Best Gyms?

[Brucemcdou]

Hi - I was wondering what others experiences have been with shipboard gyms. I think the Celebrity M-class gyms are the best: large, light-filled gyms with views across the front of the ship; lots of weight equipment, lots of treadmills, bikes and steppers, and a large wooden floor for classes. The locker rooms are spacious and part of the gym/spa area. HAL Vista-class are next best, and the newer Princess ships are third: good weight equipment with lots of cardio machines, and separate rooms for classes, but the locker rooms are small and not convenient. How about you?

[qadie]

***RC Mariner is the best! HUGE cardio eqpt area (about 6 elliptical, 15-20 treadmills, 6 bikes, some stairs I think), plus weightlifting area. Great classes, some free in separate large room, also with spinning bikes.

**Princess Island - separate class area with spinning bikes, not as big area for cardio, but good assortment

*Celeb Horizon - SMALL, but given demo of ship, pretty adequate. I took an awesome Dance aerobics class which had to be held in the lounge one day and the mid ship bar the next. Small class of 7 first time, I was the only student the next and the guy teaching it didn't cancel. He taught me dance moves like music videos! Awesome class! (Even though people were walking by getting drinks or just going past)

[lauren123]

I was wondering if the gym on Carnival Triumph, is nice or has weights and tredmills?...i have to do cardio and weights, because rugby season is just around the corner, and connot be slacking!! hehee

[ironmuscle]

Voyager Class are the best in my opinion, really like the men'ss locker room staem room layout. I have been on several ships email me if you have any questions.

[danyelle]

I loved the gym on the Voyager of the seas...never crowded, TONS of workout stations and a great area for stretching, pilates, yoga or barre work.

[mariapd719]

Did you have to sign in in the morning for a time slot during the day on Voyager? On the Golden I guess it was always crowded and there was a sign up sheet for the treadmills and stuff. Im looking to go from 4 pm - 5 pm everyday- I figured most will be getting ready for dinner or still by the pool yet.

[spdfrk]

We've only been on the Jewel so far so nothing to compare to but I thought the entire facility was great. Sounds a lot like what one poster described on the Mariner. It was never crowded, always bikes, tread mills and elipticals available. Weight machines for every body part and a good selection of free weights too. A large wooden floor for classes too. Best part, a great view from all the cardio machines!

[claudie]

Although the NCL Dawn's gym is large and well equipped for my particular needs I didn't enjoy staring at a T-Rex and a faux stone boulder while on the treadmill. Why they designed the kiddie area to block the gym is beyond me. The other treadmills faced a mirrored wall which I didn't like either. I can only compare this gym to the HAL Oosterdam's and I enjoyed the latter much more. I liked that the gym was in the front of the ship with huge windows facing out. I enjoyed looking out as we approached our next port. Also the O's gym was larger and airier.

[caviargal]

So far, the gym on Adventure of the Seas was the best IME. Serenade had a nice fitness center but the workout rooms, class rooms and sauna and steam were so wonderful on AOS! This is really an important feature for me as I am active and even more so on vacation.

[SugarFreeSheila]

On cruises, gym facilities are of utmost importance to me. I'll admit it!

 

Between Carnival and Princess, the former wins by a landslide in terms of equipment by brands I have heard of, as well as availability. Carnival has everything BOTH male and female fitness buffs need - likely due to the typically younger crowd, of course.

 

I arrived home from a Princess cruise in the U.K. 9 days ago, and I must say, the gym facilities on this ship were quite limited. Even though Carnival & Princess are both owned by the same company, the first thing I noticed was that the Princess fitness center was considerably smaller. 5-pound weights were the lightest they had among the free weights (not every female lifts over 5 pounds for upper-body) and the minimum weights for the upper-body machines were twice as high what I am accustomed to in gyms around the U.S., Canada, & Europe. In addition, there were no hip adductor OR abductor machines, the tricep extension machine was so bizarre I didn't even bother to figure it out LOL, and the cardio equipment was limited unless the ship was in port. I must say I'm not a big fan of waiting for treadmills unless it's all free.

