Suite guests in Blu - enough!

[actuarian]

1 hour ago, jjsnonna said:

 Exactly.....I think the blame lies on Celebrity for the constant adding of AQUA cabins without the facilities to handle the additional people.  

Celebrity Infinity (19 years old): 4.61% of rooms are suites and 9.86% of rooms are AQ.

Celebrity Edge (2 years old): 12.00% of rooms are suites and 7.91% of rooms are AQ.

 

Seems like it is suites that they are adding, not Aqua Class cabins.  There are 176 suites on the Edge (all but 30 being Sky Suites).  I have never been on the Edge (because my wife and I prefer the M-Class ships) but it seems hard to understand how they can provide the same perks to those 176 suites that they provide to the 50 suites on an M-Class ship.  However, with 1 1/2 times as many suites on the Edge as there are AQ cabins, it is easy to see how suite passengers could overwhelm Blu.

[Straughn]

I had an experience, regarding suites dining in Blu,  which surprised me and frankly I was not happy when I figured out what happened. We were in a CS. My SO asked the MC concierge what the Blu restaurant was for- was it a specialty restaurant? He had been looking at the menus in MC and saw something in Blu he liked. He genuinely did not know as he had never sailed in Aqua. If he had asked me, I would have explained it to him. She said that it was for Aqua class passengers, BUT, if we wanted to dine there, she would arrange it. Since we were on a longer cruise, the change of venue sounded OK and so we went around 8 PM one evening. 
 

We checked in at the desk and were seated immediately at an awful table, (but that’s another story). I had  noticed a few people seated just outside the restaurant, but didn’t focus on them. At the table, I immediately realized I had left my glasses in MC and went back to get them. As I walked out of the restaurant, a couple was at the desk demanding to know why “that couple” got seated immediately, while they had been waiting for a table. The Maitre’d said and I quote” those folks are in a suite and have a reservation made by the Michael’s Club concierge. We have to accommodate them.” At this point I stopped a few feet away  to hear the rest of the conversation. The lady then said that they would like a reservation for 8PM every night. The Maitre’d told her that no reservations for Aqua passengers, only suites.
 

The next day, I went to the MC concierge and said that I didn’t think it was fair that Aqua class passengers were made to wait to accommodate us. We should be treated the same as any one else waiting for a table and been told that we would be seated when there was a table available. If I have a reservation at a shoreside restaurant, arrive on time, we sometimes have to wait. It should be the same in Blu.

 

 I also had an opportunity to have a similar conversation with the Hotel Director. He said that it was very nice of me to be considerate of other folks who were waiting. But, many of my fellow suite passengers don’t have that mindset and expect to be seated when they show up- with or without a reservation. It was pretty clear that Blu was expected to accommodate suites passengers on demand, at the expense of the Aqua class folks. 

Edited February 6, 2020 by Straughn

[julia]

Straughn:  Thank you SO MUCH for this insight into what you experienced in Blu as a suite guest.  Very, very informative.

 

Celebrity:  Listen up.  Really.  Give people what they've paid for, without compromise.  This thread is highlighting a flaw in your system... one that can be rectified with some coordination.  We have an active and experienced roll call on the Solstice in May, with many of us in AQ.  Overcrowding and long waits will not go over well.

[Pushka]

Conversely as a Suite booking also provides the option of dining in Aqua then they too can rightly say they should be getting what they paid for too. (Not cruised in a suite btw). 
 

I do agree that a suite booking should not supersede anyone in the queue. That would make me mad.  

[terrydtx]

4 hours ago, Pushka said:

Conversely as a Suite booking also provides the option of dining in Aqua then they too can rightly say they should be getting what they paid for too. (Not cruised in a suite btw). 
 

I do agree that a suite booking should not supersede anyone in the queue. That would make me mad.  

Where in any list of Suites amenities is it listed that dining in Blu is included?  I have not seen it anywhere. The only thing I have seen for Suites Amenities  is exclusive access to Luminae for suites guests. Nothing about included use of Blu other than the exclusive use by Aqua class guests.

Edited February 6, 2020 by terrydtx

[hvbaskey]

17 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Where in any list of Suites amenities is it listed that dining in Blu is included?  I have not seen it anywhere. The only thing I have seen for Suites Amenities  is exclusive access to Luminae for suites guests. Nothing about included use of Blu other than the exclusive use by Aqua class guests.

 

It does not state it in writing; it’s a carry over (grandfathered) from when there was no Luminae, Suite guests were invited to dine in BLU on a space available basis.   

