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Cruise lines are adding charcoal saunas, ice rooms, salt rooms and IV lounges to ships as the global spa industry grows 35 per cent since 2019. Norwegian Cruise Line has refurbished spas on Norwegian Jade and Norwegian Gem, with more wellness upgrades coming fleetwide.
Cruise lines are expanding wellness facilities across their fleets as the global spa industry booms. The industry generated $US157.4 billion ($220 billion) in 2024, according to the Global Wellness Institute.
That is 35 per cent more than in 2019. Wellness is no longer an occasional treatment for cruise passengers. Cruise lines have responded by adding the latest wellness experiences to new ships. They are also finding space for these facilities as older vessels are renovated.
Norwegian Cruise Line Renovates Shipboard Spas
Norwegian Cruise Line has refurbished two older ships. The 20-year-old Norwegian Jade and the 2007-launched Norwegian Gem now have redesigned Mandara Spa and Salons. The 2400- and 2394-passenger ships were updated in accord with passenger feedback. The thermal suite now features three times as many of the popular hot-tile loungers.
It has a more centralised layout with an upgraded reception area and updated steam rooms and saunas. NCL has also added new facilities. A charcoal sauna uses a radiant heat system with an outer charcoal layer. It claims to boost circulation and release toxins as well as help with muscle stiffness and tension.
A new ice room with cold air invigorates the respiratory tract. The new salt room rides the popular wave of halotherapy, said to benefit breathing and skin. There is a new collection of futuristic-looking four-senses loungers, designed for deep relaxation. Norwegian Jade also has brand-new experiential showers.
They feature multiple water jets and lighting effects to help invigorate the body. The ship also has a plunge pool for cold-water immersion. Norwegian Gem has an updated hot tub and thalassotherapy pool. Both ships now offer an IV lounge.
Wellness at Sea Evolves
IV therapy is a huge trend, said to help many conditions, from hangovers to jetlag. Norwegian has overhauled the spas on other ships as well. When it launches in May next year, Norwegian Aura, the line's biggest ship, promises the industry's most expansive thermal suite. It will feature 15 wellness experiences designed for relaxation, recovery and rejuvenation.
Wellness at sea has deep roots. From the late 1930s, Steiner's the Hairdressers on Conduit Street in London's Mayfair was attracting a clientele of aristocrats, Hollywood stars and royalty. Owner Herman Steiner even tended Queen Mary's famously elaborate coiffure and was later granted a Royal Warrant as her hairdresser. By the 1950s, Steiner had salons around Britain, including one at London Airport.
Then Steiner went to sea. In 1956, the company won contracts to operate salons aboard Royal Mail Lines' Andes and Cunard ships. If Steiner was the trailblazer, then Cunard was the one that said, Hold my hairspray. Its partnership with California health retreat Golden Door in the early '80s brought fitness classes, massage and other wellness programs to the legendary QE2.
Modern Cruise Wellness Facilities Expand
By the 1990s, spas were becoming a serious part of ship design. Within a decade they had grown significantly. Today, some shipboard wellness facilities approach 3000 square metres. They feature elaborate thermal suites, salt and ice rooms, cold plunges, hydrotherapy pools, experiential showers, fitness studios and even medi-spas.
OneSpaWorld, the corporate descendant of Steiner, now operates high-end wellness centres aboard almost 200 cruise ships. Elsewhere, Celebrity Xcel, launched in 2025, has Celebrity's largest spa yet. It adds its first hydra room, a warm pool with massaging jets, and an outdoor vitamin D deck to its nine-experience thermal suite. Cunard's 2024-launched Queen Anne introduced extensive wellness facilities.
These include a Himalayan salt sauna, cold room and cryo-body treatments. Explora Journeys' new ships feature ocean wellness centres with salt caves, ice falls, hydrotherapy pools and experience showers. Fleetwide, MSC Cruises is adding Japanese head-spa treatments, AI skin analysis, IV therapy and medical-aesthetic treatments to its wellness menu. These include injectables and dermal fillers afloat.
The expansion shows how cruise wellness has moved from simple hair salons to comprehensive health and relaxation centres.
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brisbanetimes:Forget the buffet, the newest cruise ships are all about wellness 
theage:Forget the buffet, the newest cruise ships are all about wellnessThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Norwegian Cruise Line Spas Charcoal Sauna IV Therapy Global Spa Industry Cruise Ship Spas Norwegian Cruise Line Wellness Industry
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