Celebrity Eclipse 10 night sailing: Veranda vs Concierge vs Aqua

I am taking my daughter on a cruise to Iceland (first Celebrity cruise) for 10 nights in May 2018. It's her college graduation so we really want to do it up! I'm trying to compare the 3 classes of cabins to find out opinions on if price is worth it. Aqua class runs about 3149pp, concierge about 2349pp and veranda 2149. I've booked an Aqua because of the great reviews and nice perks but I'm thinking we could really do a lot more with the extra money by downgrading to concierge or veranda (more spa treatments, specialty restaurants, excursions, etc.). Is the extra money worth it or would you downgrade? If you would downgrade, would you say the extra 200pp for concierge is worth it? Thanks for your help!

We would downgrade and use the money for shore excursions, specialty dining and other treats.

Concierge amenities arent worth much, but you do get extra Captains Club points if that's appealing to you

The veranda, Conciegre & Aqua cabin are the same size and have the same decor.

Veranda & Conciegre have the MDR as their assigned dining room. Aqua has Blu as their assigned dining room. Blu is the reason most book Aqua. Add in that Aqua has access to o the Persian Gardenarea of the spa.

Conciegre has lunch in the MDR on embarkation day veranda & Aqua don't, so lunch on embarkation is the buffet, Mast Grill or Aqua Spa Cafe.

Both AQ and Conciegre have footstools on the balcony, verandas don't.

We prefer Blu to the MDR but at $800 pp probably not. You can purchase a 4 night Speciality dining package for $125pp. The day we arrived in Iceland we had a tour that returned to the ship at 8:00 so dinner in the buffet worked better than rushing to clean up & change to go the the MDR.

Conciegre would be my suggestion- $1200 less than AQ and use the savings for a speciality dining package, massages, & maybe a bit of shopping on the ship.

We love AQ and that is our cabin of choice. BUT our next two cruises are in Veranda because of the price difference. In your case I would book Veranda and use the extra to book soecialty restaurants, spa, even a pass to the Persian Garden. The MDR food is very good. Enjoy!

Aqua is the best.

Fabulous advice from all of you! More money to spend on specialty restaurants and massages sound like a great deal and my daughter is thumbs up on this one! Thanks!!!

Fabulous advice from all of you! More money to spend on specialty restaurants and massages sound like a great deal and my daughter is thumbs up on this one! Thanks!!!

In addition, she may enjoy sitting with you and others she meets on-board at dinner which is more likely in the MDR than in Blu. When my daughter was college-age, we often had other young people she met on board dining with us (or us with them.)

For the pricing differences, I recommend concierge.

Blu is great, but for that price difference you could have a balcony cabin and speciality dining every night - or every other night and money for excursions. Blu is great, but not that great, IMHO. I'd pay $30 pppn, or perhaps $40 at verymost.

Stuart

In addition, she may enjoy sitting with you and others she meets on-board at dinner which is more likely in the MDR than in Blu. When my daughter was college-age, we often had other young people she met on board dining with us (or us with them.)

Good advice; we like a mix of MDR with others, and speciality dining on our own.

Stuart

Unless you want a specific room Concierge has always seemed pretty pointless to me. The added perks are poor to say the least. Aqua is good and easily the best class of the three mentioned IMHO but at $1200 for 10 nights I'd do as the poster above mentioned and book an ultimate dining package and swap Blu for the likes of Murano, Qsine and Tuscan for dinner and rough it in the MDR / Buffet for breakfast. You'll still have plenty of money left over for spa treatments and other things too.

We have done it all (Aqua, Concierge, and regular balconies). Paying $100 per passenger day extra for Aqua (above the cost of balcony cabin) is just nutz! Consider you could purchase a dining package, time it for one of the 20% off specials they have a few times a year) and you would pay about $25 per passenger day to dine in a specialty restaurant every night. Blu is nice, but the specialty restaurants are better. And you would still be saving money. We used to think that Aqua was worth no more than $30 per passenger day over a decent balcony cabin. But after our last two cruises (both in Aqua) we have downgraded Blu to a value of about $20 per day....because we think the menus in Blu have become tired...and the quality is just not nearly as good as we experience in places like Murano and Qsine.

Hank

Over 20 cruises on X and all but the last 2 were in AQ. The price difference was too great to justify paying over a regular veranda. We sailed in a 1A veranda and survived. Actually found that the MDR for breakfast and dinner was just as good if not better.

