How is the thermal spa on Meraviglia?

[smokeykat]

I have never done the thermal spa on a cruise. I see I can purchase a pass for the entire cruise. Does it get crowded? There is an emotional shower listed. What is this? 

Are the loungers heated? Is there staff that you would have to tip there?

Any info will be appreciated!

[Georgia_Peaches]

An emotional shower as I understand it is a rainfall type shower that has lighting in the stall that changes various shades of blue.  In general, I love a good thermal suite on a cruise ship.  IMO, NCL (Breakaway class and up) has the best thermal suite experience in the industry.  As I have not been in the Meraviglia thermal suite yet, when we were on Seashore, DH and I were not impressed at all.  In fact, we only went once during our entire 7 night cruise.  We found it to be dark and poorly designed.  Luke-warm loungers were placed in strange places, ie. next to the therapy pool which was loud.  We just didn't like it.  Having said that, we are looking forward to visiting the thermal suite on Meraviglia next month.  Here's a video.

and...it was not crowded the one time we visited.  Tipping of attendants is not required or expected.

 

[smokeykat]

Thanks for the video! Looks interesting...please let me know how you like it when you go on your cruise as my cruise will be in May out of NY.

I think this is something we may do!

[Aeroplex]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

An emotional shower as I understand it is a rainfall type shower that has lighting in the stall that changes various shades of blue.  In general, I love a good thermal suite on a cruise ship.  IMO, NCL (Breakaway class and up) has the best thermal suite experience in the industry.  As I have not been in the Meraviglia thermal suite yet, when we were on Seashore, DH and I were not impressed at all.  In fact, we only went once during our entire 7 night cruise.  We found it to be dark and poorly designed.  Luke-warm loungers were placed in strange places, ie. next to the therapy pool which was loud.  We just didn't like it.  Having said that, we are looking forward to visiting the thermal suite on Meraviglia next month.  Here's a video.

and...it was not crowded the one time we visited.  Tipping of attendants is not required or expected.

 

People filming in Spa Are 😉haha 

[Georgia_Peaches]

2 hours ago, Aeroplex said:

People filming in Spa Are 😉haha 

Not my video but I hear ya!  Privacy is a thing of the past.  

[perakcruiser]

Does it get crowded? - Usually not. I never saw it crowded.
 

Are the loungers heated? - Yes.

 

Is there staff that you would have to tip there? - No. 

 

In my opinion the Meraviglia is the first MSC ship with a Spa that is worth to visit. Same with all ships that came after the Mera. 

 

[APDMOM]

Love the thermal area on both Meraviglia and Seaside.  I am still trying to decide if it is worth the $130 for one week on oue upcoming Meraviglia cruise, as I had a GREAT deal for 14 days on Seaside, but it is an amazing experience!  Never was crowded when I went - I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it, as I am a type A (maybe double A) person and have difficulty relaxing and not thinking of 'what I may be missing while sitting in this hot tub".  😄 LOL!

[ready2cruzagain]

8 hours ago, APDMOM said:

Love the thermal area on both Meraviglia and Seaside.  I am still trying to decide if it is worth the $130 for one week on oue upcoming Meraviglia cruise, as I had a GREAT deal for 14 days on Seaside, but it is an amazing experience!  Never was crowded when I went - I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it, as I am a type A (maybe double A) person and have difficulty relaxing and not thinking of 'what I may be missing while sitting in this hot tub".  😄 LOL!

Wow, hoping that is a great price. I am trying to figure out how much 11 day couples thermal pass would be on the Meraviglia

 

[smokeykat]

Since Black Friday is almost here do you think the passes will go on sale? Did MSC ever do black Friday sales in the past like RCL?

[phissy]

Quick simple answer to Meraviglia and it’s thermal spa.

Amazing and worth it.

[tbmrt]

On 10/22/2022 at 9:55 AM, smokeykat said:

I have never done the thermal spa on a cruise. I see I can purchase a pass for the entire cruise. Does it get crowded? There is an emotional shower listed. What is this? 

Are the loungers heated? Is there staff that you would have to tip there?

Any info will be appreciated!

Would like to know cost for 1 day if we book onboard

[hmwende]

On 10/23/2022 at 7:31 PM, tbmrt said:

Would like to know cost for 1 day if we book onboard

We were on Meraviglia in March. Thermo spa is the second best we have experienced and all of our cruising. It truly is amazing and well worth $130 for the whole week. One day was $60 when we went in March. 

