Cloud 9 on Carnival Breeze

Just Onboard Carnival Breeze
 What to Do

Sunday August 24th we began our seminar at sea onboard Carnival Breeze out of Miami, Florida. Since we had priority boarding, it wasn't long after completing the embarkation process that we were on our way to our cabin. Most ships wouldn't have the cabins ready that early, but starting around 12:30 PM, you could go to your cabin and drop off your bags.

As usual, we had some lunch, which in our case was one of Guy's Burgers. We'll write about those in another post because we want to skip ahead to the relaxing part of the day.

After having our burger, we headed to Cloud 9 Spa for a tour of the facility.  After all, it was #SpaSunday, so we needed to get some images for our Twitter followers.   That was a good excuse don't you think?

One of the therapists, pictured above, demonstrated the hot stones technique on our arms.  This is by far our favorite treatment, so it didn't take much convincing that we should start our cruise out right.

Couples Hot Stones Massage

Pictured here is one of the couples treatment rooms that we saw on our spa tour.   At the conclusion of the tour we booked the hot stones treatment for right after the mandatory safety drill.

TIP:   If you plan on having a massage or other spa treatment during your  cruise, go to the spa tour and book your appointments.  If you can, take advantage of embarkation day specials as well.

Feeling Like We're on Cloud 9

When we were done with our 75 minutes of the full body massage with hot stones, we certainly felt like we were no longer on a ship, but floating on Cloud 9.  We headed back to our cabin after the massage.

This wouldn't be our final visit to the spa.  In fact it was just the beginning because we also booked the couples pass to the thermal suite which we'll describe in another article.  Welcome aboard Carnival Breeze - visit us again to continue the journey.

Canyon Ranch SpaClub - Queen Mary 2

These are a few of my favorite things ...

Vacations are all about relaxing ...  What could be more relaxing than a full body massage? About 10 years ago I had my first massage during a cruise vacation. From then on, I was spoiled. I now know the importance of a regular massage and continue my maintenance program at home.

One of the first things I do after getting onboard the ship is to visit the spa. They usually have a tour in progress which highlights the unique treatments they feature. At the end of the tour it's a good idea to book your spa appointments as prime times (such as sea days) fill up quickly.

Hot Stones Treatment

My absolute favorite spa treatment is the hot stones massage. Hot stone massage is a specialty massage that uses smooth, heated stones. They are often basalt, a black volcanic rock that absorbs and retains heat well, but they can be other types. The heat is both deeply relaxing and helps tight muscles release.

The massage therapist heats up your body with a traditional Swedish massage, then massages you while holding a heated stone. As the stone cools, the therapist replaces it with another.  The therapist might also leave heated stones in specific points along your spine, in the palms of your hand, on your belly, or even between your toes to improve the flow of energy in your body.

You'll see the hot stones featured in the Canyon Ranch video above.   While we are featuring Cunard's spa in this article,  you can obtain similar treatments onboard the other cruise lines. Next time you are on a cruise, make sure to visit the spa to learn how to truly relax during your cruise vacation.