Will only sail in AQ again if the price is reasonable. I think it is worth $30/day pp extra and that may be pushing it.

Save the money and go with the veranda. CC isn’t worth the difference either for the same a mount of extras that you won’t notice or use.

Happy cruising 🌊🛳🇺🇸🌞

I agree that the benefit of concierge class is pretty pointless. My choice would be to do either do a balcony or Aquaclass but for the price difference I'd do the balcony and spend the extra money on the spa and specialty dining.

Although my daughters when graduating university would love AQ they would much prefer the pampering of the spa.

Book the balcony and then check closer to sail date after final payment as sometimes they drop the price on cabins and you may be able to move up to an AQ cabin for a minimal up charge. Then you'd have the best of both worlds.

When my youngest graduated university a couple of years ago we also gave her a Celebrity cruise in a balcony cabin for her graduation present but the sailing was the Mediterranean. She went with her boyfriend instead of us. They found they were some of the youngest people on board. They enjoyed the cruise, loved the food in the MDR but found nightlife to be quiet for them.

Balcony. Less " guilt" spending extra for dinners, spa treatments or special excursions.

and.... Iceland is very expensive.

We love eating in Blu, but the price differences between an A2 and a nice 1A with the loyalty 1B price in my mind has become exorbitant. $50 pp extra per day is way too much and $100 pp is outrageous! As other have said, just get the ultimate dining package and spend the remaining difference on shore excursions.

That's what we will be doing until if and when, those paying such exorbitant prices come to their senses.

As other have said, just get the ultimate dining package and spend the remaining difference on shore excursions.

 

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They discontinued the Ultimate dining package about 6 months ago. They now have a dining plan that reduces the amount per nights bought.

Happy cruising 🌊🛳🇺🇸🌅

We've done all three. As previously state, all three are the same size. The one that offers the most extra benefits is Aqua, with it's main one being Blu and second, the unlimited use of Persian Gardens. Considering the large price differential you mentioned, I'd rule it out and spend my money with specialty dining and shore excursions. I don't know if anyone mentioned that Concierge class does give you 5 captains club points per night (as does Aqua class) as opposed to the 3 points per night for a verandah. If that is important to you, then I'd choose Concierge since the price differential is small. If not, a verandah would work for me. Have a wonderful trip. We love Eclipse.

The fact that you can eat at a time you choose each day is one reason you might enjoy Aqua and Blu. With main dining you have a set time, and I believe you need to secure reservations ahead of time for specialty dining packages (although I am not sure on that).

Although we have enjoyed main dining on numerous occasions, its nice to have the extra freedom to adjust your schedule on the fly.

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The fact that you can eat at a time you choose each day is one reason you might enjoy Aqua and Blu. With main dining you have a set time, and I believe you need to secure reservations ahead of time for specialty dining packages (although I am not sure on that).

Although we have enjoyed main dining on numerous occasions, its nice to have the extra freedom to adjust your schedule on the fly.

 

 

 

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True that you can eat when you want in Blu, however you can do that in the MDR by choosing Select dining. Then you can show up when you want to eat, or make reservations for the time you want to dine. You can either pre-purchase dining packages for specialty dining or hope for deals on board. The latter works best if you're not picky about day or time.

With main dining you have a set time,

 

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OR choose Select Dining and eat whenever you want.

Just like a restaurant home.

True that you can eat when you want in Blu, however you can do that in the MDR by choosing Select dining. Then you can show up when you want to eat, or make reservations for the time you want to dine.

Yes, I did forget about that (we have never used it). I would ask, why would you want to make reservations for the time you want to dine, if you can just show up when you want to eat?

Why? Because if you show up when 50 other people also want to eat you may end up waiting half an hour or more for a table. But it all depends on the crowd on that particular ship and sailing - it can really vary. We usually book AQ because of Blu, but when we are in a lower level cabin we pick Select Dining and book our time at 8:00 so we can fit in the show first should it be one we want.

Why? Because if you show up when 50 other people also want to eat you may end up waiting half an hour or more for a table. But it all depends on the crowd on that particular ship and sailing - it can really vary. We usually book AQ because of Blu, but when we are in a lower level cabin we pick Select Dining and book our time at 8:00 so we can fit in the show first should it be one we want.

They discontinued the Ultimate dining package about 6 months ago. They now have a dining plan that reduces the amount per nights bought.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🛳🇺🇸🌅

Yes, sorry - now called Specialty Dining Package - with a sliding price scale depending on the number of nights purchased.