Vista Spa & Salon is an adult only retreat onboard the Disney Wonder. Disney describes it as a tranquil haven offering therapeutic and beautifying services for adults. As a spa fan (really who isn’t one?) I decided it was my duty to check it out when I was onboard. Mid winter had struck and it was time for a pedicure. I checked my navigator for any specials and headed to deck 9.

Vista is a beautiful spa. It is relaxing and serene with soft music playing and various relaxing scents wafting thru the air. The staff is friendly and was eager to help. They took me on a tour of the facilities and explained some of the treatments available. Since there is only one choice available for pedicure it was an easy choice. Spa Pedicure for one coming up.

My technician Jessica came to meet me and took me to the salon room. On the Wonder the spa is small, the salon room has 4 chairs and 2 pedicure chairs. The windows across the front of the room are draped with light colored sheer curtains so plenty of light is still coming in. Oddly enough it blocks the ocean view and the area on deck outside the spa is used for storage. There were a few chairs piled up and some tables askew. The tranquil relaxing feeling of the spa started to disappear a wee bit.

Jessica was a native of the Caribbean and was an instructor a salon school when she took her job with Disney Cruise Line. She said she had worked for other cruise lines before and liked Disney a lot but it was not her favorite.  She said some of the scheduling conflicts for treatments and pay was not favorable.  She also very clearly pointed out she was not a Disney employee but an employee of the Spa. Like being a Disney employee was an insult of some sort. While I thought this was an odd thing to share I did ask her where she was from and that started the conversation.  Next time I’ll just stare out the window at the deck chairs.

The pedicure was your below average mall pedicure. Soak for a brief moment, scrub, exfoliate, clip and paint.  Except no designs were aloud, when she asked what color I wanted I said I would like red with a Mickey design and she snapped “we don’t do designs here”. I said ok and shrugged. Then she said” well what do you want again?”. I said a Mickey head with the 3 circles so she did that. She said “I thought you meant a real design, like a beach scene”. The only thing different from the cheapy mall pedicure and this was the ho hum attitude of my technician and her insulting pitch of a $60 exfoliate and lotion. I live in Tennessee, it was a freezing 28 degrees when I left and the sun won’t see my pale white legs until at least April. I have 2 kids, 2 jobs, a husband and a full schedule. I don’t have time to exfoliate, body brush, or go get a pedicure every week. She asked what lotions I currently used and then insulted them saying they were not worth the bottle they came in. Then she asked if I regularly used body brushing. I still don’t know what that is and I’m not sure I want to google it. She sighed and said I guess you don’t i shouldn’t have asked. Then Jessica offered me an exfoliating lotion after commenting on how dry and awful my skin looked.  When I politely declined she made a comment well that’s why your skin will always be dry and was more aloof for the rest of the treatment.  My pedicure was over a few minutes early.  I was relieved.

I used to get pedicures at a local nail shop for $25 every week.  At a spa day (a present from my husband) in a spa near my home I discovered how much better pedicures were there. I started going there regularly; the price is $55 for 60 minutes. They do not use files or any cutting type products and use natural exfoliates and it iss a longer and more relaxing experience than the typical mall pedicure for $25. The women are very nice and will gladly paint a Mickey or anything else I request.  My Vista Spa pedicure with mandatory gratuity added came in at a total of $75 (I’m not sure where Disney gets the $45 listed on the Cruise Line website). In hindsight I could have gotten my spa pedicure at home and swung by the mall a week later for another pedicure for almost the same price.

I did come back later in the week for some other treatments and would return again but I would not schedule a pedicure. I hear there are change coming down the pike for Vista Spa, a new design and a more spacious spa with more treatment areas. I hope one of the changes is a little training in customer service for the staff and an upgrade of their pedicure options.