Do you bring any food/snacks?

Yes. We bring miniature chocolates, Pringles, high-fiber bars, individual packages of nuts.

Some people wonder why in the world one might bring food onto a cruise ship; perhaps they don't understand that diabetics need a particular kind of snack. I need something that is able to come off the ship and into port with me, so it must be commercially pre-packaged. Also, it's not a matter of grabbing a slice of pizza or 3 cookies.... for me, that would not be a "smart snack".

Hope this helps people understand why some people do this. :)

We bring trail mix and turkey/beef jerky for port visits. Great for a no-excursion, souvenir shopping day. I will probably bring some Crystal Light or MIO for my water to save calories so I can have just one more fruity cocktail ;)

I bring Pepsi soda (usually Mountain Dew) as I detest Coke products. I also bring factory-sealed foods such as Power Bars that are permissible in many ports (since you can't bring open food) in my purse just in case we don't get to a restaurant that has food I can eat (I'm allergic to shellfish and some other foods). One all-day excursion we went on did have a lunch included, but the guide had packed pre-made sandwiches that I couldn't eat so I was starving by the time we returned to the ship. But we have found some nice restaurants in port.

As for something to eat on the ship, I can usually find something. The last two ships had the International Cafe, which is open 24 hours a day, so if I did wake up in the middle of the night, I could always change and go down there (haven't needed to, but it's nice to have that choice).

I enjoy a savory snack like chips to eat while relaxing on the balcony so I usually bring a couple of things like this as they aren't available for free on the ship. Plus with the Aussie dollar being crap currently I don't fancy spending over $10 for a tube of Pringles from the ship general store :/

My husband looks at me like I'm crazy when I do it, he doesn't understand why I need to bring food on a ship that has so much food available already. But when I want a snack I don't always feel like a cookie or cake which is what seems to be available in the buffet or coffee shop, I want a particular kind of snack! If we're going to ports that have cheap snacks readily available I'll just buy as I go, but if they don't I'll bring it from home.

We don't bring any snacks on board the ship. We do however, like to pick up a couple of sodas during the port stops and keeping them in the cabin fridge.

Jonathan

Average person gains between 5 - 10 pounds on a cruise. All you need is more food that you brought from home to help.

My average is 2-4 pounds on a week cruise. I never skip dessert and I drink more on vacation than at home. I try to take the stairs often, but obviously not enough.

Pepperidge Farm Goldfish for me and Hersey's miniatures for my husband

Choc bars, candy etc for long days on shore.

Yes. Peanut butter M&M's. M&M's and cruising. A perfect match.:D

OMG, PB M&Ms are the devil! :)

I've always lost weight on a cruise as I walk so much more than I do at home and I don't really eat much more. I'm sure I would put weight on if I was doing a relax on a beach type cruise though.

OMG, PB M&Ms are the devil! :)

That's why I say PB M&M's and cruising are a perfect match. I'm addicted to both. :D

I bring Starbucks Via individual coffee packets, and just get a cup of hot water from the Int'l Cafe or whatever's close to my cabin each morning.

For the entire cruise, I don't have to go up and get crappy coffee in the buffet nor get ripped off paying for gourmet coffee elsewhere on board.

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We do bring packaged food onto the ship with us.

Sometimes we do not have a lot of time between flights and thus use snacks to eat on the plane.

When we go on tours, we like to throw a couple of packages of snack crackers into DH's back pack -- just in case.

And I am not a fan of the ship's milk chocolate, so we do bring our own dark chocolate.

That's why I say PB M&M's and cruising are a perfect match. I'm addicted to both. :D

LOL! Oh my goodness, I haven't had PB M&M's in years. I have had Reese's Pieces, which I know taste a little different.

I always wish i'd taken individual bags of chips or nuts to take to the bars which strangely are totally devoid of food.

I had never done this, but may consider for future to have on balcony w/drinks or poolside.

