Blu on the M class ships

[cruise kitty]

Hi, doing very early research into where we'll be going next, Panama Canal is on that list, we've become blu converts, so we'd be booking AQ, on the Infinity, however, I'm trying to figure out if it'll be the same wonderful experience as on the S class ships.... love that the tables for two are served completely separately, also, part of what's so great is the separate kitchen & made to order food, I am not a fan of the noise level of the MDR, does anyone know if Blu on the M class is going to be a completely separate restaurant? Or is it simply going to be a corner of the MDR? Any thoughts?

[dkjretired]

Hi, doing very early research into where we'll be going next, Panama Canal is on that list, we've become blu converts, so we'd be booking AQ, on the Infinity, however, I'm trying to figure out if it'll be the same wonderful experience as on the S class ships.... love that the tables for two are served completely separately, also, part of what's so great is the separate kitchen & made to order food, I am not a fan of the noise level of the MDR, does anyone know if Blu on the M class is going to be a completely separate restaurant? Or is it simply going to be a corner of the MDR? Any thoughts?

 

I believe it will be in a corner of the MDR, the deck plans on Infinity show it on deck 5 in the MDR.My thought on this is one of the selling points of Blu is they have their own Galley, I wonder what the situation with that will be...

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Can't imagine that they would be able to have a separate galley since the ship wasn't designed that way in the first place. And, frankly, I can't see how putting Blu in a corner of the MDR will be attractive to those who hate the MDR. I think if I wanted the Blu experience, I'd stick to S class ships. Although I realize they can't get through the Panama Canal. Yet.

[dkjretired]

Can't imagine that they would be able to have a separate galley since the ship wasn't designed that way in the first place. And, frankly, I can't see how putting Blu in a corner of the MDR will be attractive to those who hate the MDR. I think if I wanted the Blu experience, I'd stick to S class ships. Although I realize they can't get through the Panama Canal. Yet.

 

I agree but I guess we will have to see. Maybe they will put a wall up tastefully in the MDR to keep it seperate from Blu.

[FrankinPA]

Can't imagine that they would be able to have a separate galley since the ship wasn't designed that way in the first place. And, frankly, I can't see how putting Blu in a corner of the MDR will be attractive to those who hate the MDR. I think if I wanted the Blu experience, I'd stick to S class ships. Although I realize they can't get through the Panama Canal. Yet.

 

My understanding from talking to the Captain's Club Hostess on Infinity last week is that Blu will be a separate dining room that will occupy part of the space that is now used for select dining on the upper level (deck 5) of Trellis. It will be a separate room, not just a area of a larger dining room. Not sure how the galley will work, however. But they want to give the same experience that people enjoy on the S ships so they have something in mind, I am sure. We will see in just a few weeks.

[Blue_Flame]

We questioned our Maitre d' about this a couple of weeks ago on Summit and he indicated it would be a walled in area of the upper level of the dining room, port side, with its own entrance. He also said it would have its own galley. We shall see.

I also found it interesting that during the Solsticization, the crew sticks around and helps, senior staff included!

[cruise kitty]

Thanks for all the replies, looking forward to the first reviews next month.

[FrankinPA]

We questioned our Maitre d' about this a couple of weeks ago on Summit and he indicated it would be a walled in area of the upper level of the dining room, port side, with its own entrance. He also said it would have its own galley. We shall see.

I also found it interesting that during the Solsticization, the crew sticks around and helps, senior staff included!

 

I talked to a lot of the crew during the last two weeks on Infinity. Some were lucky enough to be at or near the end of their contracts and were headed home for the holidays. Others had to stay and help thru the refurbishment. The construction workers had to be fed so cooks and servers would be working in shifts around the clock. Lots of help is needed to dismantle the old and tote the new items into each cabin. I was also under the impression that the workers would be housed on the ship during this three week period so all the normal work to clean and prep the cabins would be required. I may be wrong about that but think it would make sense with about 2000 workers required to do the job. Not going to pay to house them at hotels in Freeport, if I was the CFO, with empty beds on the ship.

 

A lot of the senior staff will be involved with the major maintenance on the engines, water systems, electrical generators and electronics that are being updated. But to do everything they have to do in just 23 days is amazing. Must be planned hour by hour for every work element.

