Cruisin' along - editor's note - healthy vacations aboard cruise lines - Editorial

Vegetarian Times, June, 2003 by Laurel Lund

Is there such a thing as a healthy cruise? One in which the menu is gourmet without gouging your diet? One in which the food is fabulous but not fattening? One in which fitness is fit into a schedule that otherwise might consist of lounging around the pool, sipping exotic drinks?

There is such a thing! I know because I've been on one. Several years ago, I and 250 like-minded vegetarians set sail for Tahiti on a Renaissance Cruise Line ship. We spent 10 glorious days not only enjoying the Tahitian islands and their native hosts--beautiful both inside and out--but savoring the most wonderful vegetarian fare I've ever tasted.

We knew the same sentiments would be felt by Carla Davis, VT's managing editor, and Denise Kelly-Jones, winner of the VT/CHIP-Shape Cruise who traveled with hubby, Brad Jones, and year-old baby, Christopher, to the Caribbean in February. That's why, when approached about co-sponsoring a wellness seminar aboard a cruise line, by Don Alsbro of the weight-loss program called Dump Your Plump and Hans Diehl of the community-changing Coronary Health Improvement Project (CHIP), we were intrigued. Could you indeed "cruise and lose"?

"Definitely," says Davis, who joined health-conscious people from across the country for a seven-day CHIP-Shape Wellness Cruise aboard the smoke-free Carnival Paradise. Throughout the week, activities included health-related classes, cooking demos, massages, tai chi classes, concerts, social mixers--even a talent show.

"With all the CHIP-Shape wellness activities, I came home from the trip feeling excited, invigorated and ready to make positive lifestyle changes," Davis says. "I was most excited that I didn't even gain weight!"

Because CHIP favors a "foods-as-grown" vegetarian lifestyle, Alsbro and Diehl worked closely with Carnival to provide cuisine that would appeal to the diverse group of participants, whose ranks included doctors and nurses, teachers and business executives, realtors and retirees. Paradise set aside six chefs to prepare strictly vegan menus on a par with anything found on the regular dinner menu. "The vegan meals were fabulous," says Davis. "Beautiful as well as delicious. Every night there was a vegan appetizer, entree and dessert" made from recipes provided by both VT and CHIP and made available exclusively to the wellness cruisers.

Veggie food choices were not just limited to the dining room. Elsewhere on the cruise you could get soy or rice milk, soy yogurt, egg substitutes for a veg omelet, vegan pizza, veggie burgers and other healthy options.

Lots of food. Lots of fun. Lots of healthy living tips. All in all, the VT cruise kept everyone in CHIP-top shape!