There were salty, spicy snacks at the Martini Bar and were available if we asked at the other bars. (Some bartenders weren't thrilled w/this request!)

The nice thing about packing snacks is, they're not coming back on the return trip with you. Before I fly out on a trip, I always budget a little extra space for souvenirs and stuff. I always come back with more than I left with. When packing snacks, you eat it. That frees up that space.

My first cruise I packed up snacks, nuts, beef jerky and cookies, I had no idea what to expect. We had lunch, we walked past the coffee shop, we bought some cake and coffee, and we had dinner that night, and I was full for the rest of the time on the ship, and took those snacks home with me in the car. Unopened.

Diagnosed as a diabetic, I make sure that I eat breakfast, and I am good til about 11 a.m. ( I get up early, eat around 6:30 a.m.) If you are new to cruising, it's important to know that what you take off the ship, must be packaged and closed. You cant walk off with a sandwich, fruit, salad, cheese, etc. So will I be bringing snacks? For days when we are gone from port for long periods of time? Yes. I like health bars and bottled water . For walking around in port, no, I like trying new food. As long as it's food.:)

I like the idea of bringing the chocolate, this has always been DH's favorite little treat, and I like chocolate after i have to down all my meds, so I will get some for our next cruise. And thank you for the clue about starbucks instant, I hate the coffee on the ship. (oh well more to pack)

As far as snacks on the ship? Nope, salty, get cheese from buffet. Sweet? Lido deck.

Cruise and munch happy.

Always bring snacks, usually peanuts and crackers. Some for on board some for ports. Spouse ahs issues with certain foods (bread, sugar) so this is the easiest way to handle.

Coals to Newcastle, I understand, but we bring some sort of salty snacks to munch on occasionally in the room. During a Code Red, bar snacks are one of the first items to disappear.

Average person gains between 5 - 10 pounds on a cruise. All you need is more food that you brought from home to help.

I typically lose a pound or two because I am not a big fan of cruise food, rarely eat dessert, detest wine and chocolate and I exercise, rarely missing a day.

If one makes wise choices, the snacks brought from home may well be the most nutritious food eaten all week.

One time we had a bag of nuts from the land portion of our cruise. One evening, we went to the Crow's Nest, ordered drinks and were eating our nuts, and the drink servers went crazy when we offered them some. I ended up leaving the bag with them. I have never seen anyone so happy over a bag of nuts. I'll always take extra bags on future cruises.

We do. We bring protein bars for shore excursions (especially diving), raw almonds and dark chocolate. I am mindful of what I eat and in order to avoid coming home 10 lbs heavier I watch what I snack on while on board while still enjoying myself at meals.

I've also brought the Starbucks via coffee before, crystal light and coke for DH.

Granola bars or other small packaged snacks for ports or for emergency wait time on planes or while waiting to board. We hate to waste valuable port time looking for a suitable place to eat and then of course the time it takes to eat. We purposely avoid excursions where a meal is included since it is usually a cafeteria or box type lunch.

Just like to add that we rarely eat more than a small salad for lunch, so just having a granola bar on an excursion is enough to hold us over. I will not go into some of the food we have been served on excursions or the fact that I have been on a ship where they thought they had Noro for 3 days until they realized that all the busloads of people that got sick on the same day had been on the same excursion with lunch in Guatemala.

We do as well. We usually travel with a group and fly in a day or two early. If I am staying in a hotel and we buy pop, juice and various snacks. I am not leaving them behind. We used to bring booze too (but that is a thing of the past) but except for plane rides and hotels we rarely ever have.

However, there have been a few times we should have brought kid food. We go on a crew in Australia and my 3 YO DGS suddenly will only eat PB&J sandwiches. He was never that picky before but wouldn't eat anything else on the trip for lunch. They seemed to run out of PB and/or made the sandwich like a BLT with the third piece of bread in the middle. So, now traveling with kids I will bring some comfort food.

Reading this thread is actually making me make a list for our Spring Break cruise.