9 tips to avoid gaining weight when you cruise!

We’ve all heard the excuses relating to the air conditioning system or onboard laundry department shrinking clothes over the final few days of a cruise, but the reality is that you’ve potentially just eaten a little bit more than you’re used to, and you’re approaching the end of your cruise with slightly (!) tighter clothes than you started it with. Not to worry though - this happens to all of us - you’re not along in this fight… Over my cruising career, I’ve developed a few habits that I try to stick to in order to keep weight gain at bay, and some of them are easier than you might think! Today, I’m going to share 9 of them with you.

Before we get started, please do support my journey by checking out my YouTube channel - every single video view, like and subscriber over there helps my content to reach more people - you can join me over there today by searching ‘Fraser at Sea’ on Youtube, or by clicking here. Also, while you’re here, have you signed up to receive my newsletters? They’re totally free of charge, and all I need is your e-mail address - click here to sign up today! Anyway, let’s get started with my top tips to help you keep weight off during your cruise!

1. Going up or down? Take the stairs!

Did you know - apparently you can burn up to 175 and 275 calories per hour by walking DOWN the stairs, and you can burn 530 to 835 calories per hour by walking UP them? Okay, I know you’re not going to be spending HOURS of your vacation walking up and down the staircases on your cruise ship, but you get my point…! If you need to go up a couple of decks, could you take the stairs instead of the elevator? If you need to go up lots of decks, could you take the stairs for a few, and then hop in the elevator to finish the journey? My general rule of thumb when I cruise is that, unless I need to go up more than 7-8 decks at one time, I’ll try to avoid using the elevators.

Here’s a trick for you to try on your next cruise… If you need to take the elevator to, for example, deck 10, why not take it to deck 9 and then walk up one deck? Each day of your trip, get out of the elevator one deck earlier, until there’s no point in getting in. Trust me - it’s so satisfying, and you’ll feel better for it!

2. Walk in port - do you need to take a taxi or a bus?

This one’s particularly easy if you’re cruising in Europe, due to the fact that you’re often going to be docking in large cities. I tend to find walking around Caribbean ports much more difficult, as the main thing to do is often to sample the local food and enjoy time lounging on the beach.

If you’re in the Mediterranean / Europe, it’s super easy to avoid jumping in a taxi (which will probably be expensive, anyway), and navigate your own way to the train station/bus station/restaurant etc. So many of your fellow cruise passengers will opt for the easiest method of getting there, but it might surprise you just how much more of the city you’ll see by opting to walk instead. The example I’d give is Naples - the main thing I wanted to do was eat Pizza at the best pizza restaurant in the world (according to the Michelin Guide). It would be about 15 minutes in a taxi, or an hour of walking. I chose to walk, and was so glad I did - going by taxi, I’d have missed the local markets, the lovely coffee shops, and the boutique stores all along the main streets - I’d have really regretted that! Perhaps more importantly, I’d burned off a lot of that pizza before I even made it to the restaurant!

3. Walk around the ship - have you thought about stateroom / cabin corridors?

This one might sound weird, but hear me out! On a cruise ship, there are corridors that run the entire length of the ship on many of the decks, and these corridors house just passenger cabins. At the end of the night, I sometimes enjoy picking a deck and walking all the way around that floor, which is a decent way to work off the day before you go to bed.

Why do I sometimes do this instead of walking around the main public areas? Well, those areas will often have loud music playing, or people will be relaxing with a few drinks, whereas these parts of the ship are lovely and quiet. The other big advantage here is that you’re indoors - it doesn’t matter what the weather’s like outside - you can still get your pre-bed walk ticked off of your list!

Another benefit to going for a walk of each deck is that you can check for door decorations. This is something that I LOVE to do on a cruise - some of the ways people choose to decorate their cruise ship cabins door is - ummmm - ‘creative’, but more on that another day!

4. Does the ship have a running track? Set yourself a daily goal!

Don’t worry - I’m not about to tell you to put your running shoes on and run a marathon every day up on the top deck (although my ice cream consumption onboard often means I’d need to do this to burn off enough calories…!). If there’s a running track up there, why not set yourself a goal to walk a few laps of the track each day?

This is so much easier to do than it might sound - don’t overthink it! You don’t need to set much time aside - on my recent Virgin cruise, I made it my mission to walk at least one lap of the running track every time the ship would arrive in port. Granted, it’s not a huge amount of exercise, but it’s more than I’d have got sitting at the buffet! If you don’t enjoy this sort of thing and viewing it as exercise, do what I do - try to pick up a coffee ‘to go’ enroute to the track, then you can just do a few laps while sipping your morning coffee and taking in the views - EASY!

If you’re more athletically minded (I know some of you are out there…!), why not set yourself a goal that increases with each day of the cruise? For example, on day 1, why not try to run 10 laps of the running track? On day 2, try 15 laps, and so on and so forth. By the end of the cruise, those calories will be flying off of you, and your fellow passengers will be envious as they opt for the slightly looser belt hole…!

