runs , he doesn’t walk 🤣 #sahm #stayathomemom #toddler #mum #firsttimemum #firsttimemom #21monthold #running #toddlersoftiktok #toddlerrunning #fyp #momlife #mumlife #mumsoftiktok

♬ original sound – orianevansygent

While stories are often shared of people retiring on cruise ships or upending their lives to go live at sea, Chelsea’s story offers a different perspective for what it can be like to live on a ship.

Cruise lines try to help in situations like these so that dedicated crew members can still regularly spend time with their family, and show their family the wonders of life at sea as well.