Are spa staterooms worth it?

[LHARTWICK]

Considering booking a spa stateroom.  Specifically what does it give you access to?  Any details are appreciated - thanks in advance!

[Jerseygirl1416]

Which ship?

[LHARTWICK]

Sorry - Should have been more specific.  Vista.....we are on our way back home from Glory today, so my mind is a little tired!  🙂

[ed01106]

Personally I don’t get the point of the high end rooms on the mass market cruise lines.  If you are willing to drop that much money on a cruise, might as well go with a premium line.

[PhillyFan33579]

15 minutes ago, ed01106 said:

Personally I don’t get the point of the high end rooms on the mass market cruise lines.  If you are willing to drop that much money on a cruise, might as well go with a premium line.

From my experience, spa balconies are only a few hundred dollars more than a regular balcony, which isn’t that much more in my book. 

[coevan]

The Cloud 9 Spa Balcony Cabins are awesome. The location is perfect, quietest cabin we ever had, no kids in our area.

[bury me at sea]

On the Dream class ships spa cabins are unequivocally worth the extra money to me.  The spas, including the T-pools, are incredible.

 

I have no experience with spas on the other classes of ships.

[Butterbean1000]

We booked a spa balcony on our Breeze cruise this week specifically for the thermal suite.  We love the thalassptherapy pool.  I understand that the Vista doesn't have one of these, so I am not sure it would be worth it for us.

[tree.critter]

Only on the Dream class ships IMO, it's the thalasso pool that makes it so special for us.  

[naxer]

Like others have said, it's worth it to us as long as it has the Thalassotheraphy Pool.  We take advantage of the thermal suites every day, sometimes twice, and certainly the Thalassotheraphy Pool.  We did it on the Splendor twice.

[PhillyFan33579]

As others have stated, the thalassotherapy  pool is my favorite part of the thermal suite area. We have stayed in Cloud 9 spa cabins on Vista, Horizon and Sunshine. While we enjoyed the thermal suites on all of these ships, they are definitely a notch below the thermal suites on Dream class ships due to the lack of a thalassotherapy pool. 

[cmptrwiz]

We just booked a spa cabin on the Panorama for March 2020.  We had a spa cabin on the Splendor 3 years ago and absolutely loved it.  We know Panorama doesn't have the pool so we shall see.  The spa cabins have bathrobes and slippers which is nice.  We love the dry heated tile loungers.

[klfrodo]

worth what?

Is it free? Then Yes

A million dollars? then no

$500 per person but you can only afford $199 per person? Then No

Your net worth is worth a  couple of million, you have plenty of time off,,,, then maybe

[Elaine5715]

I don't think all the spa balconies have covers so that's a minus.  

[LHARTWICK]

Thanks for the input - very helpful.  🙂

[LibratPDX]

I booked a spa cabin on the Vista before I knew their thalassotherapy pool was basically just a jacuzzi with mineral water.  I was disappointed and would not bother booking a spa cabin on the Vista class.  On the Dream class they have the nicer and larger thalassotherapy pool and just more space in general for the heated lounger and various steam rooms, and if I'm not in a spa cabin I purchase the spa pass for access to them.   But it's all subjective, you have to decide for yourself if it's worth it!

[keywest1]

DH and DD always want the spa passes on ships with the thalassotherapy pools.  I know the Splendor has that in addition to the Dream class.  We have twice found deals where it was cheaper to book the spa balcony than a regular balcony and then buy the passes.  I am not a spa person, so its fine that only two of us get the spa perks.

[TTU cruiser]

I'll agree with things others have said about spa cabins, at least on the Dream class ships.  Access to the spa and the thermal suites is great.  My wife and I used the thalassotherapy pool every day, multiple times per day.  Our favorite was to go in the last 30 minutes or so before the spa closed for the night.  We never had anyone there with us, and it was just a peaceful way to wind down the day.  Also, I enjoy being up higher on the ship, and the rooms were very close to the things we enjoy doing.  Spa, pools, and the like. 

 

The rooms are also very quiet, with little noise coming from the hallways due to less traffic.

 

One thing I haven't seen mentioned that I enjoyed, and took advantage of daily, is the close access to the showers in the spa.  These are larger showers than in your stateroom, and have better shower heads and water pressure.  I would go to the spa to shower before dinner while my wife was showering and getting ready in the room.  That way we were out of each others way.

