Move over, pina colada: Get Botox and stem cells on this luxury wellness cruise

This is just a snapshot of what happens on Storylines wellness cruises, all in the name of longevity tourism—a booming $5.6 trillion sector of the wellness industry.

This new twist on travel “was born out of a powerful questioning of a century-old vacation model—excess. Too much food and booze and too little sleep in quiet tourist destinations,” Beth McGroarty, vice president of research at the nonprofit Global Wellness Institute, told Property. “It’s a cliche because it’s true: People come back feeling worse than when they left.”

Storylines bills itself as a “blue zone in the ocean,” capitalizing on consumers’ desire to travel to be healthier and live longer—perhaps even past age 100—rather than mindlessly indulging.

“Global travelers understand that to enjoy traveling around the world, you need a certain level of health and fitness,” said Storylines CEO Alister Punton. “They want to be able to walk the cobbled streets of European cities, hike the Inca Trail and snorkel in the Red Sea. So it makes sense that longevity, health and tourism go hand in hand.”

Also inside: a 10,000-square-foot gym equipped with yoga classes, meditation sessions and personal trainers; smoothie bars; and an optimal aging center with bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, energy- and libido-boosting treatments, as well as the aforementioned infusion station, where you can get everything from vitamins to chelation treatments, which pull heavy metals, like lead, from the bloodstream. (It’s important to note that some of the longevity offerings available on the go, including stem cell treatments and hyperbaric oxygen chambers, are not widely tested or approved by the FDA for the average healthy person.)

So, are today’s rides no longer providing all-you-can-eat buffets and piña coladas by the pool?

Of course, this isn’t true for everyone—but it certainly is for some: Between 2020 and 2022, the number of people taking wellness trips increased by 30%, and the wellness tourism industry is expected to reach $1 trillion by the end of 2024, according to Global Wellness Institute , which started tracking wellness tourism 15 years ago, just as smartphone use was starting to rise. McGroarty believes this is no coincidence.

“People are becoming much more stressed, depressed and unhealthy and they are demanding travel experiences that can help heal them,” he said.

Now, that journey is tied to the fast-growing $27 billion longevity market, which is one of the fastest-growing wellness sectors, according to the Global Wellness Institute’s annual report. Itineraries—not just on cruise ships but also on luxury resorts and holiday residences—promise an oasis where health spas meet biohackers where they belong.

Something similar is happening at Estate, a joint venture between SBE Entertainment Group chairman Sam Nazarian and self-help expert Tony Robbins that is billed as a “revolutionary luxury hospitality & residential ecosystem anchored in the world of preventive medicine, AI, and longevity,” which will launch 15 hotels and 10 longevity centers by 2030. Partnering with Fountain Life longevity center, a preventive medicine clinic and anti-aging spa adjacent to a five-star restaurant and suites will be the premise, starting at $1,000 per night, according to Bloomberg.

“We don’t build medical hotels—we build luxury hotels, residences, and urban clinics that are distinguished by a commitment to changing people’s lives,” Nazarian said in his press announcement.

Meanwhile, at Six Senses Ibiza, guests can explore RoseBar. Not to be mistaken for a place to grab a late-night dirty martini, this is a longevity club, testing visitors’ biomarkers to provide personalized lifestyle, nutrition and exercise advice from a multitude of health coaches. It also has a cold plunge, hyperbaric oxygen chamber, infrared sauna, and IV infusion station.

“There is no need to commit to withdrawing completely. You can simply stop by for a 30-minute red light session, cryotherapy, or a restorative IV infusion to combat travel fatigue,” says Talana Bestall, founding member of RoseBar. “It’s all about giving you the power to choose exactly what your body needs, when you need it.”

The bar pays homage to holistic measures of well-being, and “blends the power of science and spiritual wellness to increase the human health span,” promises the resort chain whose chief wellness officer is functional medicine doctor and celebrity longevity enthusiast, Dr. Mark Hyman . You can also learn more about Dr. Hyman, a six-day detox to reverse aging, relieve stress, and learn to turn on your “longevity switch.”

Below are examples of other luxury wellness getaways and their high-end offerings.

Four courses IV

At Four Seasons Resort Maui, guests can enjoy a range of long-term offerings that are more intense—and invasive—than the massages, gyms or facials typically associated with luxury travel.

For $44,000, for example, you can get four courses of ozone, stem cell, exosomes, and NAD+ therapy, in collaboration with longevity center Next|Health. And for the low price of $299, you can get a “Hangover IV,” a 30-minute detox treatment, or a “Gut Health IV” to reduce inflammation.

200 biomarker data

OG Canyon Ranch wellness resort and spa recently launched Longevity8, a $20,000 four-day retreat in Tucson, Arizona, where the stay begins with a blood draw and a private doctor’s consultation, followed by a sleep study and endurance assessment.

The hope is that guests will leave refreshed—with more than 200 biomarkers assessed—and with a plan of action.

“The medical establishment is still not focused on prevention, so people are able to look for new medical health goals or programs to take control of their health before it becomes a problem,” McGroarty said.

And now introducing…longevity school

Others, especially investors and venture capitalists, are enthusiastic about incorporating longevity education into their journey. And for $70,000, longevity entrepreneur Peter Diamandis offers a five-day “Platinum Longevity Journey,” where people learn the basics of optimizing sleep, nutrition, and exercise, alongside new treatments and biohacks from researchers. He calls it a “five-day, five-star, deep dive into longevity.”

Although Diamandis has hosted retreats for venture capitalists and entrepreneurs for more than a decade, the longevity-focused itinerary, now in its sixth year, is just getting started, he said. “They are there because they want to solve the health problems experienced by their family members,” he said Property. “We tailor each person’s journey, meaning we interview all the members beforehand and find out what they’re looking for… the demand and interest in this has grown.”

Diamandis hypothesizes that the surge in longevity tourism stems from rapid innovation in what he calls the “healthspan renaissance,” where research highlights the power a person has to improve their health outcomes. Therefore, wealthy entrepreneurs are eager to be at the forefront of using data to inform lifestyle and health outcomes.

And as aging in poor health is no longer seen as inevitable—at least for the privileged—more and more people are seeing vacation time as the perfect opportunity to upgrade their lifestyle choices. Whether it’s an infusion before dinner or botox on a ship, people are redefining the meaning of travel, and it’s becoming increasingly exclusive.

“I call this new super-medical, high-tech, even more expensive health market the new ‘hard-care’ health,’” McGroarty said. “Long-term medical programs are popping up in unexpected places.”