Aqua Class getting out of sight!

Wow! On my 12-N 9/6/19 Reflection cruise, an A1 cabin (A2 loyalty fare) is now $1600 pp greater than a 1A cabin (1B loyalty fare.)

 

I have always enjoyed Blu; but is it really worth an additional $133.33 pp per night?

Just finished 11 night aqua class cruise on Summit (6/27 - 7/8). Although I loved my cruise, incl. Blu and my cabin on deck 11, I would not pay the premium for Aqua again.

Blu is only available to suite guests on a space available basis.

Do you think they are turned away?

Not sure what space available is defined as either. When they show up, there are no empty tables? Maybe they can wait a few minutes for a table to open up?

Do you think they are turned away?

 

Not sure what space available is defined as either. When they show up, there are no empty tables? Maybe they can wait a few minutes for a table to open up?

We have seen suite guests turned away on the Eclipse. In fact the couple was in the largest suite on the ship (everyone within 100 yards would have heard about it) when they "demanded" to be seated in Aqua. As I recall it was about 8pm and the Maitre'd told them he would seat them if they would return around 9pm! After going through their rant ("we are in the largest most expensive suite on the ship and want to be seated now") they sulked-off to places unknown.

Hank

We have seen suite guests turned away on the Eclipse. In fact the couple was in the largest suite on the ship (everyone within 100 yards would have heard about it) when they "demanded" to be seated in Aqua. As I recall it was about 8pm and the Maitre'd told them he would seat them if they would return around 9pm! After going through their rant ("we are in the largest most expensive suite on the ship and want to be seated now") they sulked-off to places unknown.

 

Hank

(y);p;pHoly Moley... that sounds like it was quite a mess

My very first Celebrity cruise was in a suite before Luminae came out. We stopped by the stand one day and asked about having dinner at Blu and were rebuffed. We also asked the butler if he could get us in for any night of the week, and he came back a few hours later with the "bad news." We inquired with the concierge as well and got the same answer. So, it's not always a given. We didn't make a fuss about it but found it odd that Blu was really that full (we were fine with eating late). I didn't bother asking on subsequent trips because I cannot imagine that it's better than Luminae.

Maybe price gouging is a little harsh, but it gets the message through. They've jacked up their prices so much that's it makes it out of reach for most cruises who might consider splurging for an upgrade. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. ;p

That's just free market economics. They've allowed prices to rise in accordance with market demand. I'm sure the people who can't afford to cruise at all, even in an inside cabin, have little sympathy for those who can afford to cruise but simply can't afford a suite. ;)

There are many that swear by Aqua Class. I just cannot justify the cost when it is almost equal to a suite. Maybe some day but not at this moment in my life. Not worth it for a restaurant no matter how good the food is.

That's just free market economics. They've allowed prices to rise in accordance with market demand. I'm sure the people who can't afford to cruise at all, even in an inside cabin, have little sympathy for those who can afford to cruise but simply can't afford a suite. ;)

Yes, it's free market economics, and I'm not playing in their market -- taking my dollars elsewhere. I'm going back to using the term "gouging." The title of this thread is AQ getting out of sight. Yes it is. My only, and maybe my last Celebrity cruise is a 7-night Alaska next summer. They are asking $8782 for an S2, $5882 for an A2. We just booked a Cat 06 for $3072. This is just a stinking 7-nighter. They can pack sand as far as I'm concerned. Maybe someone else will pay those ridiculous prices.

Yes, it's free market economics, and I'm not playing in their market -- taking my dollars elsewhere. I'm going back to using the term "gouging." The title of this thread is AQ getting out of sight. Yes it is. My only, and maybe my last Celebrity cruise is a 7-night Alaska next summer. They are asking $8782 for an S2, $5882 for an A2. We just booked a Cat 06 for $3072. This is just a stinking 7-nighter. They can pack sand as far as I'm concerned. Maybe someone else will pay those ridiculous prices.

Just yesterday I received an offer for a seven day Alaska cruise next month on Regent Mariner in an F category suite which is what we always get on Regent. I am not interested so I am not pursuing it but it probably includes airfare round trip. Of course, Regent includes everything in it's price which is $6,999. The TA will throw in one exclusive perk and I suspect more would be available as an enticement.

