Blue is past it's prime, it appears.......

[snyniew]

It was my first cruise and first experience in Blu but on the Reflection in April I had nothing but great service. My friend and I (I was Aqua & she was Aqua Suite) usually went to dinner between 6:30-7:30. Never once did we have to wait to be seated. It never appeared to be busy and in fact many tables not by the windows were open. The staff was very friendly and didn't seem stressed at all and in fact jokes with us and among themselves the entire week. Never had a problem getting a drink and when my wine was almost gone it was refilled w/o me having to ask. For me and my friend we were very happy with the quality of food and we are both very picky eater. I will say sometimes when we were leaving it had filled up more but never where we saw anyone having to wait to be seated.

[hcat]

We have enjoyed the food , and the wine and food service in Blu....it did seemed more stressed on our last cruise on Silho.....waitstaff scurrying back and forth...but nothing was overdone or cold. Not bored with the menu ....

 

We ususally dine early so major crowding is usually not an issue. We also like the twofer offer for Murano on the first night when there is a big line at Blu

 

We are booked into Blu for our next two cruises...so we'll see how they go...MDR does not appeal to us but the specialty restaurant packages might be an alternative for a change?

[cheriooo]

We have dined in Blue since it first available. We prefer the food preperation and presentation and the service staff over MDR or most other restaurants on the various ships. We usually arrive at 6-6:30 and very rarely have a wait and typically we get seated in the same table or close by all nights. If we make new friends during dinner it seams we are usually seated with them. We have probably done a dozen cruises in Aqua Class. The only complaint that I have is that the menu needs some new offerings. It seems the menu is pretty much set up for a 7 day cruise and it doesnt rotate by cruise. On a 14 day cruise the menu's often repeats. Its not quite if its Monday it must be veal night but sometimes it seems that way.

[ghstudio]

We have dined in Blue since it first available. We prefer the food preperation and presentation and the service staff over MDR or most other restaurants on the various ships. We usually arrive at 6-6:30 and very rarely have a wait and typically we get seated in the same table or close by all nights. If we make new friends during dinner it seams we are usually seated with them. We have probably done a dozen cruises in Aqua Class. The only complaint that I have is that the menu needs some new offerings. It seems the menu is pretty much set up for a 7 day cruise and it doesnt rotate by cruise. On a 14 day cruise the menu's often repeats. Its not quite if its Monday it must be veal night but sometimes it seems that way.

 

Celebrity actually has 14 menus for Blu which allows them to serve different selections every night on the vast majority of cruises. We do agree that we'd like to see some variation....I think we know the menus by heart as does cheriooo.

[scifimonkey]

Very often the queues are all about timing. We generally eat fairly late and so have only once had to wait for a table in Blue on Silhouette. I guess that earlier diners had been and gone and the waiters were able to reset by 8.30 when we generally turned up. Maybe early in the evening there is some stress to push people through and turn tables in order to create space. Shame if this is the case as all our experiences eating later in Blue have been very positive, friendly and relaxed. Having said that please do not all start eating later otherwise we will end up having to wait.

[rolfecms]

We were sold on the concept of Aqua Class and Blu when we first tried it on the Solstice during her inaugural season in 2008 (See link in signature below).

 

So it came as a pleasant, welcome surprise when Celebrity introduced Aqua Class on the M-class ships.

 

With this in mind we were excited to book an AQ cabin on the Millennium for her first transpacific via Russia and Alaska last year in April 2013.

 

For us the Blu experience was not unlike the op's on the Reflection: Not enough tables to serve those who wanted to dine during the peak hours. While a few minutes wait can be expected at such popular times, the situation was compounded by a certain travel agent and her husband who were traveling in a suite.

 

The rules are (were?) supposedly that suite passengers had access to Blu on a space available basis. Said travel agent had an agreement with the maitre 'd for her very own table each evening which the she and her husband would occupy while entertaining invited guests during which time she spent many hours soliciting their business. Of course this was at our expense as well as all those who could not be seated during that time.

 

How do I know this? My wife and I had the unfortunate opportunity to be 'invited' to sit at her table on one of the first nights out. She boasted about her 'reservation' in Blu and kissed the maitre d' as she thanked him when we entered Blu. Over a very extended dinner she proceeded to hard sell us her travel agent services, at one point pretending to cry in a vain attempt to pull us in emotionally and seal the deal.

 

It was dreadful, to say the least. And we heard her disgusting spiel (together with faux tears) repeated again and again on successive nights when we were unfortunate enough to be within hearing distance of her table.

 

I'll admit we should have reported her and the maitre 'd right then and there. In any case it soured us on Blu, at least on the M-class.

 

The op's comments caused me to recollect these bad memories so I wanted to share them as a warning to others: Until suite passengers have a dining room of their own you too may face delays accessing a table in Blu.