[Paphillyguy]

We just returned from the Mera, I used the spa several times and found it to be ok.  I thought it felt a bit cramped.  It was fairly busy every time I used it and that was first with 5,200 passengers on board and then 2,200.  

[tbmrt]

9 minutes ago, Paphillyguy said:

We just returned from the Mera, I used the spa several times and found it to be ok.  I thought it felt a bit cramped.  It was fairly busy every time I used it and that was first with 5,200 passengers on board and then 2,200.  

Do you happen to know the one day charge for spa?  We are only doing a 3 night and 1 day will be at Ocean Cay

[Paphillyguy]

34 minutes ago, tbmrt said:

Do you happen to know the one day charge for spa?  We are only doing a 3 night and 1 day will be at Ocean Cay

I do not, I was in the YC and had use of the Thermal Area

[APDMOM]

On 10/25/2022 at 10:37 AM, tbmrt said:

Do you happen to know the one day charge for spa?  We are only doing a 3 night and 1 day will be at Ocean Cay

I just saw a video that said it is $60 per day, so the pre-cruise sale of $130 per week for our cruise is a great price!

 

 

[perakcruiser]

On 10/25/2022 at 4:37 PM, tbmrt said:

Do you happen to know the one day charge for spa?  We are only doing a 3 night and 1 day will be at Ocean Cay

For unknown reasons MSC is very unwilling to sell 1 day passes. During Covid they did not sell at all, not sure if they started again. And usually when you ask for the price they are afraid to tell, I think last time I got an answer like "It is absolutely not worth it" instead of the price😄

 

Just go and try telling them that you are only on a 3 day cruise. 

[greg_atlanta]

I did the $130 pass for the week and generally pleased, but would not pay more than that on a future cruise.  There are no windows so it feels a little claustrophobic.

 

It was irritating checking in for the first time since they don't have an electronic record of you purchasing the package in advance.  I had to pull up the pdf booking doc and show them and get a sticker placed on my key card.  (No such problem with drinks/internet package).

 

Two steam rooms are great, one mild and one hot.  Two saunas are great too, one a little cooler but not much difference.   The two hot tubs are a little weird and are lightly chlorinated compared to the hot tubs by the pool.  There are only 3 heated lounge chairs.  The showers are mostly cold and didn't impress me.  The cold room is GREAT after sauna/steam.   There are 3 rooms with padded lounge chairs and chill/EDM music, one is a "salt" room but honestly couldn't tell if it did anything.  There are two "Mediterranean baths" which i didn't quite understand, kind of like steam rooms without the steam -- you're supposed to get wet then let the heated walls do their thing....  didn't have the patience for that. 

 

I meant to try to free sauna in the gym (for comparison) but didn't get around to it.  

 

It was never crowded but my cruise was only about 1/3 capacity (Nov 6-13).

 

[Falcon8]

Is it open 24/7?

[mawvkysc]

9 minutes ago, Falcon8 said:

Is it open 24/7?

I think it closed at 8:00 pm

[mawvkysc]

I was given a 2 hour pass when I booked a massage. Ship was half full so not sure if they added it as a selling point. It’s worth asking. 
 

Really enjoyed it for free but wouldn’t pay for it. If they had aromatherapy in some of the rooms or if the whirlpools were true thalassotherapy with mineral waters I would. Otherwise I’d use the whirlpools on deck and the dry sauna in gym. The one in the gym had a better cedar smell There is no view from the lounging areas and the salt room didn’t feel like the salt was strong enough. 

[mawvkysc]

Can’t edit my post. It was open 9:00-9:00. @Falcon8

[Georgia_Peaches]

5 hours ago, mawvkysc said:

The one in the gym had a better cedar smell

Is the one in the gym co-Ed?

[mawvkysc]

20 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Is the one in the gym co-Ed?

No. One in each shower room

[BertieRulesOK]

The Virtuosa spa is identical and I loved it!  Best thing about the ship.  One day passes were available on board, but they were about the same price as a week pass (bought in advance), so would have been a very bad deal.

 

I loved having a proper swim (as pools on MSC are long enough) and then heading to the spa for some relaxation.  It has a lot of different rooms to keep you interested and did wonders for my skin over a week of use. 

 

Virtuosa you had go book your session each day which means they were regulating numbers in the thermal area.  It never felt overly busy and you could always choose a less popular slot if you were concerned.

 

5/5 stars.  Would recommend.