It's a lot of money but compared to Celebrity, there really is no comparison.

It's more than "floating a silly price to see if it will stick."

 

In early December a 1B fare on my cruise was priced at $2949 while an A2 was priced at $3299. Since then the price of an A2 has consistently increased $100 to $300 (average of about $200) every month to a current price of $4549; while the price of a 1B fluctuated up or down $100 or $200 per month but is currently still only at $2949. This is pretty good evidence that the A2 price increase is due to actual demand rather than just hope on Celebrity's part.

Sometime I see price increase not related to a demand, but a little encouragement to AQ price watchers - "O wow! price went up - I should have booked yesterday!" Only to find out that after final payment price was discounted by 40%. It happened to me twice - after final payment got upgraded to AQ for the original 2B price. Current AQ prices for some cruises are plain crazy.

I love AQ, but we'd only pay a minimal upgrade price to move up from a standard balcony and I would only book CC for essentially the same price as a balcony. We price our trips on a cost per day including everything we'd normally buy, which includes a premium drink package (the Martini Bar is my favorite gathering place). I too have noticed AQ prices rising to astronomical levels, especially in Europe, Hawaii, Asia and Alaska. On our upcoming 12 night Europe sailing, AQ has barely come down to twice the price we are paying for a 1C. I hoped it would drop when we originally booked a year ago, but unfortunately it's never dropped to anything even approaching reasonable. In fact, we paid less 2 years ago for a 13-night Greek Isles cruise in a Sky Suite that included all 4 perks. We love the Celebrity product, so we don't have any problem in any class of cabin, but it's all about the best value for our hard earned dollars.

I love AQ, but we'd only pay a minimal upgrade price to move up from a standard balcony and I would only book CC for essentially the same price as a balcony. We price our trips on a cost per day including everything we'd normally buy, which includes a premium drink package (the Martini Bar is my favorite gathering place). I too have noticed AQ prices rising to astronomical levels, especially in Europe, Hawaii, Asia and Alaska. On our upcoming 12 night Europe sailing, AQ has barely come down to twice the price we are paying for a 1C. I hoped it would drop when we originally booked a year ago, but unfortunately it's never dropped to anything even approaching reasonable. In fact, we paid less 2 years ago for a 13-night Greek Isles cruise in a Sky Suite that included all 4 perks. We love the Celebrity product, so we don't have any problem in any class of cabin, but it's all about the best value for our hard earned dollars.

Just trying to be helpful here - did you mean C1? If you have a 1C booked, you could instead book a 1B for the 1C loyalty price if you thought the location was nicer.

Happy cruising.

We have long thought that Aqua Class is worth no more than $25 per person/day more than a regular balcony (which is often in a better location). Why do we say this? Because to us, the only advantage to AQ is Blu. And we can generally buy a dining package that covers most nights (we like to be in the MDR on the Chic Nights) for about $25 per person/day when purchased during a 20% Off sale. Last year we did this on the Reflection. Rather then dining in Blu we dined mostly in Murano with a few meals in Qsine and the Lawn. All those venues are must better than Blu. The other issue with Aqua on the Solstice Class ships is that the location of the cabins is nothing great. Many of us do not like living in the shadow of the big pool-deck overhang and we do not like to ever book cabins under a pool deck (nothing like moving loungers early in the morning to start the day). We actually prefer a balcony a couple of decks below.

 

Hank

totally agree with you. have had mixed to bad experiences in blu- but great meals in murano. we did aqua for a few trips but persian gardens always full- and blu hit and miss - and cabins can be too.

totally agree with you. have had mixed to bad experiences in blu- but great meals in murano. we did aqua for a few trips but persian gardens always full- and blu hit and miss - and cabins can be too.

Agree on BLU, for us at least, being hit or miss with the food never wowing us. The service was great with very attentive staff.

A little surprised at your persian gardens experience. On our January 2018 cruise on Silhouette, we were the only ones using it for 90% of our time there. Never more than 2 others plus us using the facilities. We used persion gardens 3 times on a 12 day cruise.

