Join Derek Tresize on the Holistic Holiday at Sea Vegan Cruise!
Every year in March one of my favorite events takes place - the Holistic Holiday at Sea Vegan Cruise. This year’s voyage did not disappoint, with travel to ports in Ochos Rios, Jamaica, Cozumel Mexico, St. George and the Bahamas. This trip doesn’t just offer a beautiful early spring Caribbean setting either; it’s a true tour de health with exercise classes, cooking classes, lectures from top experts in the fields of health and nutrition, and a gourmet plant-based menu at every meal. One of my favorite things about the cruise, however, are the people. Being on a ship with such a large group of like-minded individuals (about 1800!) means you are constantly meeting interesting new friends and contacts at the gym, by the pool, at lectures, and during meals. It also means you are more than likely to bump into some of the giants in the field like Dr. Michael Greger, Dr. T Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn while onboard.
This year was my fifth year aboard the ship, and it was an especially great time because I was invited as a presenter, and I was able to share my enthusiasm with other passengers as a Sunwarrior ambassador.
2017 marked my wife’s and my third year of being invited to lead classes and presentations onboard the vegan cruise, and we were both extremely happy with the turn out to our seminars and the enthusiasm of our participants. Leading classes in total body conditioning, posture, prehab and rehab and participating in the athlete’s panel meant I was able to meet and instruct a wide range of people at very different points in their fitness journey, and receiving positive feedback after each class was extremely gratifying.
One thing many passengers frequently have questions about is protein, so I was very happy that this year SunWarrior was a sponsor of the trip. My general recommendations for protein are that if you’re eating ample whole plant foods, you’ll get enough, but supplementing with a high-quality protein shake is a convenient way to get additional protein into your diet and has been shown to aid in recovery after strength training. Having Sunwarrior as a trip sponsor meant that each passenger in the Holistic group received free samples of SunWarrior Classic Plus in their cabin and was, therefore, able to use it during the trip, which I witnessed several times at the smoothie bar and during exercise classes. I also had samples ready to hand out to participants of my classes, and they were very happy to have a convenient protein shake to take in after the class was finished.
The trip isn’t all workouts and lectures though! Onboard you get all the great features of a regular cruise such as nightlife onboard and shore excursions while in port. In between all our classes, panels, and my personal training sessions we were able to get a couple afternoons in at the beach soaking up the Caribbean sun. This is actually my favorite part of the trip, because even though I love learning, teaching and networking on the ship - I’m a beach bum at heart. It was a privilege to present during this years’ cruise, and I felt doubly fortunate to be an ambassador of one of the ship’s sponsors that people I spoke with really seemed to appreciate.
