The Love-Your-Body Boat

Cruising for Fun and Fitness

By Carol Sjostrom Miller

Just as anyone who takes a cruise does, Crandall ate, drank, danced and enjoyed her trip. However, she found that hers wasn't the typical cruise vacation. When the cruise was over, she had lost 5 pounds and found lots of new friends. She also had a new sense of accomplishment. "When I finished an hour-long exercise class, I was amazed that I really did it," she says. "After all, when you're at home exercising with a video, you can turn it off at any time. The cruise gave me the motivation I needed to continue losing weight when I got home."

There is a huge variety of options in fitness cruises, including destinations, length of trips, activities and price ranges, so it is important to choose your cruise carefully. A good travel agent can help point you in the right direction, or you can find information on different cruise lines that offer fitness cruises by visiting the Cruise Lines International Association Web site at www.cruising.org. Decide exactly what you are looking for and do your research to find the best cruise for you.

Crandall did, and it paid off for her. "The cruise met my expectations and more," she says. "It was definitely worth going at least once in [my] life."

It must have been. She took a second fitness cruise a year after her first, and is looking forward to her third this spring.

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