[Project_gal]

We will be on the first post-Solsticization cruise on Infinity, so I can probably answer this question for certain on our return but, if you check out the "photograph" on Ryan Kingston's blog http://celebritycruises.tumblr.com/ you will see that Blu should be a separate room. According to the deck plans, Blu will be positioned behind Bistro on Five which, on Constellation , had its own small galley. Perhaps the two restaurants will have adjoining galleys or share one?

 

Sue

[cruise kitty]

We will be on the first post-Solsticization cruise on Infinity, so I can probably answer this question for certain on our return but, if you check out the "photograph" on Ryan Kingston's blog http://celebritycruises.tumblr.com/ you will see that Blu should be a separate room. According to the deck plans, Blu will be positioned behind Bistro on Five which, on Constellation , had its own small galley. Perhaps the two restaurants will have adjoining galleys or share one?

 

Sue

 

Thanks, I hope your conjecture is correct! A 'watered down' Blu, might not be worth the additional $, but if it has it's own galley & space, I'd definitely book it. :D

[Jade13]

Is BLU that good on Millennium where it was added? We like BLU on Eclipse but Aqu class is sold out on the cruise we are looking at on Millennium. Is it also a section of the MDR?

[dkjretired]

We will be on the first post-Solsticization cruise on Infinity, so I can probably answer this question for certain on our return but, if you check out the "photograph" on Ryan Kingston's blog http://celebritycruises.tumblr.com/ you will see that Blu should be a separate room. According to the deck plans, Blu will be positioned behind Bistro on Five which, on Constellation , had its own small galley. Perhaps the two restaurants will have adjoining galleys or share one?

 

Sue

 

I hope they do seperate it somehow because if you look at the deck plans there is a ladys room on the other side of Blu. As depicted on the deck plans, women from the upper level of the MDR would have to go directly through Blu to reach the ladies room.

[FrankinPA]

Is BLU that good on Millennium where it was added? We like BLU on Eclipse but Aqu class is sold out on the cruise we are looking at on Millennium. Is it also a section of the MDR?

 

Are you asking about the ship Celebrity Millennium or the collection of ships in the Millennium class? I think Blu will first be installed on Infinity and is not yet on any of the other Millennium ships. But I may be wrong. Summit is scheduled for upgrading early next year and will have Blu as well.

[Xport]

Is BLU that good on Millennium where it was added? We like BLU on Eclipse but Aqu class is sold out on the cruise we are looking at on Millennium. Is it also a section of the MDR?

 

Millennium is not scheduled for Solsticization [including the addition of AquaClass and Blu] until April/May 2012...

 

Infinity is undergoing those changes now [going back into service on December 3] and Summit is scheduled to undergo them in January 2012...

 

Constellation underwent her dry dock/Solsticization about a year ago but, at the time, the addition of AquaClass and Blu was not part of the plan... Supposedly, she will undergo a Phase II project sometime during 2013...

 

I think it would be safe to assume that Blu's placement will be the same--per Infinity's deck plan, carved out of the Main Dining Room as a separate venue--on all four of the Millennium-Class ships...

[Lsimon]

Deleted - post - was answered before I finished my post.

[Jade13]

Thank you for the explanation. My confusion is that on the Celebrity website, Celebrity shows the 2 night Jan 5 Bahamas cruise on Celebrity Millennium as "AQU Sold Out".

 

Millennium is not scheduled for Solsticization [including the addition of AquaClass and Blu] until April/May 2012...

 

Infinity is undergoing those changes now [going back into service on December 3] and Summit is scheduled to undergo them in January 2012...

 

Constellation underwent her dry dock/Solsticization about a year ago but, at the time, the addition of AquaClass and Blu was not part of the plan... Supposedly, she will undergo a Phase II project sometime during 2013...

 

I think it would be safe to assume that Blu's placement will be the same--per Infinity's deck plan, carved out of the Main Dining Room as a separate venue--on all four of the Millennium-Class ships...

[dkjretired]

Thank you for the explanation. My confusion is that on the Celebrity website, Celebrity shows the 2 night Jan 5 Bahamas cruise on Celebrity Millennium as "AQU Sold Out".

 

Just a computer thing, if you look at all the Dec., 2011 it shows all the AQ cabins as sold out....