All You Need to Know About WOD on the Waves

Slow news days mean we get to play. So let’s talk about the 2020 WOD on the Waves fitness and CrossFit cruise.

Good morning and welcome to the WODDITY podcast for news about CrossFit. We are a daily podcast, Monday through Friday, doing CrossFit news in five minutes or less.

My name is Ben Garves and today is Tuesday, the 18th of February, 2020.

I told you it was coming a few episodes ago, but today I’m going to delve into what it’s really like aboard the WOD on the Waves fitness cruise. What’s better than some workouts in the bahamas on a slow news day?

Keep in mind while I’m telling you this, while this episode is sponsored by any referrals to the 2020 WOD on the Waves cruise, these experiences I’m about to tell you about are genuine and I like to think they’re truly unbiased because I paid out of pocket for the cruise last year. That being said, they have offered you a special discount code if you’d like to sign up for this year and I have it for you in my show notes and at WODDITY.com.

Visit WOD on the Waves here and book using discount code “FITNESSM8”.

Ready? Let’s go!

Okay, so, WOD on the Waves 2019 had some awesome timing because it started the day after WODAPALOOZA and set sail in the same city of Miami.

How Are Sessions Scheduled?

When you booked, you gained access to a scheduling app where you could get in-depth details about all of the activities and events on and off the boat over the course of the cruise, including workouts and seminars taught by just about every CrossFit celebrity you could dream of. On the first day there was a really fantastic ship-wide workout led by Josh Bridges, Dan Bailey, and Rich Froning (you know, the Good Dudes). They really did somehow manage to involve most of the ship. We were gifted all sorts of awesome stuff, like some cans of C4 BCAAs and other good drinkables.

Things did book up fast, but if you were proactive about signing up on time, you definitely made it into every session you wanted.

What Kind of Equipment is on the Boat?

The boat itself was set up in all the ways you could imagine. On the exercise deck above the pool there was a running track, lined with Concept2 rowers, ski ergs, and…I’m pretty sure there were bike ergs. Maybe there weren’t. But definitely ski ergs and rowers. There was a special spot with a couple of Airrunners and rigs set up. The tennis/basketball court was packed with all the dumbbells and kettlebells you could ever wish for. On the fore deck at the bow of the ship, the WOD on the Waves team crammed a lifetime supply of sandbags you could use on the helipad.

What Kind of Non-Workout Stuff Was There?

There were enough workout options for you to workout three to four times per day without duplicating a workout or a CrossFit celebrity. If you wanted to fill your non-workout time, they gave you all sorts of options. I took part in sunrise yoga and mobility, did some specialty sessions on perfecting form for more technical movements like the snatch, sat in on a recording of the Froning and Friends podcast, talked nutrition with EC Synkowski, and learned all about Aerobic Capacity with Chris Hinshaw. Everything you would normally expect on a cruise was still there – games, competitions, pools, hot tubs, bars, gambling, and sunny activities.

What Kind of Nutrition and Food Options Are There?

When it comes to food, there was a huge range of options that fit just about any diet restrictions you could come up with. I personally tried to focus on vegetables and lean proteins. There was no lack of access to chicken breasts, broccoli, zucchini, and spinach. At the same time, you could delve into the cake and burgers if you wanted them. I liked to joke that they had to stop in a port every two days to restock all the broccoli.

What are the Down Sides?

If I had two qualms about the cruise last year, one major one would be that the weather just didn’t cooperate. The cruise itinerary had us leaving Miami, heading to Nassau for a day, where we could zip over to CrossFit Nassau for some barbell workouts, then head to Royal Caribbean’s Coco Cay private island for some epic beach workouts and a 5k run. Rough seas prevented us from making that last stop and we just hung out at the port in Nassau for an extra day. Thankfully, this time they have moved the cruise to later in the year, which should promise better weather.

The other reservation I had, I think has also been answered. The WOD on the Waves team leaned pretty heavily on fitness influencers to sell tickets last year and a lot of the people who attended were not necessarily on the CrossFit sort. They were more the, “take a picture of me with my shirt off while I make kissy faces at the sunset and do cartwheels” type. But I think part of that was the team working to build a reputation in their first year and they probably don’t have the need, now in their second year.

Overall, I give the 2019 WOD on the Waves cruise an eight out of ten. I think they’ve just about fixed anything I would’ve changed for 2020, so I’m a huge fan of the cruise coming back. The list of celebrities is awesome and I’m not lying when I say you’re literally going to be hanging out with Rich Froning, Brooke Wells, Patrick Vellner, Chyna Cho, and more. We’re not just talking high fives. We’re talking drinking and games, man. Book it right now and use our discount code if you like having fun or once-in-a-lifetime experiences.