MSC Divina Vegan Cruise March 2013
Slowly starting about four years ago, I noticed more and more inflammation has crept into my body. It was getting bothersome but not painful. So, in November I had read a book on foods that contribute inflammation. I found that foods like wheat products, dairy products, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, sugar, citrus fruits, pork, commercial (non-organic) eggs, shellfish, peanuts, peanut butter, coffee, alcohol, juice, decaffeinated teas, soda, anything containing hydrogenated oils, processed foods and fried foods contribute inflammation. The way that our bodies react to the food we eat has always fascinated me. I should have been a dietitian or nutritionist. I experimented some of the recipes from that book and in January I decided to go vegan. I looked up recipes from Oh She Glows and it has quickly become my favorite site to go to. We loved some of the recipes and some not so much. It was a trial and error experience as I have never cooked vegan foods. I found ingredients I have never heard of like nutritional yeast. This is not the same yeast that make bread rise, but it is deactivated yeast. It is commonly used in vegan recipes to replace a cheese taste. It is also high in protein and it is fortified with B-12, a vitamin vegans need to have. I actually have come to love this stuff! Harmons is the only store I know that carry it. So, now I shop at Harmons because they have most of the foods that cater to vegans.
In the meantime while I was educating myself with books and websites about the lifestyle of vegans, Andrew and I wanted to go on a vacation. Andrew loves cruises but I don’t. I get bored on the ship. It bothers me that we have to get back to the ship so soon and I want to explore and see everything I can about the culture. However, I wanted to come up with a compromise that both Andrew and I can agree on a trip. I thought how about a vegan cruise? This is a compromise because I have come to love vegan foods and Andrew wasn’t sold on some of the vegan dinners. I’m not an excellent cook by any means, but I like to think I am a fine cook. He just doesn’t like the healthy vegan recipes like salads, but he liked more of the “comfort” vegan foods. Anyhow, I didn’t know if a vegan cruise existed, but just out of curiosity I typed vegan cruises on the Internet and that is how I found it. We agreed and began preparing for this trip.
This ship can hold 6,000 people (including crew members) and on board there were a total of 1,500 vegans. This ship had a Holistic Holiday at Sea program that consisted of well-known vegan speakers, exercise and cooking classes all included. They had presenters like Dr. T. Colin Campbell who is the bestselling author of “The China Study” a book on relationships between the impact of animal product and plant-based diet has on the human body, Rich Roll a world-renowned vegan ultra-endurance athlete and #1 bestselling inspirational memoir of, “Finding Ultra”, Robert Cheeke a vegan bodybuilder, motivational speaker and author. Many others speakers were there too. Topics included B-12, Osteoporosis, raising plant-based kids, etc. I found that this would be a great learning opportunity. I did not know this but fruits and vegetables have plenty of protein. If you consume just fruits and vegetables (a lot of it) for one day you would get enough protein. I also learned that 10% protein is all we need; in fact any more can lead to osteoporosis, arthritis and many other problems. Scriptures from the bible cautions us to use such meat sparingly. It motivates me all the more to kick it up a notch to eat more fruits and vegetables. We attended two classes from Robert Cheeke and two more classes from Rich Roll. We got our butt kicked! Robert Cheeke sat at our table and we had a good conversation with him. We met many wonderful people on the ship and they shared stories of how and why they became vegan.
We had both never been to Miami Beach and wanted to arrive a day earlier. We found this nice hotel at a very reasonable price considering it was on the beach. Thanks to Trip Advisor! We guessed the hotel is about 20 or so more years old judging by the decor and style and it was very clean.
We took an early flight so we could enjoy the beach as soon as we got there.
Afterwards, we went to dinner at the hotel and took a walk on the boardwalk at the suggestion from our waiter.
That was such a beautiful night and might I add romantic too!
The next morning, we got up early and put on our running gear and ran on the boardwalk so we could see the sunrise. It was so beautiful and it made us feel alive to watch a new day begin.
Andrew wanted to run 6 miles and I was planning on 3 because it had been a while since I ran as I have shin splits to heal. I enjoyed running so much that I could not help myself but ran the whole 6 miles! My body paid for it. It was well worth it. I loved the sunrise, the boardwalk and the beach so much that I did not want it to end.
