7 Ways to Stay Active on a Cruise

Just in time for your next trip, here are seven tips for staying active while on board a cruise. 

Last month I had the incredible opportunity to sail with Princess Cruises on the Ruby Princess for a four-day California coastal cruise along the Pacific. Recently I gave you a brief overview of my experience but today I want to dive into a topic I am passionate about: staying active while traveling.

As a travel blogger, I am on the road a lot. As much as these trips are fun, (trust me – they ARE fun!), they are also exhausting and a lot of work. Staying active not only gives me the energy I need for my long days but it helps me maintain my weight loss and fitness goals.

When most people hear the word “cruise” they often think of midnight buffets, unlimited daiquiris and 24 hour room service. Believe me – those are all available but there are also plenty of ways to stay fit. To help you make the most of your next sail, today I’m sharing seven tips for staying active on a cruise.

Wear a Fitbit:

You guys know I love my FitBit but I had no idea how motivating it would be while on a cruise walking from deck to deck, floor to floor. Cruise ships are quite large and you often have to do a fair amount of walking to get to various dining rooms, shops and other gathering places. In my opinion, this is the best type of workout because you don’t even realize you’re getting exercise as you’re exploring the ship!

My husband recently got me the Fitbit Charge HR which also monitors your heart rate and tells you how many hours per day you are in peak, cardio, and fat burn zone. If it’s in your budget, I highly recommend this one because it’s all-encompassing and provides a more accurate picture of your daily fitness, especially if you’re doing strength training or yoga which don’t involve many steps.

Travel With a Health Conscious Friend:

Who you cruise with is a very important decision and one that certainly shouldn’t be taken lightly. You’re in tight quarters after all! For this particular wine and culinary-focused cruise, I decided to bring my dear friend Briana from college who was also one of my bridesmaids. Briana and I have a similar relaxed and balanced approach to fitness and diet which made us excellent travel companions. We both like to get active every day, we aren’t huge drinkers and we can both easily pass on dessert. Having her with me made it even easier to stick to these good habits.

Take Advantage of the Complimentary Fitness Center:

Offering breathtaking views of the blue sea, there is just something fabulous about doing your usual elliptical or treadmill workout out in the middle of the ocean on a ship. Compared to other ships I’ve sailed on in the past, I was blown away by the scale, size and diversity of machines and equipent offered in the Ruby Princess fitness center. It was first class all the way and a huge upgrade from the tiny hotel gyms I’m used to using when traveling.

Get Your Namaste On:

After doing sunrise yoga in Cancun last month, I couldn’t wait to do a little outdoor yoga once again. You see, most of the time when I do yoga it is in a small dark room in my gym with noisy boot camp classes next door or weights dropping on the floor overhead. There is just something truly relaxing and rejuvenating about any type of exercise outdoors but especially one as centering and peaceful as yoga.

It might seem silly to practice yoga in public on a ship but usually in the morning the only people out are those walking, jogging or doing their own workout. Plus, there are tons of little hidden areas to get your yoga on in private. Namaste.

Walk the Track: 

If yoga isn’t your thing, the Ruby Princess also offers an outdoor jogging track that was quite popular with guests. Offering several lanes, you can easily walk, jog or run without having to worry about others being in the way. I’ll warn you, it’s not a very long track so it takes several laps to hit a mile. That said, we also discovered that you can walk the Promenade Deck on Level 7 if you prefer to walk the entire length around the ship. We ended doing a little of both during our cruise.

Take a Fitness Class:

I’m a class junkie and love sweating it out with loud music and a big group so I was thrilled to see all of the exercise classes offered on board every day in the fitness center. From TRX to yoga to boot camp and more, Princess certainly makes it easy to maintain your active lifestyle while cruising. Sadly, we had a packed itinerary every day with our scheduled excursions so I didn’t get to take a class while on our short four day cruise but you better believe a TRX class is on my bucket list for next time!

Book a Shore Excursion:

Hands down, I had the most steps in my day whenever we were busy on a fun excursion. Of course, we were just touring vineyards and sampling wine but we were still getting lots of steps in walking around and taking in the scene. Depending on your specific itinerary and destinations at sea, Princess offers a wide variety of excursions that make it easy to stay active during your cruise. Whether it’s dog sledding in Alaska, touring the Great Wall in China or simply going on a hike, Princess offers no shortage of ways to stay active while on your cruise adventure. In fact, I enjoyed our leisurely walks through the wineries in Ensenada, Mexico and can’t wait to tell you more about that soon.

What is your favorite way to stay active on a cruise? I would love to hear from you. 

Disclosure: Princess Cruise Line has compensated me for my time to share my recent experiences on board the Ruby Princess. Thank you for supporting the brands that make The Lemon Bowl possible. All thoughts are my own.

Need more Fitness tips? Check out my Pinterest page!