Your spa experience

[mare73]

I wanted to add my 2 cents on the manicure. I've never been able to keep a manicure looking perfect for more than a day or two. Polish on my natural nails begins to fade or chip pretty quickly. I gave up the acrylic manicure years ago as I got tired of the damage to my natural nail.

 

Then I learned about gel nail polish. Best thing yet, in my opinion. I've been getting them about every 3 weeks since this past November. (I probably should get them redone at the 2-week point, as my new nail growth is way obvious, but I'm trying to stretch the dollars)

 

Anyway, I pay $35 each time and the polish never chips or fades...it looks just like it did on day one - again, except for the new nail growth. And I love that once the manicure is over, your nails are done...dry through and through. Go ahead and fumble for your keys in your purse. No worries.

 

So if you want to get a manicure and you know you'll be paying a higher price to do it on the ship, at least invest in a gel polish manicure (if they offer it). Otherwise, why pay a premium for something that may not last the entire cruise?

 

And if they don't offer gel polish, may I suggest bringing your own polish for them to use. This way, you can do any necessary touch-ups throughout the cruise. :D

[Libra1975]

I actually was going to get my nails done before I leave and my mother insisted I wait until I board the ship because we are spending 4 days in London beforehand and she said my nails would get chipped by the time I got onboard (which is true). I figured since she is paying for it, why the heck not? :)

 

I don't tend to go to spas in general (though the Hershey Spa is probably the best spa I have ever been to and it's about 1 1/2 hrs from me). But it's a nice treat when on vacation. I am definitely going to wait and see what deals they have when we board but I figured I'd get my nails done right away so that I'd have pretty nails for the majority of our cruise. :)

 

You need to go to a nails inc bar in London and get there 3 week manicure, it costs about £60 but lasts (mine lasted thru washing up and gardening) they use a product called bio sculpture gel. Also some nail places use Shellac which should last a similar amount of time without chipping.

[Kteacher]

I had a similar experience to host Faith aboard the Enchantment last summer. I had a port day special that included a sample of different types of massages. I politely declined purchasing any products, and didn't feel pressured. I would do one of the spa specials again.

[FreshOffTheBoat]

I have gone to the spa on every cruise and I haven no complaints. Yes its expensive but so is everything else while your on vacation.

 

Out of the 8 or so times I have had a spa treatment on a ship I have never had anyone try to sell me anything. I guess I am just lucky or I just look like I won't buy anything.

[kyriecat]

I quit using the spa onboard. The sales pitch is too pushy for me. I must have said "no, thank you" at least a dozen times the last time I had a facial. I really don't need 20 extra products and who wants to carry that much extra weight home.

 

My last massage was horrible! Some people like to talk during a massage, but I prefer quiet and told the woman that. For whatever reason, she wouldn't stop talking about how bad things were back home and about having to send money to her poor parents and mutiple siblings. I know some of the people working in the spa come from impoverished nations, but I don't want to hear about it when I'm supposed to be relaxing. She kept complaining that I was too tense - I wanted to say it was because she wouldn't shut up. I think she was hoping that I would give a better tip if I knew how bad her life was. I would have tipped more if she had been quiet and done a better job.

[Cshgrand]

I can definitely recommend bio sculpture gel - you can get it done on your toes too and it really does last three weeks! After that you can get it infilled to last another two weeks again.

 

As for the spas on board, I have always had good service as has my husband. He will usually have a back, head and shoulder massage and a facial and shave and I have had body scrubs and facials. Won't deny it is pricey but not treatments I indulge in at home unlike nails/toes and eyelashes so it's a holiday treat that I go away knowing I'm going to spend on. Last time on the freedom we booked in advance on line for one treatment each and then did another as a port special too.

[Amberle3]

I've got a Shellac manicure scheduled for just before my May cruise, I'm curious to see how well it works. Nail polish ALWAYS chips on me, sometimes within hours of it going on, but the Shellac is supposed to stay chip-free for 14 days and do less damage to the nails then gel. Mind you I haven't tried the gel either.

[XLRATION]

Last night I started looking up the RC spas to find why they are so pushy ..more so then anyone else on the ships.

 

I read sad story after sad story of those girls :( Made me want to cry and at the same time it made me feel extremely lucky to be an American and entitled to our labor laws.

 

RC does not own the spas, they basically rent/lease whatever you want to call it to the company. So its not RC being pushy. I was happy to read that much.

 

I guess it was the sheer volume of girls that had horrid experiences working for the spa that made me so sad.

 

 

I have heard that the spa service is contracted as well as the photography people. Explains why there is such an upsell and push to buy product.

I have had 2 experiences in the spa, both were massages and one included a facial also which I won. I never found them to be overly aggressive with the upsell of products but there definitely was push for the sale.

As for the service itself, I would have to say, IMO, that it was below average. I get regular physical therapy massages and neither onboard massages measured up to the ones I received at home.