Marenia is designed to use the medical capabilities already available on board cruise ships to provide wellness services alongside the treatment of illness and medical emergencies. The concept includes rehydration following shore excursions, immune support, blood testing and personalised health and longevity programmes delivered by medical professionals.
The concept includes IV drips and recovery treatments, blood tests with same-day results, and personal health and longevity programmes. The services are delivered by medical specialists and are intended to cover a range of needs, from everyday wellbeing and recovery to healthier ageing.
The launch comes as wellness services at sea continue to expand. Cruise lines have introduced IV therapy and medi-spa treatments to existing spa menus, reflecting growing demand for health, recovery and longevity services. Marenia is structured differently, operating through the ship’s existing medical operation rather than adding clinical services to a spa.
Marenia operates within the existing medical operation under VIKAND’s clinical governance and protocols. The model includes a Marenia nurse, employed and trained by Marenia, working within a medical operation already present on board. The concept does not require a new licence or the construction of a separate clinic.
The services are delivered with a ship’s doctor on board, a certified medical centre, existing medical equipment and established escalation pathways. Clinical accountability for treatments remains within the ship’s existing medical operation.
The Marenia offer is structured around three areas. The first covers everyday care, including vitamin shots, IV hydration, energy and recovery services delivered by the medical team.
The second area focuses on diagnostics, including blood panels drawn on board and analysed in the ship’s own laboratory, with results available on the same day. It also includes glucose monitoring worn throughout the voyage, as well as metabolic and fitness testing.
The third area is a personal health plan. Results are reviewed with an experienced functional medicine and longevity doctor supporting the programme from shore and are used to develop a plan for the guest to take home.
Blood panels can be drawn in the morning and analysed by the ship’s own laboratory on the same day. The onboard laboratory enables diagnostics to be conducted during the voyage, rather than sending samples ashore for analysis and receiving results after the guest has returned home. Further services, including regenerative treatments, may be introduced where clinically and operationally appropriate.
Peter Hult, CEO of VIKAND, said: “Cruise ships already carry something extraordinarily valuable: professional medical teams and certified medical infrastructure. Historically that capability has rightly focused on illness, injury and emergencies. Marenia asks a different question: how do we responsibly use it to help guests feel better, recover faster and leave the ship healthier than they arrived with the same clinical governance that has always protected them at sea?”
The ship’s spa remains part of the guest experience, with Marenia designed to operate alongside existing spa and wellness partners. The concept is intended to undertake services requiring clinical delivery and medical oversight while referring guests between Marenia and existing spa and wellness services.
By using infrastructure already available on board, the model allows cruise operators to introduce a medical wellness category without constructing a separate facility.
Anna Bjurstam said: “Guests no longer just want to relax. They want to understand their health, improve how they feel, and make changes that last after the journey ends. A cruise is the perfect place for that, because guests have something increasingly rare in modern life: time. Marenia uses that time to keep guests well, and to help those who want more to truly optimise how they feel and how they age. With VIKAND’s medical expertise behind it, we can do that responsibly, and beautifully.”
The partners will pilot Marenia with selected cruise operators before expanding the concept across the international cruise market. Hult said: “The cruise industry does hospitality exceptionally well. VIKAND understands medicine at sea. Anna understands how to turn wellness into an extraordinary guest experience.” He added: “Marenia brings those three worlds together.”
Tags: Peter Hult, VIKAND wellness
