Canyon Ranch Spa going away

[LesSails80435]

While attempting to find out if a specific manicure service would be offered on Marina next winter, I was referred to Canyon Ranch directly. The phone was answered as Canyon Ranch for Regent and Oceania, and the person who answered reported that their contract with both Oceania and Regent would be terminating the end of this year, as NCL was installing their own spa services (Mandara?) onboard. I tried to confirm with Oceania, and the rep said this was the first she'd heard. The Canyon Ranch rep said they had not been told yet how (where) the turnover would occur (we're in Puerto Chacabuco, Chile on Jan 1--hard to believe that would be practical). I couldn't find anyone at NCL with an answer.

 

Has anyone else learned of this? Does anyone have experience with Mandara? Canyon Ranch rep said that when bookings open for our cruise Oct 7 (Dec 7 departure from Rio), they would know more about schedule.

[clo]

Nothing to do with the spa, but we're going to be on that cruise also.  First time with O.  Looking forward to meeting you.

[LesSails80435]

This will be (Rio to Miami) our 16th, 17th, and 18th O cruises. Hope you love it as much as we do.

[LHT28]

well  concessionaires  change

 

I think it was Mandara  years ago  or Elemis  ?? Maybe someone remembers the name back in the early years

They probably get a better deal since  NCL ships  have Mandura spas on their ships

[clo]

1 hour ago, LesSails80435 said:

This will be (Rio to Miami) our 16th, 17th, and 18th O cruises. Hope you love it as much as we do.

Oh, I thought you were going to be on the Marina.  I misread.  We're leaving Rio that day on the Marina for Buenos Aires.

[Kate-AHF]

He means he's doing three "legs", or a B2B2B.  The first leg, Rio to BA will be his 16th cruise.  The following two legs will be his 17th and 18th.

[clo]

54 minutes ago, Kate-AHF said:

He means he's doing three "legs", or a B2B2B.  The first leg, Rio to BA will be his 16th cruise.  The following two legs will be his 17th and 18th.

Whew, I finally figured it out.  Rio to Buenos Aires, BA to Santiago and there to Miami.

[Mura]

Back to the original topic (not complaining, Clo!) ...

 

We aren't big spa users but on one cruise I used the spa for a series of acupuncture treatments (that was back in 2013 on our way to Rio from Barcelona).  More recently we both had pedicures on Riviera.

 

We were happy with the services we received through Canyon Ranch (especially since we used OBC to pay for most of the bills) but I'm sure we'd be happy with any other vendor as well.  And if NCL is already using this new company, I'm sure they do a good job.  Plus, I agree, that it probably helps the company get the bill reduced ...

 

Does this mean the Canyon Ranch specials on the GDR menus will also be gone?  I'm just curious ... I don't think that we personally ever used them.

 

Mura

[clo]

4 minutes ago, Mura said:

Canyon Ranch specials on the GDR menus

Good question - and no problem, Mura.

[ORV]

Well this could explain why the 2 Free Canyon ranch loyalty treatments are going away in Nov. Perhaps they've had the change planned since they announced that. 

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

Well this could explain why the 2 Free Canyon ranch loyalty treatments are going away in Nov. Perhaps they've had the change planned since they announced that. 

But - will it come back after the new provider starts? 😊

I seriously doubt that - it was a money saving move (just like lowering the OBC) 😒

[edgee]

We are frequent spa service users. With over 40 cruises worth of experience on both mainstream and luxury cruise lines we have found Canyon Ranch spa services to be overpriced and staff to be generally arrogant and cold compared to spas on ships run by other companies. After a few recent years of cruising only lines with  Canyon Ranch spas (Cunard, Oceania, Regent and Celebrity), we recently cruised Crystal and HAL which have Steiner run spas. It was somewhat of a shock to see more reasonably priced messages without having to rely on port day specials to get spa services at a decent price. Steiner was certainly not perfect, but we generally found the staff more friendly in addition to the better pricing. We certainly consider this change eliminating Canyon Ranch as a likely positive, pending a decent experience with the new company.

 

 

 

[Toranut97]

14 hours ago, Mura said:

Back to the original topic (not complaining, Clo!) ...

 

(Snip)

 

Does this mean the Canyon Ranch specials on the GDR menus will also be gone?  I'm just curious ... I don't think that we personally ever used them.

 

Mura

 This was my question also. My husband and I both enjoyed the option of having the CRS menu selections, even mixing and matching them with the regular menu choices. I assume that even if the brand name goes away, the healthier selections might still be served as managed by O.

 

Donna

[LesSails80435]

Thanks for this helpful perspective. We're not huge spa users, but with a 46-day voyage, we'll certainly need some services. Let's hope Mandara is an upgrade, or at least more reasonably priced.

[sunlover12]

14 hours ago, edgee said:

We are frequent spa service users. With over 40 cruises worth of experience on both mainstream and luxury cruise lines we have found Canyon Ranch spa services to be overpriced and staff to be generally arrogant and cold compared to spas on ships run by other companies. After a few recent years of cruising only lines with  Canyon Ranch spas (Cunard, Oceania, Regent and Celebrity), we recently cruised Crystal and HAL which have Steiner run spas. It was somewhat of a shock to see more reasonably priced messages without having to rely on port day specials to get spa services at a decent price. Steiner was certainly not perfect, but we generally found the staff more friendly in addition to the better pricing. We certainly consider this change eliminating Canyon Ranch as a likely positive, pending a decent experience with the new company.

