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Ship's Spa Experience

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Cary177

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Hi again everyone, we've been home for a few days from our first cruise, and had a couple more thoughts to share! First of all, I love this site and enjoy the friendly people on it!

Just wanted to share a little informaton regarding the ship's spa (massages, body wraps, facials, etc) which I had planned on indulging in from the day we booked our cruise:

The actual massage is a bit more expensive that what you pay on 'land.' For me, in my area (Ocala, FL) a 2 hour massage is usually between $100 and $120. Onboard, the fee (I'm sure it varies ship to ship, cruise to cruise) is between $120-$200 for fifty (50) minutes! Okay, bad enough, but I figured, what the heck and both my husband and I scheduled our massages. What was booked as fifty minutes actually turned out to be forty minutes, with a ten minute sales pitch/presentation of all the items used during your massage that you MUST have to take home to keep your body detoxified, de-cellulited, firmed up, smoothed-out and toned.

Now, here's where I wasn't paying attention, hence my post to you. While all of these wonderful products were laid out on the table while I sat still wrapped in sheets, I was asked how many of each I wanted, that it was necessary to buy at least one of each, and figuring to myself, 'well, they can't be that expensive, not any more than I pay at the mall....,' I said okay to the bath granuals, energizing capsules, detox/cellulite oils, muscle ache soaks.... etc. etc.

Not knowing prices, I got dressed and met my massuse out in the lobby, where she was totalling up my bill, and applying the amount to my sea-pass card. Feeling refreshed and renewed, she handed me my bag of goodies, I signed the slip (without my glasses, couldn't read the total, barely able to find the line for signature... it's sad) and boarded the elevator to my deck.

Sitting on the bed, with glasses on, I looked at the bill. $813.00. I couldn't believe my eyes. $813.00 for bath granuals and skin oil? Oh my God what was my husband, due any moment, going to say as he threw me overboard? I threw the bag under the bed, put the bill in my backpack just as my husband came through the door. I was going to tell him at dinner, after a couple glasses of wine, that I had gone a tad over the edge at the spa, and that the stuff I bought would last 10 years, and I'd never have to buy another skin cream for the rest of my life.

Fortunately, he appeared with a bag from the spa... a bag filled with muscle-ache bath soaks and manly-type body oils for manly-skin. Since he signed the bill without his glasses, the total was unknown to him until we both looked at it... $520.00.

Insane, isn't it. Our own faults, true. I even went to the product's website (www.elemis.com) to make sure they were indeed so incredibly pricey, that it wasn't the ship or the spa adding their mark up. Elemis is indeed a UK company with insane prices, but professing their products the best you can use.

New cruisers, be aware that you can be wrapped up in luxury and forget all about being realistic and frugal and SANE while onboard. Make sure you know what you are buying and ASK what things cost!

This in no way took away from the wonderfulness of the cruise, the beauty of the ship, the pampering of the waitstaff and stateroom attendants. Just remember that it's important to keep a lid on 'accessories' while in the middle of the ocean.

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Steiner/Elemis can be expensive!! I always get a massage, to start my cruise, but never purchase anything. When they start the sales pitch, I tell them that I know all about Steiner/Elemis and to please give me the massage I paid for. If they 'short me' 10 minutes, I would have no qualms about skipping the tip (Which, by the way, is automatically added and you have to tell them to remove it!)!

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Cary177,

I'm sorry about your experience with the spa products, but I have to admit that the way you told the story gave me a little chuckle, especially the part where you tried to hide the products from your husband.

Question, were the products not refundable? I would not have been embarassed to make an effort to return them. I could not afford to be out of that kind of money.

BTW, I would not have been able to read that statement without my glasses. I always go into a panic and cold sweat when I can't read anything. They would probably think it was the residual effect of the sauna. I would definitely have to see it before I sign it. I'm all too familiar with the hard line sales pitch of the spa aboard cruise ships. My traveling companion has been bitten by that bug. I always refuse to buy anything other than the spas immediate services because I know I will not use the extra products once I got home. :grin: :grin:

My question to you is did you and your husband laugh over it when it was all done?

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I guess it's a lesson to always have your glasses with you! I, too, would not have been able to see the bill without them...but then I wouldn't have been able to see my way to the spa without them! Ha ha!

I think I would have gone back to the spa and returned the items when I saw what the cost was. I never would have been able to afford something like that. That's just not in my budget. Will you actually use those products, now that you're home?

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Hi guys, yes, we should have marched back up to Deck 12 with spa goodies in hand and requested a refund. That would have been the smart, adult, take-action plan. But we didn't, we ended up keeping everything, we all had a pretty good laugh around the dinner table that night with the rest of our family (actually, they had the biggest laugh). Inexperience, also a bit of feeling like idiots, kept us from doing what we should have done. The credit card statement won't be quite so funny, and seriously, there is nothing funny about it. I have concluded that this was our very first cruise, we made TONS of mistakes, and we will be ready the next time, wiser, ready for what's coming, able to say no a little better.

But, more importantly, we'll be able to sit back, relax and know that the cruise, the sea, the sound of waves as we sail through the night, the lushness of the islands we visit, are the reasons we're doing this stuff at all.

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I always say that, almost everything you need to learn about cruising you learn on your first cruise! You are now "seasoned cruisers," and will be very wise for your next cruise.

And, as far as your purchases, they will make very nice, if a little expensive, Christmas gifts, and such. Or, pamper yourself with a little luxury.

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Elemis are sold on most cruise lines. Yes they are very expensive. Jeff and I were on a Disney cruise a little over a year ago and decided to treat ourselves to several spa treatments. After my facial, which was my first treatment, they started in on the hard sales pitch. I sat there quietly and let them tell me all about how I must have these products. Once they were done, I just told them I sold BeautiControl and happen to be very happy with these products. I do sale BeautiControl so I did not lie. Hubby came out with several products and his bill was well over $300. I chalked it up to he has been working very hard and it was his money he spent. This year we had a couples massage and once again (although on our profile I requested no hard sales pitch) they started in on the sales pitch. I informed them we already were using these products and we were not interested in buying anymore.

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You should have returned it. My sister did the same thing on the explorer a couple of years ago, we told her she was nuts and bring it back, they took it all back with no problem. It was your first massage though, I bought something too back then, but since then I havent bought one. Then recently I wondered why I was paying so much more for a massage when I can get 2 for the same price at home, so now I go every couple of months here instead.

Great story though, lol

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Cary...don't feel bad. I too bought some of the Steiner products after my first facial and I COULD see the bill, so I guess that makes it worse. The hard sales pitch is the reason I no longer get spa treatments onboard. I'm there to relax...not have someone badger me about purchasing overpriced products (they were good, but not any better than products I get at better department stores for less). I also agree with Janet...there's a few wonderful spas in town that do great treatments for less money and their products are available for purchase but never forced on you. In fact, my husband got me a 5 hours spa package for Christmas. He knows what I like!
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