Aqua Class Cabins - Are They worth it?

[phoenix_dream]

I just want to add two more of my cents regarding comments about Blu being "healthier'.  I don't know where people get that idea.  Celebrity advertises it as 'fresh and modern and imaginative".  It is no more or less healthy than meals in any of the other standard restaurants.  Like them all, there are healthier choices and less healthy choices.  For example, one of my favorite meals there is the short ribs dinner, accompanied by a Caesar salad, with crème brulee for dessert.  If that was considered healthy I would probably be about 30 pounds thinner!

 

I am not writing this to be argumentative, but I know some people are scared off from dining in Blu thinking it has a diet-type menu.  That is simply not the case.

[cangelmd]

1 hour ago, phoenix_dream said:

I just want to add two more of my cents regarding comments about Blu being "healthier'.  I don't know where people get that idea.  Celebrity advertises it as 'fresh and modern and imaginative".  It is no more or less healthy than meals in any of the other standard restaurants.  Like them all, there are healthier choices and less healthy choices.  For example, one of my favorite meals there is the short ribs dinner, accompanied by a Caesar salad, with crème brulee for dessert.  If that was considered healthy I would probably be about 30 pounds thinner!

 

I am not writing this to be argumentative, but I know some people are scared off from dining in Blu thinking it has a diet-type menu.  That is simply not the case.

Agree, agree. Sometime early on AQ was conceived as being a "health" choice with spa priviliges and different food. The spa is only Persian Garden access, and the healthy food is long gone. I like the food in Blu, by and large, because it is a bit lighter. You cannot substitute for the MDR the way you can in Luminae because the MDR galley is not accessible on S class, I'm not sure about E or M class. Desserts are meh, but that is true all over the ship except Al Bacio and Luminae, and some of those are meh too.

[St. Louis Sal]

On 6/2/2021 at 5:05 PM, phoenix_dream said:

I just want to add two more of my cents regarding comments about Blu being "healthier'.  I don't know where people get that idea.  Celebrity advertises it as 'fresh and modern and imaginative".  It is no more or less healthy than meals in any of the other standard restaurants.  Like them all, there are healthier choices and less healthy choices.  For example, one of my favorite meals there is the short ribs dinner, accompanied by a Caesar salad, with crème brulee for dessert.  If that was considered healthy I would probably be about 30 pounds thinner!

 

I am not writing this to be argumentative, but I know some people are scared off from dining in Blu thinking it has a diet-type menu.  That is simply not the case.

You are so right.  We happened to book an AquaSpa cabin on our first cruise (Equinox) and I was so afraid my husband would hate Blu as he is a simple meat & potatoes kind of guy. He loved it! Every single cruise since, we’ve booked AquaSpa. Great for breakfast too (although I do miss table side muesli). I noticed on the Edge, the AquaSpa cabins all seem to be the infinite verandah. That might cause us to make some hard choices.

 

St Louis Sal

[highway180]

On 6/2/2021 at 7:53 PM, cangelmd said:

Agree, agree. Sometime early on AQ was conceived as being a "health" choice with spa priviliges and different food. The spa is only Persian Garden access, and the healthy food is long gone. I like the food in Blu, by and large, because it is a bit lighter. You cannot substitute for the MDR the way you can in Luminae because the MDR galley is not accessible on S class, I'm not sure about E or M class. Desserts are meh, but that is true all over the ship except Al Bacio and Luminae, and some of those are meh too.

Interesting

we almost exclusively cruise AQ on S class ships, and my wife has ALWAYS been able to order off menu in Blu. They are extremely flexible to an individuals needs/desires. I find the sommelier's in Blu to be very attentive as well., as compared to almost non existent in the MDR 

[springfire]

Blu dining is excellent for breakfast on sea days.  Dining in Blu for dinner is definitely a step up from the main dining room.   We use to enjoy Aqua class but not so much any more.  The cabin selection for Aqua is not the best and Celebrity has been cutting back on some of the benefits of Aqua class over the years.  We prefer these days to pick a nicer cabin, my wife now buys her pass to the Persian Gardens and we do a few more pay dining options.  This comes out way cheaper than getting an Aqua cabin.  We do miss Blu dining but to be honest we did get tired of eating all our meals at Blu as we enjoy exploring the other eating options on the ship.  Just adding our two cents.  Happy Cruising!

[cangelmd]

3 hours ago, highway180 said:

Interesting

we almost exclusively cruise AQ on S class ships, and my wife has ALWAYS been able to order off menu in Blu. They are extremely flexible to an individuals needs/desires. I find the sommelier's in Blu to be very attentive as well., as compared to almost non existent in the MDR 

I think that certainly if a person has allergies or other food issues, or just discusses their preferences with the staff ahead of time, they will do everything they can to accomodate a person's needs. What you can't do on the S-Class ships is ask for an MDR menu in Blu at dinner and order whatever you want off that menu right then. Frankly you wouldn't want to because the food has to travel so far it would be stone cold. I don't know about your personal situation, but I don't want to give the impression to someone unfamiliar to Celebrity that extensive ordering off menu is easy or doable in Blu.

