Can I pay to eat at Blu if I did not book Aqua Class?

[queenbee168]

My friend booked Aqua Class, I booked Veranda Class.  Can I pay to eat at Blu with my friend? 

[terrydtx]

Unfortunately not Blu is exclusive to only AQ Class passengers. But they can join you in the MDR if you have the select anytime dinning. If you have a set dinning time then they will not be able to join you in the MDR.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Is your friend traveling solo? Seems like I have heard that if an AQ guest is solo they may have one person join them. But I’m not sure.

[Phxazzcruisers]

Unfortunately the answer is no.  Only for guests in Aqua Class or Suites (upon availability). 

[hcat]

40 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Is your friend traveling solo? Seems like I have heard that if an AQ guest is solo they may have one person join them. But I’m not sure.

I heard  this as well,( there was a thread on CC about it) . Best  approach is to check with X. If applicable,  It would only apply for one person. ( based on theory that AQ cabins are usualy for  max of 2 people)

 

Generally , answer is NO, unless other is a  suite guest, but  subject to availabiliy.

[Jim_Iain]

Experience may vary.   While on Summit in April we asked the Restaurant Manager if we could have a guest who was not in a Suite or Aqua to dinner on one evening.  He told us that they usually charge an additional fee which I said I was willing to pay.   He was very gracious and ended up never  charging us.    I will stress that we are late diners (about 8:45-9:00 PM) and the dining room was 1/2 empty. 

 

I would approach the manager and ask.   While he may agree to one night I have never seen someone being able to dine if not in AQ or Suites for the entire cruise.

 

 

[RealBatman]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Experience may vary.   While on Summit in April we asked the Restaurant Manager if we could have a guest who was not in a Suite or Aqua to dinner on one evening.  He told us that they usually charge an additional fee which I said I was willing to pay.   He was very gracious and ended up never  charging us.    I will stress that we are late diners (about 8:45-9:00 PM) and the dining room was 1/2 empty. 

 

I would approach the manager and ask.   While he may agree to one night I have never seen someone being able to dine if not in AQ or Suites for the entire cruise.

 

 

 

With all due respect (and I sincerely mean that), as a regular Aqua class passenger, I would prefer the Blu to NOT be available to other passengers! The reason we pay the extra money to sail in Aqua, is because of the Blu restaurant. We love the food, the atmosphere, the service of the very talented and attentive staff and have never sailed any other class on Celebrity... because of the Blu!

 

The restaurant is not large enough to begin to accommodate other diners, and still be able to meet the needs of the current passenger lists. There have been a number of times where we have had to wait in line to get in. (Willingly, I might add).

 

I do appreciate that you stressed that the dining room was ½ empty at the time, and therefore not an issue. As a suite class traveller (having followed your reviews over the years, I believe you usually sail in a suite) you have Luminae restaurant to dine in, an option we Aqua travellers do not. 

 

Hopefully the Blu remains the domain of those who are paying the extra fee to sail in Aqua class. 

No disrespect intended to you, or anyone reading this thread.

[bluehengal]

We were on the Silhouette last February.   Friends of out were in AQ while we were in a regular balcony cabin.  We joined them for dinner one night in Blu with no issues and no extra fees.

[Jim_Iain]

10 minutes ago, RealBatman said:

 

With all due respect (and I sincerely mean that), as a regular Aqua class passenger, I would prefer the Blu to NOT be available to other passengers! The reason we pay the extra money to sail in Aqua, is because of the Blu restaurant. We love the food, the atmosphere, the service of the very talented and attentive staff and have never sailed any other class on Celebrity... because of the Blu!

 

The restaurant is not large enough to begin to accommodate other diners, and still be able to meet the needs of the current passenger lists. There have been a number of times where we have had to wait in line to get in. (Willingly, I might add).

 

I do appreciate that you stressed that the dining room was ½ empty at the time, and therefore not an issue. As a suite class traveller (having followed your reviews over the years, I believe you usually sail in a suite) you have Luminae restaurant to dine in, an option we Aqua travellers do not. 

 

Hopefully the Blu remains the domain of those who are paying the extra fee to sail in Aqua class. 