[coevan]

5 hours ago, TTU cruiser said:

One thing I haven't seen mentioned that I enjoyed, and took advantage of daily, is the close access to the showers in the spa.  These are larger showers than in your stateroom, and have better shower heads and water pressure.  I would go to the spa to shower before dinner while my wife was showering and getting ready in the room.  That way we were out of each others way.

 

 

Absolutely the best showers and gives my wife room to get ready. I go down, do a steam, shave and shower, very refreshing.

[PhillyFan33579]

6 hours ago, LibratPDX said:

I booked a spa cabin on the Vista before I knew their thalassotherapy pool was basically just a jacuzzi with mineral water.  I was disappointed and would not bother booking a spa cabin on the Vista class.  On the Dream class they have the nicer and larger thalassotherapy pool and just more space in general for the heated lounger and various steam rooms, and if I'm not in a spa cabin I purchase the spa pass for access to them.   But it's all subjective, you have to decide for yourself if it's worth it!

In Carnival’s defense, their website is clear that Vista class ships don’t have  thalassotherapy pools.

[LibratPDX]

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

In Carnival’s defense, their website is clear that Vista class ships don’t have  thalassotherapy pools.

When I booked (I think it was before the ship was sailing) they called the Cloud 9 Spa hot tub a thalassotherapy pool and there was even a sign calling it that in the spa when I was on the ship . 

Technically you could apparently call your bathtub a thalassotherapy pool if it has the right mineral water in it (eyeroll).  Looks like they were forced to change their information!

Edited October 25, 2019 by LibratPDX

[JerseyGirlJen]

Do the math on how much more money the spa room is vs. a regular interior, balcony, etc. that it not spa.  You very well might come away spending less money doing a regular room and getting the weekly spa pass, than spending the money on the spa room.

 

You do get a few perks in booking spa rooms, such as priority in making appointments for massages, etc. but if that's not important to you then you might make out better just buying the pass.  I have never booked a spa room, but have booked the weekly pass.  It's less expensive every time I've calculated it, and I much prefer a mid-ship location, so that has a lot to do with my decision too.  I did the spa pass on my last cruise on the Dream, and really enjoyed it.  I will be booking it again for my Breeze trip next year.

[coevan]

you generally get a better deal booking the Spa cabin.

[Angua]

We love the spa cabins and thermal suite on Dream class and Splendor.  We were HUGELY disappointed in the thermal suite on the Vista.  Not only is the little hot tub pool shallow and tiny, it's located in the room WITH the heated tile  chairs.  I love those chairs for quiet relaxation, but you can't get it when there are 20 people crammed into that tiny pool talking at the tops of their voices. 

 

When we were on the NY to Miami repo a couple of years ago, the casino was handing out day passes to gamblers, so that made it very over crowded and not relaxing at all.

We vowed to not get a spa cabin again even though we like their locations and how quiet the are, they also usually have a more muted, soothing color scheme than other cabins.

We weren't ever going to go on another vista class ship again, but we decided to try a havana cabin on the Panorama, when we booked those cabins were the same price as a spa cabin on that cruise.  I am really looking forward to that experience.

Edited October 27, 2019 by Angua
corrected definition

[James4me]

1 hour ago, Angua said:

We love the spa cabins and thermal suite on Dream class and Splendor.  We were HUGELY disappointed in the thermal suite on the Vista.  Not only is the little hot tub pool shallow and tiny, it's located in the room WITH the heated tile  chairs.  I love those chairs for quiet relaxation, but you can't get it when there are 20 people crammed into that tiny pool talking at the tops of their voices. 

 

When we were on the NY to Miami repo a couple of years ago, the casino was handing out day passes to gamblers, so that made it very over crowded and not relaxing at all.

We vowed to not get a spa cabin again even though we like their locations and how quiet the are, they also usually have a more muted, soothing color scheme than other cabins.

We weren't ever going to go on another vista class ship again, but we decided to try a havana cabin on the Panorama, when we booked those cabins were the same price as a spa cabin on that cruise.  I am really looking forward to that experience.

Now the Vista class has changed the demo of the Havana retreat pool being exclusive for Havana guests 24 hours a day only.  They will not open the area after 7:00 for public use.  A major plus in my booking!