Which NCL ship has best spa features?

[TGfromTX]

I'm not too interested in the spa services onboard, but I'd like to get feedback of which ships have the best spas onboard feature wise.  I have only had a spa pass on Epic so far.  Are they all similar?

[BirdTravels]

The Epic has one of the best Thermal Suites in the fleet. 

[ryarger]

Assuming you mean Thermal Spa.

 

Joy has the largest Thermal Spa in the fleet. It also has unique features like sensory pods and a pebble walk in addition to all the rooms the other BA+ thermal spas have: Steam, Dry Sauna, Salt and Snow.

 

However, inexplicably to me, with all that extra space they didn’t include a thalassotherapy pool. There’s only a hot tub and cold plunge.

 

The “regular” (thalassotherapy) pool is my favorite part of the other thermal suites and while I’m booked for the Joy next year I don’t know yet if I’ll spring for the pass for this reason specifically.

 

I love the layout and amenities of BA/GA. No snow room but a nice big pool, hot tub, loungers and the other rooms. I spent so much time in the BA thermal suite. The ceramic heated loungers were great but usually occupied. 

[PhillyTravelBug]

I’ve done the thermal spa on the getaway, bliss, and prima. Out of those three, I enjoyed the bliss spa the most.

[Ellis1138]

The best depends on what features you want.

 

To me, the Thalassotherapy pool is the big need. The 94 degree therapeutic water, the massage jets... it all helps with muscle pain, which I suffer from. Any ship that has that pool and especially any that have the 'back massage' waterfall would be "best", in my opinion. (Breakaway+ class).

 

But if your criteria is heated loungers, I don't know.

 

I was disappointed in the Prima's thermal suite. It was cavernous, noisy and the quiet rule not enforced (not that it would have made a difference). The loungers were beneath the very noise fitness area. No back massage waterfall in the pool plus you had to get the staff upstairs to restart the jets. It did have a better snow room than Breakaway+.

 

The Jewel class are the older ones that have the thalassotherapy pool and hot tub, and I thought the one on the Jade was nice.

 

I wouldn't pay for any thermal suite where it's only a sauna and steam room.

[BirdTravels]

10 hours ago, ryarger said:

Joy has the largest Thermal Spa in the fleet. It also has unique features like sensory pods and a pebble walk in addition to all the rooms the other BA+ thermal spas have: Steam, Dry Sauna, Salt and Snow.

 

However, inexplicably to me, with all that extra space they didn’t include a thalassotherapy pool. There’s only a hot tub and cold plunge.

 

The “regular” (thalassotherapy) pool is my favorite part of the other thermal suites and while I’m booked for the Joy next year I don’t know yet if I’ll spring for the pass for this reason specifically.

 

If you ever follow The Bird, we normally never sail without a Thermal Suite pass on every cruise. But we decided to pass on our recent (post-dry dock) cruise on the Joy.

 

There were too many hot stone lounger and too few regular padded loungers/day beds. We are older (o.k.,,,, we're dirt old). And with old arthritic knees and back, getting in/out of a stone longer is problematic and they are just not comfortable to us (yeah,,, I know people swear by them, but in thermal suites on other ships, more people are in soft, padded loungers than the stone one). 

 

The Joy Thermal Suite replaced the Galaxy Pavilion. The lack of a large, hydro therapy pool was probably more because of the need to cut and take part of Deck 15 below (potential taking out rooms - loss of revenue) than weight and balance of the ship. So, all you get is a very tiny, very shallow hot tub that they could place above ground.

 

If you ever look at the Joy pool deck, the main pool (replacing the zen garden during prior major dry dock) is offset to the starboard side. If you walk Deck 15, you will see how they had to squeeze the pool in around existing ship structure and take out 3ish Haven rooms (loss of revenue). I.e., because of existing ship's structure, they could not put it down the middle of the pool deck like on other ships. 

 

The sensory pods are a gimmick. There are only 4 of them and with a 15-30 minute cycle time to go through all of the senses, unless you go at opening or closing, you'll never get in. We sat in them and, again, getting in and out were problematic for our old bones.

 

The Sauna, Salt Bath, and Steam Room were nice, but did not have the outside views like on older ships and the Escape. 

 

The Snow Room is like the Prima and Viva where it is a cool (not cold) room with crushed ice in a bowl to rub on yourself. 

 

Lots of the "Largest Thermal Suite on any ship" is unused dead space. 

 

 

 

[YVRteacher]

I love the thermal suite with all the features on the Bliss. 

[floridafish]

For me Prima #1 (I like how the pools are separated from the front lounge area) and Escape # 2 (I appreciate the window in the sauna).

I'm on the Breakaway this month for the first time. Any opinions of that spa? TIA

[david_sobe]

I don't think anything compares to Epic.  Its the largest.  It has the biggest thermal pool.  All of its saunas have picture windows to the sea.  It actually has an aft outdoor balcony chill space. Like most things on Epic, they are bigger and better than all more recent ships. I have not been on the Prima class yet.  While the spa looks beautiful with those waterfalls it looks narrow and smaller than other ships.