No disrespect intended to you, or anyone reading this thread.

 

I understand completely.  

 

On the occasion that we had a guest we were traveling in Aqua.   It was a trial run as after hitting Zenith we get most of the perks.  I have to say we really enjoyed Aqua and will do it again.    We were seated at the same 4 top for the entire cruise so am sure that no one was disadvantaged with an additional guest at our table. 

 

It was also a really weird cruise in that they shifted opening to 5:00 and most days about 80% of the passengers showed up and were on line at 5:00.   The manager said he had never experienced this before in all his cruises.   He would have to give out beepers as he couldn't accommodate everyone at one time.   When talking to the Manager he said he had to decline many suite guest that showed up because he couldn't even accommodate all his Aqua guests.

 

Like you, I think that those in Aqua should be given the highest priority and not inconvenienced by guests that have not booked Aqua.

[keesar]

4 hours ago, queenbee168 said:

My friend booked Aqua Class, I booked Veranda Class.  Can I pay to eat at Blu with my friend? 

 

I would suggest you dine together in the MDR or in a Specialty Restaurant.  They will often turn away suite guests.  Don't plan on joining your friend in Blu.

[cruisestitch]

Is your friend who is in blue traveling alone? And are you also traveling alone? That is a special circumstance and they may allow you to dine in blue with your friend.

 

This is a recent exception to the general rule that no guests are allowed in blue other than those who are booked aqua or who book suites.

[Northern Aurora]

I am also curious of the friend in the Aqua class stateroom is traveling alone.  

 

We were on the Eclipse for a B2B2B, and on the first leg someone asked the Blu maitre 'd if friends could join them. They were informed that only if someone in an Aqua stateroom is traveling alone (and obviously paying that solo supplement charge) can a guest join them in Blu.  The Blu maitre 'd had a name for it -- something like "one and plus."  On legs two and three we indeed had someone traveling along in an Aqua stateroom, and several nights they had a non-Aqua passenger join them.  I had not observed this before, but never had asked as I am traveling with a spouse.

[Pushka]

6 hours ago, RealBatman said:

 

With all due respect (and I sincerely mean that), as a regular Aqua class passenger, I would prefer the Blu to NOT be available to other passengers! The reason we pay the extra money to sail in Aqua, is because of the Blu restaurant. We love the food, the atmosphere, the service of the very talented and attentive staff and have never sailed any other class on Celebrity... because of the Blu!

 

The restaurant is not large enough to begin to accommodate other diners, and still be able to meet the needs of the current passenger lists. There have been a number of times where we have had to wait in line to get in. (Willingly, I might add).

 

I do appreciate that you stressed that the dining room was ½ empty at the time, and therefore not an issue. As a suite class traveller (having followed your reviews over the years, I believe you usually sail in a suite) you have Luminae restaurant to dine in, an option we Aqua travellers do not. 

 

Hopefully the Blu remains the domain of those who are paying the extra fee to sail in Aqua class. 

No disrespect intended to you, or anyone reading this thread.

Agree. The ONLY reason I pay extra for Aqua is to dine in blu and there was always a queue on our cruise. 

[TeaBag]

We pay extra also to travel in AQ.  I'm tired of the suite people being allowed to dine there on a space available time.  Since we do not make reservations for Blu, how does the Maitre'D know there won't be a lot of Blu people arriving after the suite people have been seated and then they have to wait for what is rightfully theirs?  What about allowing Blu people to dine in Luminae on an available basis to balance it out? 

[MamaFej]

8 hours ago, RealBatman said:

 

With all due respect (and I sincerely mean that), as a regular Aqua class passenger, I would prefer the Blu to NOT be available to other passengers!

...

Hopefully the Blu remains the domain of those who are paying the extra fee to sail in Aqua class. 

No disrespect intended to you, or anyone reading this thread.

 

8 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I understand completely.  

...

Like you, I think that those in Aqua should be given the highest priority and not inconvenienced by guests that have not booked Aqua.

Just popping in to say that I truly appreciate respectful interchanges such as this one. Message boards can be rather unpleasant places sometimes. 

