What it’s like to live and work aboard a cruise ship

Geg Yayuk lives and works aboard a cruise ship, spending months away from her family. Picture: Supplied

An Indonesian mum has detailed the gruelling hours and harsh reality she faces living and working aboard a cruise ship away from her husband and son.

While more and more people sell up their homes to fund a full-time lifestyle at sea, people like Geg Yayuk are turning to cruise ships as a means of employment to support families back home.

While the decision to work on the water might seem like a dream job that allows you to see the world, Ms Yayuk paints a sobering picture of the non-stop nature of her role within the house staff as well as the emotional toll it takes to be away from her family.

Videos and images posted to social media showed Ms Yayuk working aboard the Royal Caribbean Cruises vessel Mariner of the Seas.

As of the start of May Ms Yayuk said she was three months into a seven-month stint at sea.

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Geg Yayuk is three months into a seven-month rotation. Picture: Supplied

She performs an array of tasks across the ship with other house staff. Picture: Supplied

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The Mariner of the Seas is currently in The Gulf of Mexico between the US, Cuba and Mexico – some 16,700km away from Ms Yayuk’s native Bali.

Ms Yayuk’s social media accounts detail the breadth of roles she covers aboard the ship including collecting dirty linens, ironing, serving in the restaurants, clearing dirty dishes from eating areas, polishing glasses and sanitising stainless steel surfaces.

Staff aboard the ship pull big shifts in excess of 12 hours, with Ms Yayuk explaining workers had to continually deal with “drama” while “continuing our job here every day (with) no day off in seven moths”.

One shift described by Ms Yayuk started at 11am and ended at 11:30pm, with parts of the shift spent in numerous restaurants, cafes and dining areas aboard the shift.

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Geg Yayuk relies on tips to help save money. Picture: Supplied

Dirty dishes are a regular feature of her day. Picture: Supplied

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Fleeting moments of free time to go sightseeing when the ship docks at destination ports are rarely taken by Ms Yayuk because she fears wasting the precious money she has saved for her family back home.

Ms Yayuk said she “didn’t want to go outside wasting money” despite port destinations being her first time to go “outside” after “almost three months on-board”.

Ms Yayuk said she hoped this contract would be her last aboard cruise ships so could “continue my career in … Bali and stay with my baby”.

The mum describes her young son as her “mood booster” and regularly posts about the moments she gets to video call her family back home.

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Geg Yayuk struggles being away from her family. Picture: Supplied

She tries to stay in contact with her young son whenever she can. Picture: Supplied

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While the work for staff is difficult, they are tasked with meeting the needs of a growing industry that includes swelling numbers of retirees choosing to cruise full-time.

As the costs of maintaining home and cars bite harder, many people are selling their assets and using their cash to fund full-time cruise living while seeing the world.

One US woman went as far as buying a $2.9 million apartment on a bespoke residential cruise ship.

Others choose to cruise-hop by securing deal after deal on conventional holiday cruise ships.

Another woman, also from the US, has detailed how she lives aboard cruise ships full-time for as little as $3350 a month.

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