[TGfromTX]

2 hours ago, david_sobe said:

I don't think anything compares to Epic.  Its the largest.  It has the biggest thermal pool.  All of its saunas have picture windows to the sea.  It actually has an aft outdoor balcony chill space. Like most things on Epic, they are bigger and better than all more recent ships. I have not been on the Prima class yet.  While the spa looks beautiful with those waterfalls it looks narrow and smaller than other ships.

Maybe this is why the others look underwhelming to me.  Honestly I can't find photos of the spa on Prima - just the 2 pools with the falls beside.  But I have found no Spa pools that compare to what I experienced on Epic.  I just didn't care for the people 'flow' on the rest of the ship. I felt like I stood in line for venues and bars more on that ship than any other I've cruised on. 

[Go2SeaTheWorld]

On 9/2/2024 at 10:10 AM, TGfromTX said:

Maybe this is why the others look underwhelming to me.  Honestly I can't find photos of the spa on Prima - just the 2 pools with the falls beside.  But I have found no Spa pools that compare to what I experienced on Epic.  I just didn't care for the people 'flow' on the rest of the ship. I felt like I stood in line for venues and bars more on that ship than any other I've cruised on. 

What about the Encore? in less than a month embarking on a 21 day cruise, so purchased the TS pass. Having had some back & hip issues, I knew I would get a lot of use of it.  Opinions on size, thermal pool, cold plunge, etc? This will the be 1st time ever to make use of the amenity.

[JandC_Cruising]

35 minutes ago, Go2SeaTheWorld said:

What about the Encore? in less than a month embarking on a 21 day cruise, so purchased the TS pass. Having had some back & hip issues, I knew I would get a lot of use of it.  Opinions on size, thermal pool, cold plunge, etc? This will the be 1st time ever to make use of the amenity.

We love the Encore Thermal Spa.  It's in the aft and has quite a large number of cushioned  loungers, a fair number of stone loungers and very nice views.  It has all the key features; Large therapy pool with jets, hot tub, steam room, sauna, Ice room, salt room, Men's and Women's locker rooms with showers.

[Go2SeaTheWorld]

1 minute ago, JandC_Cruising said:

We love the Encore Thermal Spa.  It's in the aft and has quite a large number of cushioned  loungers, a fair number of stone loungers and very nice views.  It has all the key features; Large therapy pool with jets, hot tub, steam room, sauna, Ice room, salt room, Men's and Women's locker rooms with showers.

Thank you! Just what I was hoping to hear/read. 

[JSar]

On 9/1/2024 at 5:43 AM, PhillyTravelBug said:

I’ve done the thermal spa on the getaway, bliss, and prima. Out of those three, I enjoyed the bliss spa the most.

I have ONLY done the Bliss... but the Bliss's Thermal Suite was wonderful! It spoiled me. I am kind of nervous because I booked it on the Gem - and it definitely looks much smaller and the steam room/sauna appear to be in the men's and women's locker room. That doesn't make sense to me because a lot of couples and friends like to hang out together. I used the Steam Room and Sauna with my son - it was great to just be able to hang out together and relax. Of course - some people might be more self conscious and prefer separate gender areas. But to me - the pool is co-ed, so why not the Sauna and Steam Rooms?

[Cruising Lynne]

I enjoyed the thermal suite on Gem. I actually really like the women's sauna on. It has windows on two sides, so has awesome views to the front and side of the ship. My husband and I do the rest of the amenities together first, and then separate to do the saunas. We meet back at the room or in the lobby of the spa afterwards. Hubby tends to shower at the spa while I prefer to return to the room for mine. Works well and gives us each some time to ourselves. I like that it is not co-ed so I have the option to take off my swimsuit and wear just a robe or towel in the sauna. 

 

We toured the one on Prima. It looked really nice, but was priced higher than what I wanted to spend. Would love to try out the one on Epic some day. Depends on the itinerary if I think it is worth getting. I may try to get the one on Aqua or Vibe for our sailing next September. Otherwise, it looks like there are only two hot tubs available on the pool deck. Unless you are in the Haven.

[JSar]

45 minutes ago, Cruising Lynne said:

I enjoyed the thermal suite on Gem. I actually really like the women's sauna on. It has windows on two sides, so has awesome views to the front and side of the ship.

Sounds like the views from the sauna will be a nice consolation prize. There IS a common area that is co-ed on the Gem though, correct? I thought I saw some loungers and maybe a smaller "pool" (hot tub? or some other small spa pool of some sort). I hope so!

[Cruising Lynne]

On 9/21/2024 at 5:36 PM, JSar said:

Sounds like the views from the sauna will be a nice consolation prize. There IS a common area that is co-ed on the Gem though, correct? I thought I saw some loungers and maybe a smaller "pool" (hot tub? or some other small spa pool of some sort). I hope so!

The heated ceramic loungers, large therapy pool, and a hot tub are all in the co-ed area. There are also showers to rinse off and a set up with water and tea.

