A couple who met, fell in love and got married on a cruise ship now live permanently aboard luxury liners – and have not set foot on land for 900 consecutive nights.
Jeff and Debb Knapp spend up to a staggering £7,500 a month living at sea – but claim their unusual lifestyle is much cheaper than owning a home.
And despite living in a tiny 28sq metre (310sqft) suite, the pair insist they have “not been bored a single day” since meeting.
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Jeff, 54, and Debb, 55, have now spent more than 900 consecutive nights aboard cruise ships without returning to a land-based home and are fully booked until April 2028.
“When you cross off a mortgage, rent, utilities, car payments, auto insurance, property taxes, vehicle repairs, and grocery bills, the math works out heavily in our favour,” Jeff told Whats The Jam.
“Right now, we are fully booked all the way until April 2028, and our plan is to keep doing this forever.”
The couple doesn’t stay aboard one vessel, instead moving between different Celebrity Cruises ships on back-to-back itineraries, living as full-time resident passengers in the Sky Suite – which they say effectively expands to include the entire ship.
Jeff said: “Instead of cramped quarters, we see it as living in a luxury suite where our living room expands to include the entire ship, the ocean, and a new destination outside our balcony almost every single morning.”
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The couple’s unusual life began with a chance meeting aboard the Celebrity Ascent in February 2024.
Jeff, from New Jersey, and Debb, from Washington State, were travelling alone when they struck up a conversation at the ship’s Oceanview Cafe.
They quickly hit it off and discovered they were both serious cruise addicts, with Jeff having 34 future cruises booked and Debb having 56.
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Many of their itineraries were identical and the pair went on to spend five consecutive weeks cruising together.
Jeff eventually decided he wanted to make both Debb and life at sea permanent.
He proposed aboard the Celebrity Beyond in April 2025 after custom-designing an engagement ring, having discovered that the first ring he bought was not to Debb’s taste.
They legally married in Miami in June 2025 before holding a second wedding ceremony aboard the Celebrity Beyond in November.
Now, having passed the 900-night mark, the couple says there is still no end in sight.
Jeff said: “People constantly ask if we ever get bored but honestly, there is not even enough time in the day to do everything available to us.
“We have not been bored a single day since we met.”
They also insist that living together in such a small space has not caused major relationship problems.
“Our minor disagreements usually come down to someone’s tone of voice when they are tired or hungry,” Jeff said.
“A few hours of rest or a good meal quickly fixes everything.”
The couple’s Christian faith is also central to their relationship, with the pair saying they take their marriage vows seriously.
The duo saves money by living on cruise ships in many ways, including groceries, which would be expensive on land because the pair follow a strict carnivore diet.
Jeff said: “Those food savings are huge for us because we follow a strict carnivore diet.
“Buying high-quality meat on land gets extremely expensive, but on the ship, we get to enjoy top-tier meats cooked to perfection every single day.”
While on the ships, the couple’s financial matters are handled digitally, while mail is scanned and forwarded.
They use onboard doctors and medical centres for day-to-day needs and arrange routine appointments during port stops or breaks on land.
Travel visas and entry requirements are also tracked around their constantly changing itineraries.
For Debb, the dream of living permanently at sea stretches back decades.
She first stepped aboard a cruise ship in 1995 and was so taken with the experience that she decided she would one day retire on a cruise ship.
She spent 29 years working in Washington State government while also flipping properties before finally making the dream a reality.
Jeff – a former craftsman, builder, home flipper, and retail store owner – initially had little interest in cruising and even suffered from seasickness on local ferries.
But after being persuaded to try a cruise, he discovered modern ships didn’t make him ill – and quickly became hooked.
The pair say they did not come from wealth and both became teenage parents, describing their early adult lives as being marked by poverty and hard work.
Today they have six grown children between them and five grandchildren.
Family remains a major priority despite the pair constantly being on the move.
They say the longest they go without seeing their children and grandchildren in person is around a year, when family members join them aboard a cruise.
Jeff said: “Even when we are miles away, we video chat often, and they tune in regularly to watch our streams.”
The couple has also built a following online through their The Ship Show content brand, sharing the realities, costs and tips of living aboard cruise ships.
But despite their unconventional home, they say the lifestyle has given them the freedom they wanted.
Jeff said: “On land, life gets bogged down by home maintenance, property taxes, utility bills, lawn care, grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning.
“At sea, all of those everyday burdens simply disappear.”
And with their cruises already booked until 2028, the couple say they have no intention of getting off.
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