Suite guests in Blu - enough!

[Cruise a holic]

1 minute ago, Gracie115 said:

 

 

Actually originally they paid $10.00 and then it was reduced to $5.00 and, yes, this was before Luminae.  Aqua gained such a great reputation that suite guests started wanting that venue and the solution was to charge a nominal fee and then Luminae was created which "SHOULD" have eliminated the desire for that venue....according to this thread it has not.

 

I do not recall AQ getting a great reputation.  Yes, the private restaurant concept is great- but honestly, food repetitive after a few sailings- how much hummas and veggies can one person stand!

[RichYak]

Now we're gonna need another thread about those darned entitled AQ guests taking up space in the MDR. 😂

 

 

[fstuff1]

5 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

Actually originally they paid $10.00 and then it was reduced to $5.00 and, yes, this was before Luminae.  Aqua gained such a great reputation that suite guests started wanting that venue and the solution was to charge a nominal fee and then Luminae was created which "SHOULD" have eliminated the desire for that venue....according to this thread it has not.

 

wow.. celebrity dropped the ball on this.

when luminare was created, they should have stopped suite guests from booking Blu immediately.

 

now if they stop, it would look like they are taking away a suite perk.

so Aqua's are screwed in this regard.

no way will Celebrity want to displease the MUCH higher paying suites.

 

what they should have done with the Edge class was to start prohibiting suites from booking Blu.

then slowly migrate that rule to M and S-classes.

again, too late now

[Gracie115]

10 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

I do not recall AQ getting a great reputation.  Yes, the private restaurant concept is great- but honestly, food repetitive after a few sailings- how much hummas and veggies can one person stand!

I remember it very clearly.  Blu was a huge success when introduced back in 2009 on Solstice.  I remember discussions on these boards from suite guests wanting access because of the smaller, quieter venue that it is/was as compared to the MDR.   When we sailed in our first suite in 2012 we were among those who paid that extra $10.00 per person to dine there.  

 

The concept of Luminae actually came out of the Blu concept.  

 

When we get bored with a particular food we've always just asked for a change so we never over did the "hummas & veggies"😁

[warmwinds]

26 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

I do not recall AQ getting a great reputation.  Yes, the private restaurant concept is great- but honestly, food repetitive after a few sailings- how much hummas and veggies can one person stand!

No hummus and veggies on our recent sailing.  They alternated between a couple of different dips - I recall one beet and one corn and one green and something else - you used them on your bread, no veggies, which I missed (I guess the dips themselves were the veggies).  But our waiter made sure we had plenty of veggies with our dinners.

[luckyinpa]

1 hour ago, Orator said:

A little history

Originally Blu was developed as an exclusive Aqua Class perk. There was a small charge , $5.00 if a Suite passenger wanted to dine there if there was space. Later the  charge was eliminated, but the space requirement wasn't. Luminae was created as the. Suite dining venue and a charge established for non Suite passengers to dine there with an invitation from a Suite passenger. Several Zeniths requested to dine there and they were denied under the justification that it was exclusively for Suites passengers and that allowing zeniths to use it would make it non exclusive. The same reasoning could be used for Blu and I think it should be. Personally, I've never waited too long for a table and I've been in AQ Class more than 40 cruises. However, Celebrity has every right to create the rules as it's their ships, their rules.

 

i better not see any non CC people at my sailaway lunch in the MDR. ill be checking the computer screen as everyone enters to be sure!  wondering if anyone else ever tried to crash the CC lunch ? 

 

i still think X has too many classes...seeing all these updates makes it true that there are hard feelings. why would a cruise line want to introduce stress into their ships like this? 

[luckyinpa]

36 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Now we're gonna need another thread about those darned entitled AQ guests taking up space in the MDR. 😂

 

 

 

ban all but the peons in the MDR, problem solved. ill send you my bill

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

24 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

 

i better not see any non CC people at my sailaway lunch in the MDR. ill be checking the computer screen as everyone enters to be sure!  wondering if anyone else ever tried to crash the CC lunch ? 

 

i still think X has too many classes...seeing all these updates makes it true that there are hard feelings. why would a cruise line want to introduce stress into their ships like this? 

 

It seems to me that the "hard feelings" are only experienced by those who want a bargain basement cruise but with all the extras that others are paying more for.  Just like on airplanes, where there are many different classes at different price points.  Or hotels.  I don't see people fighting about that.

[phoenix_dream]

On 2/12/2020 at 7:35 AM, TeeRick said:

First off not in any way is that number correct.  And nobody is slumming on any part of a Celebrity ship.

I agree about the slumming part.  But I can tell you on our last cruise our Maitre d' told us that 1/3 of the suite guests were eating in Blu every night.  He said there were 60 suite guests onboard and 20 of them were eating in Blu.  That was exactly the numbers he said.  I am not saying that number applies to every cruise, but apparently it did on my last one.

[Ma Bell]

It must be tiring trying to keep track of everyone's status. Each cruise is an experience unto itself and there can be any number of reasons why a certain venue is crowded. Personally, I doubt that most suite passengers would give a hoot whether they could go to Blu or not. When I want a change there are plenty of other choices including the buffet and room service.

 

It seems that one of the biggest problems is people worrying about what others may be getting. One thing I have learned in my fairly long life so far is to appreciate what I have when I have it and don't be envious of others.  

[Ma Bell]

3 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

I agree about the slumming part.  But I can tell you on our last cruise our Maitre d' told us that 1/3 of the suite guests were eating in Blu every night.  He said there were 60 suite guests onboard and 20 of them were eating in Blu.  That was exactly the numbers he said.  I am not saying that number applies to every cruise, but apparently it did on my last one.

Was the Maitre'd gossiping or answering a question?

