rockbock

Are the steam rooms coed?

 

 

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Yes

I had an enormous Spa OV on the Dream (11202) and I can't say enough good things about it. I would take one of those cabins over any suite on the ship!

<< OP here >>

I just looked back at this thread trying to find a photo for something and I couldn't help but notice that a LOT of the photos I posted are no longer showing up. I didn't intentionally take them down and I apologize that they are missing. You can still see everything if you view the videos though.

My only thinking is every cabin you can move from the front is a plus, but I doubt it will make a lot of difference. You do get anchor and propulsion noise and woken up early that far to the front.

Does one cabin further in really make a huge difference with the noise? My thought is that either one could result in enough noise to wake somebody. And she'll be traveling with a 2-year old, so she'll be up by 6am every day anyway lol.

Do you know which cabin will appear more spacious since the configurations will be different?

Do what you want. I did a search of the pictures of that cabin on all conquest class ships to confirm it to myself.

 

If you really think they would take out one twin bed and retrogressively change it so you had to use the bunk?? but I had to find and see pictures myself before I was convinced and you are probably the same and no matter what anyone said you would still worry until you saw the cabin with your own eyes.

 

As some others have said, they seem to gradually change the beds in these cabins over to regular beds .. and then upgrade them to a higher category. (not the other way around)

Thanks firefly. I went ahead and changed the cabin to 8357 a few days ago, before I even saw the replies to this post. I decided it was worth the risk.

Now I have another question. (reminder: I'm referring to the Freedom) My sister decided to take this cruise with us two days ago. All of the 1a cabins with PT were already gone (including the one that I had recently removed my parents from). I had a choice between 2202 and a crappy aft 1a on the Riviera deck. I obviously chose 2202. Now 2207 has opened up. It looks like 2202 is probably still the better choice, but I'd like your input since you've seen most of these cabins. Is there any reason I should switch her to 2207? Both cabins are two lowers and neither has PT. 2202 looks bigger to me overall, even though it is shorter.

Thats exactly why I had 8357 when I cruised with my sister who is on a cane and mobility impaired and balance impaired. She wants convenience over seeing out.

I can verify that 8357 on the Freedom has 2 twins on the floor. The way the room is configured they are always set up as a king.

How recently can you confirm that this cabin has 2 twins? Is it within the past year or so? I'm scared to make the change, since goccl is telling me that this cabin is upper/lower.

I just booked three 1a cabins on the Freedom. My husband and I will be in 1207 (portholes and CS). My kids will be right next door in 1211 (portholes and upper/lower). My parents are booked nearby in 1208 (portholes with CS).

My question is about 1a cabin 8357. Although it would be nice to have my parents on the same deck as the rest of us, cabin 8357 is in a much better location for them. They like to be near the elevators and Lido, since my mom is slightly mobility-impaired, and they prefer midship. Given the choice, I think they would prefer 8357, even though it lacks the porthole windows. It also looks like 8357 is a bigger cabin than most insides. I saw a thread from 2009 where somebody confirmed that 8357 has two twin beds in it; however, on goccl it says that it is upper/lower.

Does anybody know for certain if Freedom cabin 8357 CURRENTLY has two lower beds in it? My parents cannot be placed in a cabin with only upper/lower, but if somebody can confirm that this cabin as two lowers, I want to change my parents' reservation.

Thanks for posting the review and pictures. I upgraded my IS room to a 4S a few weeks ago changing from the PG Family and Friends Event Sales to the Military rate. The total for the upgrade was $120, which is less than the price of 1 person getting a weekly spa pass, but then the Military rate came with $100 OBC, so I actually only paid $20 for two people for a spa cabin. Well worth the $20 for all you described.

 

Also, I believe someone mentioned a video? Did I miss it somewhere in one of the posts?

Thanks, sjcruiser. You're going to love the spa! The videos are in post #12, but I'll link them here for your convenience.

