GaryR6273

27 minutes ago, Rooney428 said:

I'd love to know where - the message function say's isn't working 

Feel free to email me at “garyr6273 @ aol. com “ 

I’ve done quite a few land based spa resorts along the east coast.  Many of them have separate men’s and women’s areas. Happy to answer any questions, but don’t want to get off topic. 

10 hours ago, bejwee said:

Everyone has their own take..but I prefer to stick to traditional sauna and spa culture of relaxation and quiet. There's nothing worse than being in a meditative state and relaxing when someone comes in and starts chatting some nonsense small talk. Kills the vibe..

I’ve often found that sometimes a little small talk can really help someone get more comfortable for longer conversations. I don’t mind the small talk at all. I get the zen relaxation state benefits, but if someone needs a little small talk to feel comfortable, I’m happy to banter back a bit. 

12 hours ago, bejwee said:

The only time I saw other naked people they were sitting in the steam or sauna on a towel like I do. Lots of people walking in and out from the co-ed area so they are going to be wearing suits as they were out there with their spouses or whoever. It's fine to be naked in there though, the door to the coed area is angled as such that no one will ever see in.  I used the single person hot tub naked as well but did not see anyone else doing it.  The setup is totally awesome, in my experience just the passengers were not.. good luck!

Hopefully despite the rudeness of some of the other guests, it still provided a place for a nice conversation or two. I’ve already connected with another guest who will be enjoying the men’s area as I will be. Thank you for the heads up! 

On 12/22/2023 at 8:17 AM, bejwee said:

Just got back from 9 days on the NCL pearl. Can confirm that in the paid thermal area there are still separate men's and women's wet areas on either side of the ship with a coed area in the middle. Men's side still has an awesome sauna, small but working steam, single person hot tub, and single person cold plunge.  Super disappointed at the crowd in there though, lots of people in suits yammering away that don't have spa etiquette. I sat in the sauna and steam naked on a towel, but there we're only other two folks on ship following suit.  There is a small two to three person steam room attached to the gym in the men's bathroom, that was not super frequented either.  It's a shame because so many people go on Royal Caribbean and the food is so much worse than NCL, although the entertainment is better. 

I’m going on the Pearl next week and I specifically chose this ship (as opposed to Scarlet Lady) for the spa thermal suite set up. Disappointing to hear most weren’t adhering to spa etiquette and dress code typical for single sex spa areas. I’m hoping on our full cruise sailing next week I won’t be the only one of the few adhering to the typical etiquette! Did you find  that those that did use the areas in the buff twist limit that to the sauna and steam or was that for the hot tub and cold plunge/showers/loungers as well? How closed off is it from the coed area?
 

Thanks!
 

Gary 

46 minutes ago, rem1981au said:

Well that's a shame. It's a gorgeous new ship otherwise. 

Thanks

It’s a stunning new ship. Did a quick 3 night on her in December. The thermal suites on the Royal class ships are my favorite pay-for coed access on any line. Just off the NCL Encore and they only had pay for coed faculties as well. Not even showers or locker access for gym goers. 

9 hours ago, rem1981au said:

Has anyone been on the Sky Princess or any other Royal Class ship? Do they have free separated facilities? The tours I've seen don't seem to suggest so. Second question: If you have a set dining time, could you still do anytime dining on any night when you'd rather attend a conflicting event?  

Unfortunately all Royal Class ships on Princess only have a pay for coed thermal suite. The Enclave is part of the Lotus Spa located on Deck 5 forward, the gym located on Deck 15 aft, has a small locker facility but no steam or sauna. 
The spa has a larger locker room with multiple showers, but no single sex steam or sauna. 

I think In the steam and saunas as long as you kept your towel wrapped at all times, no one would question it. 
 

I think the better option would be a small speedo that is closer to Bikini bottoms. 

All Solstice class ships have a single sex sauna only in the men’s changing room for the spa. 
 

It is a small, knee-knocker of a sauna and isn’t as nice as the pay for coed area. There are two showers and toilets in this area as well. 
 

Gary

Hi All, 

We usually cruise on larger lines/ships and wondered if anyone had any experience on Oceania, good or bad. 

We are looking at a voyage this January on the Riviera and are looking for a longer itinerary (longer than 7 days) and one that visits new ports for us. 

Just wondering if we will be sticking out like sore thumbs or worse, based on the fellow cruisers. We usually cruise on Princess, Celebrity and HAL and this would be the smallest capacity ship for us. 

TIA!