They were nice facilities and well kept up.

I cannot tell you what was different from an AQ cabin to a standard veranda other than the shower head which was nice. Maybe more, but I did not make any connection or distinction.

I am thinking a standard veranda and speciality dining package next cruise.

Agree on BLU, for us at least, being hit or miss with the food never wowing us. The service was great with very attentive staff.

 

A little surprised at your persian gardens experience. On our January 2018 cruise on Silhouette, we were the only ones using it for 90% of our time there. Never more than 2 others plus us using the facilities. We used persion gardens 3 times on a 12 day cruise.

 

They were nice facilities and well kept up.

 

I cannot tell you what was different from an AQ cabin to a standard veranda other than the shower head which was nice. Maybe more, but I did not make any connection or distinction.

 

I am thinking a standard veranda and speciality dining package next cruise.

Only other differences are footstools, extra bath amenities, heavier bathrobes, slippers, bottle of bubbly, pillow menu expanded room service items, afternoon savories and flavored tea.

We enjoyed Blu BTW.

Only other differences are footstools, extra bath amenities, heavier bathrobes, slippers, bottle of bubbly, pillow menu expanded room service items, afternoon savories and flavored tea.

 

 

We enjoyed Blu BTW.

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Agree on BLU, for us at least, being hit or miss with the food never wowing us. The service was great with very attentive staff.

 

A little surprised at your persian gardens experience. On our January 2018 cruise on Silhouette, we were the only ones using it for 90% of our time there. Never more than 2 others plus us using the facilities. We used persion gardens 3 times on a 12 day cruise.

 

They were nice facilities and well kept up.

 

I cannot tell you what was different from an AQ cabin to a standard veranda other than the shower head which was nice. Maybe more, but I did not make any connection or distinction.

 

I am thinking a standard veranda and speciality dining package next cruise.

On our Ta we booked an AQ for use of the Persian Gardens/sauna/relaxation room and perhaps discounts on massages etc (?) on those sea days.

We have enjoyed Concierge 1s and loved the UDP before they dumps it... made great use of Lawn Grill, Murano, and had lunches at Sushi on Five. Now that UDP is gone and we will generally do a C1 and a dining package. In this case for the difference of a few hundred dollars we were able to book AQ1 and try Blu. We shall see ...

Right now the CC1 and AQ2 are the same price on our sailing... am surprised more haven't moved from CC to AQ. Maybe thats a bad omen? Its so far out and haven't seen anything about bidding for upgrades.

On our Ta we booked an AQ for use of the Persian Gardens/sauna/relaxation room and perhaps discounts on massages etc (?) on those sea days.

 

We have enjoyed Concierge 1s and loved the UDP before they dumps it... made great use of Lawn Grill, Murano, and had lunches at Sushi on Five. Now that UDP is gone and we will generally do a C1 and a dining package. In this case for the difference of a few hundred dollars we were able to book AQ1 and try Blu. We shall see ...

 

Right now the CC1 and AQ2 are the same price on our sailing... am surprised more haven't moved from CC to AQ. Maybe thats a bad omen? Its so far out and haven't seen anything about bidding for upgrades.

Congratulations on getting a good AQ price. However, to the best of my knowledge AQ are not offered any special spa discounts.

Wow! On my 12-N 9/6/19 Reflection cruise, an A1 cabin (A2 loyalty fare) is now $1600 pp greater than a 1A cabin (1B loyalty fare.)

 

I have always enjoyed Blu; but is it really worth an additional $133.33 pp per night?

We are willing to pay the price for Aqua/BLU BUT we MUST have an Aqua Accessible Stateroom. Celebrity only has 4 of them! We have started to book at least 14-15 cruises but could not because there were NO Aqua Accessible Staterooms available to book!

IF we are spending $6000. For a cruise+extras we want the class of cabin we want! We both LOVE BLU restaurant and will only cruise with Celebrity IF we cruise it has to be what we want. Also, we have sailed RCCL twice, the first time was horrible and we swore to never to do RCCL again. Then a group cruise we “really” wanted to join booked on RCCL. We decided maybe our first ‘horrible’ cruise was a fluke and we decided to give RCCL another chance, it was horrible! Their food, every venue, was horrible! We want BLU!

