Aft or Sweet 16 ?

[Goodtime Cruizin]

We're researching and considering an Alaskan Cruise on the Millienium in August 2016. Vancouver to Seward. A few questions..

 

1. Am I right to understand that the Afts are A1 priced and include upgrades like the Blu Dining room?

 

2. The Sweet 16 cabins are priced as C2 but does not include upgrades such as Blu?

 

3. Are Aft balconies as large as the Sweet 16 balconies?

 

4. The difference in cost between an Aft (A1) & a Sweet 16 (C2) is $700 for both of us. Is the food & service that much better in Blu than the MDR?

 

Thanks!

Edited January 16, 2015 by Goodtime Cruizin

[Wine-O]

We're researching and considering an Alaskan Cruise on the Millienium in August 2016. Vancouver to Seward. A few questions..

 

1. Am I right to understand that the Afts are A1 priced and include upgrades like the Blu Dining room?

 

2. The Sweet 16 cabins are priced as C2 but does not include upgrades such as Blu?

 

3. Are Aft balconies as large as the Sweet 16 balconies?

 

4. The difference in cost between an Aft (A1) & a Sweet 16 (C2) is $700 for both of us. Is the food & service that much better in Blu than the MDR?

 

Thanks!

 

Only Aqua Class and Suites (on an availability basis only) will have access to Blu. There are other aft cabins on deck 7-9 which are FV and C1's that have larger balconies than the 2C (Sweet 16). There are only a few (4-5) A1's on Deck 11 aft that have large balconies.

 

Food & service is very subjective. Some people love Blu and some do not. Some love the MDR and some do not.

[Lsimon]

We're researching and considering an Alaskan Cruise on the Millienium in August 2016. Vancouver to Seward. A few questions..

 

1. Am I right to understand that the Afts are A1 priced and include upgrades like the Blu Dining room?

No. The aft cabins on the M class ships include AQ cabins, priced as such, on deck 11 and do have Blu access. The aft cabins on decks 7 to 9 are either C1 cabins or FV cabins, priced as such, and have no access to Blu. The aft cabins on deck 6 are the Penthouse Suites.

 

2. The Sweet 16 cabins are priced as C2 but does not include upgrades such as Blu?

The Sweet 16 cabins are category 2C so they are priced well below C2 cabins in all but the most unusual cases. They have no upgraded privileges or amenities but do have verandas twice the size of most standard veranda cabins.

 

3. Are Aft balconies as large as the Sweet 16 balconies?

The aft verandas on the C1, and FV cabins are much larger than the sweet 16 balconies. I've never been on an aft AQ veranda on M class ships. The aft Penthouse verandas are larger than an entire Sweet 16 stateroom including its veranda.

 

4. The difference in cost between an Aft (A1) & a Sweet 16 (C2) is $700 for both of us. Is the food & service that much better in Blu than the MDR?

While there are many cruisers that love Blue and book AQ cabins just for the access to Blu there are others that do not like the Blu menu and prefer the MDR. My impression is that, of those that have tried Blu, most prefer it but I don't know if that is necessarily the case.

 

Thanks!

 

See my answers above in red.

 

Again C2 is a concierge class cabin and not a Sweet Sixteen cabin.

The sweet 16 cabins are all category 2C cabins - standard veranda cabins with larger verandas. But not all 2C cabins are sweet sixteen cabins.

 

The term Sweet 16 is one coined and used on Cruise Critic. Most TA's and Celebrity personnel will not be familiar with that term and most will be unaware that the sweet 16 cabins even have a larger than average veranda.

[wwcruisers]

Larry is right -- there is a huge difference between cost of a "Sweet Sixteen" cabin, which is a regular verandah "2C" cabin, and a Concierge Class "C-2" cabin. I don't have any personal experience the the aft Aqua Class cabins, but we have stayed in both a "Sweet Sixteen" and a C-1 aft balcony cabin, on Millie Class ships. The Sweet Sixteen balconies are basically double-depth balconies, but the C-1 aft balconies are HUGE!

 

And (of course) Larry is right on another point: the "Sweet Sixteens" are the best-kept secret in the X fleet. Not only do most booking agents and TA's not know about them, but the Future Cruise Consultants who work on the Millie Class ships probably won't know what you're talking about. If you are interested in booking one, your best bet is to familiarize yourself with the Millie Class deck plans, so you'll know these cabin numbers:

Starboard:6016-6030; Port: 6021-6035.

 

Good luck, and let us know what you chose! :cool:

[phoenix_dream]

Is this a 7 day cruise? If so, I would never pay that much extra to get Aqua Class, even though we love that category. We are fans of Blu (for breakfast as well as dinner) but that is a really large differential. Everyone is different but for us I think we would pay up to around $100pp for a 7 day cruise over a CC cabin. On M class, both the CC and AQ cabins are larger than the standard balcony, so it is worth it to book one of them IMHO. We have stayed in Sweet 16's and liked them very much - nice size balcony, and good, quiet location. We have also stayed in A1 cabins on Deck 11 (on the Summit) and really liked those although their balconies are no larger. They are, however, newer than other AQ cabins, and are very conveniently located to Blu and the buffet.