Done with the Spa

[JPH814]

I might be done with the spa on HAL..

 

My idea of a spa day is to spend a couple hours, Steam, sauna, use the fancy, heated pool, lay around a bit, on the tile loungers in the thermal suite. Then a long massage and a little recovery sipping some tea or juice before heading out. That is what I have done on every cruise I have ever been on (and my experience at a lot of land based spas)

 

I made arrangements for my wife and I to have a spa day on a port day. I book a hot stone massage for her and a deep tissue massage for me for 4:30. I said - "we can come early and use the facilities, right?" Well, not any more. Only those who pay for daily passes can now use the facilities. But I am told they now at least have a relaxation room with comfy chairs, fruit and juices to relax prior to and after the services. OK

 

We arrive at 4:00 to get into our robes and relax a bit, We go to use the new relaxation room and it is unavailable, It was filled with about 20 people, being used for a "seminar" about teeth whitening or something . So at 4:10 we are told to take seats on a sofa in the hallway - between the elevators and the lido pool. Now I am a big guy and the robes are - well - not big. Not a comfortable experience with a parade of people parading back and forth,

 

At 4:45 the two therapists finally come to get us and take us into one room, thinking we wanted a couple massage. "Not what I ordered" . Five more minutes before they get that straightened out,

 

I spend the first 15 minutes of the massage planning my email to the Spa management. Not happy. Not relaxing.

 

To make matters worse, They never gave me the "port Special" discount. I did not ask and they did not offer it,.I guess I should have paid more attention.

 

So I will save my spa budget for real spa facilities on land. The ones on HAL are over priced and not worth it

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I can more than sympathize with you, and have had similar experience on HAL Steiner Spas, my Koningsdam experience was horrible, one calamity of errors after another. But Steiner Spas on other lines do not tend to be like this. I am not sure why?? I was fortunate to have a good experience on our last HAL cruise on the Westerdam this past October. In two weeks we will be going on the NCL Dawn and have never once had a bad experience with NCL spas.

Unfortunately it has been many years since HAL offered the Thermal Suite pass for the day when having a Spa treatment but YES I do remember them doing that, But it seems it was when they first introduced the Green House Spa concept at least 10 years ago. Because the relaxation room was not available for you prior to your treatment what they should have done is offered you the Thermal Suite for the rest of that day. Late afternoons and evenings are not busy in the Thermal Suite, heck half the time they open it to some of the crew.

As for the Port pricing, I have been caught under that umbrella before as well, first you must mention that when you make the appointment, second they actually listed the treatments a bit differently for Port Specials and they are often shorter in length so not necessarily any cheaper.

[geoherb]

We started off on a bad foot when one of the employees told us the wrong time for the spa raffle on the first afternoon.

 

Then I was hoping for a port day special on a pass to the thermal suite last month on the Zuiderdam. I never saw many people in the pool part of the thermal suite, so I figured they'd welcome a little extra revenue. The first spa employee I asked told me she'd have to ask her supervisor. I left my cabin number but missed her call (heard the phone ring while I was getting out of the shower)--and she did not leave a message. So I went up and asked another employee who told me they never discount the passes.

[SeaNStars4Me]

How much are the Thermal Passes on the Oosterdam? I read somewhere I think that it's $148 for the week...I'm going on a 7 day cruise. I'm going to try the spa facility for a massage, as well. Hope my experience is better than yours! (All of the prices seem very, very steep to me---I go to land spas regularly).

[geoherb]

Our cruise was a 10-day one. The price for the week was $199 for one person or $299 for a couple. The one-day pass was $40 per person. Apparently we were not the only ones opting out of buying passes. It was never busy at all.

[Jacqueline]

I was on the QM2 and any treatment got you in for the day. So nice. It's a shame that they are still fiddling with this and creating unhappy customers.

[BellBoys]

Joe:

 

If you do go back in the future, you can request that they provide you an oversized robe. They always have a selection available. We did this for a relative a few house before the scheduled appointment so it was available to them when they checked in for their massage.

 

Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience.

[JPH814]

Joe:

 

If you do go back in the future, you can request that they provide you an oversized robe. They always have a selection available. We did this for a relative a few house before the scheduled appointment so it was available to them when they checked in for their massage.

 

Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience.

 

 

I am 6'2 and 3xx pounds. I got the big robe and it still was a bit too revealing. The big robes in other spas I go to are much more generous.

 

 

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[mancunian]

My worst spa suite experience was on Seabourn. I had, as I do on HAL, paid to use the heated beds. Odyssey is only small so it is really only heated beds, sauna and a circular pool in the middle where you are supposed to put your legs and feet in the hot side and walk round to the cold side.

 

Now my idea of a session on heated beds is perfect relaxation which means a fairly quiet atmosphere. Clearly not on Seabourn, where people who have treatments are encouraged to go and relax there afterwards, usually with the beautician who has attended to them and then they discuss how they want their tea, and talk about future treatments. Once the beautician has left them to get the tea a general conversation ensues. On top of this despite a corridor encircling the outside of the room, the beauticians find it much quicker to walk diagonally across and there is constant movement. After my third time on the beds I was so enraged when I returned to the cabin I said I am not going there again. I did complain on my questionnaire, but I had realised this behaviour was so deeply entrenched that complaining at the time would have done no good at all.

[veryseasonedtraveler]

My pet peeve is the push of product after a massage. Takes away from that afterglow.

[sammiedawg]

I had a bad HAL spa experience years ago. The spa seemingly had no other customers but kept me waiting a ridiculous amount of time for the service. Then the girl seemed disinterested and was borderline rude. Never again did I waste my money.

[djhsolara]

I know this will not be the popular answer, but regarding the Thermal Suite pass for the day, I can understand them not offering it for everyone who gets a treatment. It seems that the TS has been getting more and more popular on its own and can now be crowded at times. Adding everyone that gets a treatment would only add to that...and that's really not necessarily fair to those who paid specifically for that service.

 

I will, however, say that using the Relaxation Room for their little classes is ridiculous. If that's supposed to be the relaxing "pre-treatment" area, classes do not belong there. It happened to me on Koningsdam. Certainly takes away from the relaxation of the room.

 

 

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[JPH814]

I know this will not be the popular answer, but regarding the Thermal Suite pass for the day, I can understand them not offering it for everyone who gets a treatment. It seems that the TS has been getting more and more popular on its own and can now be crowded at times. Adding everyone that gets a treatment would only add to that...and that's really not necessarily fair to those who paid specifically for that service.

 

I will, however, say that using the Relaxation Room for their little classes is ridiculous. If that's supposed to be the relaxing "pre-treatment" area, classes do not belong there. It happened to me on Koningsdam. Certainly takes away from the relaxation of the room.

 

 

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I do not disagree.

My point is I do not go to a spa just for a massage. I go there to relax. Either they give me a pass for the facilities or they provide a comfortable place for pre-treatment and post- treatment relaxation. They gave me neither. Promising something and not delivering pissed me off. Sitting in a public hallway for over a half an hour with people walking through pissed me off. Starting a massage pissed off is never good.

 

 

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[djhsolara]

I do not disagree.

My point is I do not go to a spa just for a massage. I go there to relax. Either they give me a pass for the facilities or they provide a comfortable place for pre-treatment and post- treatment relaxation. They gave me neither. Promising something and not delivering pissed me off. Sitting in a public hallway for over a half an hour with people walking through pissed me off. Starting a massage pissed off is never good.

 

 

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Yes. That Relaxation Room is nice and they should keep it just for that. Holding seminars in there is not Spa-friendly. Not a good way to start or end a treatment.

 

 

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