 

But I'm not dogging Princess. As for which is the nicer ship overall? Princess. It's a tradeoff and ultimately, it was a bit nice to take it easy for 10 days. ;)

[giadav]

We were on the Star Princess in April and found the gym to be small. You had to sign up for cardio equipment and in the morning, because it was busy, it was SOOOOOO HOT in there that I couldn't take it!!!! When I got off the tradmill after 30mins of running, I looked like a tomato, my face was soooo red!!!

[FloridaTourist]

***RC Mariner is the best! HUGE cardio eqpt area (about 6 elliptical, 15-20 treadmills, 6 bikes, some stairs I think), plus weightlifting area. Great classes, some free in separate large room, also with spinning bikes.

**Princess Island - separate class area with spinning bikes, not as big area for cardio, but good assortment

*Celeb Horizon - SMALL, but given demo of ship, pretty adequate. I took an awesome Dance aerobics class which had to be held in the lounge one day and the mid ship bar the next. Small class of 7 first time, I was the only student the next and the guy teaching it didn't cancel. He taught me dance moves like music videos! Awesome class! (Even though people were walking by getting drinks or just going past)

I read in your post that there are spinning bikes on Island Princess. Do you know if they charge extra for spinning classes? Or when they usually offer them on the cruise?

[eroller]

My favorites have been Royal Caribbean's Voyager Class, Carnival's Spirit Class, and the QM2.

 

Ernie

[levart57]

I read in your post that there are spinning bikes on Island Princess. Do you know if they charge extra for spinning classes? Or when they usually offer them on the cruise?

Has anyone been on Oceania's Nautica? If so, do they have steppers or elipticals?

 

Thanks.

 

Levart 57

[kellanderson]

Love the Carnival VALOR gym, flat screens in the treadmills. I agree with Shelia lots for every type of work outer person.

[Fred49]

Am going on this ship in January of 2008. . . Would someone who's been on it please give me a description of the workout facilities, sauna and steam rooms, spa, etc.

 

Thanks.

[caviargal]

RCI's Freedom class, Radiance class, and Voyager class have awesome gyms. I also really like HAL's Vista class ships for fitness facilities.

[VampyBuff]

NCL Spirit's gym was nice and had the tredmil type pools (I cant think of their names). I'm going on RC's Mariner in a few weeks and am happy to hear their gym is more than sufficient =)

[sunpsyche]

Anyone know if they have spinning bikes? I know their smaller ships don't. Thanks.

[barryod]

Anyone know if they have spinning bikes? I know their smaller ships don't. Thanks.

 

Millie has spin bikes and classes. I prefer Celebrity's gyms on the M class ships. A good number of muscle specific units, free weights, climbers, treadmills, etc. NEVER have I entered the gym and had to wait, which was great. Also, I liked leaving the gym after a nice steam, and grabbing a fresh salmon sandwich at the health bar. Then relax for awhile before having a good healthy portion of freshly made ice cream.:D

 

Barry

[sunpsyche]

Thanks, Barry. I'll be sure to workout extra hard and fit in some of that ice cream!

[chicagochas]

I've only been on Carnival's Destiny class and loved the gyms. The spin bikes were a little old and in short supply most days so sign up early and get there early to pick your bike. The stationary weight equipment was in good shape as were the elipicals and treadmills. Free wights were limited as to the actual amount of 5, 10, 15, and 20 lbs weights so we had to share, but it makes it nice because then you can meet a few people. The best part is the locker room with the steam room. Great views and plenty of room to stretch out.

[jjb415]

The best was on the Norwegian Gem, open 24 hours, spotless, and very large with a seperate area for free weights that had a Smith machine and extensive dumbells. The largest area had cardio and nice selection of Cybex-type machines including cables for chest exercises. There was also a large exercise studio. I agree that the Vista ships of Holland America and Voyager class of Royal Caribbean have great gyms. The Monarch of the Seas has a good one too. The Vison of the Seas had enough equipment, but not up to Voyager standards.

 

Happy Sailing Everyone :)

 

Jack