Thermal Suite Question

[rgoldstein86]

Do Pinnacle-class ships (I'm specifically interested in the Rotterdam) have steam rooms/saunas other than those in the Thermal Suite (for "general public" use)? In other words, if I want to take a steam, will need to have paid for access to the thermal suite?

[fusion927]

On 9/9/2022 at 12:48 PM, DaveOKC said:

I have heard that people who prebuy and find the price lower onboard often get a refund.  I have never done this, just passing on other's comments.

This happened to us several years ago.  We purchased the package onboard and then they cancelled our pre-trip purchase.

 

[Lady Arwen]

On 9/9/2022 at 4:50 PM, rgoldstein86 said:

Do Pinnacle-class ships (I'm specifically interested in the Rotterdam) have steam rooms/saunas other than those in the Thermal Suite (for "general public" use)? In other words, if I want to take a steam, will need to have paid for access to the thermal suite?

No, there are no public steam or sauna rooms.  You have to utilize the spa.

[Clummus]

I’m curious as to what people use to take their wet swimsuit from the spa to their rooms? 
I am thinking of buying a wet bag for it but if something is provided by HAL. 

[OlsSalt]

A prior poster suggested HAL should provide a "swim suit spinner" for  the thermal spa dressing room, so one can leave with at least a partially dry swim  suit.

 

 Even a hand-crank wringer like days of yore would be handy, if one has a simple suit to wring out  with no internal construction that could be damaged. 

 

Let's all agree to put that in our post -cruise surveys and maybe HAL management will take note. 

 

Dear HAL, Please put in a swim suit spinner in the Thermal Spa dressing room. Thank you.

Or whatever else it is called. 

[OlsSalt]

Please HAL - a swim suit water extractor. Thank you.

 

Eg: Suitmate: extract 95% of the water in 8 seconds.

https://suitmate.com

[Momsbuyer]

5 hours ago, Clummus said:

I’m curious as to what people use to take their wet swimsuit from the spa to their rooms? 
I am thinking of buying a wet bag for it but if something is provided by HAL. 

I roll my swimsuit in a towel (provided by HAL) and carry it back to the room that way. Leave towel in the bathroom for the steward to carry away.

[oakridger]

10 hours ago, Clummus said:

I’m curious as to what people use to take their wet swimsuit from the spa to their rooms? 
I am thinking of buying a wet bag for it but if something is provided by HAL. 

 

Hi and welcome to Cruise Critic @Clummus!  HAL was giving out a large bag to each cabin, as of last November anyway.  It's a good size to bring stuff to the pool/spa or even off ship to the beach.  

 

Can anyone on board now let us know if the bags are still being given out to everyone?

 

Thanks,

~Nancy

[oakridger]

My last ones were like this:

 

[vicd1969]

HAL gave me a cloth canvass bag a few weeks ago on my Alaska sailing. Better quality than the plasticky ones. But not as good as the Club orange bag 😄

[Clummus]

Thanks for the information, I appreciate it. 

[Haljo1935]

Yes @Clummus bags are still given during your cruise. Your cabin steward will put one in your cabin. If you will receive the plasticy water repellent blue one as posted by @oakridger or the white cotton canvas one as mentioned by @vicd1969 will be up to your ship & steward - if they've run through their supply of the 150th anniversary white ones, it will be the blue one. Regardless, if you ask, your steward will gladly give you one of the blue ones - I prefer them for wet/damp clothes, they're perfect for post spa swimwear. I leave mine in the cabin at the end of the cruise, but they are yours to keep (unlike laundry bags).

Day passes are $50, 7 day is $149. No discount pre-pay 8r onboard cost is the same. If you buy a day pass and decide to upgrade to the 7 day, you will 8nly pay the additional $99, so you aren't paying $50 + $149.

I use the heck out of a Thermalpass  - I go at least 2x/day working on a bum shoulder & other aches.

A tip to help make the metal roller beds more enjoyable  - take a small inflatable pillow.

Safe travels  - enjoy your cruise!

Edited September 2, 2023 by Haljo1935
Additional comment

[Clummus]

So do they provide laundry hamper? 
thanks the info 

 

[OlsSalt]

13 minutes ago, Clummus said:

So do they provide laundry hamper? 
thanks the info 

 

 

No laundry hamper in the cabin, but each bathroom has a retractible clothes line over the tub where you can hang things to dry.

 

There is a large open basket that we use to store our dirty clothes before we send them out a laundry bag. The open basket is found in the closet, and I believe it is originally intended for shoes to be left in the hall way overnight to be polished. (!!!! Has anyone done this?)

 

There is a hamper in the spa changing room, to deposit the complimentary robe that was provided in your spa locker. 

[Toofarfromthesea]

3 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Yes @Clummus bags are still given during your cruise. Your cabin steward will put one in your cabin. If you will receive the plasticy water repellent blue one as posted by @oakridger or the white cotton canvas one as mentioned by @vicd1969 will be up to your ship & steward - if they've run through their supply of the 150th anniversary white ones, it will be the blue one. Regardless, if you ask, your steward will gladly give you one of the blue ones - I prefer them for wet/damp clothes, they're perfect for post spa swimwear. I leave mine in the cabin at the end of the cruise, but they are yours to keep (unlike laundry bags).

