Couples Massage??

[noblepa]

We're sailing on the Zuiderdam for a seven day, eastern caribbean cruise in April. My wife is interested in the couples massage offered by the Spa.

 

I've looked on HAL's website and I can't find any detailed information about it. In the general section about ship's facilities, they mention it, but give no prices or any other detail.

 

In the section where you can actually purchase gifts for upcoming cruises, they have prices and details for some Spa services, but not that one.

 

Has anyone done this, particularly on the Zuiderdam? I know how wonderful a good backrub can be, but is this worth it? For that matter, how much is it?

 

My wife has gone to the Spa on a couple of previous HAL cruises and a couple of Carnival cruises. In every case, she has been charged more than she thought she had signed up for, so my experience with the spa on cruise ships is not the greatest. I'm trying to keep an open mind, but it seems like they consistently engage in bait-and-switch tactics and high-pressure up-selling.

 

Please tell me I'm wrong. At least tell me your experiences with the Couples Massage.

 

Paul Noble

[kakalina]

We have had the couples massage. In point of fact, we ended up choosing not to have it as a couple and went at different times. Basically it is just a regular massage and you are in the same room together. We did this before the new spas were put in and it may have changed. Is it worth the money? That is a personal thing. I didn't think so but it was part of a package and therefore we enjoyed it.

[kryos]

My wife has gone to the Spa on a couple of previous HAL cruises and a couple of Carnival cruises. In every case, she has been charged more than she thought she had signed up for, so my experience with the spa on cruise ships is not the greatest. I'm trying to keep an open mind, but it seems like they consistently engage in bait-and-switch tactics and high-pressure up-selling.

 

Please tell me I'm wrong. At least tell me your experiences with the Couples Massage.

I can't speak for the couples massage, but I will tell you that the spa definitely likes to "sell you up" when you go there. I had a cabin mate on my last cruise who dropped a grand there on a 13-day sailing. LOL ... of course, that's her own fault. No one forced her to sign up for anything ... they just "encouraged" her quite a bit and before she knew it, she was adding this treatment, and that one ... and oh, yeah ... give me one of them too. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[cruzincurt]

I did a "port" day discounted hot stone massage on the Zuiderdam. Even with the discount ($158 for 75 minutes), I didn't think it was worth it. I get the same treatment, without hot stones, at my Chiropractor for $40. But of course the cruise spa is a bit more "pampering" and it was a nice quiet time even though they tried to sell me the same biofreeze gel for four times the price.

 

There were two side-by-side tables in the room so I assume that's what's used for the couples massage.

[Jgomez65]

My wife and I did the couple massage on the Zuiderdam during our Nov 18 2006 sailing.

HA will allow you to pick and choose your own combination of massage. Your spouse can pick one package and you can pick another. Then you can schedule it together.

That's what we did. I picked 20 minutes hot stones massage, 20 neck and shoulder and 20 foot and ankles.

My wife picked a different package. We paid $99 each for the full hour plus $10 tips each.

It was very relaxing and a great experience.

Just go by the spa and see what specials they are running.

[European_CruiseGirl]

My wife has gone to the Spa on a couple of previous HAL cruises and a couple of Carnival cruises. In every case, she has been charged more than she thought she had signed up for, so my experience with the spa on cruise ships is not the greatest.

 

I have had this same experience too... :mad: On my first HAL cruise I had two gift vouchers that stated clearly that they were both good for a 25 minute aromatherapy massage. But when I got my statement at the end of my cruise I noticed that I had been charged $75 (+ service!) each time and that the gift vouchers were only good for $65 each. So I ended up paying for something I thought was already paid.

 

As that was my first cruise I (hate to admit!) did nothing about it. Haven't used the Spa ever since. However on my next cruise I have again these same two 25 minute aromatherapy massage gift vouchers...Don't know what I am supposed to do if they charge me more than they should (or at least what I expect they should). I mean the gift voucher doesn't have an $ amount printed on it - just that it's valid for a this and that. Can they say "sorry - our prices have gone up so that voucher is not valid for the full treatment anymore" as the spa is not HAL owned and the gift voucher is from HAL? :(

 

Oh - I'm getting so frustrated again with the whole issue... :(

[mickey001]

I'm sorry your first experience at a HAL spa was dissappointing. I would take the vouchers with me to the spa when I made the appointment. Just let them know then that you want what the voucher covers and no additional services.

 

Good Luck!

[vpoopsy]

We just got back from the cruise and I believe the couples massage was $199. Wasn't impressed with the packages they offered.

 

What amazes me are the women that get their hair cut and fixed on the ship. You walk out on the deck and poof it blows all over the place!! One of our new friends had her hair "done" on thursday night for their dinner at the Pinnacle and friday morning she took a shower and her hairdo was gone. (Sorry, Dee). Guess I'm too cheap to spend money like that.

[iceman93]

My wife generally gets her hair done up for formal night. It's not intended to be a long-term restyling, and you're right that there are certainly no laps on the lower promenade between the hairdresser and dinner!

[sandiego1]

Had a couples massage (first and last one!) on Carnival. 2 deep tissue massages on X and 1 on HAL. They were all over priced. The prices are comparable to 4 or 5 star resorts, but neither the spa environment or service level are in the same league as a luxury hotel.

 

Each time they weren't as deep as I like (I go every 2 wks so I'm used to deep body work). They also ended the massage 10 minutes early to try to sell me products that would supposedly would cure all my muscle tightness, bits of cellulite, and a plethora of other "issues". On the last 1 on HAL (and I do mean last), they couldn't even dim the lights! There was a light shining right into my eyes while I was face up. Very annoying.

 

I'll save my money and use it on other items like excursions, etc.

[Randyk47]

We've had mixed experiences with the spas on ships. My wife usually gets one or two massages during a cruise. She talked me into a massage on the Galaxy a couple of years ago and I loved it. Got worked over pretty good by Nikki, the Australian Barehanded Rock Crushing Champion, during 3 visits and felt pretty darn good after the cruise. (We ran up quite a tab on that 12-day cruise. :o ) Come last Febraury and we decided to try the couples masage on the Volendam. Same company as Celebrity uses so you'd think the experience would be about the same. Wrong! Lousy massage in a kind of cold, very stark environment. At least we didn't run up a big spa bill. :D We now use a spa near the house for lots less than the spa on the ship and probably will not do the spa this coming cruise.

[powderhorn]

My health plan at work covers a portion of massage therapy provided they are delivered by a registered massage therapist (licensed)

 

Has anyone ever submitted any receipts for massage therapy on-board to their health plan? Any pitch from HAL on this?

[ekerr19]

We had a couples massage on the Noordam. I liked it better than DH, he said his person wasn't strong enough to give the type of massage he was expecting, but mine was just fine. It was $199 for both of us - a bit overpriced, I'd say.

 

The worst is trying to relax after the massage and they harp on "a plan" for revitalization of skin, cellulite, etc. and try and sell you stuff. I almost agreed to buy a few things just to have some peace and quiet, until I realized they were trying to get me to buy about $300 - $400 worth of stuff.

 

This is the main reason we don't do it more often. I don't mind paying a bit more for the service on board, but having all that stuff pushed on me, is really annoying - you are trying to relax for heaven's sake!

 

We'd much rather spend the money on the hydro-therapy pool. We found it to be a better value for us, we used it daily and there was no pressure to buy anything. ;)