Can we talk about "Blu" for AQ guests?

My DH and I have booked this class for the last several cruises..because...we really like the venue...both at breakfast and dinner! Because my DH has some heart issues...he can't use the "spa" aspect of this "class" ...so we are booking this because of the dining venue.

I have been reading..more and more on CC...about the over-all aspect of booking a "suite" ...that "suite" passengers can dine anywhere...based on the "level" of their booking. Great...I appreciate that you get those "perks" based on the level of the $$ you have paid for that level of cabin!!

BUT...when I have been on-board...I have been told that my "ONLY" venue for eating dinner is Blu! OK...that is why I booked this "class" of stateroom. I can't go to the MDR (I know...this seems to happen on a ship by ship case and cruise by cruise case) but that is what I was told. OK...no worries...I booked AQ..and that's what I wanted!!

But then...when I go to eat in "Blu"... at dinner...and I am given a "beeper" to go and wait in the bar for a table ...is that because there is "no room at the inn"...because of the # of AQ people wanting to eat there??? Or because the "suite" guests have decided to eat there instead of in Luminae or wherever else that level of cabin gives them?

I guess my question is this...if you book a particular class of cabin...expecting that you can dine in a particular dining venue...and you are asked to wait an hour to get a table...is that because AQ is so popular...or those with so many choices...have chosen to dine in the ONE dining room you have to choose from???

Your ideas/concerns and input is appreciated!! LuAnn

Surely demand for Blu will lessen with the arrival of Luminae for suite guests? (Not that we had a problem in the Autumn with early times at Blu on Equinox.)

Hi LuAnn,

We have booked aqua class several times and we also stay in the suites sometimes. I have been given a beeper regardless of whether we are booked in aqua or in a suite if we show up in prime dining time. If we go either early say 6-6:20 p.m., no wait and the same if we go very late.

We have been nicely asked when staying in a suite that they were full up and try a different night or come shortly before closing.

Priority is given to those who book it, but I like their menu choices on certain nights, and would like to eat there once a trip or so. It might go smoother if they did take reservation times, and then allow any unfilled time slots to go to suites if they request it.

It is usually not that busy at breakfast, but I think they do need to make sure that those booked in Blu have absolute priority. I think it very popular as you have every day choices along with whatever is on the menu for the day.

Suite guests have to pay a (small) charge to eat in Blu and it is based on availability only. So that is not really a problem.

We also book AQ for Blu only... but enjoy the MDR on formal night sometimes. We were never turned away!

Until now it also seems that we were always on the lucky side. Only had to wait once (yes, one single night) for Blu on all our cruises. That was on Infinity in March when a part of the MDR was closed because of the construction of Luminae. Suite guests were free to dine in any specialty restaurant for free during the construction.

We've only done aw once and after the long waits everyday to dine we switched to the mdr. Blu mtd phoned everyday to ask us to come back but he wait had not changed

We didn't do blu again

Suite guests have to pay a (small) charge to eat in Blu and it is based on availability only. So that is not really a problem.

 

We also book AQ for Blu only... but enjoy the MDR on formal night sometimes. We were never turned away!

 

Until now it also seems that we were always on the lucky side. Only had to wait once (yes, one single night) for Blu on all our cruises. That was on Infinity in March when a part of the MDR was closed because of the construction of Luminae. Suite guests were free to dine in any specialty restaurant for free during the construction.

There used to be a $5 nominal charge for Suite guests to dine in Blu, but it is no longer enforced.

Before Luminae, Blu kept track of the number of Suite people dining in Blu, and the tips transferred from the MDR to Blu. On our last cruise, the Maitre'd in Blu was concerned with Luminae, they will lose the extra tips that go to Blu waiters. They keep track of the number of people the waiters service each night -- more people, more tips.

They don't care if you are AQ and have to wait for a table. The idea that it is space available for suite guests is not really enforced.