This exchange makes me feel better about humanity than I did earlier today.

[hcat]

10 hours ago, bluehengal said:

We were on the Silhouette last February.   Friends of out were in AQ while we were in a regular balcony cabin.  We joined them for dinner one night in Blu with no issues and no extra fees.

Slippery slope!

[Oville]

11 minutes ago, hcat said:

Slippery slope!

Agree.  

[Donut23]

We had our best friend travel with us on the Summit to Bermuda.

 

About 10 weeks out Celebrity decided to give our handicap accessible cabin to someone else.  (We had booked months prior and completed Celebrity’s paperwork for the cabin along with a letter from my physician).

 

They gave us a regular Aqua Class cabin - no way could I deal with a traditional bathroom and no room for my scooter.

 

Anyway, we worked it out but our friend was now in an inside cabin by himself.  Customer service contacted Blu on the Summit and they allowed our friend to dine with us in Blu.

 

It can be done.

[hcat]

As  I recall, yours was a fact specific situation where Celebrity was the cause of a mismatch in cabins and made fair amends.

 

OP was asking a gen question about the " standard"  rule.  Too many exceptions will lead to even more overload, which has contributed to us taking a break from AQ class and BLU for awhile.

 

 X should stick to the published guidelines!

[BEAV]

14 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

I am also curious of the friend in the Aqua class stateroom is traveling alone.  

 

We were on the Eclipse for a B2B2B, and on the first leg someone asked the Blu maitre 'd if friends could join them. They were informed that only if someone in an Aqua stateroom is traveling alone (and obviously paying that solo supplement charge) can a guest join them in Blu.  The Blu maitre 'd had a name for it -- something like "one and plus."  On legs two and three we indeed had someone traveling along in an Aqua stateroom, and several nights they had a non-Aqua passenger join them.  I had not observed this before, but never had asked as I am traveling with a spouse.

 
I would agree the solo traveler in AQ paying 200% should be allowed to bring a second person with them into Blu. 

[terrydtx]

36 minutes ago, hcat said:

X should stick to the published guidelines!

I agree, if you are in a AQ cabin you are paying a lot more for the Prviledge and experience of eating in Blu. It cheapens the experience if non AQ passengers have access. The OP is asking if a friend (not a solo) in a non AQ cabin can join him for dinner in Blu, that would result in at least 2 non AQ passengers in Blu since he already said neither he nor his friend is a solo. 

 

I am leaving HAL because they have a private dinning room called Club Orange which originally was going to be free to all top tier suits passengers. Then they opened it up to anyone willing to pay an extra $25 to $50 pp per day to eat in Club Blu and other CO benefits.. Suite passengers on HAL no longer have the Pinnacle Grill for exclusive breakfast as that has been substituted with Club Orange for breakfast and dinner. BTW on non Pinnacle class HAL ships the CO dinning area is a roped off section of the first floor MDR, hardly an intimate private experience.

 

We have booked the Infinity for 2021 because unlike HAL  X has real benefits for higher level cabin classes.

Edited December 15, 2019 by terrydtx

[chemmo]

12 hours ago, TeaBag said:

  What about allowing Blu people to dine in Luminae on an available basis to balance it out? 

 

I honestly think that Celebrity is missing a real marketing chance here as well as missing an opportunity to ‘reward’ loyal cruisers. We are regular suite guests and there are definitely ‘lulls’ in how busy Luminae is. 

 

I don’t know quite how they could manage this but perhaps guests who had cruised Aqua 10+, 5+? could be given a bleeper on a specific night and as the M’D monitors the restaurant he could call 1/2 couples during the quiet time...Many Blu guests may not want to try Luminae anyway but it would be nice for those who want to try it to be able to give it a go...

 

 

[Donut23]

47 minutes ago, hcat said:

As  I recall, yours was a fact specific situation where Celebrity was the cause of a mismatch in cabins and made fair amends.

 

OP was asking a gen question about the " standard"  rule.  Too many exceptions will lead to even more overload, which has contributed to us taking a break from AQ class and BLU for awhile.

 

 X should stick to the published guidelines!