Day passes are $50, 7 day is $149. No discount pre-pay 8r onboard cost is the same. If you buy a day pass and decide to upgrade to the 7 day, you will 8nly pay the additional $99, so you aren't paying $50 + $149.

I use the heck out of a Thermalpass  - I go at least 2x/day working on a bum shoulder & other aches.

A tip to help make the metal roller beds more enjoyable  - take a small inflatable pillow.

Safe travels  - enjoy your cruise!

 

FWIW, the thermal spa pass for my upcoming 17 day cruise was $299.

[Haljo1935]

57 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

FWIW, the thermal spa pass for my upcoming 17 day cruise was $299.

That's the equivalent of getting 3 days free. 😊 That's the same price I'm seeing on my upcoming 14 day and 16 day cruises.

Enjoy!

[zelker]

2 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

FWIW, the thermal spa pass for my upcoming 17 day cruise was $299.

 

1 hour ago, Haljo1935 said:

That's the equivalent of getting 3 days free. 😊 That's the same price I'm seeing on my upcoming 14 day and 16 day cruises.

Enjoy!

Buyer beware … we prepaid for what we thought was for an entire 18 day cruise (it said 14-18 days online and I even called HAL to confirm and was told it was) but when we got on the ship, the spa told us it was only for 14 days and wouldn’t budge.  The Neptune concierge even tried on our behalf.  Ultimately we asked for a refund because it pissed us off.  Not a good way to start a cruise.  YMMV.

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by zelker

[Haljo1935]

10 minutes ago, zelker said:

 

Buyer beware … we prepaid for what we thought was for an entire 18 day cruise (it said 14-18 days online and I even called HAL to confirm and was told it was) but when we got on the ship, the spa told us it was only for 14 days and wouldn’t budge.  The Neptune concierge even tried on our behalf.  Ultimately we asked for a refund because it pissed us off.  Not a good way to start a cruise.  YMMV.

 

Oh no! And thanks for the warning. I have 2 16-day cruises coming up that I would be buying Thermalpass.

Sorry that happened. 

[iowacruiser]

We booked the weeklong thermal suite pkg on the Eurodam last month. In our view it wasn't worth the price. Eurodam only had 5-6 of the loungers and they were almost always full.

The hydro pool was only luke warm and the steam rooms were not very hot either.

The hot tubs at the aft pool were much better and were always empty. It's obviously a little chilly getting in and out of them (It's Alaska) but we spent a couple of hours in them during the cruise through Glacier Bay Natl Park.

[RuthC]

3 hours ago, iowacruiser said:

The hydro pool was only luke warm

The hydro pool is supposed to be warm---not hot. It is supposed to be about body temperature. 
It's a great place where people with heart conditions take a soak with those lovely bubbles. They aren't supposed to get in the hot tubs. 

[Toofarfromthesea]

3 hours ago, RuthC said:

The hydro pool is supposed to be warm---not hot. It is supposed to be about body temperature. 
It's a great place where people with heart conditions take a soak with those lovely bubbles. They aren't supposed to get in the hot tubs. 

 

It's been a long time since I was in a hydro pool and I thought that was the case, but I am glad to hear you confirm that.

[queen_kathy1]

On 9/3/2023 at 2:23 PM, RuthC said:

The hydro pool is supposed to be warm---not hot. It is supposed to be about body temperature. 
It's a great place where people with heart conditions take a soak with those lovely bubbles. They aren't supposed to get in the hot tubs. 

This was certainly NOT the case on the Nieuw Statendam when I sailed in late July.  The hot tub was so hot, I could barely sit in there for 10min. I mentioned this to the staff at the spa and the next day the temp had dropped a few degrees so you could sit in longer, but definitely way warmer than body temperature.  

[queen_kathy1]

On 9/1/2023 at 3:11 PM, Clummus said:

I’m curious as to what people use to take their wet swimsuit from the spa to their rooms? 
I am thinking of buying a wet bag for it but if something is provided by HAL. 

We just used the HAL-provided robes to get back to our cabin, we saw many others doing the same.  This way you didn't need to bring clothing to the spa, just wear your swimsuit under the robe.  Then the room stewards changed our wet robes for dry ones when they made up our room in the evening.  Plus if you spend 15-20 min on the ceramic heated chair, your swimsuit dries up a bit.

Edited September 4, 2023 by queen_kathy1

[cccole]

I'm happy to hear this.  On a previous HAL cruise I was told by spa staff to do as you did.  Then after returning home I read how many thought this a horrible thing to do.  On our January cruise I would love to just wear our robes to the thermal suite.  Cherie

Edited September 4, 2023 by cccole

[Haljo1935]

42 minutes ago, cccole said:

I'm happy to hear this.  On a previous HAL cruise I was told by spa staff to do as you did.  Then after returning home I read how many thought this a horrible thing to do.  On our January cruise I would love to just wear our robes to the thermal suite.  Cherie

Many people wear a robe to the thermal spa; not inappropriate, so do as you're comfortable doing. And enjoy!!

Now wearing a Speedo uncovered to the Lido,  that's a different story...🫣