 

We have enjoyed Concierge 1s and loved the UDP before they dumps it... made great use of Lawn Grill, Murano, and had lunches at Sushi on Five. Now that UDP is gone and we will generally do a C1 and a dining package. In this case for the difference of a few hundred dollars we were able to book AQ1 and try Blu. We shall see ...

 

Right now the CC1 and AQ2 are the same price on our sailing... am surprised more haven't moved from CC to AQ. Maybe thats a bad omen? Its so far out and haven't seen anything about bidding for upgrades.

Similar situation for us. We usually book C1, but for the 1/20/20 Reflection sailing, the CC1 and the AQ2 were the same price. We booked the AQ2 and took the free upgrade to AQ1. I could not justify some of the higher prices that I have seen on other occasions.

Mike

I bet if Celebrity created some "class" of room that was 1 sq. ft. larger than other rooms, and charged an extra $2000 for it, I bet hundreds of people would buy it, and many would brag on this site "how fantastic" it was and how it so much was worth the extra $2000.

I bet if Celebrity created some "class" of room that was 1 sq. ft. larger than other rooms, and charged an extra $2000 for it, I bet hundreds of people would buy it, and many would brag on this site "how fantastic" it was and how it so much was worth the extra $2000.

Only if it comes with the “free” drink package.

Similar situation for us. We usually book C1, but for the 1/20/20 Reflection sailing, the CC1 and the AQ2 were the same price. We booked the AQ2 and took the free upgrade to AQ1. I could not justify some of the higher prices that I have seen on other occasions.

Mike

Because, on the whole, the C1 cabins have far better locations than Aqua ;).

I bet if Celebrity created some "class" of room that was 1 sq. ft. larger than other rooms, and charged an extra $2000 for it, I bet hundreds of people would buy it, and many would brag on this site "how fantastic" it was and how it so much was worth the extra $2000.

;p;pHilarious... guess it would depend on the superlatives describing the bedding. And of course people get ther Captains Club pts ;)

We book based on stateroom location. I agree often the C1s have a better location than AQ1. We paid for the AQ2 and got the upgrade AQ1. We are hoping BLU will be a great change and many seem to enjoy it. MDR was a great disappointment on our last sailing.

BTW Where to AQ dine for lunch at embarkation since the MDR is for CC?

We enjoyed the relaxed pace of the CC lunch in MDR on the last sailing. The food was just avg...however we could relax and serendipitously met the couple in the stateroom next door. Had great fun.

I bet if Celebrity created some "class" of room that was 1 sq. ft. larger than other rooms, and charged an extra $2000 for it, I bet hundreds of people would buy it, and many would brag on this site "how fantastic" it was and how it so much was worth the extra $2000.

Ah yes, the world of marketing and advertising...the world where the description on the restaurant menu has little relation to what they actually serve....the world that until recently offered concierge class passengers the use of the same concierge who handled all customer requests....the world of "modern luxury" (your guess is as good as mine).

Actually the 20 sq ft does make a difference...a sofa vs a chair in the sitting area....more room to "lay out" one's clothes that they are too lazy to put away in closets/shelves. But your point is actually true.

Folks new to any cruise line really don't understand the difference between levels..it's never really clear, so they read the words and try to figure it out. In a few cases the words help, in some cases the words are a bit misleading...sorry, I meant marketing pearls of wisdom. The phrase "perfume a pig" comes to mind when speaking of the A2 cabins on M class which are under a huge balcony and for the most part under the pool deck so you hear carts being wheeled across the deck and chairs scraping. (just saying....we've booked a few A2's on M-class ships).

But the words work...and lots of people splurge on their one vacation a year or every other year and they want the best. They look for those magic words and pay the price...and since it's their only experience, they rave about it. Oh, did I mention those high priced suites on Celebrity....let's splurge dear :)

Of course, that doesn't apply to any of us here...we know better...right (said tongue in cheek).