[mcmomny]

On 9/2/2024 at 7:58 AM, floridafish said:

For me Prima #1 (I like how the pools are separated from the front lounge area) and Escape # 2 (I appreciate the window in the sauna).

I'm on the Breakaway this month for the first time. Any opinions of that spa? TIA

We had the thermal spa pass the first week of Sept on The Breakaway, we really enjoyed it but on sea days it was very noisy and crowded.

Many windows the vapor seal were gone so you couldn't see thru them blocking your view of the ocean and whales!

The heated tile loungers were ok, my husband enjoyed them more than I did. I found it hard to read a book with the angle of the head rest.

There were saunas, steam rooms, salt room and rain showers

The pool and hot tubs were nice but they are in the same area as the loungers so each time they turned on it broke your silent peaceful relaxing time.

This was the first time we have booked the spa, our cruise was New England and Canada and we knew had two sea days, easy ports and possibly poor weather. We did used it daily and enjoyed it but most likely won't do it again.

Unless we book another cruise that isn't port intensive.

PS: last day of our cruise, a sea day the weather was rough and the pools and hot tubs were emptied in the spa and outside. Many people complained to the poor employees working the area, good grief! 

Like they have control over the weather and what the Captains feels is needed for safety! 

[JSar]

18 hours ago, Cruising Lynne said:

The heated ceramic loungers, large therapy pool, and a hot tub are all in the co-ed area. There are also showers to rinse off and a set up with water and tea.

Thank you for verifying! That is what I thought... but the website and the various videos aren't clear as to where they are. As long as we have the loungers, therapy pool, and hot tub in the co-ed area, we can enjoy each other's company as that is where we would spend a majority of the time anyway. Love the steam room and sauna... but can't tolerate them nearly as long. Do they NOT have a snow room? I don't think I have seen it mentioned anywhere. It was kind of nice to cool off when needed on the Bliss!

[JSar]

14 hours ago, mcmomny said:

The heated tile loungers were ok, my husband enjoyed them more than I did. I found it hard to read a book with the angle of the head rest.

 

The pool and hot tubs were nice but they are in the same area as the loungers so each time they turned on it broke your silent peaceful relaxing time.

 

You and your husband sound like me and my son... I preferred the regular loungers, son preferred the heated tile loungers. I too found them kind of awkward with regards to position.

 

As for the silence being broken... son and I found we preferred to put in my earbuds in while in the loungers. Blocked out any surrounding noise and we had our choice of relaxing music to suit our personal taste. Once in a while I just put them in to be "noise cancelling". 

[mcmomny]

8 minutes ago, JSar said:

You and your husband sound like me and my son... I preferred the regular loungers, son preferred the heated tile loungers. I too found them kind of awkward with regards to position.

 

As for the silence being broken... son and I found we preferred to put in my earbuds in while in the loungers. Blocked out any surrounding noise and we had our choice of relaxing music to suit our personal taste. Once in a while I just put them in to be "noise cancelling". 

Yes, my husband napped well cuz he had his earbuds in listening to music!

I just wanted to read:)

Honestly the loudest noise was the huge waterfall feature they had in the pool. It would turn off and everything was peaceful but every 10 or 15 minutes it would start again!

When it would turn on those having quiet conversation than had to raise thier voice to hear each other!

Our first and only time in the spa, I was expecting more zen like atmosphere 🙌 

Still glad we did it as our weather was on the cool side 

[JSar]

2 minutes ago, mcmomny said:

Our first and only time in the spa, I was expecting more zen like atmosphere 🙌 

Still glad we did it as our weather was on the cool side 

Probably still a lot more zen compared to the regular pool deck! That... and I have already had 2 skin cancer lesions removed - I don't need to fight to find a shady spot in the spa!

 

When I was on the bliss though... there were rarely people having conversations. And the only "busy" day was when we went through the glaciers... We were in the one place on the ship where we didn't have to "fight" to find good seats for viewing the glaciers. We had our loungers with great views. I did go outside briefly (in my bathing suit in Alaska in October lol) to get some pictures, but then went back to the sauna to warm up and back to the loungers to keep viewing. We never saw anyone in the pool on that cruise. People were jealous when they saw me walking to the spay with my bathing suit/wrap on. 

 

Anyhow - I enjoyed it so much we booked it for our December Caribbean cruise when the weather should still be warm enough to use the pool. But like I really like the peaceful environment in the spa. 

[mcmomny]

I really enjoyed looking at the sea and not being blown away by the wind!

We saw whales! Just so cool!

[JustAllie]

Call me old-school, but I love the Thermal Suite on the Dawn and the Star, because on those ships, there is a small warm water lap pool. 

[Cruising Lynne]

19 hours ago, JustAllie said:

Call me old-school, but I love the Thermal Suite on the Dawn and the Star, because on those ships, there is a small warm water lap pool. 

I loved that pool on Dawn. Almost always had it to myself. Made up for the small closet like sauna.