First time cruise(Celebrity), some questions.

[EvilFred]

Hi, guys.

 

I'm cruising with Celebrity in 8 days. I booked aqua class in deck 11.

 

Anything I should know as first time cruiser? :rolleyes:

 

Here are my questions:

 

1. They say aqua class has premium bottle water every day. Do I need to bring some bottle water when I board?

 

2. I have pre-paid gratitude thing, I saw some posts about this, its very chaos. I think I can tip couple dollars more if I got good service, but how those waiters and servers know I have pre-paid gratitude?

 

3.My fiancee and I are non-alcohol drinker, is the premium non-alcohol package worth the money?

 

Thanks for your inputs. :)

[catugirl]

Welcome to cruising and to Celebrity. You will get all the bottled water you need. As soon as you finish a bottle, the cabin steward will bring you another one. If you finish one before he/she notices, just ask for one. You will also get iced tea every day. If you want ice every day, also tell your cabin steward.

 

Since you are in Aqua Class, you will be dining in Blu for breakfast and dinner. The waiters in Blu know that you prepaid gratuities because that is a requirement if you're Aqua Class. You will love Blu. It's quieter and more intimate than the MDR. The food and service are wonderful.

 

I can't speak to the Non-Alcohol Drink Package. We usually use whatever onboard credit we have for drinks. For our upcoming cruise, we were lucky enough to get a complimentary Classic Alcohol Drink Package (which also covers non-alcohol drinks).

 

Enjoy your first cruise. You will love it.

[catlady25612]

If you like specialty coffee, sodas etc, just get the non premium. You will be golden. If you want Evian, frozen vigin drinks etc, get the premium. Will be well worth it. You will never worry about a bill at the end. If you don't mind plain brewed coffee (that is good in my snobby opinion), lemonade, iced tea and very tasty filtered water, your good with no package at all.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[EvilFred]

Thanks guys, that clears my confusions.

[monicajay]

Enjoyed the fresh squeezed grapefruit juice daily too (or OJ).

[GiannaD]

Hi, guys.

 

I'm cruising with Celebrity in 8 days. I booked aqua class in deck 11.

 

Anything I should know as first time cruiser? :rolleyes:

 

Here are my questions:

 

1. They say aqua class has premium bottle water every day. Do I need to bring some bottle water when I board?

 

2. I have pre-paid gratitude thing, I saw some posts about this, its very chaos. I think I can tip couple dollars more if I got good service, but how those waiters and servers know I have pre-paid gratitude?

 

Your main dining venue is Blu but if you want to try the Main Dining Room you can be seated there in the select dining area whenever you choose.

 

3.My fiancee and I are non-alcohol drinker, is the premium non-alcohol package worth the money?

 

Thanks for your inputs. :)

 

Your main dining venue is Blu but if you want to try the main dining room you can be seated there whenever you choose. You can also eat in the specialty restaurants or other dining venues.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[CathyCruises]

Since you are in Aqua Class, you will be dining in Blu for breakfast and dinner. The waiters in Blu know that you prepaid gratuities because that is a requirement if you're Aqua Class. You will love Blu. It's quieter and more intimate than the MDR. The food and service are wonderful.

 

quote]

 

This is in fact not true. There is no requirement to prepay gratuities in Blu--only for Select/Anytime dining in the MDR.

 

The staff get a list of those passengers who have prepaid their gratuities; however, if someone does an exceptionally good job, it is customary to tip an additional amount over the minimum generally at the end of the cruise. You would not, for instance, tip your waiter extra on a daily basis.

 

During the cruise we normally only tip for room service, a couple of dollars for delivering our coffee in the AM, maybe $5 if we were to order a full breakfast, $10 if we ordered a full dinner to be served in our stateroom.

 

We do tip the waiters at the Elite cocktail hour or when using coupons, but that is not something the OP will need to be concerned with for a while!;)

[cynbar]

I agree that not everyone prepays gratuities in Blu, you can easily arrange which way you prefer. This is going to sound a little nuts, but please bear with me. Everyone in AQ is assigned to Blu, and everyone has open seating all the time. But apparently the Celebrity computers don't know or don't acknowledge that. You must choose either Select, Early Traditional or Late Traditional when you book, and this will be on your reservation, even though it has no bearing on your experience onboard. Those who choose Select will prepay their gratuities, those who choose one of the Traditional seatings will not. However, what is says won't matter, you'll just go to Blu when you are ready to dine. Not sure why Celebrity makes this so complicated, but they don't seem inclined to simplify it.

