First Liv Nordic spa opens on-board the Viking Star cruise ship

The first Liv Nordic spa, a new concept from Swedish spa consultancy and management company Raison d'Etre, has opened on-board the Viking Star Cruise ship. 

The 870sq m spa is the first Liv Nordic spa in the world and the first of three to open on Viking Ocean Cruises ships. 

Raison d'Etre is contracted to develop and run a further two Liv Nordic spas on Viking ships, with the other two scheduled to open in 2016 and 2017 respectively. 

The Viking Star spa features eight treatment rooms, including a spa suite with a whirlpool and the space to carry out couples’ treatments. 

Other facilities at the spa include a wet area with a thermal pool, a hot tub, a steam room and a snow room, as well as a salon with seven hair stations and three manicure/pedicure chairs. 

The spa also features two changing areas, each with a sauna and plunge pool. The sauna and steam room facilities have been provided by Italian company Effegibi, the snow room by TechnoAlpine Snow Experts and the hair and barber chairs by Takara Belmont UK. 

The Liv Nordic spa concept takes inspiration from the Nordic approach to health and wellness. Nora Forsberg, spa group director of Liv Nordic Spa Viking Cruises, said: “It’s about the heart of Nordic wellness, and how we take care of ourselves in the Nordic countries. 

“So we work a lot with contrasts; with hot and cold and with light and dark, because that’s something we also have. It’s very dark in wintertime and in summer it’s very light.” It was this focus on Nordic wellness traditions that motivated the creation of the snow room. 

Forsberg said: “One of the things we do is go into a sauna or steam room, stay there as long as you can and then go out and roll around in the snow, take a dip in a lake or pour a bucket of cold water over yourself.” 

“We wanted to recreate this outdoor experience inside, which is why we built the snow room. This ritual detoxes the body; it increases circulation, which gives you a clearer mind, and your skin become really soft.” 

Treatments on the spa menu include three different types of Swedish massage; a mindful, a deep tissue and a detox Swedish massage. 

Brands used at the spa include Hydrafacial, Calgel for manicures and pedicures, Rahua hair care products, Innnate nutrition supplements and The Organic Pharmacy.

Forsberg said: “We want to work with products that are as clean as possible.”