 

 

 

In addition to Canyon Ranch Spa on Oceania, I've only been to one other cruise line spa and that's Royal Caribbean.  The quality of CRS is very good but I agree with you that the staff can be too business-like and not all that friendly.  I've found the spa staff on Royal Caribbean to be friendlier although they did push the product-sell at the end too hard.  Canyon Ranch Spa didn't push it. 

 

However both spas are very overpriced.  I didn't think CRS on Oceania had higher prices than the Vitality Spa on RC.  I'll be interested to see who replaces Canyon Ranch. 

[LHT28]

I have used the spa on most cruises  to use up OBC mostly but never found the staff  unfriendly or stiff

 they are their to do their job not be your best buddy ...that said I have found them chatty & friendly without being intrusive

of course  as always  YMMV

[chelseabelsea]

Personally, I take this as very bad news! Allow me to explain; first, I must say that I, too, found the continuous price increases for Canyon Ranch annoying and eventually it got to the point where I purposefully limited my amount of spa services each cruise. The prices finally eclipsed those at my local Red Door spa here in Washington DC, which is quite expensive. Having said that, I must say that I found the massage therapists onboard with CR to be outstanding, and most cruises I was on, there was at least one CR team member who was cross- trained as a physical therapist. I had consistently stellar Canyon Ranch spa experiences (and interactions with CR staff) for the last 12 years that we have been sailing with Oceania.

 

Anyways, the reason I think this is bad news is based on our experiences from many years ago when RCCL purchased Celebrity, then changed out the spa teams - and the sales ethos changed, as well. The Steiner spa crew got VERY pushy with selling products, and that was a harbinger of things to come. After that move, we noticed the RCCL influence in downsizing Celebrity waitstaff, which meant service went downhill in dining venues and bars. Next up, ship maintenance across Celebrity noticeably declined. Celebrity eventually went so far downhill that we quit sailing with them altogether. This is the basis for my reaction to this news- I was fearful that NCL would similarly ruin Oceania. We are O devotees, with more than 20 cruises on the books. I really, really hope I am wrong, but I am concerned about this being the first big negative change, and I pray we won’t see more à la RCCL/Celebrity.

 

Just my two cents, folks....submitted with all due respect for everyone else’s opinions 😊

[Paulchili]

Time will tell.

[LaCroisiereS'amuse]

If it is Mandara, then it's a Steiner brand (like Elemis), so it's going to be sell, sell, sell.......

[Paulchili]

26 minutes ago, LaCroisiereS'amuse said:

If it is Mandara, then it's a Steiner brand (like Elemis), so it's going to be sell, sell, sell.......

Easy enough to say - No, thank you.

That said, I’ve never used the spa but would not buy something I don’t want or need.

[edgee]

I agree that Steiner is more focused on the sell sell sell, but I have also found that a polite no and changing of the subject worked well. I did not feel unduly pressured.

[Mura]

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

I have used the spa on most cruises  to use up OBC mostly but never found the staff  unfriendly or stiff

 they are their to do their job not be your best buddy ...that said I have found them chatty & friendly without being intrusive

of course  as always  YMMV

This has been our experience as well.  Admittedly, we haven't used the spa frequently but I'm not sure that is indicative of anything.

 

Mura

[LHT28]

I remember  in the early years they sold Elemis products  but whatever the spa was I did not find it too high pressure  like I read on other lines

The one person did mention a product for my skin condition  & loved it  but cannot find it in Canada 

so sometimes it works out  & sometimes a No Thank you works also 😉

[Maverick Cruiser]

Personally I am glad they are not going to be the spa operators.  We were on Riviera for 22 days in May and I went into the spa for a color and a slight trim on the second half of the cruise, the color was great but the stylist cut my ear.  The cut was so bad that it had to be cauterized multiple time to stop the bleeding, asked for medical attention and they did not want to give it to me.  They tried to put a bandaid on it, but the blood was so much it would not stick, my hands were covered in blood and they were worried about their towels more than my ear.  It took more than 20 minutes for them to agree to call the doctor.  I could not get my ear wet for the remainder of the cruise, I had to sleep propped up so that I would not sleep on the side that was injured.  I am glad that they are going to be gone.

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Maverick Cruiser said:

Personally I am glad they are not going to be the spa operators.  We were on Riviera for 22 days in May and I went into the spa for a color and a slight trim on the second half of the cruise, the color was great but the stylist cut my ear.  The cut was so bad that it had to be cauterized multiple time to stop the bleeding, asked for medical attention and they did not want to give it to me.  They tried to put a bandaid on it, but the blood was so much it would not stick, my hands were covered in blood and they were worried about their towels more than my ear.  It took more than 20 minutes for them to agree to call the doctor.  I could not get my ear wet for the remainder of the cruise, I had to sleep propped up so that I would not sleep on the side that was injured.  I am glad that they are going to be gone.

or maybe they should just fire the stylist  not the whole company 🙄