According to a Traveller's guide to luxury cruising, the evolution of shipboard wellness traces back to the 1930s, when Steiner's the Hairdressers on Conduit Street in London began attracting aristocrats and royalty. By the 1950s, Steiner had salons across Britain, and in 1956 the company won contracts to operate salons aboard Royal Mail Lines' Andes and Cunard ships.
Cunard's partnership with California health retreat Golden Door in the early 1980s brought fitness classes, massage and wellness programs to the QE2. Spas became a serious part of ship design in the 1990s and have grown significantly since.
Today, some shipboard wellness facilities approach 3,000 square metres and feature elaborate thermal suites, salt and ice rooms, cold plunges, hydrotherapy pools, experiential showers, fitness studios and medi-spas. OneSpaWorld, the corporate descendant of Steiner, now operates high-end wellness centres aboard almost 200 cruise ships. Charcoal saunas on Norwegian Jade and Norwegian Gem use a radiant heat system with an outer charcoal layer to boost circulation and release toxins.
The guide notes that wellness facilities have evolved from simple salons into a central draw for modern cruise liners, reshaping what passengers expect from their time at sea.