You didn't say when you go to dinner or if you did I missed it. Not any different than Select dining, if you go at prime time you will wait. I also hear that some ships have longer waits, I talking to you Reflection :)

We've never waited but tend to go early. Remember they have at least twice as many people wanting to eat as they have tables for. If spread this out for the whole night, no issue but if 15% eat early and 15% eat late then you have 70% of the people wanting to eat prime time. No way they can fit everyone without a wait.

enjoy

In 2012 & early 2013 on a few occasions we arrived at Blu and were seated before Suite guests who arrived just before or at the same time.

Last few cruises if we arrived at Blu between 7:30 and 8 there was a wait, didn't matter if you were in a suite or AQ. Hopefully with Luminae now open, and getting good reviews on the dinners the Suite guests will not be dining in Blu as frequently.

We have have been in BLU snce its inception on S class, including Reflection before luminae opened....we have never been given a beeper or had more than a few minute wait, while others were being seated....suite guests were told to return later..or wait for space to become available...

we dine early but think any issues w/ suite guests should improves once luminae is fully established and runming well

No issues at breakfast either...

we may try a suite for a very special occasion but think we would miss BLU...easy to eat healthy there!

Hopefully, the worst is over....let me explain. Last Fall and early this year, there was a big campaign about Celebrity's new "Suite Class"...but Luminae wasn't built yet. So they had suite guests who didn't focus on the dates, expecting royal service that Celebrity wasn't prepared to give. So they went into (and this is my personal supposition (guess)) "let suite guests dine in Aqua AT ANY TIME they want" mode (and don't acknowledge that you're doing it). This resulted in longer waits for aqua passengers and on some ships, an offer of 50% off if you would eat at a specialty restaurant that night instead of blu..if they had to give you a beeper. (reference infinity TA). The waits were 30 minutes or longer around 7pm which is, admittedly a peak hour since the elite cocktails end at 7.

With Luminae, we should, at least in theory, return to the old blu where there was max 10 minute waits. I say "in theory" because i am reading about so many suite guests who, for whatever reason want to dine in blu....and I doubt they will be asked to come earlier or later...suite guests walk on water these days.

The next problem NOW is that they have less physical space in the MDR and the lines at select dining have, according to some posts, grown longer. That means that Aqua passengers who want to eat in the MDR have a problem...they're already full with folks waiting and you want to add to the load. Irrespective of CleGuy's observation that there are always empty tables, our experience says otherwise and I expect longer lines at select...and more refusals to Aqua guests who want to dine the MDR.

I can not explain why you were told that you couldn't eat in the MDR prior to the Luminae space being grabbed...we have never had that problem over 4 or 5 cruises in Aqua where we dine in the MDR at least once a cruise.

All of this is ship and cruise dependent.

for your input/advice and experiences. We are on Eclipse in late June for the Iceland/Fjords of Norway cruise and I will report back on what we experience.

I do understand that the "rules" don't seem to be that standard...eg ship to ship experiences re the MDR option. As I said..we do enjoy Blu...but we did ask to dine once with a friend who was not AQ...and we were told no.

So...we'll see how June unfolds!! LuAnn

You didn't say when you go to dinner or if you did I missed it. Not any different than Select dining, if you go at prime time you will wait. I also hear that some ships have longer waits, I talking to you Reflection :)

 

We've never waited but tend to go early. Remember they have at least twice as many people wanting to eat as they have tables for. If spread this out for the whole night, no issue but if 15% eat early and 15% eat late then you have 70% of the people wanting to eat prime time. No way they can fit everyone without a wait.

enjoy

The long waits should get shorter in Blu, especially on Reflection. I read that Celebrity is converting the Aqua Suites to regular suites, so those folks will have Luminae as their primary restaurant, not Blu.

We left the Infinity a month ago after a B2B2B series in an Aqua Class stateroom, so must have been on the Infinity with Miaminice. Given that we were on the Infinity for 42 nights we did dine in specialty dining and also had stir fry in the buffet twice, but we generally dined in Blu. I only remember two occasions in which we were handed beepers and had to wait for a table in the evening. The maximum wait was possibly ten or so minutes. And it seemed to me that Blu was being rather heavily used by suite passengers.