[phoenix_dream]

You can review what is included in the beverage packages while onboard, compare it to what you prefer to drink and what that would cost, and decide when you board. You can add the package anytime during the first few days. Some like the packages simply for the convenience of just being able to pass along a card and not worry about costs. Also the fact that any drink expenses are already paid prior to the cruise (if you pre-book). I've said this to others on various drink threads, and this opinion still holds - if Celebrity did not make money on the drink packages they would not offer them. So for many people, the advantage of the packages are convenience rather than cost savings. For others, the packages are a decided cost savings advantage.

 

There are many free drink items onboard - juices in the morning, filtered water, iced tea, lemonade, coffee, tea, and milk. You will also get your free bottled water in Aqua Class. Be advised also that you can bring on an unlimited amount of soda (coke, sprite, etc.) or other types of bottled water (like flavored, sparkling, etc.) at embarkation as well as at any port. When we sail on a cruise without choosing a beverage package, my husband always brings on a 12 pack or 2 of diet coke. Saves us a lot of money.

[EvilFred]

Wow, so many detailed information. Thanks alot guys. I might consider the drink package after I board.

 

Another question is about the dress code.

 

I do have tuxedo,bow tie with leather shoes for formal night.

 

Is polo with collar fine at lunch time in Blu?

 

But no short pants any time in all dinner?

 

For woman, is sandal with heel fine for formal night?(With formal dress of course)

Like this one :

 

Or must be a traditional high heel?

 

Thanks guys.

[MollyFlyer]

Those shoes should be fine; high heels aren't exactly the best idea on a ship -- better to have shoes that won't get wobbly if the seas are rough.

[wpgcycler]

 

Is polo with collar fine at lunch time in Blu?

 

But no short pants any time in all dinner?

 

 

Thanks guys.

 

Lunch is not served in Blu - go to MDR or Oceanview or one of the Specialties (Bistro or The Porch - $5 per person). Polo with collar is fine anytime anywhere other than formal night.

[TN Vol Fan]

Wow, so many detailed information. Thanks alot guys. I might consider the drink package after I board.

 

Another question is about the dress code.

 

I do have tuxedo,bow tie with leather shoes for formal night.

 

Is polo with collar fine at lunch time in Blu?

 

But no short pants any time in all dinner?

 

For woman, is sandal with heel fine for formal night?(With formal dress of course)

Like this one :

 

Or must be a traditional high heel?

 

Thanks guys.

No lunch is available in Blu. Else where lunch dining can be pretty much anything except bathing suits: t shirts, shorts, polos, long chinos, etc.

If your lady is comfortable in formal clothes with that shoe, wear it. As long as the outfit is appropiate, she can wear any shoe. Personally, I wear dressy flats with no heels with my cocktail dresses to be comfortable.

The shoe police will not give you a ticket!

[catugirl]

I agree that not everyone prepays gratuities in Blu, you can easily arrange which way you prefer. This is going to sound a little nuts, but please bear with me. Everyone in AQ is assigned to Blu, and everyone has open seating all the time. But apparently the Celebrity computers don't know or don't acknowledge that. You must choose either Select, Early Traditional or Late Traditional when you book, and this will be on your reservation, even though it has no bearing on your experience onboard. Those who choose Select will prepay their gratuities, those who choose one of the Traditional seatings will not. However, what is says won't matter, you'll just go to Blu when you are ready to dine. Not sure why Celebrity makes this so complicated, but they don't seem inclined to simplify it.

 

This is not true. To be in Aqua Class, you have to prepay gratuities, as you are automatically in Select Dining when you're assigned to Blu. I have done AQ twice, and we were required to do this both times. We were told by our TA that there is no option. So the waiters definitely know in Blu that you have prepaid gratuities.