Gary 

42 minutes ago, twodjs said:

Gary - surprised to see that the free sauna is mixed sexes. On the Koningsdam, they have separate free saunas - one for men and one for women with the full windows as you describe. All other HAL ships have single-sex free saunas. This change would be a big disappointment for me. Are you sure you didn't open a back door to the Thermal Suite by mistake? Everything in the paid suite experience is mixed sex and requires suits at all times.

Definitely wasn’t the thermal suite, as we had passed for the cruise. It was directly adjacent and I only saw one of these saunas. There was no signage for it and wasn’t listed on the deck plans. It was right before the spa relaxation/waiting area and the entrance to the thermal

suite. Not saying there wasn’t another one, but it wasn’t adjacent and it wasn’t marked as men’s or women’s. I’ve taken many HAL cruises and I am used to seeing the single sex saunas by the midship pool area, but there wasn’t one on the Nieuw Statendam that I could find other than this one. 

19 minutes ago, Cruise Stud said:

Thanks for the information.  I sometimes go to SpaWorld as well.  At Salamander, do you know if they offer a day pass, or if you have to be a guest (or book an appt to use the spa)?

I believe they do sell a day pass as well. Access to the spa also gets you access to the Spa Pool where they offer lunch and drink service. Its the closest thing to being on a cruise for the afternoon!

I've always just booked an appointment and then used the facilities before and after. Nothing wrong with throwing a good massage in the mix, although they aren't inexpensive there, but the surroundings are worth it!

On 6/19/2019 at 1:02 PM, willcan said:

 some land based spas. 

Since you are in the DC area, you should check out the spa at the Salamander in Middleburg, VA. It is the best single sex thermal area I have ever experienced on land. Extra large whirlpool, two hot stone beds, large steam room with chromotherapy and an experience shower. They give you nice fluffy robes to use while you are in there, but a towel or less is mostly what I wear there.

I hear the women's side is similar, but has a larger stone bed area and relaxation room. I HIGHLY recommend it. Book a treatment there and the thermal area is free to use. 

Back to our cruise related topic.......

I meant to mention this to the group when I returned from my last cruise on the Nieuw Statendam, but there is a Free sauna in the spa area. It is mixed sexes, but has a phenomenal view with a full floor to ceiling glass window.

To access it, on Deck 9, enter the spa area OPPOSITE the check in desk by the forward stair case, it is located to the RIGHT of the entrance to the pay to use Thermal Suite. There is an open shower area and it is behind two solid HEAVY doors that have power open and close switches. The sauna has a clear glass door but frosted sides where the benches are located. This would probably fit 4 to 6 people since it is narrow, 8 if you pack in like sardines. There are two sets of benches facing each other with the floor to ceiling windows on your side. I am sure the layout would be beneficial to starting conversations.  I am not sure if it is this way on the Koningsdam, but I would assume since they are similar, it could be.

I didn't see this listed on any deck maps and found it quite by accident when entering the Thermal Suite. Actually I got locked inside the vestibule between the two heavy doors and it took me a while to figure out how to open the doors with the switches since they weren't marked. It was really lovely once I found it and liked it better than the pay to use sauna in the Thermal Suite, which has no windows and is much smaller.   

If only they provided a nice free to use sauna in the changing room, like on other ships, but the changing areas just have two showers and an open locker room with attached restroom.

I am sure there are part of the upper decks that have limited light at night that might have better views of the night sky. We are going on the Nieuw Statendam in a week and I am happy to report back. 

FYI...on Princess they have a stargazing program with their Discovery at Sea program where they do a guided tour of the night sky and actually turn off the lights around one of the pool decks to allow better viewing. Its pretty cool!

Hey Peter!

We are going on her January 20th and returning on the 30th. The cruise that is leaving on the 30th, is the 3 day Oprah cruise, and I believe that is when they are doing the dedication, since that is the first time the Godmother will be on board. 

Hi Chisoxfan,

I just returned from a 10 day sailing on the Royal on Thursday and I have to tell you that the ship is wonderful. I have sailed on many different lines, Celebrity most recently, and I have to say that the stateroom and attendant on the Royal was the nicest I've ever had in nearly 20 years of cruising.

We had early dining assigned at our request, but found our table location and the service (after an issue being served an item my DH is allergic to, after being informed of his food allergies) to be sub par. We opted to enjoy the anytime dining instead and found a waiter and section that was perfect.

The ship never felt full, or even 50% capacity, although we were assured that it was an almost full sailing. We were able to find lounges by any of the pools within a few minutes of arriving each time we went. We did massage treatments in the Sanctuary and although a lovely space, its a bit too isolated for my tastes. They don't play any music (even soothing music) in there at all and its like being in the 'Quiet Car' on a train. Not my idea of relaxation.

