Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Kat Whitmire
Topics: Travel, Cruise ship, News, US News
Callum Jones
A woman who has the unique job of working on a nudist cruise ship has explained what it's like to work there.
The 2,000 person nude cruise - operated by or Bare Necessities - has been going viral over the past few days following a Reddit Q&A from one of the passengers on board.
There are some rules to follow on this ship despite many people believing it may be lawless.
First of all, there are consequences for if you get aroused, while there are some places on board where you do have to wear some clothes.
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Now, a woman who works for the company behind the nudist ship has revealed what it's like to work on it.
Kat Whitmire, 61, is the vice president of sales for a nudist-cruise company - and she really has seen everything.
"I'm a cruise organizer for Bare Necessities Tour and Travel, a nudist-cruise company," she told Business Insider.
"I spend all year as part of a team planning our two cruises: a February trip aboard our Big Nude Boat, a large cruise ship that has 2,100 passengers, and a smaller cruise in the summer."
Kat has had a long-running love for cruise ships, volunteering on them for a decade before she got a full-time job.
She joined Bare Necessities in 2010, and now works in ensuring maximum sales for the nudist cruise.
Speaking of what her typical day looks like, Kat explains: "For each cruise, I create schedules so our staffers know when they need to man the information booth, perform 'dinner duty' to make sure guests comply with the dress code, and join the dance club at night to make sure things go smoothly."
The vice president of sales also helps with excursions taking place at each port.
The obvious twist with the cruise ship is the nudist part, something that can be often sexualized.
However, Kat is having none of that.
"To us, being nude is not sexual or anything to be ashamed of," she explains.
"Nudism is about leaving judgment behind. When you're not wearing clothes, you can't immediately tell someone's economic status or how they vote; you have to talk to them to find out who they are.
"Our guests form deep friendships that I don't think form as readily on a textile cruise."
She added: "We're not a swingers' cruise. This is not lifestyle travel. There are plenty of those travel opportunities out there, but that's not what we do."