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Eclipse Aqua and Blu review!


Adammara

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I have just read the follow review on a UK site:

 

Having just completed a cruise to the western Med I really feel guests on "Aqua Class" get a raw deal. Not only do we have to eat in the awful "BLU" restaurant who seem to overcook everything to destruction, but we have to listen to beds being dragged about from the early hours on that blasted canopy that overhangs the verandah. Overall the worst cabin and the worst food we have ever had on any cruise line!!!! It was only when we moved to "Moonlight Sonata" that the food improved to an acceptable level.

There was also the issue of not being able to find sunbeds in the sun because of lots of space being taken up by the ponsy lawn which hardly anybody used considering how many people were on board. So no sun on the verandah because of the enormous overhang, no sun on the sundeck because many of the beds were in shade, rubbish food in BLU an overall wonderful cruise!!!

I realise that Blu is not to everyone's taste, bid would love to know if they felt the so strongly about Aqua and Blu.

 

Richard

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I loved everything about Aqua on Solstice, especially Blu. Liked Aqua on Equinox but I thought Blu was a disappointment compared to Blu on Solstice which, to me, really set the bar high. I probably won't book it again unless I'm on Solstice. Stark contrast between the two Blus IMHO.

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My wife and I were M-class fans and didn't plan on sailing the S-class ships because they were so much bigger. Then I read more about AQ and Blu and liked the idea of a small ship feel within a large ship. We've since been in AQ on both the Eclipse and the Equinox and found them to be similar in terms of quality and service. We really like AQ and especially Blu. The staff at Blu took great care of my wife, who is allergic to gluten, dairy and soy. On our Equinox cruise we did have an AQ cabin beneath the pool deck and every morning at about 6 am we would be woken by the sound of deck chairs being dragged above us. Lasted only a short while, but I'll not book a cabin there again. Our Eclipse cabin was forward and very quiet. We'll stay with AQ for future cruises.

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My wife and I were M-class fans and didn't plan on sailing the S-class ships because they were so much bigger. Then I read more about AQ and Blu and liked the idea of a small ship feel within a large ship. We've since been in AQ on both the Eclipse and the Equinox and found them to be similar in terms of quality and service. We really like AQ and especially Blu. The staff at Blu took great care of my wife, who is allergic to gluten, dairy and soy. On our Equinox cruise we did have an AQ cabin beneath the pool deck and every morning at about 6 am we would be woken by the sound of deck chairs being dragged above us. Lasted only a short while, but I'll not book a cabin there again. Our Eclipse cabin was forward and very quiet. We'll stay with AQ for future cruises.

 

I like the small ship feel within a large ship, never thought of it that way. Very good.

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I loved Blu, loved Aqua Class, was not bothered by noise while in my stateroom, loved the Lawn Club, found the Lawn Club busy and while utilized and had no difficulty finding lounge chairs. Kind of hard to take that review seriously; sounds like someone with an agenda or a negative Nelly.

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I saw that review on that UK site, clearly it was from someone not suited to Celebrity. One of the people who supported them in their view tried to claim their friends ate in Blu and then had to go to the buffet every night because they were so hungry

Totally unneccessary - they could have asked their waiter for more.

 

I am going to jump in and do some stereotyping sorry but some of our country men and women do not consider a dinner to be proper unless

1. It comes with what comedians call a Glasgow salad aka a large bowl of greasy chips

2. If possible it has nothing green on the plate

3. If something is green it has to be peas

4. Large quantities of gravy (or even tomatoe or brown sauce) are present

 

Hope I've not offended anyone

 

Most reports I am hearing of Blu this year from those whose views I value are that it continues to be a great experience

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I am going to jump in and do some stereotyping sorry but some of our country men and women do not consider a dinner to be proper unless

1. It comes with what comedians call a Glasgow salad aka a large bowl of greasy chips

2. If possible it has nothing green on the plate

3. If something is green it has to be peas

4. Large quantities of gravy (or even tomatoe or brown sauce) are present

 

Hope I've not offended anyone

 

Not offended at all, but it's a shame you're rehashing old stereotypes which bear no relation to anyone I know, even in the north of England. Is it really still true in Scotland?? Really? Some of the best restaurants I've ever been to are in Scotland, including in Glasgow!

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No 1 is incorrect, a Glasgow salad is normally one quarter of a tomato and a limp lettuce leaf !

And we do have some cracking restuarants which we frequent and do not serve up the glasgow salad .

 

I can appreciate what the person was saying about the large overhang on some of the balconies as I would not have been happy eith that at all.

