New luxury ocean ships are setting sail in 2022 and 2023 with pampering onboard spas. As 2022 nears the mid-year mark, new cruise ships are launching, as the cruise industry returns in full swing. Snazzy new interior spaces include robust spa facilities. In addition, other spas are updated with new services, treatments and wellness programming.
American Spa recently published Part 1 of this multi-part series about new ship spas and spa features aboard three ultra-luxury cruise ships from Silversea, Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, and Seabourn. Here’s Part 2 featuring three more luxurious ships of Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Explora Journeys, and Viking.
Top Suite with a Spa
Designed by Miami’s Studio DADO, Regent Seven Seas Cruises’s 750-passenger Seven Seas Grandeur will debut in November 2023. Construction on this ultra-luxury ship – a sister to Seven Seas Explorer and Seven Seas Splendor – began in late 2021. Expected to embody luxury on all fronts, this new ocean ship will offer among the cruise industry’s highest space and staff-to-guest ratios. Spanning 15 categories, Seven Seas Grandeur’s 366 suites all have private balconies. For those seeking the top accommodation, that’s the 4,443-square-foot Regent Suite. Overlooking the ship’s bow, this palatial suite is likely to be a runaway hit with guests, as it’s been on the two sister vessels already sailing.
In one example, that posh suite starts at $38,499 per person, double occupancy, for a week-long sailing roundtrip from Miami to the Caribbean, departing February 27, 2024. On that same sailing, the 219-square-foot Verandah Suite, the ship’s entry level accommodations, start at $4,700 or so, per person, double occupancy.
So, what’s the draw? First, guests staying here will have space galore – a living room with personalized bar set-up; dining room, two bedrooms; two-and-one-half bathrooms with marble and stone detailing and more. Second, for spa lovers, this sumptuous suite has its own “in-suite spa” with sauna, steam room, jetted bathtub and the perk of unlimited, complimentary Serene Spa & Wellness treatments.
In terms of public spaces, Seven Seas Grandeur will offer such specialty restaurants as Prime 7 and Chartreuse. Regent Seven Seas also has redesigned Compass Rose, the ship’s main restaurant; it will offer an epicurean experience and wide variety of gourmet options nightly. At press time, the line still hadn’t revealed specific details about the new ship’s Serene Spa & Wellness spaces or experiences. But it’s likely that guests will find similarity to the pampering spa facility on Seven Seas Splendor and Seven Seas Explorer.
As for the line’s spa services across the fleet, they include Elemis facial therapies, body treatments, massages, manicures, pedicures, luxury Kerastase salon services, fitness classes, and personal training. Spa treatments also often incorporate ingredients inspired by the 450 destinations to which the line sails. For instance, “The Regent,” the line’s signature, 100-minute treatment, features rosemary, sea fennel, and sea buckthorn from the Mediterranean coastlines. Worked into the body, the mixture eases tension, soothes muscles and detoxifies. Warm eucalyptus-infused paraffin mitts and boots enhance the experience by nourishing and hydrating hands and feet.
For those seeking a globally inspired treatment, the 100-minute “Around the World Massage” taps into basalt from China, coconut poultice from the Caribbean, argon oil from Morocco and bamboo from Asia. Regent Seven Seas offers Serene Spa & Wellness tours ashore too. So, for example, guests might head ashore in New Zealand to soak in the detoxifying, restorative effects of a geothermal mud bath.
Seven Seas Grandeur will begin an inaugural season of sailings in November 2023. They’ll include 17 seven-to-16-night voyages in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, plus two transatlantic crossing.
Pampered Journeys
In spring 2023, new luxury brand, Explora Journeys’ first new ship, Explora I will set sail; that ship recently “floated out” from the shipyard and is now undergoing interior outfitting. The vessel will offer 461 all-oceanfront suites, penthouses and residences. During its 2023 inaugural year, the ship will visit 132 ports in 40 different countries.
Inaugural year itineraries for Explora I will include the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, the U.K., Iceland, Greenland, Canada, the U.S. East Coast, Caribbean, South America, and Hawaii. One perk for cruisers who’ve “been there, done that” is a line-up that includes two destinations, Kastellorizo, Greece, and Saint Pierre, Martinique, that Explora Journeys says haven’t been visited by cruise ships before.
Guests heading for Explora I will discover robust outdoor deck space, four pools, private cabanas and entertainment spaces, along with nine different culinary experiences. In particular, spa enthusiasts should 2appreciate Explora I’s 7,535-plus square feet of indoor and outdoor wellness facilities. That includes more than 2,900 square feet of fitness facilities to be equipped with state-of-the-art equipment. In addition, Explora Journeys will offer guests wellness experiences ashore, plus nutrition and sleep programming. As for accommodations, all the ship’s 461 oceanfront suites of various price levels will have sea views, a private terrace and space galore. The Ocean Suites, the lead-in category, offer 377 square feet of suite space, extremely spacious by cruise industry standards.
On August 8, 2023, Explora I’s seven-night “Baltic Beach and Hanseatic History” voyage sails from Stockholm to Copenhagen; cruise fares start at $9,500 per suite. Owned by MSC Group, Explora Journeys also has another new ship, Explora II, under construction with two more sister vessels to follow; the entire fleet will be sailing by 2027.
New Nordic Spas
With fast-paced growth, Viking Expedition Cruises debuted its first expedition ship, the 378-passenger Viking Octantis, on Antarctic cruises in January 2022. Featuring modern Scandinavian design, multiple restaurants and a hefty expedition product for guests (full expedition team, Zodiacs, kayaks and a submarine), this Polar Class 6 vessel is now sailing North America’s Great Lakes this summer.
In the past, many expedition ships were fairly basic, but that’s changed. Viking Octantis’ Nordic Spa has an indoor heated pool area with expansive windows and a badestamp (a Nordic wood-sided hot tub) that’s open to the outside. Inside the spa’s Thermal Suite (with complimentary access for all guests aboard) is a sauna, steam room, snow grotto with real snowflakes wafting from the ceiling, and a warming cave with lounge chairs. Near the spa are Viking Octantis’ beauty salon and fitness center with state-of-the-art exercise equipment. Viking and spa partner, LivNordic, have designed a spa menu that ranges from traditional Swedish massages to cleansing facials and much more. option? For example, guests might opt for the 110-minute “Arctic Detox,” which combines a detox scrub, Swedish detox massage and cupping.
Later this year, Viking Polaris, a sister to Viking Octantis, will also begin cruising. It will sail Antarctica in early 2023 and then head for the Great Lakes. In 2023, both expedition ships will operate an eight-day “Niagara and the Great Lakes” itinerary between Toronto and Milwaukee, WI. At press time, fares started at $5,999 to $6,999 per person, double occupancy, depending on departure date.
In May 2022, Viking Ocean Cruises welcomed the new, 930-passenger Viking Mars. This year the ship is sailing Mediterranean, Scandinavia and Northern Europe itineraries, and then at year’s end will reposition to Australia and New Zealand. In addition, new sister Viking Neptune will debut in fall 2022. Both have spas with a robust thermal suite.
Stay tuned for Part 3 of our update about cruise ship spa developments.