Bariatric Surgery before cruising

[octcruise10]

Hello All. I will be having surgery 1 1/2 months before my scheduled cruise and wanted to see if anyone has had this happen? Any suggestions or tips and tricks? I will still be on soft foods at this point.

 

Thanks in advance.

[TX Cruise Girl]

Well I had surgery 4 months prior to cruising and I was able to take a case of Premier protein shakes with no questions asked.  I had a note from my dr but no one seemed to care.  

[K_e_short]

25 minutes ago, octcruise10 said:

Hello All. I will be having surgery 1 1/2 months before my scheduled cruise and wanted to see if anyone has had this happen? Any suggestions or tips and tricks? I will still be on soft foods at this point.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

I had gastric bypass surgery 6 years before cruising but can definitely give you some suggestions:

 

1 - you can bring protein shakes on board. When I cruised in 2018 I had to contact the special needs department for permission but now you can bring drinks on board.

 

I brought Premier Protein Shakes because you have to make sure you have enough protein and it's an easy way to make sure that happens. You can obviously use other protein shakes or powder protein.

 

2 - A cruise is an awesome place to have a wide choice of food. You'll have a large choice of food and healthy foods that you need to eat after surgery.

 

You'll have veggies, meats, cheese, etc. You don't need to ask for specially prepared food as long as you are paying attention to how things are cooked. I would be cautious of paying for speciality restaurants as you can't really eat a full portion anyways.

 

3 - Insurance. Complications can happen that soon after surgery so I'd look to make sure you have insurance in case anything happens. Specifically gallbladder issues.

 

I hope you are on other bulletin boards of people who have had the surgery and they can give you tips about general recovery after surgery.

 

4 - Walking - I'd suggest getting a pedometer of sorts to track your steps. You'll need to exercise after surgery and walking around a cruise ship for fun things is way better then regular exercise.

 

5 - Water - Bring a water bottle to make sure you have enough water. I'm sure they mentioned you have to drink water.

 

At that point after surgery you will have a very specific schedule of drinking water, then eating. then waitign 30 - 60 minutes to eat again. etc. Since you have unlimited access to food and water you'll be fine.

 

I hope this helps.

 

[K_e_short]

Just now, TX Cruise Girl said:

Well I had surgery 4 months prior to cruising and I was able to take a case of Premier protein shakes with no questions asked.  I had a note from my dr but no one seemed to care.  

 

When I cruised in 2018 you weren't allowed to bring ANY drinks on board but they have changed that policy.

[bdever]

Water retention is a thing! With all the salt in the air, in the pools, hot tubs, ocean and food I found that the water retention not only makes my ankles swell up like grapefruits but that there is a lot of restriction put on my stomach and getting solid foods down is a problem. I highly recommend getting prescription water pills for the trip and start taking one a day or two prior to sailing to get acclimated. 

[JEANMR1]

I’m about two months out from bypass and going on a cruise this Saturday. Everything has gone well for me and I have only thrown up if I have not chewed well enough. I am sticking to the diet but have taken some time to sample other foods to make sure I can digest them properly. I don’t want to find out they are a problem when I’m on the cruise.  It’s vacation and I know I’m going to eat those hashbrowns that I’m dreaming about among other things. I gave myself a little rule though, the first five bites of anything I eat must be healthy protein-based.

[ColeThornton]

59 minutes ago, K_e_short said:

 

When I cruised in 2018 you weren't allowed to bring ANY drinks on board but they have changed that policy.

 

 

Where did you see that they changed the policy on bringing beverages on board?  According to the NCL FAQ's the policy still is the same as it has been.  No beverages.

 

Thanks.

[K_e_short]

25 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

Where did you see that they changed the policy on bringing beverages on board?  According to the NCL FAQ's the policy still is the same as it has been.  No beverages.

 

Thanks.

 Sorry. This was originally posted in the Carnival board which is where I sailed in 2018.

 

But.. I sailed on NCL in 2019 and brought my protein shakes on board with no issue.

 

I may have emailed NCL to get permission to do so.

 

Either way I had no issues but I had them in my carry on and told the security people what was in my carry on before they scanned them.

 

[ldubs]

On 7/20/2021 at 9:10 AM, octcruise10 said:

Hello All. I will be having surgery 1 1/2 months before my scheduled cruise and wanted to see if anyone has had this happen? Any suggestions or tips and tricks? I will still be on soft foods at this point.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

My suggestion is don't be tempted and stick to the prescribed diet. Good luck with the surgery and enjoy the cruise.