Hello, I have a cruise scheduled for late January. I had this booked & paid for prior to starting this journey.

I have a 12/14 surgery date

(not approved yet) I have a 6 month nutrition requirement.

My question is,

Have any of you traveled 5-6 weeks after surgery?

Edited September 16, 201510 yr by Susan66

I traveled to do mh surgery so 4 days after surgery i was on a plane going home. It was an 81/2 hpur adventure and it wasnt too bad. i was tired for about a week maybe 2 after surgery so you should be fine by then. Everyone is different though. I would double check with your doctor to be sure it is fine. best of luck!!

Jessicashae33, I did speak with my surgeon yesterday & he seems to think it will be fine. I guess I'm just nervous about the unknown.

I will do everything that I need to do during recovery, to make sure I'm healed. I think the idea of being out to sea & no hospital available adds to my nerves. Thanks for your thoughts. ????

I have the same situation. January 14 surgery with February 28 cruise date. My surgeon also said I would be fine.

I have the same situation. January 14 surgery with February 28 cruise date. My surgeon also said I would be fine.

Hello, My surgery was 12/10. Everything was so easy with this procedure. I saw my surgeon yesterday for a post-op visit & he again reassured me I would be good to go on my cruise. My cruise is 6 weeks post-op. My plan is to bring my individual packets of my protein drinks onboard for added protein mixed in my water bottle. I think the packets are the best for this situation because I don't think I'll get through security with a container of open powder protein mix & I don't want to bring the huge jug it comes in. I plan to meet with one of the chefs immediately after boarding the ship & explaining my situation & asking for simple options like chicken & fish with mild to no seasonings at all, a small salad and a non starchy vegetable option nightly. They will work with us.

Just think how nice it will be to come home from a cruise & not have the usual weight gain of one pound per day. ????

Edited December 20, 201510 yr by Susan66

I'm glad to hear the procedure was easy for you. Thanks for the idea of protein packets and talking to the chef. I have never been on a cruise before. I am excited to hopefully not gain weight on vacation but maybe even lose. Awesome thought.

With this procedure done & the activities of being on a cruise, we should lose. I have been on many cruises & I hope you will enjoy it.

Where is your cruise going to?

I'm about 5 weeks, nearly 6, post op and currently on vacation. Coz I'm on 'normal' diet I didn't plan to bring anything with me, but I'm finding it tricky to cope with portion sizes and it feels like a 'waste of money'!

When I have spoken to the staff at restaurants and such, I've found them to be super accommodating. Most of the time (I've only just started asking) they'll let me order kids portions or take the rest home with me. I'm sure on a cruise they'd help you out as much as possible.

^ hello, what have you been ordering? Also wondering how your new stomach is tolerating the normal foods? I have a fear of ordering something, even plain chicken or fish and it going right through me.

That along with not being sure of the protein I'll be getting in, is why I'm bringing a few of my single serve protein drink packets.

With this procedure done & the activities of being on a cruise, we should lose. I have been on many cruises & I hope you will enjoy it.

Where is your cruise going to?

Royal Caribbean to Jamaica Haiti cayman and mexico. I get a little motion sickness too. Hoping a big boat won't do that to me.

You'll be fine. You won't even feel the ship move this time of year. As far as Haiti, its just a beach break there, all the food comes off the ship for their BBQ there although I don't think any of that food will be tolerable for you. They'll have the typical BBQ, hamburgers, hot dogs, bbq ribs, fried chicken, potato salad and Desserts. Take a swim and relax in the morning and then walk back on board to get some Soup or whatever you bring for lunch and you can go back out again.

I'm ordering pretty much whatever I feel like- I know there are certain things that I just can't do anymore, though. Anything with a high fat content is a problem, so deli meats are off limits, as are cream-based anythings (even ricotta the other day didn't go well). And any carbs just take up too much space, Even a rice paper roll with no noodles in the filling was too much. I'm still doing a lot of liquid stuff just to try and up the nutrition. For me the biggest struggle has been just getting over a) my fear of being 'difficult' for the chef and just asking for smaller sizes/take away containers, and my need to empty my plate.

I'm on the east coast of australia and we're having a heat wave right now, but this has been my 'day', usually:

Smoothie/iced coffee (no cream)

Melon tubs/small piece of fruit (skins are still a bit filling)

Some kind of meat and salad- I had a Vietnamese beef salad, a burrito 'bowl' (no rice or wrap). Or just meat- I had 5 prawns for dinner one night, and a chicken skewer another...

I bought soup, but it's been too hot!!

I've still got a week and a city to go, and my next experiment is tapas- I'll let you know

Oh and I totally get the fear- I think I've been a bit lucky and I've figured out what works and what doesn't pretty quickly, but one 'surprising' thing that I find hard to digest is white meat. My NUT/surgeon said red meat would be the problem child, but chicken/pork just 'sits' in my tummy. I'm a big fan of 'listen to your body'- it tells me pretty quickly (like within a mouthful) what will work and what won't!

^ thanks for sharing what is & isn't working for you. You just never know what's going to be an issue.

Enjoy the rest of your trip & keep us posted on your food choices. This gives me hope that I'll be ok on my upcoming cruise. I was thinking of eating fish & lobster tail most nights but maybe I'll be able to have a taste of some more variety.

I'm not a big fan of any fish, but I guess I must learn to become one. I do like shrimp and losbster if its dripping in butter. yikes!!!

Royal always has a fish, chicken or Pasta. lunch there is always tuna or egg salad, that may go down easy (well except for the mayo).

I haven't even had my surgery yet, but travel is the thing that is making me most nervous. I would take a cruise ship challenge anytime over a 20 hours flight to Asia. I guess I will just bring lots and lots of Protein powder packets.

Hi again!

My holiday is over- I'm not going to lie, finding stuff that satisfied my hip pocket AND the lifetime conditioning of 'finish what's on your plate' and working with aggro chefs who'd get mad ('why didn't they eat my food?! What's their problem?!') was HARD. Tapas was OK portion wise, and had more protein based stuff and flavour without being deep fried or breaded or carb-based... But my last stop was foodie-heaven Melbourne, where the prices are good, the food is amazing but the portions are epic!!

You'll probably do better on the cruise, because you can make contact with staff and ask for what you need. But I wish I'd brought some protein sachets with me in hind sight. I've barely eaten 500 Cals a day, and most of those Cals haven't been very nutritious!