[Pushka]

18 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Where in any list of Suites amenities is it listed that dining in Blu is included?  I have not seen it anywhere. The only thing I have seen for Suites Amenities  is exclusive access to Luminae for suites guests. Nothing about included use of Blu other than the exclusive use by Aqua class guests.

 

Just now, hvbaskey said:

 

It does not state it in writing; it’s a carry over (grandfathered) from when there was no Luminae, Suite guests were invited to dine in BLU on a space available basis.   

Actually it is stated in writing here:

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/Tradeshow_in_a_Box/16050098_CEL_Suite_Class_Flyer.pdf

 

[hvbaskey]

8 minutes ago, Pushka said:

 

Actually it is stated in writing here:

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/Tradeshow_in_a_Box/16050098_CEL_Suite_Class_Flyer.pdf

 

 

Well there you go!

[terrydtx]

12 minutes ago, Pushka said:

Actually it is stated in writing here:

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/Tradeshow_in_a_Box/16050098_CEL_Suite_Class_Flyer.pdf

This appears to be an old flyer from 2016 and may not be the case now.

 

Here is a link from Celebrity's website today with the list of Suites Amenities and nothing about any access to Blu.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/staterooms/suite-class/celebrity-suite

[TeeRick]

16 hours ago, actuarian said:

You are missing the point.  This has nothing to do with compensating AQ guests but simply with eliminating overcrowding.  For simplification, suppose that a ship carries 100 suite guests and 200 AQ guests and that Luminae has a capacity of 100 and Blu has a capacity of 200.  If 10 of the suite guests decide to dine at Blu, there will be only 90 guests at Luminae and 210 guests at Blu.  Therefore, Luminae will have empty tables and Blu will be overcrowded.  However, if 10 AQ guests are invited to Luminae, then each restaurant will be exactly at capacity.

 

Of course, this will not be of much use if either restaurant does not have enough capacity to even accommodate the people in the class it was designed to serve.  However, that would be a different problem unrelated to the issue raised by the OP.

No point is being missed by C-Dragons.  The premise of your argument is that suite guests are causing the overcrowding in Blu.  They might contribute a bit to it but they are not the main cause.  The restaurant is too small for the number of Aqua guests on ships like Reflection.  I would bet that on nights where no suite guests dined in Blu there would be still a wait for Aqua guests at peak times.  

[MEcruzr]

It's in writing on the website. Go to the page that describes Blu and scroll to the bottom  where it says "Insider Tips". It's there.

 

Insider Tips

Exclusively for AquaClass® guests.

Dinner menu changes daily.

Blu features open seating and reservations are not required.

Suite guests welcome upon availability.

[Mimiya11]

Interesting that the Reflection seems to be pointed out several times in this thread.  Four of us were in AQ on the Reflection last year on a Baltic cruise (fabulous by the way).  Other than the first night (where we chose to eat in the Tuscan Grille), we never experienced any of the "suite" issues being discussed.  As a matter of fact, most nights we showed up at 7/7:30 and we were seated within minutes and always with the waitstaff we preferred.   Were there ever line ups? Yes, but we never experienced anything that some people have detailed.   Doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but this was not our experience.  

 

I do agree though that Suite Guests should just be given a Blu menu while dining in Luminae.  Blu is a pretty tight venue during peak hours.    

 

[Wine-O]

20 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

No point is being missed by C-Dragons.  The premise of your argument is that suite guests are causing the overcrowding in Blu.  They might contribute a bit to it but they are not the main cause.  The restaurant is too small for the number of Aqua guests on ships like Reflection.  I would bet that on nights where no suite guests dined in Blu there would be still a wait for Aqua guests at peak times.  

They illuminated some of that overcrowding in Blu by changing out the AQ Suites to S1's.  🍷

[bEwAbG]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Where in any list of Suites amenities is it listed that dining in Blu is included?  I have not seen it anywhere. The only thing I have seen for Suites Amenities  is exclusive access to Luminae for suites guests. Nothing about included use of Blu other than the exclusive use by Aqua class guests.

 

Bottom of the page describing Blu: "Suite guests welcome upon availability."  It's also in plenty of other marketing materials.

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/eat-and-drink/restaurants-and-cafes/blu

[terrydtx]

5 minutes ago, MEcruzr said:

It's in writing on the website. Go to the page that describes Blu and scroll to the bottom  where it says "Insider Tips". It's there.

 

Insider Tips

Exclusively for AquaClass® guests.

