First time Aqua Class Not Enamored

[radiationman]

So just returned today from the 8 day Summit repo San Juan to Bayonne. Have cruised Celebrity numerous times and have heard good things about aqua class mostly regarding Blu restaurant. Decided to try this trip. Blu is open seating. We were immediately put off first two nights when we arrived about 7:30 pm and were handed beepeers and asked to wait for a table. Not acceptable for an upscaled upcharged venue. Should have capacity to seat all when arriving. It is advertised as an upscale "clean" establishment. Menus seemed pretentious and overly complicated. The dishes are poorly executed, not very tasty. Plenty of poorly prepared and overly thick sauces. Waiters did not explain the menu.

 

Aqua class room was nothing special, a lttle air freshiner, a larger table on the veranda, and a few jets in the shower.

 

Interested in any ones recent experiences?

 

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[hcat]

For a bit I thought you mistook Luminae for Blu..For our taste menus are very simple and clean in BLU..but we have not been on Summit in sev yrs so cant compare to other ships

 

Sorry u were disappointed

[msmayor]

I admittedly have never sailed Celebrity yet, but just assumed Blu was complimentary for Aqua Class...you have to pay extra to eat there?

[radiationman]

Yes Blu is complimentary w aqua class but it is the sole reason we chose to pay for aqua class

 

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[jelayne]

Sorry Blu & Aqua Class didn’t meet your expectations.

 

To expect any dining room to have seating for all assigned to eat there at the same time is a bit unrealistic. If that were the case the dining rooms would be twice as large, reducing the other public venues and the number of cabins. Then the cost of the cruise would go up significantly.

[ebtrip]

Sailed on the Infinity South American cruise in Aqua Class.. it was same price as our Concierge class so we upgraded. Everything was First class from hostess to food to service. Did wait for a table one evening as we requested a window, but was escorted to the bar and given a glass of champagne. On our next cruise we are sailing in Sky Suite so Luminae will be our restaurant.. after that we have an Aqua Class again. Sorry you didn’t have a great experience..

[warmwinds]

How long did you have to wait for a table at 7:30?

 

After those first 2 nights, did you come at a different time? Did you still have to wait?

 

I've never found the food particularly "clean" or "simple" but I've liked almost everything I've had, with of course a few exceptions, which I think is to be expected.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

If you arrive at a prime time you need to expect a wait at times while earlier diners finish and leave. We've even had to wait for a .table in Luminae on occasion. Waiters in any restaurant we've dined in have answered questions about the menu. We often order sauces on the side so we can control the quantity.

[Iamthesea]

We were immediately put off first two nights when we arrived about 7:30 pm and were handed beepeers and asked to wait for a table.

 

We had the same experience with the wait time on our most recent cruise on the Solstice. Never had to wait more than a couple of seconds for a table in Blu on our 7 other AQ cruises. We tried many different time frames and were still handed the bleeping beeper! Service was subpar, the waiters taxed, but we thought the food good to great. My DH was not happy with the overall experience.

 

We are trying Luminae for a 4th time next month. Have not been overly impressed with the food before, but the service has been great! When in Luminae, we were often eating in AQ because the food was more appealing. I think that's one of the problems...Suite guest in Blu at night.

[Duanerice1]

Sorry to hear that - we've been pleased every time. And yea, a restaurant can't be expected to hold everyone. That's just unrealistic.

 

Did I like everything in Blu, nope but that's OK, I don't like everything in any restaurant I go to. Food was pretty good.

[Toronto Guy]

We think both food and service in Blu has gone down significantly. We decided on our last cruise to not sail AQ any longer as a result.

[gek]

We think both food and service in Blu has gone down significantly. We decided on our last cruise to not sail AQ any longer as a result.

 

On the other hand, I though our March cruise was our best Blu experience so far. I guess it can depend on what waiters you get and how efficiently the galley is operating on a particular ship. Nevertheless I still think the worst Blu experience is streets ahead of the MDR. I guess it depends on what you are willing to pay.

 

We are early eaters so we are usually seated shortly after 6. We often see a lot of people arriving around 6:45 so it's no surprise that you would wait for a table at 7:30. Everyone is either just finishing up or halfway through their meal.

[ghstudio]

Unfortunately, the one thing that's consistent on Celebrity ships is inconsistency.

 

We have sailed aqua, dining in blu five times. Each experience is different....on one, you were lucky to find the (as in 1) wine steward anywhere in Blu. On another, I challenged them to produce a poached egg for breakfast that wasn't hard (never happened). On another we were sure they only seasoning in the kitchen was salt. But on two, the service and food were excellent. Different ships, different cruises, different crews, etc. As far as wait times, we dine around 7 and most of the time, we've had to wait up to 15 minutes in Blu. On one cruise they gave us beepers with an offer...50% off if you wanted to eat at a specialty restaurant instead of waiting (nice offer). Blu, of course, does not take reservations.

