Cruise into wellness

People often think that they’ll pile on the pounds on a cruise thanks to overflowing buffets and endless drinks at the bar.

It is, however, perfectly possibly to stay healthy on a cruise thanks to the rise of onboard wellness activities such as yoga.

Muster points now have yoga mats while sundecks are full of fewer sunbathers in sunglasses and more contortionists in leotards posing as Half Lords Of The Fishes.

For and aft, cruisers are performing their downward-facing dogs and Chakravakasana cat-cow stretches.

Star Clippers, the tall-ship cruise line founded by Swede Mikael Krafft, has taken on more qualified instructors for its yoga-themed sailings this summer and autumn.

They are employed to teach you to balance on one leg in the middle of the Med. Passengers can take part in complimentary, daily power yoga classes throughout eight sailings on board Star Clipper from April through October, visiting ports of call in the Western Mediterranean.

Confirmed yoga-themed departures are May 13, May 27, July 8, July 29 and October 7, 2023.

Fay McCormack, general manager of the UK GSA, told World of Cruising: “Today's ever-increasing awareness of the positive effects of yoga on mental wellbeing reaffirms why we choose to offer this service to our guests.”

Cruise-only prices start at £1,630 per person, based on two adults sharing a category six cabin. An example itinerary based a July 15, 2023 departure sees Star Clipper visiting Cannes, Portofino, L'Ile Rousse, Calvi, Plage Saint Antoine, Le Lavandou, and St Tropez.

Star Clippers operates three of the world's largest and tallest fully-crewed sailing vessels.

Its 42-sail, five-masted, 134m, three swimming pool Royal Clipper – the world’s largest square-rigger is inspired by the Preussen tall ship.

Royal Clipper has a three-deck atrium as well as the Captain Nemo lounge with underwater portholes. The vessel carries 227 passengers together with a crew of 106.

Star Clipper and Star Flyer both measure 115m and include a library with a Belle Epoque fireplace. They accommodate 116 passengers and a crew of 74.

The ships can drop anchor in smaller harbours and visit ports often untouched by larger cruise ships while providing guests with the amenities and atmosphere of a private yacht.

Star Clippers offers luxury cruises to the east Mediterranean and, in the winter, to Caribbean ports of call including Aruba, Curacao, St Barts and St Maarten.

There are also Panama Canal cruises and Atlantic Ocean crossings.

Costa Rica is a new destination with departures and arrivals from Puerto Caldera and Puntarenas.

This new 14-night Central American cruise costs from £3,999 per person and takes in the Arenal volcano, the 600,000-year-old Poas volcano, and the Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge as well as La Fortuna Waterfall, El Silencio de Los Angeles Biological Reserve and the Islas Parida and Tortuga.

Available too in 2023 are Monaco Grand Prix and Ryder Cup packages as well as a cruise that combines the Venice Simpleton-Orient Express.

The specialist cruise line, which boasts more space per passengers than most competitors, is one of the world’s finest luxury cruise lines. Life on board on the sail-snapping, open seas is akin to a five-star Pirates of the Caribbean fantasy holiday.

But with air conditioning, whirlpools, duvets, clean sheets, flat TV screens, mini-bars, haute cuisine, music quizzes, art classes, Stugeron, Wi-Fi, waiters wearing anti-seasickness wrist bands and no threat of scurvy. Or any keel-hauling on the itinerary.

Activities on offer include kayaking, windsurfing, wakeboarding, snorkelling with rays, waterfall hikes, zipline rides, river tubing, and even subterranean trips – as well as the chance to scale the mast to the Crow’s Nest (while supported by safety harnesses.)

But if you are more meditation-minded and chilling in the bowsprit net doesn’t appeal, there are now special yoga cruises, affording you the opportunity to be active when supine.

Book a yoga cruise and practice being bridges and planks. Get down on that teak deck.