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Seven Of The Poshest Cruise Ship Spas

There are times, on holiday, when the sportsdeck and the dance classes just don’t appeal. Sometimes, all you want from a well-earned break is to relax by the (adults only) pool with an endless stream of pina coladas/diet cokes/ice creams coming in your direction.

If you’re feeling more than a little bit frazzled and want to maximise the chill out potential of your cruise (without heading for the Alaskan glaciers), look for a liner with an onboard spa.

Now, you can forget any idea of a single treatment room and cursory hot tub – some ship spas are nothing short of ‘luxury minibreak to celebrate a special occasion’ standard and can be just what you need to set an extra relaxed tone for the duration of your cruise.

Here are seven of our favourite spas for frazzled cruisers:

 

1. AquaSpa on Celebrity

Celebrity Cruises goes one better than simply having an onboard spa – it offers a complete spa on water cruising experience for when things are actually ‘that bad’.

On Solstice, Equinox, Eclipse, Silhouette and Reflection you can book to travel AquaClass, which means an AquaClass spa cabin with direct access to the amazing AquaSpa, as well as exclusive use of the spa restaurant Blu (great if you want to avoid the seemingly unavoidable cruise holiday weight gain!). Expect posh spa products in your luxury bathroom, multi-headed showers, Egyptian cotton bed linen, bathrobes and slippers, aromatherapy diffuser and a pillow menu in your ultra relaxing room, with highlights from the spa area including a Persian Garden with heated loungers and stunning sea views.

EFLECTION-Heated Chairs

There’s also an enhanced room service menu for health conscious guests – although feel free to skip the salads and stick to steak and chocolate cake like your less virtuous fellow cruisers if you like, you can sweat out the calories in the sauna later.

If work’s been tough, the kids have been driving you mad and you’ve got a mother in law who loves to pop round regularly, this is the kind of cruise you want to book.

Best of all….. The Celebrity Reflection doesn’t just come equipped with your usual sauna….

cold room

There’s also a cold room for tightening up those pores after you jump out the infared sauna…..brrrrrr!

2. Samsara Spa on Costa

Another line offering ‘spa cruises’ for those who want more from their spa experience than a glass of bubbly in a hot tub at the end of a busy day is Costa Cruises.

Costa spa

On Costa Serena, Pacifica, Luminosa, Deliziosa, Fascinosa and Favolosa (try saying that after one too many mojitos!) you can book a full spa package, including Samsara cabins and suites boasting showers with impurity filters, special toiletries, organic cotton bed linens, pillow menu and more.

All this to be enjoyed whilst cocooned in your fluffy white robe – bliss!

COSTA LUMINOSA-Samsara Spa

The Samsara spas themselves are full of Eastern promise, with dead sea salt baths, aromatherapy caves, an aromatic Temple of Peace for meditation (or reading your latest holiday block buster uninterrupted) and for those who like a good brew, Japanese tea rooms for a post-spa thirst quenching.

We’re not sure the silk kimonos are included though, so be sure to pack your own!

samsara spa

 

3. The Spa on Seabourn

All Seabourn ships have a spa, as you’d expect from a luxury cruise line but if you fancy yourself as something of a relaxation connoisseur, Odyssey, Sojourn and Quest have the best facilities. Elegance and decadence surround you in the ‘posher than Posh Spice at the Ritz’ Seabourn Spa, from the shimmering gold relaxation loungers to the plush, four poster daybeds.

Seabourn spa

The gentle aroma of rosewood wafts in the air as you sink back into the hydropool and let the massage jets pummel away any pre-holiday tension.

Perhaps you fancy a massage?

Seabourn

Forget hot stones – they’re so last year – choose from a bamboo or Thai herbal massage to work out those knots Eastern style and if none of that is quite decadent enough – and you have the budget of the aforementioned Spice Girl – maybe your own private spa villa will hit the spot? Jealous, us? Maybe just a lot.

Seabourn 3

 

4. Crystal Spa on Crystal

A determinedly Zen theme runs through the calm, relaxing spa areas on Crystal Symphony and Serenity, with facilities every bit as luxurious as you could hope for.

Crystal spa

Inspired by the ancient art of Feng Shui, the private sun deck, dry float bed suite, luxury saunas, serene treatment rooms and ocean-view salon will sweep your troubles away, with a little bit of help from a treatment menu offering such indulgences as the ‘Sole Delight Foot Ritual’ and ‘Japanese Silk Booster Facial’. To finish off a perfect pampering session, a new do, mani/pedi or tidy up at the barbers will see you looking your very best for the Captain’s dinner.

Crystal spa

5. Canyon Ranch SpaClub on Cunard

Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 is a flagship liner and so it deserves a flagship spa onboard!

It’s one of a handful of liners that boasts a famous Canyon Ranch spa, bringing all the facilities, service and ambiance of one of the world’s best spa experiences to the seas.

cUNARD SPA

This vast spa spans two decks, so you shouldn’t struggle to book a treatment or have to suffer the horror of queuing for a recliner.

Its aqua therapy centre is home to a thalassotherapy pool (water jet thingamabobs), neck fountains, waterfall, whirlpool, air tub, jet benches, thermal suite and aromatic steam room –  enough to keep you happily drenched for your entire cruise.

You also have twenty four treatment rooms onboard (including couples’ rooms, if you don’t mind your other half present while you’re pummelled, waxed or plucked to oblivion), cardio and weights rooms, relaxation lounge and full service salon with wraparound views of the ocean.

Poshest Cruise Ship

A cruise booked on Cunard’s QM2 certainly gives you something to look forward to on a miserable Monday morning at work!

 

6. The Oasis on P&O’s Britannia

All of P&O’s ships  have spa’s and treatment facilities but the Oasis spa on their newest ship Britannia is something else altogether.

With exclusive Elemis products , a hydro-pool, an entire hydrotherapy suite and treatments like anti-ageing facials, collagen face-lifts, targeted wrinkle treatments and deep tissue massages available there’s no reason for not looking your best come formal night!

 

7. The Solarium on Anthem of the Seas

Poshest Cruise Ship

Not technically a spa, the solarium is a retreat on Anthem of the Seas attached to the spa that needs to be seen to be believed. It comes wit it’s own tiered pool, a smoothie bar (that serves some of the best cocktails at sea), a relaxation swing and some of the best views you’re ever likely to enjoy whilst relaxing on a sun lounger!

Poshest Cruise Ship

 

Sometimes, lounging in the sun with a good book just isn’t enough to see you from the frantic mode of everyday life through to ‘relax you’re on holiday’ mode.

A day spent in any of the above cruise ship spas will leave you feeling like you’re floating – and not just because you are, technically, floating – relaxed and energised, ready to enjoy your cruising holiday to its full potential.

So, if daily life has left you a little frayed around the edges, deposit the kids in the kids’ club or your mother-in-law at a cookery class or your new cruising friends at the pool bar and escape for a little bit of R&R on the ocean waves. Aaaaaaand relax…

What is the poshest cruise ship you have ever been on?

Bulletin Editor

Editor and Creative Copywriter of Cruise.co.uk's bulletin blog, bringing you cruise news, tips and guides daily! - Contact: [email protected]

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