Here we are boarding on the ship. We learned that the ship is 2 years old and what a gorgeous massive thing it was. I wore my “Powered by Plants” t-shirt that I ordered online and it arrived a day before we left for our vacation. Good timing! Many people loved my shirt. I must have had about 15 compliments! I thought it was funny.
We were pleased with the size of our stateroom. We did not pay extra for a bigger room. It was supposed to be small but got this nice big room. Sweet!
We took an early flight so we could enjoy the beach as soon as we got there.
That was such a beautiful night and might I add romantic too!
The next morning, we got up early and put on our running gear and ran on the boardwalk so we could see the sunrise. It was so beautiful and it made us feel alive to watch a new day begin.
Andrew wanted to run 6 miles and I was planning on 3 because it had been a while since I ran as I have shin splits to heal. I enjoyed running so much that I could not help myself but ran the whole 6 miles! My body paid for it. It was well worth it. I loved the sunrise, the boardwalk and the beach so much that I did not want it to end.
Here we are boarding on the ship. We learned that the ship is 2 years old and what a gorgeous massive thing it was. I wore my “Powered by Plants” t-shirt that I ordered online and it arrived a day before we left for our vacation. Good timing! Many people loved my shirt. I must have had about 15 compliments! I thought it was funny.
We were out at sea for two days and I was anxious to get to our first stop. We arrived to St. Maarten, Phillipsburg. I wanted to do a little shopping and site seeing before it was time for our excursion.
Our excursion plan was a catamaran boat ride to a snorkeling area and then afterwards to the beach called Simpson Bay. It was on the French side. Later we found out from other people from the ship that they had been to a topless beach. It’s a good thing Andrew didn’t see that topless beach. We would never have gotten him off vacation! Ha ha! When we arrived to the beach we jumped off the boat holding hands and plunged into the ocean and swam to the shore. The water was warm and the beach was beautiful.
We were also surprised to see an airplane take off and land just off shore. It was so fun to watch that. It wasn't at all like this:
Airplanes took off and landed behind these homes.
Before we got to the beach, while snorkeling, we were surprised to see people in old fashioned diving suits at the bottom of the sea about 20ft below walking through a built maze to look at a shipwreck. We thought that was pretty cool and took underwater pictures from a cheap camera and hoped they turned out okay. Well, it didn't turn out so well. We only got a few out of the many pictures we took.
Airplanes took off and landed behind these homes.
On Friday, just as we were inside our cabin getting ready to get off the ship to the Bahamas beach, we heard an announcement from the captain that due to bad weather the sea was too rough to tender from the ship to shore and cancelled our stop to Bahamas. We had no window in our cabin and had no idea it was raining so, we were surprised to hear that. We wanted to try the stand-up paddling and more snorkeling. You should have seen Andrew throw what you might call a childlike tantrum! Let me explain why. In the past, we have been cursed with bad weather at almost every vacation. I thought it was funny. We were so bummed, but when we went to the indoor pool, we could definitely see pouring rain outside. So, we had to spend another day at sea, blah. I was glad to have a few books to read. What was I reading? “Finding Ultra” and I highly recommend this inspiring book!
To make up for our lost time at Bahamas, we went bowling, experienced the F1 stimulator race car driving and the 4D extreme cinema.
Many of you might be wondering how the food was. Well, the food was just okay. It could have been better. We were expecting great tasting food and it was not. When I started cooking vegan dishes, I chose foods the way that Andrew and I would enjoy. The ship did not provide the same familiar foods. They had to accommodate everyone meaning that there were two menus to choose from and that was either oil free or regular vegan dishes. At first, we did not know we were eating oil free dishes, but then caught on to that and asked for regular vegan dishes and it was a little better but not much. Andrew was such a great sport about the vegan dishes at our evening meals. The ship had a restaurant with two floors. The upstairs served regular meat dishes and downstairs served vegan dishes. The last three days he was told it was okay to order food from upstairs and eat with me downstairs. We tried to eat upstairs and have them bring the vegan dishes upstairs but they were against that. I am not sure why. Almost every morning, Andrew got meat dishes at the buffet and I took advantage of the vegan buffet. Even Andrew was not impressed with the meat dishes. After having had just okay food, he is realizing what a great cook I am. Ha ha! Like I said, the food was just okay, but we were very pleased with great weather all week long and had a great time.