Also, it didn't appear to me that suite passengers were being charged the nominal fee for dining in Blu.

Blu has been "free" for suite guests for several years and it's official policy.

We have eaten there for many cruises as a suite guest and have never once displaced anyone. Never had to wait, never had a crowded dining room so that AQ pax had to wait. We wouldn't have done that. Maybe eating at 8:30 --- that's when we eat on a cruise, generally.

I agree that AQ should have priority seating in Blu over suites, because that is "their" dining area. I think suites would prefer to eat in Luminae, rather than an overcrowded Blu. Perhaps suites should have to have reservations and have it limited to the number Blu can handle. I also think AQ should be able to dine in MDR, but they should be required to make reservations, as well, and have it limited to the number they MDR can handle.

Their...mine...- hey let's chill, no one is going to go hungry.

I have only once in the last 10 cruises had to wait (sometimes I was cruising in a suite, sometimes Aqua, it makes no difference)

Looking at the Luminae menu, there is much less choice, so some nights guests may well find the choice to limiting and want to eat in Blu, we certainly expect to be in Blu one or two times on our cruise

What's the big issue having a pager? I would rather that than the old way when guests who wanted particular tables (ie by the window or with a given server) were waiting elsewhere. The Maitred or hostess had to leave their post and go and find people which had other negative impact at times inside Blu.

Luan I see you are going on the Azamara transatlantic - you are as likely to have to wait 10 minutes for a table there than as in Blu

Just sayin

Their...mine...- hey let's chill, no one is going to go hungry.

I have only once in the last 10 cruises had to wait (sometimes I was cruising in a suite, sometimes Aqua, it makes no difference)

What's the big issue having a pager? I would rather that than the old way when guests who wanted particular tables (ie by the window or with a given server) were waiting elsewhere. The Maitred or hostess had to leave their post and go and find people which had other negative impact at times inside Blu.

Luan I see you are going on the Azamara transatlantic - you are as likely to have to wait 10 minutes for a table there than as in Blu

Just sayin

I think the pagers are great...but when you have to wait for over 30 minutes, the pagers don't really matter. (yes, we waited 40 minutes one night on the infinity TA and we were aqua passengers)

On our recent Silhouette cruise, the Maitre De in Blu made a point of telling us how he had been turning away suite guests.

Aqua guests are given priority (at least on Silhouette). As suite guests we asked to eat in Blu and were given a time to dine when there was room for us.

It seemed fair to all. We asked, waited, and then were given an empty slot.

However, if the majority of AQ guests show up at the same time, they're crowding each other.

Their...mine...- hey let's chill, no one is going to go hungry.

I have only once in the last 10 cruises had to wait (sometimes I was cruising in a suite, sometimes Aqua, it makes no difference)

Looking at the Luminae menu, there is much less choice, so some nights guests may well find the choice to limiting and want to eat in Blu, we certainly expect to be in Blu one or two times on our cruise

What's the big issue having a pager? I would rather that than the old way when guests who wanted particular tables (ie by the window or with a given server) were waiting elsewhere. The Maitred or hostess had to leave their post and go and find people which had other negative impact at times inside Blu.

Luan I see you are going on the Azamara transatlantic - you are as likely to have to wait 10 minutes for a table there than as in Blu

Just sayin

with "waiting"...and I didn't mention any problems with the "beepers"...my question is/was...if this is the only place I can eat in a "regular" dining area...(which is what I have been told on Infinity in '14...and right now I think we are talking about X not AZ...)..and there seems to be no "system" in place re who gets to eat in Blu when/where/how...then I'm wondering how the "system" works that those of us who have only that option are figured into the "equation" ?? That was my concern/question and thoughts. And trust me...I'm not concerned about going hungry!!! Just trying to figure out the system...based on many posts re what the "suite" guests have in the way of dining options...vs those of us in AQ!!

