Steiner gets the boot!

[NLH Arizona]

Hate to grumble on Christmas Day, but a teensy bit disappointed that Celebrity didn't have their press release about the change, new spa managers, transition times, etc. ready Monday. Such a material change in revenue for a publically traded company had to be announced; the date would not have been a surprise to either party, nor that rumors would fly about the new contract until X's press release is out. Reminds one of flashing up new Captains Club points on the website before any announcement to its members or press was made. Happy that it is Canyon Ranch, definitely a step up, but did I have to hear about it from notes in an analyst report rumored from a poster on a message board? Sure it will be fine but wishing for a new year of better communication.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL

Did someone say Canyon Ranch for sure? I would love it, but I didn't read that on here, but could have missed it.

Edited December 25, 2013 by NLH Arizona

[akowilm]

I sail Connie in April. Wonder if the transition will be before? My sister gave as a birthday gift to me a sizeable spa credit that I was going to use to book specific treatments. I guess I should wait?? In reviewing the Canyon Ranch Services Guide, I hope the change is sooner than later!!

[Can'tstopcruising]

How are the Canyon Ranch prices in comparison to Steiner? Do they also offer "specials"? Thanks

[DesertPesce7751]

Canyon Ranch spa treatments and the non-sales ambiance were the ONLY redeeming quality of the one (and only, unless I'm forced) cruise I took with Oceania. This is a very welcome change indeed! I'm betting they will be fully transitioned by May, when I get on Millie. I wonder if they will bring some of the land-based spa bath treatments on board on the M class ships. The jetted tub is amazing and it would work so well with a few I saw in the brochure.

[cl.klink]

Exactly what services do these people oversee? Is it just the spa? Is it also things like acupuncture or haircuts?

- Joel

[TorontoSailor]

The heavy-handedness which some of the spa staff used to sell product really was appalling--and I'm hoping it improves. Some of them would go so far as to tell you that they were "prescribing" certain lotions and tell you that they were being added onto your bill. Not all the staff would do this, of course, but the ones who did made going to the spa an immensely unpleasant--and unequivocally unrelaxing--experience. I hope complaints about these pressure tactics were one of the reasons that Celebrity is changing suppliers. We'll see.

[purrlinda]

I wish I could remember the spa name at the Hyatt Regency Kauai (Lotus Spa?), now that was heaven, even in the bottles I brought home and re-ordered by 800# printed on the products.

 

It wasn't Canyon Ranch like the Venetian, LVgs, or at Gaylords in Orlando, CR has high prices, cafes, well, an environment that goes with the name.

 

At Steiner, I'd resist the hard-sell and go for the 20-20-20 packages.

They'll probably make a comeback like the art auctions as they have a cruise ship network.

 

-Marisa

 

Anara Spa is at the Grand Hyatt Kauai. The spa there is amazing. I order the CocoMango hair and bath products still, and I was last there in 2010. One of the most amazing places in the world!

[Cruise a holic]

Did someone say Canyon Ranch for sure? I would love it, but I didn't read that on here, but could have missed it.

I also didn't see that Canyon Ranch is taking over. My DH and I sail on the Sihouette Sat Jan 4th! I enjoy hair salon appts and hope that the level of service during the transition period isn't horrible.

[Janet987]

Read post 25, 28, 33 and 34. Canyon Ranch made the most sense since they already manage the spas at three other cruise lines. Changing to CR from Steiner is indeed a positive for Celebrity and they should have a big fanfare announcement, sure it has been in the works for a long time, too bad that X press release didn't come out Monday. It leaves customers like us sailing in the next few weeks, and in AQ, wondering. My guess is that Steiner will still be in place for us, and their staff will be even less interested in giving good service than before :rolleyes: I have no services booked now, so really doesn't impact but if we knew Canyon Ranch with its own products and staff would be in place, I would go wild booking treatments. This limbo situation may be good for the wallet :)

Edited December 26, 2013 by Janet987

[Seadays Rock]

Not in the least surprised by this announcement, on board spa is much too expensive and on appearance at least totally underutilised. Lower the price and watch that space begin to get busy.

[TLCOhio]

Not in the least surprised by this announcement, on board spa is much too expensive and on appearance at least totally underutilised. Lower the price and watch that space begin to get busy.

