Men's Spa Facilities on Cruise ships: Which ones do you think are the best?

Thank you to you both for your responses which were interesting to read. Email if you wish anytime. We all like to have some 'me time' away from families etc and this is a good opportunity to take

Of course you are right in what you say. And I agree with your final hope too.

 

I also think (hope) their will eventually be some market pushback on this so at least some ships retain free single sex facilities.

 

Ultimately cruise holidays will be far less appealing if its all about being nickel and dimed and then not actually even being able to get what you want. And there are plenty of other ways to spend our holiday money.

Lets keep everything crossed, i just love the sauna/steam, a sanctuary and much better when single sex ones. We as guys need our space at times and of course some genuine much needed self time.

NCL Gem: Mens only section of the spa was huge and clean. Sauna is really big, around 150 sq ft and windows on 3 sides. At night there is one tiny light on the wall so it is pitch dark except for light coming through glass door. Temperature was perfect and when it got too hot the lower level bench was just right.

Steamroom, unimpressive small room, benches made of plastic and very hospital like. Steam and temps were good but way to bright a light in it. Would be much nicer with lower light, in actual face they dont need a light in there as plenty of light comes through the door.

Hot tub, small one person tub with jets....was enjoyable even if water temp was colder than poolside hot tubs. Since 99% of the guys wore swim trunks the entire cruise you get weird looks when getting in/out nude. I guess because everyone is in swim trunks in the co-ed section they just don't bother to switch to towel/nude....steam room in a bathing suit just feels so wrong and gross.

There were also a few loungers that faced the ocean view windows and TV, 2 tiny showers with glass doors, 1 accessible shower with a curtain, ice water coolers, 2 cooling off showers (again, nude gets looks/stares), more than enough lockers and always plenty of clean towels and robes to use. Two toilets near the showers and 3 or 4 sinks to wash/shave etc.

The entire cruise I would be alone or the only non-swim trunk wearing guy in a room full of men who seemed like lost husbands who had never used a sauna before. Never had a good conversation all week so preferred the alone moments.

Popped my head into the free steam room in the gym locker room a few times during the week and it was always empty. Same white plastic seating, same super right lights.

On the final sea day the spa was full of the lost husbands so I decided to visit the gym steam room. Spent an hour or so steaming/cooling off and it turned out to be the best "spa time" all week. In just under an hour I was joined a couple of different times and each time the Gent was super friendly and had the only good conversations I had all cruise.

Having had the experience, next time I'll save the cash and stick with the tiny and free facility next time.

Has anyone sailed on Viking Ocean Cruise ships, if so what are the Spa Facilities like. Do they have a Steam Room and Saunas.

Many thanks,.

On a side-note & TOTALLY unrelated to cruising, I just returned from Las Vegas this week and can COMPLETELY endorse & highly recommend to all the men's spa facilities at Caesars Palace QUA SPA. This venue offers a fantastic variety of amenities, all of which are well executed. And you don't need to be a guest of the hotel or having a spa treatment to access; they offer day-passes for $45...just thought I'd share :p

 

Bon voyage!!

Gigglewolf O' The Seas

:rolleyes:

Hey Gigglewolf...was reading through the threads and ran across this post. I am planning a trip to Vegas and wanted to get more info regarding the spa at Caesars. If you are around I will send you my email. Thanks!

Hey guys, going on Summit in a few weeks, can someone comment on the fitness facilities there? They are supposed to be well equipped. I'm rather confused regarding charges for the sauna and steam room, I've heard some say they charge and others say they don't charge. I think it is silly to charge patrons for anything other than spa services. Is it coed? As for that issue, I guess I am rather shy, not that I have a great body for people to gawk at :p but I prefer having men and women in their own saunas/steam rooms!

I fully agree about co-ed steam rooms and saunas. Much more comfortable to have same sex only. I've cruised HAL as well as Celebrity. Each of those lines has Male only facilities as well as Female only!

Hi

I'm going ON Cunard's Queen Victoria in July ,

When I was on her in 2010 she had a male only sauna that was free

and a payed thermal area

Has anyone been on her recently to know if this has changed ?

