does everyone gain weight on a cruise?

[Anonymous]

we went on a week-long multi-generational cruise this summer - and i came back heavier than i've ever been in my life. finally now, a month later, have taken off the cruise weight.

is this just how it goes on a cruise? plan to gain some weight? if you don't gain weight on a cruise, what are you doing differently than other people? i'm active and didn't think i was going completely hog wild with the eating and drinking, but apparently i was wrong!

[Anonymous]

It's like on airplanes - the entire set-up is to keep passengers contented, therefore docile, and a big part of that is high-calorie foods and alcohol.

[Anonymous]

I cruise a lot. I don't gain weight. Sometimes I lose weight. I don't drink which probably helps a lot. But cruise food is mostly mediocre. I don't feel the need to indulge in it. My eating doesn't change much from when I'm at home.

2 eggs and coffee for breakfast or yogurt
salad for lunch
Entrée for dinner---usually protein and veg and I skip the starters and dessert.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think I do. I’m just not all that tempted by the food — I only really want high quality food, and I’m usually able to find that, but by being selective. And we’re pretty active and I basically never take the elevators because they are so crowded so I’m often doing 50 stories of stairs a day. I also don’t drink a lot. And I hate cruise ship pools so don’t typically just sit a lot.

I did gain a bunch of weight going to Hawaii this summer. Too much tasty rice, malasadas, ice cream, Portuguese bread, ramen and too much time just sitting by the pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I cruise a lot. I don't gain weight. Sometimes I lose weight. I don't drink which probably helps a lot. But cruise food is mostly mediocre. I don't feel the need to indulge in it. My eating doesn't change much from when I'm at home.

2 eggs and coffee for breakfast or yogurt
salad for lunch
Entrée for dinner---usually protein and veg and I skip the starters and dessert.

this is op - and this sounds like my at-home eating, but def not how i ate on a cruise. what did you do all day if you weren't eating?! it just seems like that's the main activity on days you aren't stopped somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think I do. I’m just not all that tempted by the food — I only really want high quality food, and I’m usually able to find that, but by being selective. And we’re pretty active and I basically never take the elevators because they are so crowded so I’m often doing 50 stories of stairs a day. I also don’t drink a lot. And I hate cruise ship pools so don’t typically just sit a lot.

I did gain a bunch of weight going to Hawaii this summer. Too much tasty rice, malasadas, ice cream, Portuguese bread, ramen and too much time just sitting by the pool.

i ran up and down the stairs all day, too! but i guess i am not that selective about food

[Anonymous]

Depends on how much you eat and how much you excercise. On most ships you can, but need not, eat as much as you want. Similarly, on most ships you can exercise as much or as little as you want. Balancing the two is key.

[Anonymous]

No because both times I've gone a cruise I came home with norovirus. That certainly took care of any overeating I had done during the vacation.

[Anonymous]

Yeah I was thinking that at least a third of the time norovirus and the like take care of it.

[Anonymous]

We took a holland America cruise and my sister and I both had various chopped salads from the salad station every day for lunch. Had a modest breakfast, maybe split a dessert at dinner. It’s not hard hard to find tasty healthy options.

[Anonymous]

This isn’t rocket science. If you don’t want to gain weight on vacation, you have to eat the same you do at home. Most people don’t do that, which is why they gain weight. For example at home I don’t eat breakfast and I rarely eat dessert. If I do those things on vacation I am going to gain weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cruise a lot. I don't gain weight. Sometimes I lose weight. I don't drink which probably helps a lot. But cruise food is mostly mediocre. I don't feel the need to indulge in it. My eating doesn't change much from when I'm at home.

2 eggs and coffee for breakfast or yogurt
salad for lunch
Entrée for dinner---usually protein and veg and I skip the starters and dessert.

this is op - and this sounds like my at-home eating, but def not how i ate on a cruise. what did you do all day if you weren't eating?! it just seems like that's the main activity on days you aren't stopped somewhere.

NP — we did a Disney cruise. There’s a lot going on, even during the days when you’re at sea. I never felt like eating was the only thing to do. I didn’t gain weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This isn’t rocket science. If you don’t want to gain weight on vacation, you have to eat the same you do at home. Most people don’t do that, which is why they gain weight. For example at home I don’t eat breakfast and I rarely eat dessert. If I do those things on vacation I am going to gain weight.

yes, thank you for explaining how weight gain works to me - what a mystery until now

my question wasn't WHY people gain weight on cruises but if most people gain weight on cruises. i don't usually eat for entertainment at home, but i definitely did on the cruise - i know WHY i gained that weight; just wondering how common that is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cruise a lot. I don't gain weight. Sometimes I lose weight. I don't drink which probably helps a lot. But cruise food is mostly mediocre. I don't feel the need to indulge in it. My eating doesn't change much from when I'm at home.

2 eggs and coffee for breakfast or yogurt
salad for lunch
Entrée for dinner---usually protein and veg and I skip the starters and dessert.

this is op - and this sounds like my at-home eating, but def not how i ate on a cruise. what did you do all day if you weren't eating?! it just seems like that's the main activity on days you aren't stopped somewhere.

NP — we did a Disney cruise. There’s a lot going on, even during the days when you’re at sea. I never felt like eating was the only thing to do. I didn’t gain weight.

gotcha!

[Anonymous]

We just came back from a cruise and my mother asked me how much I gained. I didn't gain....probably because I'm not a huge drinker (not more than 2 alcoholic beverages a day on vacation) and I apparently have no interest in a large abundance of mediocre food (which I didn't realize until the choice was in front of me). How many plates of wet buffet scrambled eggs can one eat?

I think since we went with kids, they kept me running all over the ship. One day at sea, my fitness tracker calculated 50 flights of stairs!