What happens when you combine one of the world’s best spas with one of the world’s best cruise lines? You get the unrivaled Canyon Ranch SpaClub, available on Oceania Cruises!
Spoiler alert: Yes, you will be spoiled. Very much so.
We recently sailed on Oceania’s Insignia for 28 days, taking full advantage of the Canyon Ranch SpaClub. Both the amenities and experience proved to be a superior pleasure, offering oceans of health benefits, fun and an incomparable way to vacation and de-stress.
Oceania Cruises is not only an award-winner, but also one of the world’s leading culinary and destination focused cruise line, offering superlative experiences at sea. With the Canyon Ranch SpaClub at sea, Oceania Cruises’ passengers can enjoy a wealth of advantages while sailing the world in style, in an intimate, country club-style atmosphere. Furthermore, Oceania Cruises has won countless awards from an array of publications for its cuisine, excursions, suites, and overall value.
For those not familiar with Canyon Ranch, it is one of the world’s best spas, having won countless awards and has inspired guests to “live younger longer.” It is where you go to have the healthy vacation of a lifetime. Canyon Ranch has outposts in Tucson; Lenox, Massachusetts; Las Vegas and its newest location in Kaplankaya, Turkey. Founders Enid and Mel Zuckerman created this world-renowned resort forty years ago and since then, they have helped thousands of people to be in the best of health every day.
Yum’s The Word
Let’s start with the cuisine on Oceania Cruises: there’s a wide array of delicious gourmet foods on every menu, to suit every taste for every passenger aboard.
There is an old anecdote that the average weight gain on a cruise ship is one pound per day, but here on Oceania Cruises you can actually lose weight, and do this while enjoying great cuisine. And we do not know about you – but we love being able to eat low-fat, delicious, slimming foods on a cruise ship. Who needs guilt? Canyon Ranch fare, with nutritional information and calorie counts, is available on all menus. For example, a sample dinner is mixed greens and watercress with mustard-seed dressing (55 calories); clear capon broth (100 calories); and an entree of steamed Maine lobster with saffron rice (330 calories). Try it – it will not feel like a diet.
There is also vegan cuisine to suit other tastes. The gourmet vegan breakfast includes chocolate-cherry muffins; lunch of gazpacho with lasagna; and dinner of stir-fried veggies in coconut milk and lemongrass. Breakfast side dishes include grilled tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms, vegan link sausage and Lyonnaise potatoes. No matter what you order, you are guaranteed a full plate of fantastic.
“We are delighted to expand our culinary offerings to please an even wider array of palates and offer our guests more diverse choices to suit today’s wellness focused lifestyles,” says Bob Binder, President and CEO of Oceania Cruises.
And yes, you read that right – gourmet vegan cuisine. Recently Oceania debuted the most expansive vegan menu offerings at sea, along with cold-pressed raw juice and vegan smoothie bars (and that’s in addition to Oceania Cruises’ already comprehensive selection of vegetarian, gluten-free and kosher meals). You can actually sail the world (on six intimate ships and more than 400 ports of call) while you imbibe Acai berry bowls, Rise and Shine juice, sweet green juice, and many others. Sip, sip, hooray!
When it comes to health and wellness, this is as good as it gets – not to mention the fact that you are on a five-star floating hotel, where you unpack only once.
You’ll Like That Lovin’ Feeling
Upstairs on the ninth deck, you will find the Canyon Ranch SpaClub, complete with an amazing array of amenities (aromatic steam room, thalassotherapy pool and private sun deck) and terrific treatments. And let me say this about the Canyon Ranch SpaClub aromatherapy massage: I was transformed.
Thanks to 80-minutes with Oceania Cruises’ masseuse Monika, my tired and daily-worked-out body was gently relaxed and soothed with a peppermint oil, in a series of rhythmic, therapeutic movements, like a dance on the body.
Here is a tip: Schedule your treatment late in the day so that you can return to your stateroom afterwards and take a nap before dinner– such a luxury! (And let us say this about Oceania Cruises’ decadent, trademarked Prestige Tranquility Bed – this is one singular sensation to wow your weary body.)
My therapist, Monika, studied in Poland – the land of first-class salons and health spas, especially in Zakopane – and she was highly intuitive to my massage needs, foregoing a deeper massage in exchange for a light, relaxing touch.
On another day, I visited the spa for an Environ Facial from the aesthetician, Georgia. It started with a makeup remover from the prestigious Environ line (not typically offered on cruise ships, so this was quite special). Environ was created by a world-renowned plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Dr. Des Fernandes of South Africa. More than 25 years ago he pioneered the use of Vitamin A in high doses and realized that the cosmetics of the future had to contain adequate amounts of Vitamin A, C and other antioxidants.
Around the eye area, Georgia performed microneedling – collagen stimulation therapy – which creates tiny pinpricks and naturally sends receptors through the skin cells to create more collagen and elastin. As a result, the skin will naturally heal to produce more collagen and elastin on the surface layer – preparing the skin for deeper penetration of serums. Who doesn’t love that?
Head And Shoulders Above The Rest
Then came the best part: the scalp massage, a throughly underrated treatment sure to make you melt. But so will the many other spa treats that include the signature Euphoric Coffee Scrub; the Seaweed Bath Ritual; acupuncture massage; and Ayurvedic body wraps. We can personally vouch for the body composition analysis that uses calipers to get to that all-important fat-percentage number.
If you book your stateroom on a Concierge Level or Suite, you can even enjoy free unlimited access to the beautifully appointed Canyon Ranch private Spa Terrace. In addition to use of the outstanding gym and fitness facilities, Oceania Cruises has broken new ground by making its fitness and wellness classes complimentary. You can take advantage of more than two dozen classes, including Sunrise Stretch, Indoor Cycling, Core Conditioning and even a Boot Camp – if your body is up for it.
And here is something else. Oceania Cruises has recently launched an exclusive new shore excursion series called “Wellness Tours Inspired by Canyon Ranch” where you can immerse yourself in transformative wellness not only aboard Oceania, but in its distinctive ports of call in serene, Mediterranean locales. It is a winner. For example, in Monte Carlo, you will have the opportunity to visit the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort and enjoy paradise-like views as you take in a private vinyasa yoga class. There is a visit to the papal baths in Italy and a meditation and yoga session (and plant-based lunch) in Corfu, Greece. Ashore, in Cadiz, we visited an apiary that utilized honey in its gourmet lunch menu and also makes beauty products, which are available for purchase. Sweet souvenirs!
We came away from our cruise with a new mantra: Oceania, Oceania, Oceania. After all, when you are sailing, why should your health-and-wellness routine take its own vacation? http://luxegetaways.info/oceania-cruises