When we sailed Aqa class on Eclipse this January I choose a cabin which did an an overhang but not as big as the ones in the middle .So I had no complaints whatsoever.

 

The food was very good apart from the desserts which were not to my liking but by the time we had got to desserts I was normally full in any event.

 

The more personalised service was excellent and nothing was too much trouble . Even my request for oysters rockafeller from the MDR was accomodated .

 

As UKTOG states perhaps Celebrity line just was not the correct line for that cruiser so anyone going on there first cruise in Aqa Class need not worry.

 

Cheers

 

Scotslizzy

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Not offended at all, but it's a shame you're rehashing old stereotypes which bear no relation to anyone I know, even in the north of England. Is it really still true in Scotland?? Really? Some of the best restaurants I've ever been to are in Scotland, including in Glasgow!

 

yes I adore Glasgow restaurants as well - The Sisters is wonderful; sadly the "stereotype" reflects the exact focus of my ex father in law; three of my immediate family and two work colleagues. You will understand why, when they asked me whether they would like a Celebrity cruise I said maybe you should shop around and see what else is on offer

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Like most of the others replying, we loved AQ and Blu.

We love it so much we booked another for holidays this season on a different S Class ship.

 

Being in AQ does not mean you're locked into Blu by ANY means.

You can make reservations in the MDR or the myriad of other choices.

No disrespect intended but if you can't find a wrench to fit the nut in your dining seat, it's because you haven't looked any too hard. Said in good humor

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My wife and I were M-class fans and didn't plan on sailing the S-class ships because they were so much bigger. Then I read more about AQ and Blu and liked the idea of a small ship feel within a large ship. We've since been in AQ on both the Eclipse and the Equinox and found them to be similar in terms of quality and service. We really like AQ and especially Blu. The staff at Blu took great care of my wife, who is allergic to gluten, dairy and soy. On our Equinox cruise we did have an AQ cabin beneath the pool deck and every morning at about 6 am we would be woken by the sound of deck chairs being dragged above us. Lasted only a short while, but I'll not book a cabin there again. Our Eclipse cabin was forward and very quiet. We'll stay with AQ for future cruises.

what cabin were you in? we are in 1583 in dec.

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Having booked three cruises for the first time in Aqua class I am just a little concerned re.

 

1) the balcony overhang and early morning noise. We have booked two cruises on Solstice in cabin 1574 and one cruise on Eclipse in cabin1624. We only like a little sun every now and again so hopefully that should be OK.

 

2) The overhead noise early morning in cabin 1574, it looks like 1624 has another cabin above so that one should be OK.

 

3) Is not really a concern but in Blu we like to be adaptable and sometimes sit with new friends, we think we may miss the bigger tables.

 

We generally think positive but we have had to move cabin once as we were below the Oceanview Cafe on Solstice , which is cleaned overnight, the powerful floor cleaners and items dropped onto the tiled floor was horrendous. I would not like to go through that again and never thought to check the position of the cabins in Aqua class!! Silly me!!

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I just got back from the Equinox last week and loved everything about Aqua Class and Blu. The food and service in Blu was equal to anything I've experienced on Regent or Crystal and I loved the availability of tables for 2 and the intimate feel. We ate in the MDR one night and it was loud, crowded and the food was not very good. I would definitely opt for Aqua Class again. One night my partner found a big chunk of glass in his food....we weren't upset, but the staff couldn't do enough for us. Even the chef came out to talk to us.

 

The Aqua Class room was great. Loved the spa toiletries and the iced tea and free bottled water. Yes, our room (#1547) had an overhang and I would've preferred more sun exposure, but it wasn't a big deal. Also, we ocassionally heard noise from the deck above, but it was hardly anything to be annoyed with.

 

I am a Celebrity convert after this cruise!

 

 

Michael

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Having booked three cruises for the first time in Aqua class I am just a little concerned re.

 

1) the balcony overhang and early morning noise. We have booked two cruises on Solstice in cabin 1574 and one cruise on Eclipse in cabin1624. We only like a little sun every now and again so hopefully that should be OK.

 

2) The overhead noise early morning in cabin 1574, it looks like 1624 has another cabin above so that one should be OK.

 

3) Is not really a concern but in Blu we like to be adaptable and sometimes sit with new friends, we think we may miss the bigger tables.

 

We generally think positive but we have had to move cabin once as we were below the Oceanview Cafe on Solstice , which is cleaned overnight, the powerful floor cleaners and items dropped onto the tiled floor was horrendous. I would not like to go through that again and never thought to check the position of the cabins in Aqua class!! Silly me!!