Dinner menu changes daily.

Blu features open seating and reservations are not required.

Suite guests welcome upon availability.

I stand corrected thank you pointing this out. However under no circumstances should a suites guest be able to make a reservation in Blu as reported earlier and seated ahead of waiting Aqua guests.

 

Also how in one sentence can Celebrity say Exclusively for AquaClass® guests and in another Suite guests welcome upon availability.?  This hardly makes AquaClass use of Blu "Exclusive". 

[actuarian]

32 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

No point is being missed by C-Dragons.  The premise of your argument is that suite guests are causing the overcrowding in Blu.  They might contribute a bit to it but they are not the main cause.  The restaurant is too small for the number of Aqua guests on ships like Reflection.  I would bet that on nights where no suite guests dined in Blu there would be still a wait for Aqua guests at peak times.  

Actually, it was the OP who suggested that suite guests are causing the overcrowding at Blu.  If that is not the case, then I am not sure what the point of this whole thread is. 

 

The Reflection is a special case; it has 20 more Aqua Class rooms (on deck 12) than the other S-Class ships even though Blu is the same size on the Reflection as on the other S-Class ships.  I do not think that Blu is as crowded on any other ship as it is on the Reflection.

[MEcruzr]

5 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

I stand corrected thank you pointing this out. However under no circumstances should a suites guest be able to make a reservation in Blu as reported earlier and seated ahead of waiting Aqua guests.

 

Also how in one sentence can Celebrity say Exclusively for AquaClass® guests and in another Suite guests welcome upon availability.?  This hardly makes AquaClass use of Blu "Exclusive". 

Well.. because AQ guests can walk in and expect to be seated. No one else can do that. Suite guests can't do that. They need to ask. One thing to consider, if a suite guest makes a reservation it means they are being told when to be there. The extra guests are planned for in advance. Without reservations they could show up at peak times compounding issues. I suspect the suite guests who were seated ahead of waiting AQ guests were in an upper suite, probably a PH. I've been in a PH twice and X shoreside specifically said to me, "You're in the PH. No one will say no to you." If you get PH guests who expect this, who are not considerate, who are entitled and take advantage of that, then you're apt to see things that do not seem fair. Both times we were in the PH we ate in the MDR by choice, not Luminae!

[luckyinpa]

as a non celebrity person researching X, now i understand when someone told me in the beginning there are many more classes on X. it makes my head spin how much you gotta keep track of to make sure someone else doesnt get your perk nor something you feel they dont deserve. thats a lotta work on a vacaction! doesnt it stress you all out? (evidence in this thread indicates yes)

 

NCL does it so much better..there's haven, and peons. 2 simple classes. peons cannot get in nor anywhere near haven. maybe X needs to take a lesson from there because there's obviously divisiveness here even between the upper classes.  soon the peons are gonna overrun the place....then what...

[Amolin]

We just got off a cruise on the Edge where we were in a suite.  In the past we have stayed in both suite and AQ cabins, all on S class ships.  In the past in Luminae we were given menus from the MD and if I remember correctly Blu and ordered from all.  On the Edge we were told that since the Luminae kitchen was too far from the others we could only order from Luminae menu.  On the second day we asked to see the dinner menu after breakfast.  As we looked at it my husband said he didn't see anything that appealed to him.  The hostess said no problem - feel free to eat at Blu or MD if you prefer.  We asked if we needed to let them know and were told just show up.  That night we tried Blu.  Arrived about 8:30 and were given a beeper and told it would be a 15 minute wait.  There were several others around with beepers.  We were seated on time and shortly after the room cleared out - I guess people leaving for the late show.  When we left the hostess made a comment about how many suite guests ate at Blu because they liked the food better.

 

We had several other nights where nothing in Luminae appealed to us and we did other options.  Others have mentioned here that different preparations could be requested.  We have never heard that and would gladly have done that if we had known of the option.

 

Perhaps the menu in Luminae should be adjusted if this many people are not eating there, or guests should be told of the option to customize their entree.

 

[Gordoncruickshank]

1 hour ago, luckyinpa said:

as a non celebrity person researching X, now i understand when someone told me in the beginning there are many more classes on X. it makes my head spin how much you gotta keep track of to make sure someone else doesnt get your perk nor something you feel they dont deserve. thats a lotta work on a vacaction! doesnt it stress you all out? (evidence in this thread indicates yes)

 

NCL does it so much better..there's haven, and peons. 2 simple classes. peons cannot get in nor anywhere near haven. maybe X needs to take a lesson from there because there's obviously divisiveness here even between the upper classes.  soon the peons are gonna overrun the place....then what...

