cruiseman7299 Posted August 2, 2015 #1 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Thinking about booking a cruise on RCCL Allure of the Seas. The gym/fitness area is very important to me especially the steam/sauna area. Will be sailing alone and like to spend some relaxing time in that area. Would like some information about that area on this ship. Thanks in advance for any help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RlrCstr Posted August 2, 2015 #2 Share Posted August 2, 2015 I haven't sailed on Allure, but from what I have heard, the only spa areas are pay only and co-ed. :mad: None of the Oasis class ships have a free area. The smaller class mostly do. The Freedom class ships are great, with a large gym and nice free facilities that are not co-ed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CntPAcruiser Posted August 3, 2015 #3 Share Posted August 3, 2015 (edited) We sailed once each on Allure and Oasis, and they are beautiful ships with wonderful entertainment venues, but the fitness center leaves something to be desired. It is crammed in well below decks and lacks the nice view some of the other ships' fitness centers have. While decently equipped otherwise, there is not a proper locker room and no free steam/sauna. As a further "bonus," the area often smells of cigarette smoke, supposedly from a nearby crew smoking area (unless this problem has been remedied more recently). Oasis and Allure have a thermal suite, which cost us around $200 for a couple's pass for a 7-night cruise. This includes use of the men's locker room in the spa area, which is down a hallway from the thermal suite (no direct access). The locker room is rather small, and you end up bumping into each other if more than a few guys are in there. Because the thermal suite is mixed sexes, Royal requires that bathing suits be worn. In the thermal suite, you will find several heated ceramic lounges (very nice), a small sauna, steam room, and aromatherapy room. These are supposed to seat maybe 6 to 8, but because of the configuration, interference of support pillars, and location of the steam vents, it doesn't really work out that way. There are also two specialty showers with various settings like mist, waterfall, and rain shower. These are nice, but often it's impossible to get anything but hot or even scalding water, so there's no good way to cool off between sauna & steam, etc., unless you want to walk back to the locker room. Because the thermal suite is located on a lower deck, there's no direct access to a pool for cooling off (and there's no whirlpool either). Early in the week while the spa staff are still bringing potential customers through, you may be interrupted in your relaxation fairly often. On Oasis, the crowding wasn't too bad, and it usually wasn't noisy, but this was not the case on Allure. It probably depends on the cruise and how hard the staff sell the passes, but it was crowded and noisy the week we were on Allure. Lots of chatter and commotion--definitely not a relaxing atmosphere most of the time. It would depend on your tolerance for noise, probably, and how well behaved your fellow cruisers are. On the last day of our Allure cruise, after having been only somewhat obnoxious most of the week, two couples we had seen in the thermal suite quite often decided they needed to take numerous flash pictures of each other using the thermal suite facilities. Bottom line is, we likely won't cruise on Royal's newer ships any more in part because of the lack of decent locker rooms and free sauna and steam room facilities. Others report loving the thermal suite, but we don't. Edited August 3, 2015 by CntPAcruiser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseman7299 Posted August 3, 2015 Author #4 Share Posted August 3, 2015 So just to clarify....there is no strictly male sauna on the Allure even in the "pay for" section? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseman7299 Posted August 3, 2015 Author #5 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Thank you for the detailed information. Greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CntPAcruiser Posted August 3, 2015 #6 Share Posted August 3, 2015 So just to clarify....there is no strictly male sauna on the Allure even in the "pay for" section? That is correct--only mixed-sex facilities on Allure and Oasis (and apparently also the newer Quantum class). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix8 Posted August 3, 2015 #7 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Guess I'll never get to see Oasis class. What's a cruise without some sauna/steamroom time with the fellas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseman7299 Posted August 3, 2015 Author #8 Share Posted August 3, 2015 I agree...bummer...any suggestions for a ship with good facilities for men only saunas... Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CntPAcruiser Posted August 3, 2015 #9 Share Posted August 3, 2015 As mentioned in my first post, Oasis and Allure are beautiful ships, and the real attraction is the entertainment, particularly the aqua theater. It was nice to try out once, but the service and food on these ships did not seem as good to us as that of the smaller ships. It all depends on what (or whom) you're cruising for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CntPAcruiser Posted August 3, 2015 #10 Share Posted August 3, 2015 I agree...bummer...any suggestions for a ship with good facilities for men only saunas... Thanks The Voyager class ships and Freedom class ships have nice separate locker rooms with larger steam rooms and saunas. I think those are the ships you're looking for on Royal. We've been on those ships and have enjoyed the cruise overall and what those ships have to offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseman7299 Posted August 3, 2015 Author #11 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Thanks. I sailed on the Freedom of the Seas and had a great time. The sauna area was great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix8 Posted August 4, 2015 #12 Share Posted August 4, 2015 What's the typical age range from everyone's past experience ? Last year in Alaska it was typically 60 and up...but I'm sure it was mostly the Alaska route. Never really seen any teens/20's in sauna/steam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseman7299 Posted August 4, 2015 Author #13 Share Posted August 4, 2015 My last cruise was on the Carnival Dream. It had a good range of guys but for the most part the range was from about 40 on up. Did have some guys in their early 20's but they just came in the sauna to check it out didn't stay long and were in there swimming trunks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrskier Posted August 22, 2015 #14 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Heard from someone that some of the ships are eliminating the steam/sauna facilities as they update them? Has anyone else heard this rumor? Possibility replacing them with The paid Thermal Suites. thanks for your feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CntPAcruiser Posted August 23, 2015 #15 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Heard from someone that some of the ships are eliminating the steam/sauna facilities as they update them? Has anyone else heard this rumor? Possibility replacing them with the paid thermal suites. thanks for your feedback. It sounds like some of the smaller ships have reconfigured the space slightly during refurbs, but most has retained some free facilities in the locker rooms. They may have added a thermal suite in addition to the existing. Thankfully I've not heard that they've eliminated them on Voyager- and Freedom-class ships when updating the ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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