Photo Slideshow: Europa 2 Spa & Fitness

In an earlier post I wrote that Europa 2 had one of the best cruise ship gyms I’ve ever encountered. That was my conclusion after being on board for only 24 hours during a preview cruise this past spring. In July 2013, however, I cruised on Europa 2 and found a few flaws with the gym.

While Europa 2 features an attractive gym, it is not the best I’ve seen at sea in terms of equipment and offerings. For example, the fitness center could use more weight-training equipment. Dumbbells top out at 10 kilograms, about 22 pounds. I wasn’t the only one who asked if there were heavier weights available. At least two others did so on my sailing in July. On Royal Princess, by contrast, the dumbbells top out at 100 pounds (see Photo Tour: Royal Princess Spa & Fitness).

That said, Europa 2’s gym is certainly adequate to maintain a fitness routine and offset the excess calories that are so easy to consume, and the gym is as good as, or better, than gyms on other luxury cruise ships.

Europa 2’s spa is exceptionally well done, and I particularly enjoyed the aft-facing whirlpool and sauna.

I also appreciated the fact that I could maintain my healthy dining lifestyle on Europa 2. I enjoyed breakfast in The Yacht Club, where I found the healthful, trendy (and expensive) chia seeds on the breakfast buffet, as well as fresh fruits and juices — and lots of other healthy choices. In fact, breakfast in The Yacht Club wasn’t all that much different from my breakfast at Whole Foods when back home.

To get a feel for working out and relaxing in the spa on board, check out 13 photos in our Photo Slideshow featuring Europa 2’s Spa & Fitness.

The slideshow should work well on your mobile devices (provided that you have sufficient bandwidth), so just swipe a photo to advance to the next one. Please contact me if you have trouble or view on Flickr instead.