Spas At Sea
On my cruise on board Holland America's ms Zaandam, I was surprised to stumble upon a room inside the Greenhouse Spa that instantly became my favorite place on board. It follows a general trend whereby the spas on board newer ships are being designed these days with bigger spaces and some of the best real-estate on the ship for watching the scenery float past.
In this case, I happened upon a wonderful little creation called the Thermal Suite, which sounds more clinical than it is. On the Zaandam, the Thermal Suite is a private relaxation room inside the spa that features lounge chairs composed entirely of little blue tiles with a warming unit, two steam baths, two rain showers, a private outdoor balcony with more lounge chairs, and the single greatest thing I think I've ever seen on a cruise ship: An elevated hot tub that looks out over the bow of the ship and the ocean. I had the whole room to myself one night as I soaked in that tub as we sailed west towards Hilo, Hawaii and the sun sank slowly into the horizon. If they served dinner in there, I would have stayed all night.
With little interest in massages or pedicures or facials, I wouldn't have found the Thermal Suite if I hadn't been curious about the spa and asked for a tour. As soon as I saw it, I signed up for a $20 day pass that allowed me to use not only the suite, but another relaxation room with more private lounge chairs, cold beverages and fruit. The fitness center, which requires no admission fee, is also a big, spacious room with treadmills and elliptical machines facing floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the ocean, which automatically makes it one of the most scenic health clubs in the world. Now I can't imagine any better way of watching a sunset over the ocean, and I'm pretty sure that the Thermal Suite will be one of those travel places to which I'll long to return.