[C 2 C]

The main problem (for us) is that Blu staterooms are not necessarily in the prime locations on board. We love the fact that service is better than in the MDR and the noise level much lower. The Blu breakfast experience is the best way to enjoy great service and great variety. Dinner due to repetitiveness has lost the Blu appeal.

 

Depending on pricing, I would rather get a great stateroom location and eat in the specialty restaurants every evening than pay the additional cost of the Blu experience.

 

We have experienced waiting lines if we showed up at the wrong time, slow service when Blu is full and evenings where the offerings in the MD are preferable.

 

Just because someone has experienced a less than expected product than others, there is no reason to ridicule spelling nor the message delivered.

We've had fantastic and mediocre maitre'd (try making that plural without spelling checker fits) outstanding and mediocre service, hot warm and cold meals. However Johnny Blu and Jose Contreras have spoiled us forever.

 

With a great team, Blu offers an exceptional alternative. The offerings do become repetitive and if you have a weak team or noisy suite children, or high demand, you too may come back to complain.

[Gracie115]

We were sold on the concept of Aqua Class and Blu when we first tried it on the Solstice during her inaugural season in 2008 (See link in signature below).

 

So it came as a pleasant, welcome surprise when Celebrity introduced Aqua Class on the M-class ships.

 

With this in mind we were excited to book an AQ cabin on the Millennium for her first transpacific via Russia and Alaska last year in April 2013.

 

For us the Blu experience was not unlike the op's on the Reflection: Not enough tables to serve those who wanted to dine during the peak hours. While a few minutes wait can be expected at such popular times, the situation was compounded by a certain travel agent and her husband who were traveling in a suite.

 

The rules are (were?) supposedly that suite passengers had access to Blu on a space available basis. Said travel agent had an agreement with the maitre 'd for her very own table each evening which the she and her husband would occupy while entertaining invited guests during which time she spent many hours soliciting their business. Of course this was at our expense as well as all those who could not be seated during that time.

 

How do I know this? My wife and I had the unfortunate opportunity to be 'invited' to sit at her table on one of the first nights out. She boasted about her 'reservation' in Blu and kissed the maitre d' as she thanked him when we entered Blu. Over a very extended dinner she proceeded to hard sell us her travel agent services, at one point pretending to cry in a vain attempt to pull us in emotionally and seal the deal.

 

It was dreadful, to say the least. And we heard her disgusting spiel (together with faux tears) repeated again and again on successive nights when we were unfortunate enough to be within hearing distance of her table.

 

I'll admit we should have reported her and the maitre 'd right then and there. In any case it soured us on Blu, at least on the M-class.

 

The op's comments caused me to recollect these bad memories so I wanted to share them as a warning to others: Until suite passengers have a dining room of their own you too may face delays accessing a table in Blu.

 

What a horrible experience, you probably should have reported her, but understandable when on a vacation that you don't want to deal with that kind of issue. On a better note and in support of Blu on the "M" class, our experience on Connie in December was absolutely wonderful and just reaffirming to us our fondness for the dining venue. I'm glad the suite dining room is coming....I think it will help Blu immensely.:)

[BosoxI]

. On a better note and in support of Blu on the "M" class, our experience on Connie in December was absolutely wonderful .:)

 

You are so right, it was excellent on our Dec Connie cruise.

 

 

To those that find Blu misses the mark, I'd be interested to know what your expectation is.quote]

 

Very simple. It should be better than MDR fare.

[bigbenboys]

To those that find Blu misses the mark, I'd be interested to know what your expectation is. Given the cost of the cruise I would not expect anything higher than a typical medium priced restaurant on land with a Zagat rating of no more than about 20 and certainly not Michelin star rated - Bib Gourmand at best. In that context, Blu met and sometimes exceeded my expectations. What about you?

 

What I dont like about Blu is to much duck, pheasant, quail, veal and pigeon. Also real soup not something out of a vase. Was that not the vase in my room last week.:eek: How do you really get the bottom of that vase clean. Our only other time in Blu they never had Prime-rib. They did have rib-eye. It is easy to cook 1 or 2 rib-eyes on the grill, but harder to cook Prime rib for 1 or 2. PS tonight is a rib-eye night for 1. I'm not looking for Michelin stars just food I want to eat. As I'm cruising tomorrow. We will see what Blu has in store for us.

[cruiseforus]

We also are finished with Blu for a while, actually after this last time I'm not sure we will ever try it again. This was our second time in Blu. We were two couples on the Reflection and all 4 of us were dissapointed with the food and even the service. One night we all went to the Main Dining Room for dinner and found the food to be better. Of course Blu was a much quieter Dining experience but aside from that there is nothing that would make us go back to Aqua Class again.