[MEcruzr]

16 minutes ago, Ma Bell said:

Was the Maitre'd gossiping or answering a question?

Ooooooo... good question! Yes, under what circumstances was this information shared? I'm guessing it was due to a complaint about over crowding and having to wait for a table...

 

Odd that it was the M'd who said it. It's HIS responsibility to allow or disallow suite guests into Blu. If that many suite guests were overcrowding Blu it was his fault. 

[Arubalisa]

Having sailed in Aqua Class 3 times, and Sky Suites soon to be times 3, 4 & 5, for the life of me, I do not understand why you would dine in Blu instead of Luminae? 🤔

[Ma Bell]

9 minutes ago, MEcruzr said:

Ooooooo... good question! Yes, under what circumstances was this information shared? I'm guessing it was due to a complaint about over crowding and having to wait for a table...

 

Odd that it was the M'd who said it. It's HIS responsibility to allow or disallow suite guests into Blu. If that many suite guests were overcrowding Blu it was his fault. 

Yes, it would have been a great opportunity to make a complaint rather than coming here to gripe about it.

[MEcruzr]

3 minutes ago, Ma Bell said:

Yes, it would have been a great opportunity to make a complaint rather than coming here to gripe about it.

 

I suspect that a complaint was lodged there... and then here. A complaint on board in the moment might make a difference. Here it's just venting and a form of validation. An overcrowded dining experience isn't fun. Unfortunately, the issue can't be resolved here on cruise critic. My only issue with this thread is the underlying blame placed on suite guests for the overcrowding problem. Why would/do suite guests choose to dine at Blu? Doesn't really matter, does it? It's a perk of booking a suite and some will want to try it. I do. Some day I hope to get a "yes" from the M'd. It hasn't happened yet, though!

[calicakes]

When will this thread die????  Enough already.

[phoenix_dream]

1 hour ago, Ma Bell said:

Was the Maitre'd gossiping or answering a question?

He just casually mentioned it when we were talking about how busy Blu was.  

[phoenix_dream]

59 minutes ago, calicakes said:

When will this thread die????  Enough already.

And yet you are continuing it with your post.  Just sayin'

[phoenix_dream]

1 hour ago, Ma Bell said:

Yes, it would have been a great opportunity to make a complaint rather than coming here to gripe about it.

It was brought to his attention to no avail.  As well on a couple other cruises recently with very bad crowding issues in Blu.  Nothing was done.  Coming here to 'gripe' about it may catch the eye of someone on Celebrity reading these boards.  It may also encourage others to also bring crowding issues to the maître d's attention.  If enough people are frustrated about it and aren't afraid to say so, maybe, just maybe something will change.

[MEcruzr]

1 minute ago, phoenix_dream said:

It was brought to his attention to no avail.  As well on a couple other cruises recently with very bad crowding issues in Blu.  Nothing was done.  Coming here to 'gripe' about it may catch the eye of someone on Celebrity reading these boards.  It may also encourage others to also bring crowding issues to the maître d's attention.  If enough people are frustrated about it and aren't afraid to say so, maybe, just maybe something will change.

 

I didn't take your post as griping. You have valid concerns and made valid points. 

[phoenix_dream]

1 hour ago, MEcruzr said:

 

I suspect that a complaint was lodged there... and then here. A complaint on board in the moment might make a difference. Here it's just venting and a form of validation. An overcrowded dining experience isn't fun. Unfortunately, the issue can't be resolved here on cruise critic. My only issue with this thread is the underlying blame placed on suite guests for the overcrowding problem. Why would/do suite guests choose to dine at Blu? Doesn't really matter, does it? It's a perk of booking a suite and some will want to try it. I do. Some day I hope to get a "yes" from the M'd. It hasn't happened yet, though!

I wrote the first post, and there is no 'underlying blame' placed on suite guests. That's the trouble with the written word - people sometimes assume intent which is not there.   As long as they are following the rules I have no problems with the suite guests (in fact, I sometimes sail in suites myself), nor does any other reasonable person.   The issue is with Celebrity for maintaining the rule despite overcrowding of Blu and the creation of Luminae, as well as for (often) not enforcing the 'space available' guidelines.

[MEcruzr]

9 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

I wrote the first post, and there is no 'underlying blame' placed on suite guests. That's the trouble with the written word - people sometimes assume intent which is not there.   As long as they are following the rules I have no problems with the suite guests (in fact, I sometimes sail in suites myself), nor does any other reasonable person.   The issue is with Celebrity for maintaining the rule despite overcrowding of Blu and the creation of Luminae, as well as for (often) not enforcing the 'space available' guidelines.a

I absolutely got that you weren't laying blame... other posts were not so kind.

[hcat]

Obviously, Luminae is not hitting the mark for some suite guests. 

 

We will be assigned there on  a 2021 cruise (Connie) and hoping we will adjust. We read the praise, see the photos, look at the menus....but many items on menu we would not touch..  We prefer BLU menu but got the big suite deal when Connie was re routed to Tampa,

[calicakes]

33 minutes ago, hcat said:

Obviously, Luminae is not hitting the mark for some suite guests. 

 

We will be assigned there on  a 2021 cruise (Connie) and hoping we will adjust. We read the praise, see the photos, look at the menus....but many items on menu we would not touch..  We prefer BLU menu but got the big suite deal when Connie was re routed to Tampa,

We'll be in a suite in December on connie. First time. Im sure well be able to adjust.

[hcat]

1 hour ago, calicakes said:

We'll be in a suite in December on connie. First time. Im sure well be able to adjust.

I recall  from a review we followed that you also eat "clean" as we do..Hope to hear it is easy to simplify  some of the  gourmet recipes, sauce on the side etc.