 

Appreciate this "news" and the various comments. It’s exactly 25 days or a little over three weeks till we will be boarding the Solstice in super spectacular Sydney harbor with our neighbors of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Then two weeks on the Solstice sailing up the New Zealand coast, finishing in Auckland. Not sure whether Celebrity will have the "transition" done in this short time period.

 

Lowering the prices? YES, that would increase use, but Celebrity really needs the added revenue and profit margins off of these services. Not sure they can easily achieve BOTH goals. Interesting comments on the "sell-sell" pushing by the staff. Can be a pain to deal with those attitudes.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Celebrity Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 155,989 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[carolslc]

When I'm on vacation, we'll often splurge on a spa treatment of some sort. I know I will pay more than a local place. But if it is of high quality and very relaxing (no annoying hard-sell or rude staff) and adds to the vacation experience, then to me, it is worth it.

[EatonDoolittle]

When I'm on vacation, we'll often splurge on a spa treatment of some sort. I know I will pay more than a local place. But if it is of high quality and very relaxing (no annoying hard-sell or rude staff) and adds to the vacation experience, then to me, it is worth it.

 

Agree completely.

Let's be careful of wishing for Wal-Mart-ization (just made that word up) of the spa with price driven quantity over quality.

[Bababooey Land]

When I'm on vacation, we'll often splurge on a spa treatment of some sort. I know I will pay more than a local place. But if it is of high quality and very relaxing (no annoying hard-sell or rude staff) and adds to the vacation experience, then to me, it is worth it.

 

i agree too..i would pay MORE money in a spa to get no sales pressure. I would not expect pricing to go down with Canyon Ranch..but i would expect the sales pressure to go down.

 

Over the last few years I personally thought the sales aspect of the Spa on Celebrity Ships were out of control. it was a turn off to even step foot in the spa. so i welcome this change. the spa should be making money on SERVICES (massages, facials, etc) that spas offer...not all this hokey sales stuff they were try to sell.

[cynbar]

Spa treatments are still being offered for our May cruise on Reflection. I have been planning to get one as a present for DH on his upcoming birthday. Does it seem likely the new company will honor preexisting sales or is this a bad idea??

[cindygad]

I always treat my self to a massage on board. I always dreaded the hard sell. The last time thanks to someone who posted it , I wrote on the paper they have you fill out about health PLEASE no hard sell on products. It was nice nothing was even mentioned and I just had a lovely massage!

[Kellie Poodle]

I always treat my self to a massage on board. I always dreaded the hard sell. The last time thanks to someone who posted it , I wrote on the paper they have you fill out about health PLEASE no hard sell on products. It was nice nothing was even mentioned and I just had a lovely massage!

 

Once I got a massage and the masseuse was very complementary about how toned my old lady body was (I did lift weights and do Pilates 3 times a week and Yoga 2 times a week at the time). She actually said that there were no products she could offer me as my body was in great shape.

 

Naturally she got a bigger than usual tip.:D

[days@sea]

I am not shocked at all that Celebrity is dumping Steiner.

 

As most of you have mentioned, Steiner does an "adequate or good" job of providing services, but they are known for their gorilla sales tactics. Celebrity has spent years and millions of dollars developing it's "Modern Luxury" brand that sets it apart from all of the other mass market cruise lines with similar size vessels.

 

I am not yet convinced it's Canyon Ranch. Why you ask?

 

I own Apple stock, and investment analyst make bogus predictions about them All The Time. Whatever analyst you saw this from, probably did 30 minutes of research and concluded "Canyon Ranch is the only other major company with a presence at sea, it has to be them". Also, CR might degrade their relationship with the luxury brands where they already exist, Regent Seven Seas, Oceania, Cunard.

 

I would not be shocked if Celebrity didn't go at it on their own!

By utilizing an established land based spa training school, possibly one in Europe or Thailand, or even partnering with someone like Canyon Ranch to train staff, but Celebrity owns the spa. That way, Celebrity could sell multiple brand spa products, and have their own private label brand of products, sell multiple brands of the hippest current products and be agile enough to change those products based on current trends. Bringing all of this in house to Celebrity corporate would increase profits, and they would have stricter quality control over the customer experience. A win-win for everyone.

