Spa advice

[sunshineminnie]

Hi there. Well yesterday I used the last of my Christmas gift card and treated myself to a hot stone massage at my local spa. I love, love, love them! It's such a treat for me and I'd love to do one on my upcoming cruise. I'll be sailing on the Grand in November.

 

Here's my question. I have read that there is a sales pitch at the end. What's that all about? That would really be annoying when I just want to relax? Is it bad? Can it be avoided? I guess that I would rather skip the massage than have it be ruined by a hard core sell.

 

Any advice or opinions would be appreciated.

 

Thanks is advance!

[mrdood]

Opinions on this vary, there are two approaches, one is to tell them up front you are not interested in any sales pitches as you are not planning on buying anything, or second, if they start in, just give them a firm kind "no" to end it.

 

Some people get pitched, others do not...

[-Lew-]

The sales presentation is of products they use in the spa and others. If it is not of interest, just say so and they will stop. You don't need to sit there like a drone and listen if you don't want to.

 

When sailing on Disney Cruise Line we would tell the front desk person that we were not interested in hearing a sales presentation during or after our spa treatment. It worked every time.

 

Many of the spas on cruise ships are run by a company call Steiner. They run the spas on both DCL and Princess. I don't see why they would not honor your request.

 

Lew

[lovetosew]

Try two web sights: About.com:Spas which explains how to do it on your own and E-Bay where there are many opportunities to purchase stones and equipment for much much less money. It was fun to look this up for you and I have often thought of doing this myself.:)

[2theship]

I think you'll get a much better value if you visit your salon at home. I have found the ship salons to be very overpriced for the quality they were offering. Plus, I always seem to have a hard time figuring out a good time to go when I'm not missing something else. Having said that, I've still used the spas when a good offer comes along. I have found the sales pitches to be rather entertaining. When they're done, a simple "no thanks" will do the trick. No need to stress about it and undo all of that relaxation.

[booklady26]

I've found that the sales pitch varies by the person giving your treatment. Some will respond to a polite "no thank you, not interested" and others will continue to press. On my last cruise, I had 3 treatments and 2 therapists didn't even mention anything at the end of the treatment.

 

The worst I ever experienced was a therapist who was very persistent in trying to get me to buy skin products for several hundred dollars. After I said no about 4 or 5 times, she asked me why I didn't want them when they did such a good job on my skin. I told her that I thought they were ridiculously expensive and that seemed to shut her up.

 

The newest spa gimmick, especially if you get a massage, is the detox program. For $300, you get basically laxatives and vitamins. I told the therapist that I would not start such a regimen without consulting with my doctor first to know what negative efects it could have on my body. How could anyone argue with that!!

 

My spa experience has never been ruined by any of these pitches. If you think you'll be uncomfortable, you could just tell your therapist as soon as she starts in that you're not interested in what they're selling. I'm sure they've all been told this many times before by customers. But if they can make just a couple of sales a day, that's some extra money in their pocket because the person who makes the sale probably gets a commission on top of thier salary and tip.

[cigal]

sunshineminnie,

 

Have fun on your cruise. I don't have any cruises booked at the moment, but maybe this fall. I love Princess but hate the hard sell in the spa. This is the best advice I have seen. It was in a thread that has been closed and I couldn't figure out how to quote it, so I apologize if I did not quote it properly.

This reply was written by NLiedel (who always has excellent advice).

 

When you walk in, SMILE and say, "I know it's your job to promote the items you have for sale, but I am not interested and am not going to change my mind. If you don't mention them, I'll tip you well." Wink and lay down. The only thing is, you have to mean it. I tip 15-20% for a service, so if they don't sell to me, I bump it 20-25%. Worth it to keep the hawking of the crap from happening.

 

If she pressures you, tip 5% and tell her why! I never, ever leave a short tip without explaining why. Usually to a manager. Converserly, I frequently seek out management for excellent service too.

__________________

 

I hope this works:)

[YoPhilly]

I've used the spa services numerous times on Princess and the staff always try to sell me something. I do agree that you're better off going to your favorite spa at home for services. It's so hard to drag myself away from a perfectly relaxing day at sea to go to the spa.

[GloriaF]

I would suggest using your local home spa as well. You can have a massage before and after your cruise for just a little more than you will pay for one onboard, most likely.

[CruiseQueen13]

They all give it - I am an upfront person - I say no thanks - not interested firmly and it's never been a problem.