Luminae is served from what is a carve out of the MDR galley, so it is easy to order off the MDR menu.

[DevilinaBluDress]

One of the perks that I especially liked in AQ was access to the forward waiting room for the spa. My traveling companion is my son who sleeps in much later than I do, so I would hang out in there, often alone, watching as we came into port. On the same note, I'd also pop up to the spa ladies room to shower and get ready in the morning. It was very handy because of the forward spiral staircase on S ships which was close to our cabin.

[highway180]

2 hours ago, cangelmd said:

I think that certainly if a person has allergies or other food issues, or just discusses their preferences with the staff ahead of time, they will do everything they can to accomodate a person's needs. What you can't do on the S-Class ships is ask for an MDR menu in Blu at dinner and order whatever you want off that menu right then. Frankly you wouldn't want to because the food has to travel so far it would be stone cold. I don't know about your personal situation, but I don't want to give the impression to someone unfamiliar to Celebrity that extensive ordering off menu is easy or doable in Blu.

Luminae is served from what is a carve out of the MDR galley, so it is easy to order off the MDR menu.

Actually you are incorrect

the Maitre d actually brought my wife a menu and she ordered from it . Other times he would offer suggestions that weren't on any of the menus. My wife is a very picky eater, and does get tired of their famous"airline chicken"

 

 

Her food was prompt and warm.

this is exactly why we choose AQ

[amusea]

We love Aqua and Blu and it is usually very quiet.   Except for a few inside rooms with two upper berths towards midship on Deck 9 of the M ships,  the balcony rooms on the Aqua decks on the M and S ships accommodate no more than two people. 

 

I noticed that on our upcoming Alaska sailing in August this summer that all inside rooms and all suites as well as Aqua 1 staterooms have been blocked and cannot be booked so Aqua 2 is the highest category available.  It is estimated that if the ship, which is now the Millennium rather than Summit, sails "full'" it will be at about 70% occupancy but at the moment our sailing is very wide open.  I also think that they will be able to space the tables in Blu farther apart for the Alaska sailings as suggested by the CDC.

[terrydtx]

Our mainstream cruise lines of choice are HAL and Celebrity.  On HAL we always book Signature suites and Celebrity Aqua Class.  We choose between the two lines by preferred itineraries. If both have similar itineraries, we go with Celebrity because HAL offers nothing close to what is available in Aqua Class, specifically Blu dinning venue, which we love.

[Lopsyl88]

Question - this will be out first time sailing in Aqua Class.  Can you go to the MDR as well as Blu? 

[tfred]

7 minutes ago, Lopsyl88 said:

Question - this will be out first time sailing in Aqua Class.  Can you go to the MDR as well as Blu? 

You can, although I don't think that you will get any better/different food than you would in Blu.  We didn't get bored eating in Blu every night if that is your concern.  The food is quite good.  It isn't overly done - unless you are a "only plain chicken" eater.  You can find that anywhere on the ship as there are many people like that 

 

May be different in Edge class ships with smaller MDR, but what we liked about Blu was the size of the restaurant.  After a day of excursions, we just wanted something that was less frenetic than a cavernous MDR yelling across the table to people we didn't know just to be heard.  

[terrydtx]

16 minutes ago, Lopsyl88 said:

Question - this will be out first time sailing in Aqua Class.  Can you go to the MDR as well as Blu? 

Of course you can, but why? In Blu venue you can order from the MDR menus in M and S class ships, not sure about Edge as we have not been on one yet. The Edge class ships have 4 MDR each with slightly different menus each night. When we book our first Edge class ship we may consider booking in Concierge cabins so that we can try each different MDR venue.

Edited June 5, 2021 by terrydtx

[terrydtx]

2 minutes ago, tfred said:

May be different in Edge class ships with smaller MDR, but what we liked about Blu was the size of the restaurant.  After a day of excursions, we just wanted something that was less frenetic than a cavernous MDR yelling across the table to people we didn't know just to be heard.  

The same reason why we prefer Blu as well.

[papadave]

To answer the question about going to the main dining room, you might want to have dinner there with passengers who are not in Aqua class, as you can't just invite passengers to join you to dine in Blu.

 

[adolfo2]

On 6/2/2021 at 6:05 PM, phoenix_dream said:

I just want to add two more of my cents regarding comments about Blu being "healthier'.  I don't know where people get that idea.  Celebrity advertises it as 'fresh and modern and imaginative".  It is no more or less healthy than meals in any of the other standard restaurants.  Like them all, there are healthier choices and less healthy choices.  For example, one of my favorite meals there is the short ribs dinner, accompanied by a Caesar salad, with crème brulee for dessert.  If that was considered healthy I would probably be about 30 pounds thinner!

 

I am not writing this to be argumentative, but I know some people are scared off from dining in Blu thinking it has a diet-type menu.  That is simply not the case.