I have been on the CB before and it was a totally different experience. The Royal reminds me of a much grander time for cruising, lovely high end finishes, intimate lounge areas, and plenty of decks to explore along with some of the modern conveniences and attractions of big ship cruising like the Movies Under the Stars and Watercolor Fantasy. The CB seems really dated in decor a layout compared to the newer larger Princess ships, IMHO. Go and enjoy your cruise!!

Hi All,

Again, not to Hijack the thread, but I haven't done a suite yet on any of my 14 cruises, just simply because of the cost. Are you guys getting deals on these suites? Celebrity regular rooms come at a premium price to start with, so a suite is right out for my budget.

Just curious what would be so much better that is worth the $3000 to $7000 increase from a standard room to a suite on most sailings on X?

We are booked on the Royal for January 29th and when I booked it last weekend, it showed ***** for the voyage and I was excited!! I had already loaded the Ocean Ready app and signed up for the account. Then this morning when I tried to login, it showed that there were no itineraries available for ***** on my bookings. And there it is, no ***** on our cruise it seems.

I had wondered how that would work. I know it has to be extremely expensive to make and mail out all of these Medallions. I guess we will have to wait for another cruise in the future to check it out. Oh well.....it will still be an amazing voyage!

Hi all,

I am just wondering if any cruise line these days employs male massage therapists. I have been told by many staff on many different sailings that there are only female therapists on staff. I believe that Steiner and Canyon Ranch only employ female therapists, but wasn't sure if anyone had encountered a male therapist on any of their voyages.

I always enjoy getting a massage on vacation, but typically prefer male therapists who can 'really get in there' to loosen up the knots.

We did Q'Sine on Silhouette last February. It was the best speciality restaurant experience we had on board (We did Murano also). There is SO MUCH FOOD if you order more than 5 items. Some of the courses are quite small (Lava Crab), skip the bread courses (there are one or two that are just bread/rolls), and you MUST get the Mediterranean Sampler, it contained the best lamb chop I've ever eaten, period. We were stuffed and actually canceled the last two courses.

It was a true dining experience. We asked to get a tour of the kitchen (which is shared with Tuscan Grill) afterward and made friends with the executive chef for that kitchen for the rest of the cruise.

It is a foodies heaven and its all about the experience, so a lot enough time to enjoy everything. We were there over two hours and were eating nearly the entire time.

Have fun!

Steve,

What an awesome and thorough review (and pictures) you have taken the time to share.

Hope you are safely back home to your DW now.

Makes me even more excited to be on the Equinox in just over a month!

The Persian Gardens on the Solstice Class Ships are a poor excuse for a spa area IMHO.

We had the same experience on Silhouette with the loungers and honestly, they were cold in comparison to heated loungers when you got to use them. We felt the room was cold as well. After two days, we decided it was not worth the walk up one level and didn't visit the Persian Garden again.

We had not paid for the access, since it came with being in AQ, and felt that the lack of a thelassotherapy pool on the Solstice Class ships do not warrant the need to charge for 2 saunas and 8 to 10 beds. It's a rip off compared to other spa areas on other ships (Princess, Holland). You also had to be let in to the area as they did not issue key cards, so for trips to the restroom, you had to wait for staff at the front desk to get you back into the room.

We had other issues with the spa staff as well. The manager was most receptive to our issues and handled the situations wonderfully. He was one of the most friendly and attentive staff on the entire ship.

Sorry you had a negative experience. I understand how upset you are as I feel that the spa is a major part of my cruise experience.

I booked 1549 (A1) earlier this year and had to be moved to another cabin, in a lower category. It was the only time in 16 years of cruising I have ever moved.

There is a piece of window washing equipment permanently affixed outside this cabin and Celebrity notates it as a 'obstructed view' but doesn't share that information with TA's. It is also under the overhang and is dark and depressing.

We moved to 1501 (A2) (Farthest Forward Port) and were pleased but felt plenty of motion being at the top forward cabin. It is also listed as an obstructed view, but it is only with the bridge overhang one deck below. Sitting on the deck there are no obstructions in the view and you can see 180 degrees. It is also directly adjacent to the Persian Garden Relaxation Room.

I was unimpressed by Aqua class on the last cruise, so I booked a C2 on the next. Blu was nice, but not necessary. I actually enjoyed the food in the MDR more. Tea service isn't worth it. Persian Garden isn't worth it. 'Expanded Toiletries' isn't worth it. Find a better located room in a Concierge Class and treat yourself to a specialty restaurant a few times.

Just my $.02