Spa seminars

[clopaw]

Okay, I'm going to sound really naive, but I'm going to ask any way. Does anything useful come out of spa seminars, or acupuncture, or the jewelry people? Or is it all sales? I'm asking because we're going to be on the 14 day Hawaii round trip, and with all those sea days I'm going to have more free time. I'm not normally a big activities person....I look at the cruise in review videos and am astonished to see what all took place on the cruise. :rolleyes: I'm just wondering if there's any point to going to any of these.

[moondoggie]

...almost all of them try to sell you/sign you up for services. MY DH and I once went to their Couples Massage seminar, and were immediately told to sign up for the $$ instructions and to buy their bottle of oil. There didn't appear to BE a seminar!

 

Maybe you could bring Hero and ask what they could do for him! Doggie massage, I know ours would love that.

[BTDookie]

Just understand that even when you are just trying to have a basic massage they will try and sell you several hundred dollars worth of product.

 

If you do any work with the personal trainers, they will try and sell you supplements, etc.

 

These people are heavy hitters when it comes to selling.

[superjerryw]

I'm just wondering if there's any point to going to any of these.

 

No point to going to any of them as they are all designed to sell you products.

[joandbun]

I'll just stick my bit in as its a bit morefavourable. Of course they will try to sell their products, but not all of these people give you a big hard sell & you can pick up some useful info, plus, in my experience, you usually get a discount voucher to use against treatment during the cruise. :) .

Can come in handy...;)

jo

[hajekfam]

Actually the free computer seminar about digital photography is good - especially if you are a newby. My hubby who is on his third digital camera learned a few tricks. They do do a pitch for their computer classes, though but it isn't a hard sales pitch.

[Glendakayself]

At the jewelry seminars on our last cruise, there were usually drawings for jewelry. The prizes were nice. Be leary of the runner-up prizes. I won a package which gave me the opportunity to spend money at bingo to have my gift card activated, spend $99 in the spa to get a treatment at a discount not as great as the advertised daily special, a free entry into a slots tournament (there was not a tournament after I won), and last but not least an art print that needs to be matted and framed. The art print was the best of the package.

[DancerOT]

Just so you all know. We discovered on our last cruise aboard Century that the spa is run by Steimer, a company that rents the space from Celebrity. The spa people are not Celebrity employees. This may be part of what makes the hard sell with them truly the bottom line - they dont have the same perspective as the rest of the Celebrity staff (like our friend Mark, the bar waiter who spent time talking to us everyday even though we rarely bought drinks). Also, as a forewarning, if you do not think your massage was worth the $100 you paid for it - Celebrity will tell you that you need to deal with Steimer - who will basically tell you tough cookies. On our last cruise, my younger brother had a great massage whereas my father and a family friend had lousy ones and they must have spent a good 20 minutes of the 50 minute massage you pay for selling you products. On the flip side, we have had excellent massage with less sales pitches in the past - so it all depends on the cruise and the employee who is completing your spa treatment.

[flashdog_1]

I used the same massage therapist all week on Summit and she never once tried to sell me anything. I think her approach was to wait until the customer asked, "what is that delicious smelling product you are using?" When she would answer me, I'd say, "couldn't I use such and such that I already have at home?" And her answer was always yes, the product I had would work equally well.

 

Her name was Elisha. If she is still on board, ask for her! Some of you might remember her from the Connie.

[DancerOT]

I am happy to hear it isnt all of the spa personnel who are hauking the product mercilessly. I assumed it was a fluke - but we were definitely concerned. We did make Celebrity onboard and in Miami aware as this is also a loss of revenue for them if people do not take advantage of their spa services due to the pushing of products and it also made us, as the consumers, not very happy with this aspect of their product.

[Ocean Sailor]

Steiner, a company based in London, has wonderful services and products. If you make it clear that you are not interested in purchasing them, they will cut the sales pitch short. While I never purchase products with treatments, I often will stop by and pick up at least one of their products at a later time during the cruise. They give great haircuts! and their highlight packages are very inexpensive for the level of expertise the stylist have.

 

Resist impulse buying but be willing to endulge!