conflicting spa answers - please help

[Meredisney]

Hi there. I'm leaving on the Dream in 11 days and I am interested in using the steam room, saunas, and showers in the spa. I've done a search on Cruise Critic and I've found conflicting answers. So here is my question, Do you have to pay to use these amenities? Some members of Cruise Critic have said that you can only use the steam room, saunas, and showers if you purchase the spa package or are booked in a spa room. Others have said that the gym, saunas, and steamrooms are free.

What's the REAL deal with the spa?:confused:

[purpleblanket]

That does sound confusing. Here's what I know.

We are staying in a spa balcony cabin on panorama deck.

All the spa amenities like the thallasatherapy (sp?) pool and the steam rooms are included when you stay in these rooms, otherwise you need to purchase a pass and there are a limited amount of passes.

 

Other than that, the gym is free for anyone to use and anyone can "book" and purchase a treatment such as a massage or facial or hair appt etc...

Now, I'm not sure if there is a simple steam room as part of the gym changeroom. I would think that would be free if there was. But the "fancier"

steams etc.... are part of the pass or a perk of being in spa rooms.

 

Hope that helps.

 

debbie :)

[riffatsea]

I am going on the Splendor and the spa situation seems similar. I have been told also that you must buy a spa pass to use the facilities/steam room/sauna etc.

I was told that even if you book a massage or other spa treatment you have to buy a spa pass in addition to paying for the treatment!! This seems ridiculous as in most places paying for a massage also gets you into the spa facilities but the rules on board these ships seem different!:mad:

[Lady_Jag]

Here's the deal:-

Locker rooms (including showers) and the steam rooms off the locker rooms are free to use. You do NOT need a spa pass to receive a spa treatment like a massage, facial, etc.

 

The specialized aromatherapy saunas, relaxation room, and thelosso pool require a spa pass to enter.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[viaggi_per_mare]

I am going on the Splendor and the spa situation seems similar. I have been told also that you must buy a spa pass to use the facilities/steam room/sauna etc.

I was told that even if you book a massage or other spa treatment you have to buy a spa pass in addition to paying for the treatment!! This seems ridiculous as in most places paying for a massage also gets you into the spa facilities but the rules on board these ships seem different!:mad:

 

Hi,

We were on the Dream in May. We are not "spa type" people but with the new ships and the fact that we cruise alot, we decided to buy into the spa for the week to see if we would use it. Here is our opinion.

 

We love aft cabins so we would never get a "spa cabin" If you have a spa cabin, I imagine that it would be more convenient and you are more likely to use it more than we did. Part of the gym has been sacrificed to make room for the spa. The "free gym" was smaller than other ships and it had more people so there was some waiting for machines (not that long of a wait) You could use the locker rooms and showers with the gym. For the spa - they had their own "locker room" as well as several steam rooms, thallo pool, a dry heat room, and refreshments in the way of water and fruit in one of the room (this is all free with the spa membership) The price to "buy in" for the week was $249/couple (couple is not defined for the purpose of buying a "couple pass" - pretty much any 2 people, although I do not know if you have to be in the same cabin or booking) The spa was a waste for us as we did not use it. There was so much else to do and they have plenty of "free jacuzzi" on deck 5 that were often empty. The thallo pool despite what they tell you is basically a bigger fancy jacuzzi. (We are nurses so, to us most of the sales pitch is lost to us as far at the health benefit claims of the various treatments) Due to fraud regarding the "sharing of passes" there are some hoops to jump through everyday in the way of access passes and wrist bands, but it was no problem. For our weekly spa pass - we used it ONCE making it about $125 each for 1 visit - certainly not cost effective for us and we would never buy into the spa again. If you are cruising during times that school is not in session, it might be a good thing to use to get away from the 100's of kids running around as you cannot use the spa unless you are a certain age (yes that means if you have a 9 years old in your spa cabin, she will not be able to use the spa with you) We saw a few arguments from people who were in spa cabins who were trying to get their child in the spa because they were in a spa cabin too - the universal answer to them by the staff was they could go to Camp Carnival while you use the spa.

You can go up to the spa when you get on the ship and get your weekly access pass (you do not get it from guest services so don't bother waiting on the long line - you can get a tour and buy them at the spa itself) As for daily passes at $30 each I believe - they are only available as "left overs" which means if they sell the maximum amount of weekly passes for the cruise, there is none for daily. That is what made us buy the weekly pass to try the spa instead of trying to get a daily pass which might be unavailable. It is a very small area and they do not want crowds in there so it is a way to control how many have access.

 

Hope this info helps