[Gracie115]

Well.....one good thing about so many NOT planning on going back to Blu ... might help lessen the crowds everyone is talking about....EVEN before the all suite dining room opens up.....just saying....:rolleyes::D:)

[hcat]

Well.....one good thing about so many NOT planning on going back to Blu ... might help lessen the crowds everyone is talking about....EVEN before the all suite dining room opens up.....just saying....:rolleyes::D:)

 

Yup....that's true!

[4cats4me]

We feel so lucky to have had stellar food and service in Blu on Equinox, both last year and last month. Went to dine at all hours and never once had a. Wait

 

The restaurant was always comfortably full. This particular group favored dining late. Last year's crowd was an early dining crowd.

 

Service was personable and professional. We loved the maitre d

He was adorable! And the hostess so kind!

[CSGuy44]

My wife and I, along with five other couples, sailed on Infinity in March. The general consensus was that the food, atmosphere, and especially the service in Blu was among the best we've ever had on any cruise. But then we didn't really find problems with Reflection last year either.

[cruiserchuck]

On our cruise this month on the Eclipse, Blu was better than ever. We had previously sailed in Aqua class on the Silhouette in 2012 and the Equinox in 2013, and thought the service and food in Blu was much better on the Eclipse. We never had to wait for a table, and the waiters were very efficient and friendly, and did not seem too rushed. On the Equinox last year, things were more hectic, and service was very slow some nights.

[cruiseerf]

Hello:

Just to clarify: At no point did we let our poor meals in Blue affect our enjoyment of the cruise. We bring our party with us ;) Also, we expect cruise food when we come onboard, not restaurant quality meals....They are cooking for 3000 people and we do indeed realize this.

Taste is also quite subjective as all of us has different tastes. Also, Where we have taken 15+ Celebrity cruises and 100+ others, we are coming from a place of experience from people who have taken one or two and enjoyed. It really depends what you compare it to. We don't begrudge people enjoying Blue at all. We just find that now on 2+ cruises we are just more and more disappointed. If you are going remember the Mantra....Early or Late....I really see this as affecting the experience and I hope people learn from our feedback.

Lastly, While Celebrity has said they are putting a suite dining room in play, they have NOT said WHERE they are putting this? and what they are removing?? The dining room must have the capability to handle fresh hot meals....And I don't see Celebrity putting in new kitchens etc for 160 people....so I expect they will take space from another venue. Wherever it is, we will welcome it. Your guess is as good as mine.

Safe sails to all.

[Kevnzworld]

I've sailed on six Celebrity ships in AQ or a suite in the last two years. I agree with the OP
The service isn't great.
First....why dos the host/ hostess have to greet and sit every guest? It creates a line of 10-20 minutes when tables are empty.
Why is someone asking for my food order before I've been asked if I would like a glass or bottle of wine?
No real restaurant on land could survive with Blu's food or service.
This is a management issue. The individuals working there try hard, and I tip many of them for their efforts.
Don't get me started on the food. One word game bird. The wait staff warns you that they overcook them. My question, if you're going to cook the bird until it's into edible, why serve it?

[scifimonkey]

[quote name='Gracie115']Well.....one good thing about so many NOT planning on going back to Blu ... might help lessen the crowds everyone is talking about....EVEN before the all suite dining room opens up.....just saying....:rolleyes::D:)[/quote]

Thanks for the cunning plan. I need to remember to revive this thread a month or so before we sail!:D

[Gracie115]

[quote name='scifimonkey']Thanks for the cunning plan. I need to remember to revive this thread a month or so before we sail!:D[/QUOTE]

Ha! Great idea, should revive this thread every couple months....keep the crowds down at Blu that way!!!......:):D

[vulcan1971]

[quote name='cruiseerf']Lastly, While Celebrity has said they are putting a suite dining room in play, they have NOT said WHERE they are putting this? and what they are removing?? The dining room must have the capability to handle fresh hot meals....And I don't see Celebrity putting in new kitchens etc for 160 people....so I expect they will take space from another venue. Wherever it is, we will welcome it. Your guess is as good as mine.

Safe sails to all.[/QUOTE]

It has been public knowledge for some time that Celebrity will carve out a portion of the MDR to create the suite dining room.



