Plenty of land-based spas would envy features like a chromatic shower, a Rassul Room, a thermal suite straight of a lavish Japanese scheme, a recovery room that is difficult to leave and 20 treatment rooms plus special areas providing services from hot stone massage to wraps and exfoliation, from Thalassotherapy to Rassul.

Norwegian Cruise Line really does have a Jewel in its new ship, with a really remarkable spa to match. The new 2,376-passenger Norwegian Jewel is not designed for Hawaii, but it has the vibrant colors and lighthearted feeling the line's Hawaii ships do. Staterooms are richly colored, as well, with bathrooms divided into three sections and a shower with a lip, where you don't have water running all over the floor, as president and CEO Colin Veitch noted.

Two of the spectacular 5,750 square foot garden villas are on the ship, along with a new category: 10 Courtyard Villas, penthouse suites grouped around a gorgeous outdoor space with its own infinity pool, fitness room and Jacuzzi.

This ship is the most recent development of the line's Freestyle Cruising, which opens the whole ship's schedule to passenger choice. The Jewel has 10 restaurants to choose from, a new Bar Central concept, a really spectacular theater, performances and workshops by the Second City comedy troupe (think Saturday Night Live) and a beautiful collection of swimming pools in addition to one of the hottest performing stage bands at sea.

The Jewel's Bora Bora spa is as beautiful as the public areas, with treatment rooms so spacious you could put two of the cramped spaces of yesteryear inside. And nobody should ever say again that a spa is a great one for a cruise ship. Plenty of land-based spas would envy features like a chromatic shower, a Rassul Room, a thermal suite straight of a lavish Japanese scheme, a recovery room that is difficult to leave and 20 treatment rooms plus special areas providing services from hot stone massage to wraps and exfoliation, from Thalassotherapy to Rassul.

jewel-1Spa director Lisa Guerorgurev, who was formerly with luxury line Crystal Cruises, said the Mandara line is focused on service, and services in this spa are extremely professional. With a staff of 14 massage therapists, two fitness instructors, a receptionist, three hair specialists and two nail specialists in the salon, she still has to stay open 12 hours a day to meet onboard demand.

New expansion of services for Mandara appears on the ship: a full-time barber and men's area, with new products specifically for men, teen packages with a special menu. Couples are catered to royally, with two couples massage rooms and a couples Jacuzzi. If they book it at the end of the day, we just let them use it into the evening, she stated. There is also a couples teeth whitening room; the procedure, priced at $199 (considerably lower than on land) has been so well received that they offer a special price of $360 for a couple.

The Rassul experience is delightful for couples or for mother/daughter or friends. The beautiful, very Japanese looking do-it-yourself area can be booked for $75, including wonderful sloughing products, great scents and the essential clay, plus the remarkable fine spray showers.  The process is luxurious and pleasurable, without the messy moves from massage table to shower often attending this, and the satiny, taut skin that results is not hard to take, either.

All sorts of combinations can be arranged. Nothing is impossible, Guerorgurev says. We can tailor-make an experience for the client.

There's no need to tailor the recovery room experience; heated ceramic lounges, fruit and drinks with a soothing, fabulous view all make the client relaxed before the treatment ever begins; I was nearly asleep after five minutes and saw no reason to get up. I was wrong; there was even better to come.

I would have kidnapped her and taken her home with me, but others had gotten the word and she was booked solid.

I had signed up for a full hour Swedish massage, but I was so impressed by Ashley, my therapist, that I invited her to use her intuition and technique as she saw fit. The result was so wonderful that I immediately booked a second massage; she invited feedback but applied pressure, kneading, percussion and stroking as though she were in my mind. I had a painful knee injury that had stiffened with air travel and the massage brought me a blissful pain-free night's sleep and an easy rising in the morning. The second session was, if possible, even more healing as she unknotted tension in my shoulders and back while releasing the knee and leg further. I would have kidnapped her and taken her home with me, but others had gotten the word and she was booked solid.

Many guests happily ante up $60 to use the thermal suite with its central shower, Jacuzzi, cold plunge, etc., etc., a sybaritic retreat that brought exclamations from passengers, That's what I want at MY house. Unfortunately, they d have to dedicate at least a living room-size space to get all the pleasures in. The suite is available for $15 a day, but why use it for only one day when you can have seven?

Two fitness rooms on the Jewel were open 24 hours a day; if there was a time when they weren't in use, I didn't see it, and I was there at 5 in the morning and 10 at night. The cardio room, with bikes, stair steppers, resistance equipment, etc., is strung along a window wall looking out on the ocean or the ports of call. In the unlikely event that the view becomes boring, each machine has an individual TV. The next room is a very large one with an aerobic floor, spinning bikes set against the end window wall, Pilates balls and weights along the mirrored barre area and piles of yoga mats. The pool just outside the window wall is fed by a waterfall that also masks the fitness room soothing, delightful and private. Aerobic and stretch classes were offered, along with yoga and Pilates; they even have a Pilates reformer.

Norwegian Jewel is currently offering alternating 7-day Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises before moving on to Europe this summer. For more information visit www.ncl.com.