 

BUT, I would not be shocked if it actually Is Canyon Ranch. This would totally be in keeping with Celebrity's position at the very top position in their segment of the cruise industry. And for Canyon Ranch, it could bring some youth into their product. They opened the Miami resort which is completely different than the other two Canyon Ranch properties. This has exposed them to completely new demographics and gained new customers. Partnering with Celebrity would build on this with the exposure to the number of passengers on Celebrity annually.

 

Again, I'm on the fence, but if it is Canyon Ranch, I would not expect it to be a Canyon Ranch as usual like on the other cruise lines. Celebrity is innovative, is increasing gaining a younger hipper demographic, and "the same as many other cruise lines" is not where they will go when presented with a clean slate.

 

That's just my 2 cents :)

[uktog]

When I'm on vacation, we'll often splurge on a spa treatment of some sort. I know I will pay more than a local place. But if it is of high quality and very relaxing (no annoying hard-sell or rude staff) and adds to the vacation experience, then to me, it is worth it.

 

And in these high quality situations I am more likely to visit twice on a cruise

[true45]

In today's mail along with the luggage tags for our January 2014 sailing, we received a flyer "Arrange special experiences ... by reserving online".

 

A few paragraphs later,

"AquaSpa by Elemis

Get a head start on relaxation by scheduling your AquaSpa by Elemis treatments in advance".

 

Linda

Edited December 26, 2013 by true45

[The_Big_M]

Spa treatments are still being offered for our May cruise on Reflection. I have been planning to get one as a present for DH on his upcoming birthday. Does it seem likely the new company will honor preexisting sales or is this a bad idea??

 

No guarantees, but I would expect so.

 

In any case, you shouldn't be worse off, i.e. if they don't you should get a refund and then can book the new deal if you wish.

 

I'd say it's one of those nothing to lose situations :-)

[hcat]

Won't miss Steiner at all...We enjoyed Canyon Ranch Spa on QM2--they had a real T pool which Celeb has removed from it's ships in lieu of the indoor atrium pool...

 

also love Red Lane at Sandals--better prodect at lower prices...no hard sells!

 

Hopefully this will also end the pseudo health lectures in the gym area...that are all very long, hard sells for products. Got sucked in to one once--that was enough and did not buy a thing!!!

Edited December 27, 2013 by hcat

[wwcruisers]

Won't miss Steiner at all...We enjoyed Canyon Ranch Spa on QM2--they had a real T pool which Celeb has removed from it's ships in lieu of the indoor atrium pool...

 

Yes, on Solstice Class ships, X went with the Solarium pool, instead of a T-pool. Also, the T-pool on Century was removed, during her 2006 retrofit. But, last I checked, the T-pools were alive and well (and a popular as ever) on all four of the Millennium Class ships. :cool:

[hulamoon]

Staff training for Steiner staff went from excellent to hit and miss in the last 14 years of our cruising. On our recent December cruise I had two treatments that were good but I would have spent more if I didn't feel so cautious there.

 

I also think getting high intensity sales pitches after a relaxing treatment is outrageous. In our early cruising days they were subtle, no longer.

 

Hopefully Steiner will clean house and keep the best of their staff on their other lines.

[eroller]

Yes!!!! BLISS would be a great fit for Celebrity. Especially since X seems to be following the W Hotel-style with it's Solstice Class ships.

 

 

 

Michael

 

 

 

I agree Bliss Spa would work out nicely onboard ship, although their treatments are very different than Steiner. Steiner is more fluff (soft touch, no extractions, etc), and Bliss is more nitty gritty (deep tissue, extractions, etc). Keep in mind Bliss is owned by Steiner Leisure and currently they have no plans to put a Bliss Spa onboard a ship. Bliss products and a couple services are making their way to ships but that is it … for now. Personally I think the first Bliss Spa at sea should be on the brand new NORWEGIAN BLISS. Very appropriate I think.

 

It was confirmed to me by inside sources that Canyon Ranch will indeed replace Steiner on Celebrity. This had to be a huge blow to Steiner but perhaps also a wake-up call that they need to become more relevant moving forward. As I'm sure most seasoned cruisers know, "co-branding" is the hot ticket right now. Cruisers want to see brands onboard they know and trust. No one knows Steiner, but most have heard of Canyon Ranch and the name is synonymous with luxury and quality. It's a natural fit for Celebrity.