 

Blu was dead on our trip to Bermuda.  Our first evening there (day 3) there were 3 large tables of guests and it was as quiet as a tomb.

 

Indeed, Celebrity had a great deal to apologize for but what could it hurt to checkin at the desk at Blu and just ...... ask?

 

I was simply suggesting.  If they continue to be as slow as they were on our cruise, they may be motivated to say ...... SURE!

[phoenix_dream]

21 hours ago, RealBatman said:

 

With all due respect (and I sincerely mean that), as a regular Aqua class passenger, I would prefer the Blu to NOT be available to other passengers! The reason we pay the extra money to sail in Aqua, is because of the Blu restaurant. We love the food, the atmosphere, the service of the very talented and attentive staff and have never sailed any other class on Celebrity... because of the Blu!

 

The restaurant is not large enough to begin to accommodate other diners, and still be able to meet the needs of the current passenger lists. There have been a number of times where we have had to wait in line to get in. (Willingly, I might add).

 

I do appreciate that you stressed that the dining room was ½ empty at the time, and therefore not an issue. As a suite class traveller (having followed your reviews over the years, I believe you usually sail in a suite) you have Luminae restaurant to dine in, an option we Aqua travellers do not. 

 

Hopefully the Blu remains the domain of those who are paying the extra fee to sail in Aqua class. 

No disrespect intended to you, or anyone reading this thread.

Very nicely put and I agree 100%.  We have been on sailings where the Blu manager refused to deny any suite passengers entry into Blu, even though the lines out the door waiting were more than 10-12 couples deep (I am not exaggerating).  To further the frustration, he allowed some of the suite passengers to regularly order food off the MDR menu, which required the waiter to be off the floor a good 15 minutes at a time due to the fact that on S class the MDR kitchen is not in close proximity to Blu.  (If you wonder how I know this to be true there are multiple ways - observation, overhearing conversation of nearby tables, and from the waiter himself).  This caused long wait times for the passengers who had paid for the privilege of eating in Blu and that is just not right. 

 

I understand why before Luminae Suite passengers were allowed to eat in Blu, space permitting.  But IMHO once Luminae was created I think they should have stopped that process completely, especially true now that many ships are adding more AQ cabins during revolutionizing.  And if the food in Luminae is so unappealing to so many apparently, then I think it's time they modified the Luminae menu to add more 'standard' items in addition to or in place of what they have now.  I know we found the menu in Luminae very often not to our liking as it was too limited, had too much fancy seafood dishes and too little 'meat and potatoes' so ended up ordering off the MDR menu often.

[terrydtx]

30 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

Very nicely put and I agree 100%.  We have been on sailings where the Blu manager refused to deny any suite passengers entry into Blu, even though the lines out the door waiting were more than 10-12 couples deep (I am not exaggerating).  To further the frustration, he allowed some of the suite passengers to regularly order food off the MDR menu, which required the waiter to be off the floor a good 15 minutes at a time due to the fact that on S class the MDR kitchen is not in close proximity to Blu.  (If you wonder how I know this to be true there are multiple ways - observation, overhearing conversation of nearby tables, and from the waiter himself).  This caused long wait times for the passengers who had paid for the privilege of eating in Blu and that is just not right. 

 

I understand why before Luminae Suite passengers were allowed to eat in Blu, space permitting.  But IMHO once Luminae was created I think they should have stopped that process completely, especially true now that many ships are adding more AQ cabins during revolutionizing.  And if the food in Luminae is so unappealing to so many apparently, then I think it's time they modified the Luminae menu to add more 'standard' items in addition to or in place of what they have now.  I know we found the menu in Luminae very often not to our liking as it was too limited, had too much fancy seafood dishes and too little 'meat and potatoes' so ended up ordering off the MDR menu often.

Easy fix here make the menus in both Blu and Luminae identical then there would be no reason for Suite passengers to visit Blu. Or offer the Blu menu in Luminae plus a couple of special choices to keep Luminae special. If I was in that line with fellow AQ passengers waiting for a table, I would very vocally express my displeasure to the Blu Manager with Suite people being seated in a already crowded dinning room.