O know sh's in for a refit between now and then , Not sure if the spa area will be affected ?

Hoping there's still a free area togo too !

P&O Pacific Explorer does it have separate men's saunas

Recently sailed on the Navigator of the Seas (Royal Caribbean), and happy to report that it's virtually the same layout as the Liberty of the Seas. The Navigator has a free men's-only locker room with showers, large dry sauna and large wet sauna. You optionally get a combination for the lockers, but I did not do so and it's not necessary. There is also a "secret" entrance from the hallway that bypasses the front desk at the gym entrance (not that it's an issue, just nice to be able to quickly pop in to the locker room as desired).

thank you for your response to my question as regards separate saunas on cruise ships Mike

I just got off the phone with Royal because on my last cruise I was told that in the remodels some of the Royal ships were going the way of the Enchantment, and not have steam/sauna in the locker areas. I contacted Royal to get the final word, since I stressed that not having these separate and complimentary services would result in my switching to a different ship and I wanted to be certain that I would not be surprised when I went onboard.

It took them a week of research, but here is what is current:

 

Oasis Class ships only have the paid spa area.

 

The Freedom Class ships all have separate, not co-ed, complimentary steam and dry sauna in the locker areas.

 

The Voyager Class ships all have separate, not co-ed, complimentary steam and dry sauna in the locker areas.

 

The Radiance Class ships:

The Brilliance, the Radiance, and the Serenade all have separate, not co-ed complimentary steam and dry sauna in the locker areas.

The Jewel is now charging a fee for use of the area that used to be complimentary.

 

The Vision Class ships:

The Grandeur, the Legend, the Rhapsody, and the Vision all have separate, not co-ed, complimentary steam and dry sauna in the locker areas.

The Splendor has complimentary steam room, but does Not have a complimentary dry sauna.

The Enchantment does not have either steam or dry sauna.

 

I hope this helps.

Hey guys...cruising Grandeur in a few weeks. Can any, who has been on her within the last 6-12 months, confirms whether there is (still) a separate sauna and steamroom in mens locker room?

Hey guys...cruising Grandeur in a few weeks. Can any, who has been on her within the last 6-12 months, confirms whether there is (still) a separate sauna and steamroom in mens locker room?

The posting above has lots of errors. The Jewel of the Seas has complementary single sex steam and sauna. I was on the Grandeur in 12/15 and there still was comped single sex steam down sauna. The facilities could use a renovation, especially the locker area, but everything is still functional. There's a water fountain and benches in the locker area and wet area to sit & relax between sessions. There's 3 single showers. Only 1 toilet. Glass door in the steam room with a fairly large gap at the bottom, so usually you put towels to block up the gap so it gets nice & steamy.

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I was on the Grandeur in 12/15 and there still was comped single sex steam down sauna. The facilities could use a renovation

Grandeur was just refurbished and came out of dry dock May this year. It is possible they had made changes to the spa facilities.

I know there is a big men's only section of the pa that costs $$$ per day or per cruise. There are also apparently a free steamroom in the locker rooms?

 

Anyone who's been on the Gem, did you try both the paid and free facilities?

 

Was the free steam any good?

 

For the paid version, did you buy the pass for the entire cruise or just buy the daily pass? $199 seems pricey to me especially when in port 50% of the days. That said, if the paid for spa is that enjoyable it would be a small price to pay.

The free steam room was in the bathroom of the gym. Nothing special just a 4x4 steam room in a toilet. The paid spa was definitely worth the extra cost. We used it as one of our shore excursions.

On the Celebrity Constellation, is there a charge to use the Spa and is it a single sex one or is it mixed?

On the Celebrity Constellation, is there a charge to use the Spa and is it a single sex one or is it mixed?

There is a Persian Garden which incurs a fee. There is a sauna in the changing rooms, so single sex. There is an open shower just outside the sauna with 2/3 shower heads, in the changing room there are showers in cubicles.