 

All AQ have the overhang apart from those at the very front. Can you change?

 

I suggest the OP referred to sticks to Thomson and leaves the classy ships to us!:rolleyes:

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As most other posters have said, Aqua and Blu were wonderful experiences. We had no noise problems. The food and service in Blu were absolutely delightful. Breakfast there was wonderful. But we also ate in Bistro on 5, the MDR and two of the specialty restaurants. All the food was good, although we never tried the buffet.

 

We liked Blu so much we changed our December Solstice booking from C1 to Aqua.

 

Sounds as if the poster has an agenda or is really just a Grumpy Gus who wouldn't be happy with anything.

 

Blue Skies, we're both on the Dec. 11 Solstice sailing, and we'll be in Aqua again. Don't worry about the overhang. It didn't bother us and is great if it's stormy or raining. You don't get sun on the balcony, but we got more than enough at the pool and on the lawn club.

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Have to say I thought the whole Blu and Aqua experience was superb when we sailed on the Eclipse last November and thought it was superb. So much so we are booked on the Silhouette in November in Aqua.

 

Blu was a great setting and the food and staff were excellent. I'd say you would have to be incredibly picky or unlucky to have a bad experience in there. Also liked the location of the Cabins near to the gym / spa area, loved to have an hour chilling out in the Persian Gardens or Sauna before getting ready for dinner.

 

I can appreciate the comments about the overhang on the cabins but I'm not really a sitting on the balcony person really so it didn't really bother me to be honest.

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Having booked three cruises for the first time in Aqua class I am just a little concerned re.

 

1) the balcony overhang and early morning noise. We have booked two cruises on Solstice in cabin 1574 and one cruise on Eclipse in cabin1624. We only like a little sun every now and again so hopefully that should be OK.

 

2) The overhead noise early morning in cabin 1574, it looks like 1624 has another cabin above so that one should be OK.

 

3) Is not really a concern but in Blu we like to be adaptable and sometimes sit with new friends, we think we may miss the bigger tables.

 

We generally think positive but we have had to move cabin once as we were below the Oceanview Cafe on Solstice , which is cleaned overnight, the powerful floor cleaners and items dropped onto the tiled floor was horrendous. I would not like to go through that again and never thought to check the position of the cabins in Aqua class!! Silly me!!

 

If you like to read while on your veranda, bring a light for the evening. I think one of the faults of the S class ships is the verandas do not have lights.. Blu and AQ are wonderful.

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Having booked three cruises for the first time in Aqua class I am just a little concerned re.

 

1) the balcony overhang and early morning noise. We have booked two cruises on Solstice in cabin 1574 and one cruise on Eclipse in cabin1624. We only like a little sun every now and again so hopefully that should be OK.

 

2) The overhead noise early morning in cabin 1574, it looks like 1624 has another cabin above so that one should be OK.

 

3) Is not really a concern but in Blu we like to be adaptable and sometimes sit with new friends, we think we may miss the bigger tables.

 

We generally think positive but we have had to move cabin once as we were below the Oceanview Cafe on Solstice , which is cleaned overnight, the powerful floor cleaners and items dropped onto the tiled floor was horrendous. I would not like to go through that again and never thought to check the position of the cabins in Aqua class!! Silly me!!

 

Blue Skies:

I posted a fairly detailed description of Aqua, Blu and our cabin locations on the Dec. 11 Solstice roll call. Looking forward to talking with you there. And I'm jealous of your TA.

Larry

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If you like to read while on your veranda, bring a light for the evening. I think one of the faults of the S class ships is the verandas do not have lights.. Blu and AQ are wonderful.

I partially agree vis-a-vis the lights, but please keep in mind that there are now no posts complaining about folks leaving on their balcony lights when they are reading. On the other hand, those who take umbrage at the aforesaid endeavors, will discover something else about which to complain.

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Thank you for all your positive comments, feeling much better now! We know we will love Blu. Already love the lawn club and just love the Solstice class ships, the overhang will just be a minor problem:rolleyes: Just have to find that Michaels Club at 6pm :D!!

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We loved Aqua and Blu. We were in 1606 midship near the elevators and this cabin is one of the largest on the hump. We had no issues with noise in our cabin. While it does have an overhang, it depends on which direction the ship is facing on how much sun you actually get out there. Here's a picture of my balcony and also a side view of those overhangs. We like the overhang because your balcony is more private and no one can see into it. You can't see anyone else either, unless you are standing out by the railing.

 

067.jpg

 

049.jpg

 

SolHump-vi.jpg

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