That is a bit like the Yacht Club on MSC.

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, luckyinpa said:

as a non celebrity person researching X, now i understand when someone told me in the beginning there are many more classes on X. it makes my head spin how much you gotta keep track of to make sure someone else doesnt get your perk nor something you feel they dont deserve. thats a lotta work on a vacaction! doesnt it stress you all out? (evidence in this thread indicates yes)

 

NCL does it so much better..there's haven, and peons. 2 simple classes. peons cannot get in nor anywhere near haven. maybe X needs to take a lesson from there because there's obviously divisiveness here even between the upper classes.  soon the peons are gonna overrun the place....then what...

Celebrity only has 2 booking classes that involve a private or exclusive dining venue,  Suites Class and Aqua Class. All other cabin categories have access to the MDR and Specialty Restaurants (for a fee) We have not sailed in a Suite with Celebrity yet, but they have a whole lot more Suites amenities than other lines like HAL and Princess, they are also in some cases more in cost too. IMHO HAL has the least amount of amenities compared to Celebrity. HAL has nothing close to Aqua Class either and that is why after 10 years of exclusive sailing with HAL we are booked next year in Aqua Class with Celebrity. I am looking forward to the use of the Blu restaurant. On M class Celebrity ships we can also order off the MDR menu if there is nothing on the Blu menu that day we want to try, so I see no reason to ever use the MDR.

Edited February 6, 2020 by terrydtx

[C-Dragons]

8 minutes ago, Amolin said:

 

We had several other nights where nothing in Luminae appealed to us and we did other options.  Others have mentioned here that different preparations could be requested.  We have never heard that and would gladly have done that if we had known of the option.

 

Perhaps the menu in Luminae should be adjusted if this many people are not eating there, or guests should be told of the option to customize their entree.

 

There are two main problems with the menu in Luminae (which we have discussed with other guests). The first is that some of the dishes created by Chef Boulud for Luminae aren’t universally liked by guests eating there. The second problem is that the menus are repeated on cruises longer than a week, which brings us back to problem number one. It's been suggested that X needs to change the Chef. 😉
 

If we find nothing appealing on the menu (no matter which dining venue we're in) it has been our experience that a good waiter will always ask for, and even suggest, alternatives. Also, it doesn’t hurt to have a chat with the Maitre'D, who definitely wants to make sure you are happy. 

[Gordoncruickshank]

31 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

There are two main problems with the menu in Luminae (which we have discussed with other guests). The first is that some of the dishes created by Chef Boulud for Luminae aren’t universally liked by guests eating there. The second problem is that the menus are repeated on cruises longer than a week, which brings us back to problem number one. It's been suggested that X needs to change the Chef. 😉
 

If we find nothing appealing on the menu (no matter which dining venue we're in) it has been our experience that a good waiter will always ask for, and even suggest, alternatives. Also, it doesn’t hurt to have a chat with the Maitre'D, who definitely wants to make sure you are happy. 

Actually there are 14 Luminae menus so they will only repeat if the cruise is longer than 14 days. They do repeat on 7 day b2b cruises.

 

They also now have 6 lunch menus which is a big improvement on the 3 initial ones they had and also enough not to repeat on the days that Luminae is open for lunch - sea days.

[calicakes]

2 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

peons cannot get in nor anywhere near haven.

Unless of course you're the guest of someone who is in a Haven suite.  I took my first and last cruise on NCL June 2018.  My friends were in Haven, we were in the room right next door( Aft balcony).  They invited us to breakfast and a dinner in the Haven restaurant.  The difference between Haven v. peons is like night and day.  Their food was a lot better than the food we were served.  

[calicakes]

46 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

The first is that some of the dishes created by Chef Boulud for Luminae aren’t universally liked by guests eating there. The second problem is that the menus are repeated on cruises longer than a week, which brings us back to problem number one. It's been suggested that X needs to change the Chef. 😉

This is what I'm worried about re: our first suite cruise in December.  My wife is very picky.  There were more than a few nights we were in Blu that she asked for a steak or chicken breast from the MDR.  I can't imagine her liking very much in Luminae.  I'm not a "foodie" that will eat absolutely anything either.  I don't eat beef,  raw tomatoes, salmon, blue cheese, etc.  I always end up modifying something that I order.  I hope they don't consider us the "problem children".