Interesting New Treatment: Body Cocoon on the QM2

If you've been checking into the site, you know that I had the chance to try out the Canyon Ranch SpaClub on the cruise ship that has gotten so much media attention lately, the Queen Mary 2.

I signed up for a Body Cocoon, billed as a comforting, all-enveloping experience, where I would feel like I was floating. (In other words, good for those who like the idea of a return trip to the womb.) The treatment started with a light exfoliation. Towels were elaborately layered and moved around during this so that I was never really exposed. So modesty seems to be making its way into body treatments.

After a quick shower, the therapist slathered me in Kurland's goat butter and led me to a table with a waterbed built into it. When you first lay on top of it, it's hard. The therapist wraps you in a warm, heavy blanket, and tells you to wiggle a bit, so that you don't feel confined. Then a platform underneath you drops away, and you descend into a warm waterbed -- your head and feet still sticking out -- and lay there suspended for about fifteen minutes. I rocked ever so slightly in the waterbed, because of the movement of the ship, and the therapist did a little foot massage, which was very relaxing.

It was very relaxing, and every bit of that goat butter soaked into my skin. But the ride back up to level was a little too fast and loud, even though it's done in two stages. I also don't buy the claim that 15 minutes suspension equals four hours of sleep. Why else did I have such a great nap when I went back to the stateroom?