Lotus Spa tips, tricks, and ideas

[prncsscruiser]

I will be sailing on the sea princess this summer, and I would like to get a facial of a massage at the lotus spa. Any tips on what to get done? Also should I pre reserve now? Or wait to get onboard to see if there will be any good deals? I would like to get the best deal, I don't know if the book of savings in your stateroom will offer any discounts. Any tips would be great!

[Shelly97060]

There will be port day specials if you don't plan on going ashore at all the ports. Last year I think is was $129 for three 20 minute services. you can combine them into a longer service if you ask... for example I requested all three be combined into an hour massage.:D

[Toto2Kansas]

I will be sailing on the sea princess this summer, and I would like to get a facial of a massage at the lotus spa. Any tips on what to get done? Also should I pre reserve now? Or wait to get onboard to see if there will be any good deals? I would like to get the best deal, I don't know if the book of savings in your stateroom will offer any discounts. Any tips would be great!

 

When spa services aren't selling well, I have seen specials offered throughout the cruise. If they are booked up, then specials are usually offered only on port days. You never know until you get onboard if they will send 'specials' around to your stateroom offering reduced prices on some services.

[Woodmnky]

If there is something that you really want to have done and do not care about price, pre-book if possible to get your choice of time and day. However, if you are a good deal or no deal type then wait until you get onboard. I have found that even with a lot of the shore excursions, you can still take advantage of the port day specials offered.

Enjoy your cruise.

[Alaskalovers]

I was on the Dawn Princess last yeat and like you wanted the best deal. I entered one of their drawings after taking a tour there. They called me up a couple of days later and said I had won a discounted Massage. I think the regular cost was 140 and I got it for 79. the massage lasted 90 minutes and was worth every penny.:p

[JennAngel9]

I have not yet participated in a spa tour on Princess, but I have on Celebrity and I got calls periodically through out the cruise telling me I had "won" the raffle (really, 3 separate times???) and I was entitled to a discount on service x, y, or z. They were usually at specific (and often non-ideal) time slots and 30-40% discounts. Anyway, after my 2nd (and 3rd) "wins" I developed ths suspicion that the spa ladies (as DH calls them) thought my interest made me a more attractive mark, and they probably called everybody in the fishbowl to try to move services at slow times until they found enough takers.

 

Sorry it's a tiny bit off topic, but my point is that if you don't mind being called periodically throughout the cruise and given a pretty soft sell "you've won, etc" then by all means enter the raffle, as it takes about 30 seconds of your vacation and you probably have a good chance of being contacted by the spa for special discounts... but if you prefer to not get phone solicitation (or to take midday naps w/o interruption) then consider skipping the spa raffle.

 

Has anybody else had similar experiences to the above poster on Princess?

[prncsscruiser]

That is really interesting, GREAT advice, I will definitley take the tour and see what happens. Would'nt mind the tour anyway, I have never seen the spa. If any of you got treatments done, what did you get? do you recommend them? Thanks for all the advice please keep them coming

[JennAngel9]

A further tip (or perhaps my first tip, as opposed to speculation) is that you can often get "port specials" (they will be advertised as such) on a port day either early or late in the day (as in, before or after you visit the port). For instance, if you want to get a massage, you would schedule it early in the a.m. about the time the ship docks (although perhaps someone else will chime in on whether or not your the spa rooms get the P.A. system piped in, which I think would take something away from the relaxing ambiance) or later in the afternoon (say after the all-aboard time but before the ship sails)-- thus you can take advantage of port specials w/o missing valuable port-time.

 

In answer to your last question-- I like to try to schedule a massage early in the cruise-- I find it to be a relaxing way to kick off a vacation AND it sort of balances out the grossness I tend to feel post flight (and/or post round of golf with DH) and washes away the stress of travel. I like a traditional swedish massage, but other people prefer treatments with hot stones, or facials or scalp/foot massages. The key is to do what you find most relaxing (and not be afraid to express your preferences to your spa attendant). I am leery of facials (especially with a new facialist) on cruises-- since you never know how your skin will react!

 

Oh also, I'm not sure where the spa is on Sea Princess- but if, like most princess ships, it is far forward, consider having treatments done either while in port or or a calm(er) body of water if you get seasick easily. I think it only matters in extreme cases, but you don't want to pay for a massage only to feel nauseated the whole time!

 

Lastly, I am sure other threads address this (search: steiner)-- but be aware some spa attendants will try to, ahem, encourage you to purchase treatment products. I generally respond along the lines of "I only use x brand products and I am not interested in buying anything on this cruise" and I have never had a problem, but I know some people are more sensitive and/or have had worse experiences.

[prncsscruiser]

Good tip about the facial, I too am a little concerned about that, wouldn't want a bunch of pimples or a bright red face all cruise.. I am now leaning towards a couples massage, that will be nice and relaxing, I will plan it for a port day, we have really long port days and will have plenty of time to explore the land and have a massage without missing anything. If I want to test my luck of getting some kind of on board discount, I should wait until I get on board to book right?

[dnt4382]

DW and I really enjoy the Spa experience when we cruise. We have found that waiting until you get on board is the best way to get the best price. On our first couple of cruises we pre-reserved because we wanted to make sure we would get in. After seeing specials later in the cruise for the same things, we realized that pre-booking isn't ideal. In most cases we have been able to get two spa treatments for the price of booking one before the cruise.

 

We love the couples massage. On a few cruises, we were able to work with the spa when they were slow, and get the couples room for massages at the same time without paying a premium. Two massages, same room, lower price.

 

We have always had good experiences, and can't wait until June.

[prncsscruiser]

It will be a really nice to get the massage when we are in icy straight, since there is not too much to do there. Any other ideas, I am so excited

[lovejone]

Absolutly right Jennangel9!!! I don't know how many times they sent some letter to the room saying that I had been selected for a special reduction price on a massage or facial, etc. Please when it's half off, let me know otherwise, don't bother me for 20$ off a 140$ treatment!

 

I think the best I got was a 20min Volcanic hot stone massage for like 40$ as a trial when we were leaving from port the first day of the cruise like 3 years ago...

[LoraJ]

Is it possible to get a mani/pedi on embarkation day? That day is not available for booking online, was hoping I can do this embarkationd ay if I do not have the time in San Juan.