[charlie52]

This is confusing me...we are sailing in 3 weeks AQ for the first time on the second part of a B2B. First week we are CC in select dining and have prepaid gratuities. We have not pre paid gratuities for this second week and were told we didn't have to. Who is right???

[catlady25612]

We just left the Connie one week ago, in Aqua. You need not prepay grats.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[ALANG]

Have been in AQ four times, never had pre-paid grats.

[catugirl]

It may be a good idea to call Celebrity or your TA if you're using one because for two separate cruises (one of them is later this year) we were told by two separate online TA's that we had to be in Select Dining in order to be in AQ and eat in Blu. If you're in Select Dining you have to prepay gratuities. Makes sense because they don't have fixed times for dining in Blu, so it actually is anytime dining. So we didn't argue. It was no big deal for us because the crew onboard work so hard we were happy to prepay. At the end of the cruise we also give additional tips to whatever crew members who have given us exemplary service. Sounds like, maybe, they may handle this differently on different ships. That's weird. We were on Silhouette, and the one we've booked is Reflection.

[gimletgal]

It may be a good idea to call Celebrity or your TA if you're using one because for two separate cruises (one of them is later this year) we were told by two separate online TA's that we had to be in Select Dining in order to be in AQ and eat in Blu. If you're in Select Dining you have to prepay gratuities. Makes sense because they don't have fixed times for dining in Blu, so it actually is anytime dining. So we didn't argue. It was no big deal for us because the crew onboard work so hard we were happy to prepay. At the end of the cruise we also give additional tips to whatever crew members who have given us exemplary service. Sounds like, maybe, they may handle this differently on different ships. That's weird. We were on Silhouette, and the one we've booked is Reflection.

 

I'm afraid your online TA's have totally misinformed you, catugirl.

[rnrcruzin]

Good Day Fred,

 

We've sailed twice now in AQ. I'm sure you will truly enjoy your experience from the time you board to the time you disembark. For example, you will enjoy a shorter line for checking in. In most, if not all, ports there is a separate line for AQ. My DW and I really enjoyed having lunch at Bistro on 5.

 

We were offered 50% off for dinning in a specialty restaurant our first night and then something like a 20 to 30% on other nights.

 

Take some time to enjoy the Persian Gardens.

 

Eat in Blu on night and then eat in the MDR the second night. You will never go back to the MDR. Also, on that note, when you eat in Blu, and you like your server, request to be seated in their area again. They take time to get to know you. Along those lines, get to know the sommelier, if you're a wine drinker. He, or she, will make excellent suggestions for your meal and it won't always be an expensive wine.

 

And don't over pack. It amazes me, and I'm guilty of this as well, how I can pack for a 10 business trip in a carry-on but for a 7 day cruise I have to pack a Pullman, two carry-on's, and a back pack.

 

Bon Voyage,

rnr

[cynbar]

This is not true. To be in Aqua Class, you have to prepay gratuities, as you are automatically in Select Dining when you're assigned to Blu. I have done AQ twice, and we were required to do this both times. We were told by our TA that there is no option. So the waiters definitely know in Blu that you have prepaid gratuities.

 

We're in AQ and Blu for our upcoming Reflection cruise. We did not prepay gratuities, and our personalizer shows us with a confirmed dining for 6;15, Early Traditional. We didn't prepay gratuities last time, either. I think your TA may be the one who is misinformed.

[Lois R]

This is not true. To be in Aqua Class, you have to prepay gratuities, as you are automatically in Select Dining when you're assigned to Blu. I have done AQ twice, and we were required to do this both times. We were told by our TA that there is no option. So the waiters definitely know in Blu that you have prepaid gratuities.

 

Hi, I also disgaree with you on the pre-paid gratuties in Blu.

I have also been in AQ twice and never pre-paid my gratuities. Unless

Celebrity has changed the policy in the last 11 months. Last time I was

in AQ was April 2013 on Sihlouette and my gratuties were charged to

my on board account on a daily basis. Never pre-paid them.

[catugirl]

I just spoke to Tatiana at Celebrity, and she said you do not have to prepay gratuities if you're AQ and dining in Blu. Sorry for the misinformation before, but, like I said, I was told that by two TA's at two different online companies. Makes me wonder what other misinformation the gave me!