Weight Watchers takes to the deep seas
Caribbean cruise, known for its buffets, has opportunities for balanced approach, ‘not slim-down camp’
In early May, Weight Watchers International is hosting a seven-night, wellness-themed Caribbean cruise aboard the 4,300-passenger MSC Divina, sailing from Miami. Yes, a company dedicated to weight loss is joining forces with a purveyor of expansive buffets to offer cruising as a viable vacation for those aiming to shed pounds.
As Weight Watchers transforms from a pure weight-loss enterprise into a health-and-wellness company, the idea of embarking on its first cruise was a logical thing to do, said Ryan Nathan, the company’s vice president of products, licensing, and e-commerce.
“We did a lot of research, and we looked at our member base, and our member base really is the cruising base,” Nathan said. The typical Weight Watchers member is female, 40 to 60 years old, with an average household income slightly above the U.S. average. The cruise “is not slim-down camp,” he said, and the company is setting no goals for members in terms of whether the trip is aimed at losing weight, maintaining weight or keeping any gain from the cruise to a minimum.
Despite the abundance of food, drink, and sloth that mass-market cruise lines sell, a week in the Caribbean also offers the opportunity to take the opposite approach: Sleep well, exercise more, and peruse more menu options, with more relaxed lunches and dinners than most people face at home. The ship also offers members an exercise bicycle that faces the sunrise and a jogging track on the open deck, said Rick Sasso, chairman of MSC North America.
The company, of which entertainer Oprah Winfrey owns nearly 15 per cent, reformulated its business focus in late 2015 with a Beyond the Scale campaign that aims to help customers “shift their mindset” from weight loss to overall fitness, encouraging everything from becoming less sedentary to eating better. New York-based Weight Watchers said its members lost 15 per cent more weight in the first two months following the new program, compared to results with the prior program.
Prices for the MSC cruise began at $945, and all of Weight Watchers’ 500-cabin bloc on the cruise has been sold, a spokeswoman for Weight Watchers said. A second MSC-Weight Watchers cruise is planned for November, with additional sailings likely.
MSC is also offering menu options that will list Weight Watchers’ points values. “I’ve asked the entire organization here to embrace this,” Sasso said in a telephone interview. “Every aspect, from our master chefs down to the waiters.”
On board, Weight Watchers staff will host meetings for “real-time guidance and support” and present customized fitness programs, cooking demonstrations, and seminars from wellness experts. The weeklong voyage will also have four ports of calls at which passengers can hike, snorkel, dive, and pursue other physical activities, Sasso said.