Video #1 -

Video #2 -

Video #3 -

Video #4 -

They are not showers for cleaning yourself :D, it's for showerig before or after the pool and steam rooms with your suit ON.:)

I made it quite clear that you need to wear a swimsuit in these showers. And if they didn't want you to clean yourself in these showers, the showers would not have been equipped with body wash and shampoo.

I had a spa cabin on the Magic the week of April 21st. We LOVED the spa and used it every day. It was never crowded, there were always seats available for us in the sauna, the hot rooms and the pool. Two of my sisters had to buy the weekly spa passes. The staff did check our bracelets and the two sisters had to have a different bracelet each day. Some people did read books or listen to music through headphones while on the hot seats. Most of the rooms are kind of wet. Mostly everyone we saw came to the spa wearing their robes. However, once those robes get wet, they weigh a ton and take a long time to dry. Our cabin steward did replace the robes with dry robes about 3 times during the course of the cruise. My nephew is in a wheelchair and my son helped him up the steps to get into the thalasso pool. I am partially disabled and was able to get up and down the steps as there are railings on both sides.

 

a big THANK YOU to Rockbock for starting this thread. I studied everything before boarding and knew exactly what to expect. I love the videos you posted. I felt like I knew about everything and it was so helpful to me. You did an outstanding job.

 

In short, we loved the spa. I booked a spa balcony for my September cruise. On this past cruise, I had one of those huge window walkaway view cabins, 11201. We loved the location. It was very quiet and convenient to everything. There were 3 of us in the room and it was so big and roomy, we loved it. The outside deck at the front of deck 11 was great, I was out there all the time, especially at sailaway.

 

We had an awesome cruise, the spa was great, the cabin was great and I really appreciate all of the great information in this thread.

I'm so glad you were able to book one of these awesome cabins after reading my review! It sounds like you had as great a vacation as we did. I cruised last month in an oversized 4J on the Liberty and it was nice, but NOTHING like the cabin we had on the Dream (not to mention, no spa lol). The Dream definitely spoiled me!

For the spa steam/dry/wet rooms I just went in a towel, no swimsuit, like you would at any other spa. But, if you feel more comfortable in a swimsuit then do that. When I was there (and this was on the Splendor, they're twin ships) I saw more people in just towels but really no one cares what you're wearing so long as you're not obnoxious or obscene. Obviously if I went to the pool I put on a swimsuit.

I've got to admit, I'm glad that I didn't see even one person in only a towel all week, because it sure would have made me uncomfortable if I saw that! Totally inappropriate in my opinion, especially in a coed setting!

This sounds like a dumb question, but I have to ask.... If one is hanging out in the spa area/rooms, I presume electronics are a bad idea, but does anyone bring a book? Or is it really meant for people who can relax enough to just sit and do nothing (ha)? And in that case, is there more chatting/hanging out as opposed to just relaxing quietly? I have been to spas on both ends of that spectrum!

 

And I would really like to get a better idea of whether folks are showing up in their spa robe, towel only, swimsuit only, shorts & tee...? Maybe depends on the time of day?

In the steam rooms and saunas, some people were reading books and many were just relaxing quietly. A couple of times there were some louder, more talkative people in the rooms, but I think you could always find a quiet room if you tried. Sometimes the thalasso pool was quiet or empty. Other times, there were talkers. Hit or miss, just like any hot tub...

I didn't see anybody in the spa area without a swimsuit. It gets kind of wet in most areas, so a swimsuit is kind of important. The first day of the cruise, most people (my husband and myself included) showed up in the spa robes, spa slippers, and towels provided in the cabins. We quickly realized that cloth slippers and the wet spa area do not mix well. We also found the robes to be kind of bulky to carry from room to room. And towels are provided in the spa area itself, so there's no need to bring your own unless you want to.

By the second day, most people were just walking to the spa in a bathing suit and cover up or towel, with flip flops. There are hooks outside of the "wet" rooms where you can hang your cover ups and towels so that they stay dry while you are in the rooms.