5. Hungry? Avoid big snacks at that buffet in the afternoon, even although they’re calling your name…!

This is one that I’ve learned from BIG TIME over the last few years. During my first couple of cruises, I loved popping up to the buffet for a ‘snack’. At home, an afternoon snack would probably be a biscuit or a chocolate bar, but onboard a cruise ship my afternoon snack could be a full roast dinner with all the trimmings, or maybe even a full curry. I didn’t seem to worry about the fact that my next meal was dinner, and that would be in about 90 minutes - how could I possibly work up an appetite for a meal at the Main Dining Room when I’d filled up on a curry just over an hour before?!

Now, if I want a mid afternoon snack, I try to get up there a couple of hours before dinner, and I try to treat it like a late lunch, or even lighter. Cruise ships will always have fresh salad counters, and this can really be your friend between meals! You’re also going to find quite a few cruise ships offering Afternoon Tea nowadays, so why not pop up and have a sandwich or two, and maybe a scone as a treat? You just don’t need to eat as though this is your last meal…!

6. Fancy a dessert? Why not have it from the buffet instead of the Dining Room?

My logic here’s really simple - if you’re hungry and fancy something sweet to polish off your evening meal, why not head upstairs and grab it from the buffet? This could mean that you would have a totally different selection to what’s in the restaurant, and you might even eat a little less than what might be presented to you downstairs.

I find this trick particularly useful later in the cruise - I love to overindulge for the first few days, but after that it can become quite a lot! Instead of a full dessert downstairs, I often enjoy heading upstairs and having some soft serve ice cream (or similar) to finish off my meal! The win-win here is that I get the exact dessert that I want, and I also don’t often put as much food in at the same time - result!

7. Do you need to dine in the formal dining room every evening of your cruise?

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that the dining room food on cruise ships is often really rich, and it can be difficult for me to keep eating there if I’m on a cruise longer than about 4 nights. On a 7 night cruise, I’ll eat in the dining room most of the time, but will aim to break this up with a night or two at the buffet. That way, I can control what’s going on my plate, and what I’m then eating as a result!

For example, it’s often rare that I can have a salad in a dining room of a cruise ship, as the meals in there are often far more impressive. Yes, I enjoy a steak for my dinner, but sometimes I just need something much lighter! A point to note - if you’re trying to ‘behave’ a little in the restaurants, it’s usually totally fine to ask for your meal to be served without a dressing, or maybe you want the sauce on the side. This will usually be poured onto your plate fresh just before it’s served, and so it’s easy for the crew to ensure you can get yours separate, in order for you to portion control, if you wish!

You’re going to find the dining room is open every night of your cruise, and will probably also offer lunch on sea days (some cruise ship restaurants also offer lunch when the ship is docked), and the buffet will be open at the same time, so you’ve always got the choice!

You may wish to dine in the dining room every day of your cruise, and that’s absolutely fine (infact, good on you!). Personally though, I don’t have the willpower to avoid those really ‘bad’ dishes, and so I ban myself a couple of times a cruise for the sake of my ever-expanding waistline, ha!

8. Go for a walk on the promenade deck after dinner!

Does your cruise ship have a Promenade deck? Great - head out here for a walk after dinner!

You’ll often find these decks are on the same deck as most of the public areas onboard. The primary reason for this is that this deck is where lifeboats are loaded from in the event of an emergency, and the muster stations are always in the main public areas. Don’t worry though - we don’t need to think about abandoning ship at this stage!

The Promenade Deck of a cruise ship is usually around deck 6 or 7, and so you’re much closer to the waterline than you would be if you took a walk around, for example, the top deck. This makes wildlife spotting so much easier from down here - I’ve seen so many dolphins, flying fish and even whales during my post dinner Promenade Deck walks, so I really can’t recommend it enough. From a fitness point of view, you’re not going to drop a dress size going for one lap of the ship, but you’re keeping yourself moving after what’s probably been a big slap-up meal, which is the important thing!

9. You knew this one was coming, but you could WORK OUT while you’re cruising…

I know, and 'I’m sorry for bringing it up, but every cruise ship out there features a full gym onboard. This is, without a doubt, one of the easiest ways for you to keep 'in shape’ or keep on top of your fitness goals when you cruise. On most large ships, you’ll find a fully kitted-out gym, a thermal suite, fitness class areas and so much more, so be sure to check what’s onboard your specific ship before you board.

These gyms will have fully trained members of crew in here who can offer Personal Training - maybe this cruise is your ideal opportunity to try PT, as it’s slightly less nerve-wracking than your local gym? Also, if you enjoy spin classes, pilates, yogas and all of the usual favourites, you’ll probably enjoy your time in here, thanks to the gym classes on offer for group exercise - just check your daily schedule each day to see what’s on!

Lots of people ask me in the gym facilities on ships are 24/7, and the honest answer to this is no. In my experience, the gyms will often open early (about 6.30am/7am, so prior to the ship docking in port), and they’ll close late in the day (around 8pm or 9pm). The facilities will then sometimes remain lit, but this is often because cruise ship crew can use those facilities outside of passenger hours. In short, if it’s outside of the advertised hours, don’t go in there.

To find out more about fitness onboard a cruise ship, head over to this article, where I’ve summarised the fitness offering onboard Symphony of the Seas, one of the largest cruise ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet.

If you enjoyed this article, please do sign up to my FREE email newsletters by clicking here. Also, come and subscribe to my YouTube channel - I’ve got so much more to show you!