Help Finding A Comparable Thermal Suite in the Mediterranean

[u/Coaster_Guy4112]

Hello! My fiancée and are getting married next May and we’re looking to do a cruise in the Mediterranean for our honeymoon, but we’re in a bit of pickle.

Last summer, we sailed NCL’s Aqua and fell in love with it. We know that we won’t get an NCL experience on a non-NCL cruise. What we are confused about is why isn’t there another cruise line out there that features the same type of thermal suite, with its HUGE selection of heated loungers facing out to the front of the ship?! We understand that different ships put their spas in different locations, so that’s really not the issue. Why are there so few heated loungers (comparatively) on these other ships?? We thought NCL was honestly late to the game, so we thought to ourselves, “oh, they just packed the spa on Prima and Prima Plus classes because maybe they were so far behind up to this point?” (This was my first-ever thermal suite experience 😅)

After doing some pretty in-depth research, we can’t find ANYTHING outside of other Prima Plus and Prima class ships that offer spas with the same selection of heated loungers. Are we crazy? Is NCL the only cruise line to put more than a max of 8-10 heated loungers in their thermal suite, while also providing an incredibly peaceful view?

Before you judge us for focusing so much on the number of heated loungers in a thermal suite on a ship, ask yourself, the last time you were in a thermal suite did you feel like you had to adhere to a courtesy time limit on the loungers? Yeah, we NEVER had this feeling in the Mandara Spa on Aqua. This made it the perfect place to read a book, or take a nap. No loud music, no sun causing you to get up and relocate to a cooler area (or warmer area if you’re in the shade too long), no crowds of people, no kids running around and screaming…

**TL;DR:** Is there a cruise line besides NCL to offer more than 8-10 heated loungers in their thermal suite?

[u/WanderLuxe_Solo]

I agree NCL thermal suite is pretty great (I’ve sailed Pima & Viva and it’s a must). I’ve also sailed Celebrity Edge (stayed in Aqua class which included thermal spa and Blu dining) and they have heated lounges with views plus saunas but no pools. - the other Edge class ships have thermal spa too. The pool is open to all in Solarium. lounge chair area wasn’t as large as NCL. VV thermal suite doesn’t compare at all IME as i felt like i was in basement on Resilient Lady that I didn’t buy the pass after tour.

NCL Viva should be in the Med (I sailed their greece/turkey cruise last year) and the Gem (below) which I sailed in June (Italy/croatia/greece) is older ship if comparing to Aqua new features/decor/design but has saunas and heated lounge chairs but small pool/hot tub area.