Cruise Time

Sheseeksstrength

Hi community,
I leave for a two week cruise soon. I am very concerned that I will gain a lot of weight. I also don't believe I will have access to wifi so I don't exactly know how I will hold myself accountable food wise.
How can I maintain or lose weight on this two week cruise?

Thanks!

missiontofitness

Fill up your plate with protein and vegetables, and save room for a reasonable amount of dessert. You'll have to do a lot of guesstimating, so see if the ship has a menu online; if not, come up with some general calorie amounts for things you think you may eat on the ship (eg: pasta, meat, vegetables, cake, ect), and use that as a guide when making decisions at meal time.

BeesmaMFP

Cruising is my vacation of choice--absolutely love it! I've actually lost weight on cruises! Not much, but a couple of pounds. The cruise I did the best on, I ate at the buffet for breakfast and lunch each day. I liked being able to control what was on my plate. For dinner, I ordered off what they called the "spa menu" since every entree was under a certain calorie threshold. I had desserts off that menu most evenings as well, though I did have a couple of their regular desserts as well. I didn't even look at the regular menu for dinner entrees, and I was completely happy with the selections available. I never took the elevators the entire week, and went to the fitness centers a few times during the week. Even on cruises where I haven't done all these things, I've never gained "a lot of weight."

You can get a wifi package if you think that will help. Ship's wifi is notoriously slow and expensive, but if that's what you need, you may want to budget for it.

Have a great trip!

3dogsrunning

Protip - check the cruise forums to see where free wifi is near the ship. That may not be a total solution but you can always write down what you eat as well. It may help to see what you are consuming.

My strategy was always to eat well for two meals, then whatever I felt like for the third (usually supper). I enjoy food and it is part of the experience so I wouldn't cut it out completely. You have a pretty good idea of what you eat day in and day out. The upside of cruises is the buffets have such a variety you should be able to eat close to what you do normally.
I also stay active. I love running the deck while sailing into or out of port. Plus we are usually super active on port days anyway even just walking around the ports.

In the end don't sweat it. Even if you gain a couple of pounds, mostly it will be water weight and will dissipate quickly once you get back to your regular routine.
Have fun!

blwasson73

We just got back from our honeymoon cruise last weekend. There are lots of healthy choices like salad bars, omelette stations, etc. we made sure to use the ships gym to stay active and tried to make smart food choices during the day so we could have dessert and a cocktail at dinner. Depending on your ports, there may be wifi. We also had it on the ship. Have fun!

SunflowerCat74

You've had some good responses on how to deal with the food aspect, but if you're going to be on a large cruise line take advantage of the gym on the ship and burn some of the calories off. Many have fitness classes too. Daily exercise will help.