Does anyone know what the men's facilities are like in the Celebrity Eclipse? I have been on it but don't recall and it was the first year it launched!

They have a male only sauna, nice showers, and some fun men(most times)

Does anyone know what the men's facilities are like in the Celebrity Eclipse? I have been on it but don't recall and it was the first year it launched!

Can we talk a little about sauna/steam room etiquette. I was on the Silhouette doing a transatlantic earlier this year and usually enjoy the sauna/steam rooms lots of good conversations with other guys. However sometimes you just want to enjoy the heat and relax. There was a guy that would not stop talking, tried just one word answers closed my eyes put my head back but he wouldn't stop. I mean if other people are in there talking I'm ok with it there's nothing I can do. But sometimes others were in there and you could tell they were annoyed and he was always in there. Sometimes he would have a conversation with himself when nobody was interested. So I guess what I'm saying is read the room. Thoughts..........

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Carnival - Legend / Spirit - on both (sister) ships, free male only facilities - small area with lockers; 4 or 5 shower rooms (one large disabled one); steam room too hot to sit in for long; sauna with very bright light and glass door has two levels of seating, enough room for maybe 6 people. Facilities seldom used at all, swimwear worn by 99% of users. Only had one conversation over several cruises. Not recommended at all. Very family-oriented crowd and quite bogan (redneck), but lots of nice scenery by the pools.

Thanks for the info on the Legend. Sailing from Vancouver to Hawaii in September and know that I'll be escaping for some me time on those sea days.

I was on the Conquest in February (first Carnival cruise) and was quite pleased with the sauna / steam set up on it so hoping for similar on the Legend.

Koningsdam's spa design was a pleasent design surprise and a big improvement over previous ships. There has always been a tiny, men's only sauna on every Holland America ship - usually not promoted and seldom populated. I enjoy using them but end up talking to myself most of the time.

The free men's sauna on the Koningsdam is completely different. Walk through the sauna entrance door into a small undressing area with two showers and plenty of towels and a few hooks for clothes. The next partially obscured glass door opens into the sauna - small - with two raised wood benches along opposing walls. Probably 8 guys would fill the seating area. But friendly atmosphere and great views - in part because one entire wall is floor to ceiling glass looking out to the ocean. One unique feature is a bucket of cold water mounted on the wall of one shower. Pull the chain and you are drenched! Sounds crazy, but it quickly helps cool your core. Once word got out, this sauna was pretty busy at times with guests and a few crew members.

The other big improvement is the design and layout of the the locker/shower area. Inside the locker room, there are plenty of lockers, locked and unlocked with your cabin key. Plenty of towels, robes, benches, and anything else you need, all free to everyone. Toilets are adjacent through doors. Through a glass door is the shower area - very upscale detail compared to any other HAL ship. Two large walk-in showers without doors but you turn a corner to go into either, so they are pretty private. They have regular and rainshower fixtures and even colored mood lighting. Again more towels are available in this area. Quite impressed. The locker/shower area was quite busy toward the end of the cruise, and unlike some posts I've read about other cruises, towels were seldom worn.

Holland America, of course offers the co-ed spa experience with pools, steam, etc. for a price. Not for me.

I also would love to see Celebrity step up to the plate with EDGE and reinvent their men's shower/sauna offering. Their older ships are much better designed to support the male-only area. Solstice class took most of that away. Give us a larger locker area, a bigger sauna, a window to the outside and steam or jacuzzi or even a snow room (Viking). Look at offerings at many of the casinos in Vegas - be creative! Or if the future needs a money stream to support it, at least offer all these in men's and womem's only areas, not just co-ed.We're already booked on EDGE in march 2019 in Aqua. I join you all in crossing fingers and toes.

thank you TWODjS for your response to my inquiry as regarding men's and women's saunas on MSC Musica Mike :)

Hi shantoh2005, I want to be sure you realize that my post above was about the men's sauna on Holland America's Koningsdam, not an MSC ship. I know others have cruised on MSC and can give you actuate info on that ship. Happy crusing!

Thank you I understood your reply take care, thank you Mike