Peter Brenner was the piano entertainer on my Liberty cruise last week. My husband and I were very disappointed with him. We lasted for about an hour and never went back.

Although Peter was very personable, his entertaining style made it such that the passengers could only listen to him and not sing along.

There were two major problems with his style:

(1) He sped up the tempo on EVERY song so much that they were not enjoyable. I'm sure he was doing this in an effort to get through as many requests as possible, but he completed 3-4 minute songs in about 1-2 minutes.

(2) He added his own style and flare to every song, rather than keeping with the traditional tunes.

The combination of these two things made it virtually impossible to sing along, so the room was pretty much silent. Most people came and left within about 10 minutes at the most.

Thanks for the great review and pictures! After reading this I looked into pricing. Went from an interior on deck 7 to an interior spa cabin for $10 each. Originally I couldn't decide if we (my sister and I) would use the spa enough to pay for the passes. For only $10 each it makes it worth it even if we just use the spa for a day. I'm pretty sure we will get our money's worth!

Just having a cabin on the quiet spa decks is worth $10 IMO. But you will love all of the extras!

What do you think, will the prices go up or down during the month?

There's usually no way of ever predicting what's going to happen with prices. I had a hunch that prices were going to drop about a month ago due to all of the bad press Carnival was getting. Sure enough, there were some tremendous price drops and I was able to book my husband and myself on the Liberty 10 days before it sailed at an AMAZING rate. But it also may have just been coincidence that the prices fell, since prices frequently drop very close to sail dates.

I've found that the best price "insurance" you can give yourself is to book Early Saver for a price that you're willing to accept if no drops occue, then watch the prices every single day. It's especially important to check prices a few times a day during the month before you sail. Lots of changes are going on during that time. If you get lucky, you'll end up with a price adjustment or OBC (or maybe even an upgrade to a 6S for less than $1 per person lol).

I am booked in one of the huge Spa cabins with a walk-away view on the Magic. We are so excited!

You are going to love it!

I just got off the Liberty last week. We stayed in a 4J cabin, which was oversized and had a beautiful walkway balcony. The room wasn't even close to as nice as the 6C on the Dream, but it was much nicer than most other cabins on the ship. Although we both loved the layout of the Liberty (even more than the Dream), we found ourselves constantly making comments to each other about how much we missed the spa!

Which areas of the spa are restricted to SPA cabins ?

Everything shown in my review and videos is limited to people with spa access except for most of the hallways (some hallways are even restricted). If you don't have spa access, you can still use a public restroom (which has nicer showers than the staterooms, but not as nice as the ones in this review). There are also small unisex saunas available to all guests, but they aren't very nice. There is a large workout area available to all guests at no charge.

On the Magic, there is about a 10 step staircase to enter the pool area in the spa, so he would have to be able to climb those stairs and then there is about a 3-4 step down into the bottom of the pool in order to move to a seating area.

Yes, this is also the way it is set up on the Dream. If you watch my Video # 2 (posted earlier in this thread), you'll be able to see the exact setup.

Assuming that you are NOT handicapped, how far out did you book and did you worry about getting bumped?

In my situation, we were originally booked in a Deluxe OV with two bathrooms. Two weeks before sail date, two of the Spa OV cabins came available. One of them was a triple and one was a quad. Since we had four in our room, we moved to the quad. It cost us a grand total of $3.60 for all four of us to upgrade!

I wasn't worried about getting bumped that close to sailing. If I did, I would have been placed in a Spa balcony or Spa Suite anyway (since the bump has to be to an equivalent or better cabin and the only way to "upgrade" from a Spa OV is to move to a Spa Balcony or Spa Suite). I wouldn't have been even close to as happy in a Spa Balcony or Spa Suite, since the cabins are much smaller, but I would have obviously made the move without complaint if Carnival tried to bump me.