Sent from my Samsung Note 2 on the T-Mobile 4G LTE Network

[lexdisic]

We were on a 28 day B2B on Millie. The first leg was very inconsistant, with numerous diners sending meals back for not being cooked as ordered - overdone in most cases. We were told that it was because of the change in chef - surely there has to be more than one :rolleyes: We found it to be more hit and miss after 8.00pm when the crowds started - it just seemed that they struggled when it got busy. The kitchen used is the same one as used by the MDR, not a separate one, but we did not hear of anything similar happening in the MDR. There was slight improvement on the second leg.
Breakfasts, as usual, were superb. The first leg had shortages, in particular, the fruit - no bananas or berries, but it didnt seem to affect the wonderful smoothies. The second leg had no shortages
The staff were outstanding for both breakfast and dinner - any problems we encountered were from the kitchen.
We have been looking at another B2B on Millie, and have decided not to go AQ because of the problems, which may or may not remain unresolved as long as its a shared kitchen. Can only assume that not enough kitchen staff were allocated to Blu. We never ate in the MDR for dinner so dont have any comparison, but from all accounts, we will miss the quietness and relaxed atmosphere - as well as the breakfasts and superb staff.

[Iamcruzin]

[quote name='cruiseerf']IMHO, I think this is why Celebrity is trying to find a private dining room for their suite passengers. I am not sure if it has to do with providing a luxury product OR handling the flow of passengers who want to dine at a "private venue". Blue is on overload and everyone suffers for it.[/quote]

I'm new to Celebrity and when I first started reading about Blu and Aqua class I thought it was strange that they offered a special restaurant for this category and not for suite guests. I know that there has been a lot of negativity about the segregation of the classes so to speak but I think Celebrity has the right idea offering this feature. Not only will it free up space in Blu but it will also improve the experience for select dining guests. I'm just wondering with all of the many dining choices including the buffet and specialty will they take the space from traditional dining since there will now be in my opinion three select dining venues. I also want to add that it was my understanding from reading the site that Blu was marketed as a relaxing Spa like experience. What you described was Grand Central Station during rush hour. Edited May 30, 2014 by Iamcruzin

[Mack704]

[quote name='lexdisic']We were on a 28 day B2B on Millie. The first leg was very inconsistant, with numerous diners sending meals back for not being cooked as ordered - overdone in most cases. We were told that it was because of the change in chef - surely there has to be more than one :rolleyes: We found it to be more hit and miss after 8.00pm when the crowds started - it just seemed that they struggled when it got busy. The kitchen used is the same one as used by the MDR, not a separate one, but we did not hear of anything similar happening in the MDR. There was slight improvement on the second leg.
Breakfasts, as usual, were superb. The first leg had shortages, in particular, the fruit - no bananas or berries, but it didnt seem to affect the wonderful smoothies. The second leg had no shortages
The staff were outstanding for both breakfast and dinner - any problems we encountered were from the kitchen.
We have been looking at another B2B on Millie, and have decided not to go AQ because of the problems, which may or may not remain unresolved as long as its a shared kitchen. Can only assume that not enough kitchen staff were allocated to Blu. We never ate in the MDR for dinner so dont have any comparison, but from all accounts, we will miss the quietness and relaxed atmosphere - as well as the breakfasts and superb staff.[/QUOTE]

Just curious and playing a little devil's advocate here. How did you know or find out that numerous diners were sending back meals and for what reasons? Did you look around the room when you were dining? Did you walk around the room when you weren't dining? Did you stay at the hostess station and poll the diners as they were leaving? And for the entire dining hours? Every day? Or just a random sample? Did your waiter tell you? Did you find out from the host(ess) or Maitre' d?

I've seen many generalizations on these boards similar to the claim you made. I'm just curious how you found out. No hostility, just curiosity.

Harvey

[PinotBlanc]

[quote name='cruiseerf']Hello:

Just to clarify: At no point did we let our poor meals in Blue affect our enjoyment of the cruise. We bring our party with us ;) Also, we expect cruise food when we come onboard, not restaurant quality meals....They are cooking for 3000 people and we do indeed realize this.

Taste is also quite subjective as all of us has different tastes. Also, Where we have taken 15+ Celebrity cruises and 100+ others, we are coming from a place of experience from people who have taken one or two and enjoyed. It really depends what you compare it to. We don't begrudge people enjoying Blue at all. We just find that now on 2+ cruises we are just more and more disappointed. If you are going remember the Mantra....Early or Late....I really see this as affecting the experience and I hope people learn from our feedback.

Lastly, While Celebrity has said they are putting a suite dining room in play, they have NOT said WHERE they are putting this? and what they are removing?? The dining room must have the capability to handle fresh hot meals....And I don't see Celebrity putting in new kitchens etc for 160 people....so I expect they will take space from another venue. Wherever it is, we will welcome it. Your guess is as good as mine.

Safe sails to all.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for writing about your experience in Blu, my spell check almost changed it to Blue. No problem, just a note for the posters who wrote regarding spelling.

Another poster said Blu compares to a train station at rush hour. The point I'll make is it's to remain "resort casual" after the suite dining room opens in MDR with a formal night dress code for suite guest .

Suite gets dress code
Blu gets resort casual

Which is prime?

Penny