I’m on a boat! I’d never been on a cruise before, and this one is vegan! Holistic Holiday at Sea combines whole-food plant-based eating with science, activism, and wellness. It’s 2,000 vegans (including the loved ones they dragged along) setting sail from Miami for Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Our ship was the MSC Divina, and this is its sports bar (complete with a couple tiny bowling lanes).
I chose to drag my parents with me on the cruise. They’ve spent some time in Puerto Rico, they’re vegan-friendly, and my dad could have his birthday in an exotic, nearly Mustang-free location. (Wait. Might have to rethink that last one.) We started in Miami with breakfast at the Green Gables Cafe, which exceeded expectations. This is their veggie burger breakfast bowl, a black bean veggie patty and avocado with miso dressing over baked sweet potato fries.
I splurged for a room with a window, and I loved it. I couldn’t get over watching the ocean fly by outside.
Mornings on the cruise start with exercise class at 7 a.m.where the yoga students and the joggers try not to collide on the running track that doubles as the way to class.
Exercise is followed by breakfast, either in the dining room or here at the buffet. They gave the vegans half the buffet this year, the entire right side, and left the other side for the 1,500 passengers not affiliated with the wellness group.
By the end of the cruise I’d figured out how to combine both buffets (the non-vegan side has cucumbers, the vegan side has Follow Your Heart cheese) into the perfect breakfast.
After breakfast it’s a day of lectures (with a quick buffet lunch). Main lectures happened in the ship’s theater because people like Michael Greger (of New York Times best seller How Not To Die fame) will fill the seats. One challenge on the cruise is the lack of digital communication. Cell phones don’t work, so you have to either make a plan to meet your party ahead of time, or play Where’s Waldo? with the theater crowd. (My parents are both in this picture. Not in the same row.)
We made a habit of meeting outside the dining room at the piano so we could go into dinner together.
The Black Crab dining room. Again the vegans got a portion of the dining room where we were served five-course dinners from a special menu.
Here’s a sample entree from Saturday night’s dinner, classic seitan stroganoff with brown rice fusilli, tofu sour cream, and steamed kale.
And a sample dessert from Friday night’s dinner, the Aztec chocolate and hazelnut torte with rich chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries.