Disney Cruise Line's Rainforest Room VS Virgin Voyages Redemption Spa

​I have recently sailed on Disney Cruise Line and Virgin Voyages and both offer an amazing spa.  Disney has the Rainforest room and Virgin has Redemption Spa's Thermal Suite.   They are very different and are also dealing with covid differently. Here is my experience with each -  


 Disney Dream's Rainforest Room.   On the Dream the Spa area and fitness are all together on Deck 11 all the way in the front of the ship.  This is also where most of the adult only stuff is located so it is a nice quiet area.  There are 2 hot tubs, 4 different types of showers, along with a steam room, sauna, and heated lounges.  Disney has decided to change the rules for the Rainforest Room due to covid so that only one party is allowed at a time.  You reserve a time slot for a flat fee of $175  and you and up to 10 people in your party are able to have the Rainforest room all to yourself!   Yes it is a little pricey but after the year and half I had I knew it would be worth every penny for me!  I couldn't wait to book my slot as I always enjoy a visit to the Rainforest Room and thought alone would be even better!  I understand that eventually they will go back to normal operations but I would love it if maybe Disney would still offer a few times each day where guests could book a private experience.  
 The Rainforest Room includes a semi-enclosed outdoor section with the 2 hot tubs.  Inside it has heated loungers, a steam room, sauna, and aromatherapy showers. The heated loungers are my favorite place to read a little and nap a lot   I also really love that outdoor area with the hot tubs as there is just something relaxing about having a sea breeze and hearing the ocean.   The showers and steam room and saunas are also nice.  You do have the option to purchase some scrubs to use in the showers but I opted out of that for this time.  The area is a bit small and used to get kind of crowded before covid so I do wish it was bigger.   Either way it is a nice little sanctuary to just unwind and de-stress even if only for an hour and 45 minutes.

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Virgin Voyages Redemption Spa  Virgin's spa is down on deck 5 mid ship.   The thermal suite is pretty big and offers a mudroom, salt room, sauna, steam room, along with hot and cold plunge pools  There are also some heated marble hamman benches.  It is $70 for a day.   As with all things Virgin the covid policies seemed to be much more relaxed than Disney.  While they are not doing private time bookings they did say they are limiting the number of guests due to covid.  The funny thing is when you book your day you don't have to pick a time in advance and so I am not sure if they are just limiting the number of guests per day or if you book the day and arrive when too many people are already in there they would tell you to come back.  
When I went there were a few people but there was plenty of space to spread out and usually have one of the rooms to yourself.  When I checked in at the desk I was told hold on let me get your mud.   I wasn't really sure what to expect since I hadn't tried a mudroom before so when she handed me this shot glass size cup of mud I had to laugh.  I am not sure what I was picturing but this wasn't it. 

​  I figured since I had my mud might as well go for the mudroom first.   The little sign by the door said go in let your skin warm and then apply mud and relax and let it soak in and then wash off.   Sounded easy enough.   It was a little strange at first but I just thought of the mud like any other scrub I might use on my skin. It actually felt pretty good until it was time to rinse off and the water was a bit chilly.  I figured ok now I will go warm up in the other rooms.  I tired out all of the rooms along with the pools.  I skipped the 2 coldest ones which looked like hot tubs but I knew from watching others get in that they were pretty cold.  I was disappointed that the one that was most like a pool didn't have any jets and the water was a bit too cool for me.   I was also disappointed by the heated benches as they were very uncomfortable.   I tried a few different spots and as much as I love the warmth they just do not seem to be designed for relaxing.   Another thing I would  recommend do not pick a port day to visit.   Being down on Deck 5 meant you were close to ground level and we were parked right next to another ship so the view wasn't that good and it was a bit noisy.   Even though I could go as much as I wanted to during that day I didn't end up going back after my first visit.  

I enjoyed my visit to both of these spas and highly recommend you check on out on your next cruise!
I didn't mention this but  in case you haven't been to one of these things before they are co-ed and you do wear your bathing suit.  You will also be provided with a robe and plenty of towels.   

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