I love, love, LOVE the Spa OV cabins! I stayed in one on the Dream last September and I'm 100% convinced that they are the best cabins on the entire ship. We had a HUGE cabin crawl during the cruise, so I was able to see a Grand Suite, Ocean Suite, Deluxe OV with two bathrooms, and every category of balcony (including cove and wrap). There isn't a single cabin on the ship that I would have traded for my Spa OV. The Spa OV was significantly bigger than the Ocean Suite and about the same size as the Grand Suite (although somewhat less "ornate.") The suites had small balconies, but the Spa OV had a HUGE semi-private balcony and spa privileges for the week. IMO, the Spa OV wins over the suites hands down! And I didn't notice any significant noise in my cabin on the Dream (11202).

Sorry to everybody who posted questions to this thread over the past few months that I didn't answer. I stopped frequenting these boards because I didn't have a cruise booked. I just booked a last-minute cruise for 3/30/13, so I came back to the boards and saw all of these posts I never replied to.

I'm assuming most of you have found answers to your questions by now, but I will clear up what seems to be the most confusing thing about the spa for everyone...the question of who has to pay for access to the facilities and who doesn't. It's actually pretty straightforward.

If you are not booked in a spa cabin, you will NOT be allowed into the spa unless you pay the weekly or daily fee.

If you originally booked a 4S, 6S, 8S, or SS cabin, your access is included at no extra charge.

If you originally booked a non-spa cabin, but later upgraded to a 4S, 6S, 8S, or SS cabin, spa access is only included if you paid for the upgrade. It doesn't matter if you initiate the upgrade yourself or if Carnival offers you the upgrade. All that matters is whether or not you paid for it. If you don't have to pay for the upgrade, you don't get access to the spa facilities. In my case, it cost me $3.60 to switch from the 6N to the 6S, so my spa privileges were included. If the price on the 6S had dropped just $4.00 more, however, I would not have been given spa access because it would have been considered a free upgrade.

Hey Mitsugirly! I'm so glad I found this thread. My family spent the day at Chankanaab Park in Cozumel last September and it was your reviews/photos that convinced me to go there. We LOVED it!

I just booked a last-minute cruise which leaves on 3/30. With less than two weeks to plan, I'm scrambling. We've never been to St. Thomas before. After seeing your review, I'm leaning towards snorkeling at Sapphire Beach, since I found Chankanaab to be exactly as amazing as you said it was.

Thanks for always taking the time to post very detailed reviews. It's definitely appreciated.

I realize this is totally unrelated. And I was on the dream last year and am going again april 2013. My fav part of this cruise is the amazing spa. I purchase the spa pass. I stay in a room on the panorama deck, but not a spa cabin....Any hoo...........I love that pink bathing suit you have. May I ask where you got it. What brand is it? I really like that style!

Thanks! It came from Dillards. I rummaged through the end-of-season leftovers at the beginning of September and bought 4 or 5 suits for about $10 each!

A few questions for you:

 

How crowded were the sauna rooms and T-pool throughout the week?

 

Were there a lot of children in the area?

 

Did you find good times to go when things were less crowded?

 

What were the opening and closing hours like for the facilities?

The saunas and steam baths were never crowded. There were never more than 4-6 people total in a room and generally it was just me and my husband alone. The T-pool sometimes had nobody other than me and my husband. Other times, there were as many as 10 people in it. On average, there were normally 4-6 people. The pool is large enough to accommodate up to 20 or more people very comfortably.

You must be 18 to access the spa area and I never saw a child in the spa other than during the tours on embarkation day.

If I recall correctly, the spa opened at 5pm on embarkation day (after the tours were done). It opened at 8am every other morning and closed at 10pm each night. It was never crowded in the morning. Afternoons on sea days were a little more crowded, but not bad. From 5pm until 10pm it was always the most crowded, but not really bad at all.

Am I understanding you correctly that there is still a fee to access the Spa itself? I was just on the Epic and joined the Spa for the cruise. Of course I paid fee but wasn't sure how Spa rooms would work it.;)

If you booked a spa cabin, there is no extra charge to access the spa rooms that I showed in this thread.