Holistic Holiday At Sea

I just got back from a 7-day vacation in which I never stressed once about what I was eating!  That in and of itself is a real testimonial, considering all of my vacations start with a mandatory visit to HappyCow.net to find vegan or vegan friendly restaurants as well as a trip to the grocery store to stock up on, “just in case” food.  I’m exhausted before I ever start my trip!

Dr. Michael Greger, NutritionFacts.org

But Holistic Holiday At Sea changed all that this year.  HHS is a vegan cruise, to be more specific an oil-free (optional), gluten-free (optional) vacation paradise!  

And it gets better! 

The whole week is jammed pack with speakers, most notably Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr. Neil Barnard and Dr. Michael Greger.  As well as additional speakers covering such topics as animal welfare, laughter as medicine and how to eat vegan.  In addition to the daily talks there are cooking demonstrations by well-known chefs in the plant-based movement like Christina Pirello from Christina Cooks (PBS) and exercise/meditation classes.   No matter where your interests lie, health, animal rights, fitness, cooking or mind, body & soul – there is something for everyone. 

Me in Jamaica!

The cruise still offers ports of call and the speaker schedule does slow down so you can get off the ship without feeling you are missing anything.  Now for the islands, I did hit HappyCow.net to do some recon before I left and I’m so happy I did, because once on shore, I found that I had no cell service and the locals weren’t very familiar with the few vegan restaurants that were available.  Another option is to book vegan excursions through HHS, but don’t drag your feet, they book up fast.  However, I did find most of the people in our group stayed aboard and took advantage of the spa, salon, gym and pools while most of the ship debarked.  I think we were all exhausted from learning so much and just wanted to hang out and relax.

Did I mention that I lost 3 pounds!!!  Can’t say that with many vacations, let alone a cruise.  The food was good, I wouldn’t say amazing, but I was able to get oil-free and gluten-free at every meal without any hassle.  And every dish had the ingredients listed in case of  food allergies – many took a photo with their phone of the menus for easy reference.  Surprisingly, I was never hungry, each meal had four-courses, breakfast, lunch and dinner – 4 courses!  I never had to break into my emergency food stash while on board.  Oh, and you still get to have fun, there were pizza and ice cream socials almost every night.

This year there were 1,700 participants, we didn’t quite take over the 4,000 person cruise ship, but if things keep expanded like they are, a 100% cruise could be in our future!  It was so refreshing to meet so many like minded people, I made a ton of new friends.  Every meal I was meeting someone new and learning about their own unique vegan story as well as their life - people from all over the world and of all ages!

For those of you who like to mix business with pleasure, CME/CE credits are available for most classes. 

Next year is going to be a big year for HHS; it’s their 15^th anniversary and as such they are extending the cruise to 10 days!  By moving it up to February 15-25, 2018, they are taking advantage of President’s Day, which many get the day off from work.  They already have the speakers lined up and it looks to be another fantastic offering and learning experience.  And check out these ports of call - Martinique; St. Kitts and Nevis; Tortola, British Virgin Islands; St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; and Freeport, Bahamas!

If you have trouble traveling vegan or as a healthy whole-food, plant-based, oil-free vegan, check out Holistic Holiday At Sea, this cruise will keep you on track and is the opportunity of a lifetime!

Keep it healthy!