I now see a very recent post where "suite" guests were asked to wait until it could be confirmed that no AQ guests needed/wanted a table and then they were seated. All i am suggesting is that if, as an AQ guest, Blu is the only place you can find a "fine dining table" which is what MY experience has been then I think the AQ guest should have priority. And that does seem to be the experiences many have now encountered.

And trust me...once you meet me...you know I can "chill" with the best of them!! After all...I'm from So Cal!!! :cool::D LuAnn

At least in our case, over 6 cruises of being a suite guest and having most dinners in Blu, THIS is how I know we haven't displaced any AQ guests: every single time we've gone to the desk we've asked "is there room?" They smile, almost laugh, and gesture to the room. Half to 2/3 full at best. Every time we've gone. We never had to wait and always had our choice of tables if we wanted them. We never once went at a peak time. Except in Victoria, Canada when 3/4 or more of the ship was on shore. I didn't feel well so we made that stop a "sea day" evening and ate at 6:30. But that night there might have only been 4 people in Blu!

Had we been displacing people there would have been lines at the door but there never were.

In our case we very consciously ate later in the evening so we would NOT be a bother to those to whom Blu is their assigned dining. However, we have always, every single time, been assured it's ok, there's room, come on in, we're happy to have you. Every single time there were plenty of tables for people to come eat, no matter what cabin they were in.

Maybe it's different if you show up at 6:30 or 7:00. We usually go to a show at 7, then go have an after-show/pre-dinner cocktail, THEN head to Blu. So 8:30 at the earliest.

No worries, people, we are going to eat our dinners in Luminae on our upcoming cruise, or in specialty restaurants.

Although Blu is the "assigned" dining venue for those of us in Aqua Class cabins, it is possible to eat in the MDR if one prefers that venue. It is simply a matter of stopping by Blu and telling the Maitre'd (at the door) that you want to dine in the MDR. They will call their counterpart in the MDR and make the arrangements. We have done this a few times when the MDR had a menu we preferred to AQ on a particular evening. On one cruise the MDR maitre'd seated us at fixed late seating table that had 2 empty seats. On a different cruise they just arranged for us to go to the select dining maitre'd who immediately put us at a large table (our preference).

Hank

AQ guests pay extra to eat in Blu. Suite guests also pay extra and can eat in Blu (assuming there's room) or their suite dining room.

Everyone can eat in the MDR and the buffet, the spa cafe, the specialty venues. And in their rooms.

AQ guests pay extra to eat in Blu. Suite guests also pay extra and can eat in Blu (assuming there's room) or their suite dining room.

 

Everyone can eat in the MDR and the buffet, the spa cafe, the specialty venues. And in their rooms.

I think I'd re-phrase that a bit.....

Part of the cabin cost of Aqua cabins includes having Blu as your assigned dining room instead of the MDR. The Suite cabin cost includes dining in Luminae as the assigned dining room. Suite guests are invited to eat breakfast in Blu at any time. Additionally, based on space availability, Suite guests may dine in Blu for dinner. There is no additional charge for Suite guests to dine in blu.

Suite and Aqua guests may also dine in the MDR, subject to available space, however this should be coordinated through the maitre d' in your assigned dining room. Do not just go to select dining

LuAnn,

We spent 26 days on the Infinity in Aqua and Blu in '14 on two different cruises. We had minimal waits a few evenings but never once were suite guests seated before Aqua passengers. We could dine in the MDR with an assist from the maître 'd if we wished. The same held true for our other X cruises with an Aqua cabin. We had two different maître 'd's but both handled seating in the same manner with deference to Aqua passengers.

I presume you had asked about guests in Blu and that has never been permitted.

Someone mentioned additional cost and our first Aqua booking was actually less than a Concierge Class cabin. For us that was a lucky booking because we really enjoy the smaller dining room and the food. It's particularly appreciated due to dietary issues. It seems to be so much easier to work with the staff even if we have different waiters each evening.