 

Celebrity has also increased the price differential between Aqua and what we now book, 1A (on S-class) at 1B price and C2 (on M-class) at C3 price. We always choose select dining....we reserve 7 or 7:15 seating every night and we don't insist on a table for 2 (we enjoy meeting and eating with other people). We have never had to wait more than 2 or 3 minutes to be seated....and in our opinion, the MDR food is pretty much equal to Blu.

 

Everyone has expectations and unfortunately everyone has different experiences (back to the inconsistency thought). Many love Aqua class and dining in Blu, and others try it and decide other options are better FOR THEM. Based on the OP's experience, my guess is that they will choose to join Toronto Guy and us and enjoy MDR dining.

[Loracpin2]

We have booked AQ on our last eight Celebrity cruises. A few years ago we were on a Silhouette Med sailing. When we arrived at BLU around 7:00pm, we were told by the Maitre'd they couldn't accommodate (although there were two tables for six available) anymore at the time and to go to the MDR for Select dining. I told her that wasn't going to happen and took a beeper. Then I went out into the waiting area, asked two other couples who were also holding beepers if they wanted to sit together, they thought it was a great idea and we all went back into BLU, told the hostess we would take the table for six. Needless to say, she was not happy.

 

Heads must have rolled that night because we overheard others who were told to go to the MDR say they were going to straight to Guest Relations and the following morning the Maitre'd couldn't be more accommodating and apologetic for the night before.

 

Based on this past January's Silhouette declining food quality experiences in BLU, we booked a regular balcony and will use the $450pp savings over Aqua class and purchase the 9 night Specialty Dining package for our January 2019 sailing on the Silhouette.

[Tyler80]

Unfortunately no dining venue onboard can accommodate all guests at once. My first night on Silhouette I too had to wait, and was given a pager. But after that my wife and I adjusted our timing and went to the show first and then to dinner, which was after the dinner rush. We were happy with Aqua Class and the Blu dining experience and can't wait to sail Celebrity's Aqua Class again!

[Wiltonian]

Sorry Blu & Aqua Class didn’t meet your expectations.

 

To expect any dining room to have seating for all assigned to eat there at the same time is a bit unrealistic. If that were the case the dining rooms would be twice as large, reducing the other public venues and the number of cabins. Then the cost of the cruise would go up significantly.

 

Precisely! A quite unrealistic expectation. If you want the absolute certainty of a table at any time, try the Grills on the Cunards (or Britannia Club), but you'll pay for the privilege.

 

Stuart

[TomMMD]

Sorry about your experience. We have found we like Blu on the Solstice ships but we have eaten at Blu on the Summit as well & were not disappointed.

 

We have never waited more than a few minutes but we go earlier than you did.

 

 

 

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[AidenL]

Never had a wait in Blu, going Aqua again in June, so will report back afterwards.

[archerniak]

We've been on the Summit numerous times and love Blu - have never had a bad experience. We eat early, so we are always there upon opening and always get our favorite window seat. We love the food and service in Blu and is the main reason we book Aqua class.

[dkjretired]

We've been on the Summit numerous times and love Blu - have never had a bad experience. We eat early, so we are always there upon opening and always get our favorite window seat. We love the food and service in Blu and is the main reason we book Aqua class.

 

 

Same with us, we eat early, never had a problem waiting. Just depends on when you go.

[kasowell2]

We were recently on Silhouette and had the dining package but ate two nights in Blu. We had better service and in our opinion better food in Blu

[awhfy]

Tried Aqua class once. Enjoyed Blu for breakfast. DH was very unhappy at dinner (& this is a guy that never complains). When we were flying home from that cruise he said, ok we experimented can we go back to my concierge cabin (better locations) & MDR (better food) now? I concurred & that’s where we’ll stay. He did like the showers in Aqua

 

 

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[phoenix_dream]

We have sailed Aqua Class probably at least 10 times on various ships. Some experiences are a bit better than others, but overall we love it.

 

You tried it, you didn't like it, don't book it again (your choice). Problem solved.

[jlbaker]

We always eat early so we never have issues with having to wait. We sailed on the Solstice within the 1st couple weeks of its launch in Aqua class and have never looked back. We much prefer the smaller dining room, have always had great service. We've only done one cruise on the non-Solstice class ship with the converted option to Aqua class and it did seem a little tougher for the staff to deliver. Still fine but I think the kitchen is farther away on the ships with the conversion.

[BlueLobster]

Sorry you didn't enjoy your Blu experience on the Summit. We've been on the Summit twice, and have two more cruises scheduled on the Summit (in July and December), and have done Aqua Class every time. We have had some inconsistency with the maitre d, but the food and waitstaff have always been excellent.