Cruising. Not Along. But to Alaska.

Cruising. To Alaska. With the family. Because this is a diabetes blog, I’m skipping over my general cruise commentary and going straight to stuff you might care about.

Cruising Awesomeness:

One of the last questions on the health info boarding form included, Do you need a sharps container for syringes, needles… ?
What? Of course I would love a sharps bin! So…a small sharps bin was delivered to my room before we even left the dock. Delivered!

Purell® everywhere. Perfect for removing sticky substances from fingers before testing.

Handheld shower head thing! Perfect for successful showering without a direct water stream on the Dex and insulin pump sites. (Side note, to get hot hot water, you have to push IN the red button and then turn. Side side note. Try to figure that out before your fourth shower).

Lots of stairs. Our room was on the 1st floor, and we mostly ate on the 9th floor. Eight flights of stairs provide the perfect opportunity to give a meal bolus, skip the elevator and be in perfect BG range for breakfast. Also ideal for keeping your ass in shape while cruising.

Reading Time! I finally had time to finish Ginger’s book (review coming).

Cruising Goof Ups (aka, Where I Screwed Up):
Hydration. This was my first cruise, so maybe I missed something, but staying hydrated took some effort. Glasses and mugs were small, and I only found beverage stations during meal times. Take a water bottle from home and keep it filled from your room sink.

Food. All sorts of food. Food with no nutrition labels, five-course evening dinners, carb-filled breakfasts. Buffets. BUFFETS. With soft-serve ice cream and cookies. However, many of the food options stay the same. For instance, I had French toast and fruit every morning (plus or minus eggs, mini chocolate croissants, you know…). The first morning I bloused generously, but cautiously. Learning lessons from Morning One helped set me up for the remaining mornings. Guestimating carbs didn’t get easy, but I did get a handle on it.

Timing. Getting in insulin just around 20 minutes before a meal, not too late (hello HI) or too early (oh…LOW), was difficult. Some meals are at set times, but many were during a time range. I think you could circumvent some of this issue based on your cruising group and their ability to be accommodating.

Cruising with diabetes is definitely doable. Be prepared that things won’t be all flatline all the time. Or at all. But, with a little planning and a little extra effort, and you’ll come back with a great cruise story and steady BGs.