Agreed... the cuisine in Blu is "Healthier" but it's not boiled chicken 😉 (read reduction in lieu of cream sauce)

 

[adolfo2]

3 hours ago, Lopsyl88 said:

Question - this will be out first time sailing in Aqua Class.  Can you go to the MDR as well as Blu? 

You're not supposed to but a friend of ours did. He asked the maitre d' in the MDR for permission and ping-ponged throughout the cruise.

[dani negreanu]

 

For me not -- the bad location doesn't compensate with Blu.

 

[Jazzbo]

I am very sentimental about Blu.  In April 2019, my parents, my brother, DH, and I sailed the Summit on a 7-day Caribbean cruise from Puerto Rico in AQ.  DH and I already had an aft AQ cabin (1130), and  my parents and brother were able to get AQ cabins just around the corner.  Unfortunately, my husband had a bizarre accident when he lost his balance and fell while sitting on the bed and putting on or taking off his shoes.  He didn't have a serious injury, but he was black and blue from hip to ankle and had limited mobility.  A couple of days later, my Mum hit her foot against uneven pavement in Antigua.  What seemed to be a minor injury became worse, and she had to visit the ship's doctor late that afternoon in terrible pain.  Fortunately, the injury was not a broken bone and did not require surgery, but she had to use a wheelchair to get around for a couple of days.  I called room service and asked if we could get room service from Blu, and was told room service was only from the room service menu or, during dinner service, from MDR.  My brother went down to Blu and explained the situation to the maitre'd, who gave him the evening's Blu menu and a numberear to call to order our parents' dinner. My brother took it up to our parents' cabin and they ordered what they wanted from the Blu menu, which was delivered to their cabin, which was repeated the second night.

 

The following morning my parents met us in Blu for breakfast, and the maitre'd and staff could not have been kinder or more solicitous.  They  cleared a path and rearrranged seating at "our" table to accommodate my Mum's wheelchair, and made sure she was situated.  That evening, she was able to get up from the wheelchair and walk to the table.  Blu staff applauded and cheered!

 

This is such a treasured memory for us.  That was the last time we vacationed as a family.  Two years later (4-19-21), our Mum passed away.  Only 5 months after that cruise, she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in her spine, and we lost her 2 years from a couple of days before we disembarked in Puerto Rico.  I will forever be grateful to the Summit crew, and especially to the team in Blu.  

[actuarian]

On 6/2/2021 at 8:58 AM, wrk2cruise said:

  If it's an M class ship where the only accessible AQ cabin is aft on deck 9.

Unless things have changed very recently, only two of the M-Class ships (the Summit and the Millennium) have an accessible AQ cabin.  On the Constellation and the Infinity, cabin 9164 is still an accessible Concierge Class Cabin and there is no accessible AQ cabin.

[zaxanon6]

54 minutes ago, Jazzbo said:

This is such a treasured memory for us.  That was the last time we vacationed as a family.  Two years later (4-19-21), our Mum passed away.  Only 5 months after that cruise, she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in her spine, and we lost her 2 years from a couple of days before we disembarked in Puerto Rico.  I will forever be grateful to the Summit crew, and especially to the team in Blu.

So sorry for your loss.

[opa&oma]

In a word....NO.

[miched]

We liked to sail  in AQ for the additional perks.  But we had a price point of not more than $30/day pp on the S class ships and about $20 on the M class over a veranda class.    It use to be that AQ got extra perks like gratuities or the drink pack.  With the promo of all included you have to evaluate if the extra cost/day pp over a veranda.  
 

On one 7 day cruise the cost for AQ over $700 pp over a A1 veranda.   We couldn’t justify that.  We could buy a 7 day dining pack for less but didn’t 
 

In a veranda you can still dine in the dining room for breakfast and we found that the menu had the same items plus more.   The service was just as good.   We also had fantastic food in the MDR for dinner plus great service using select dining asking for a table for 2 

 

On a 7 day cruise we may use the Persian Gardens 3 times.   It is nice but wouldn't book AQ for it.  
 

We also  booked AQ to get the points for the CC status when feasible.     The way things are now the status really doesn’t amount to much.  We are elite plus and not chasing after Zenith as it is way beyond our lifetime at the current rate of our cruising.  
 

As for the priorities you get in AQ?   It seems as if everyone has some priority and it is a joke.

 

this is my opinion and am sure many others have their own and will disagree with mine.  
 

Hope this helps 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Edited June 6, 2021 by miched

[miched]

On 6/2/2021 at 6:05 PM, phoenix_dream said:

I just want to add two more of my cents regarding comments about Blu being "healthier'.  I don't know where people get that idea.  Celebrity advertises it as 'fresh and modern and imaginative".  It is no more or less healthy than meals in any of the other standard restaurants.  Like them all, there are healthier choices and less healthy choices.  For example, one of my favorite meals there is the short ribs dinner, accompanied by a Caesar salad, with crème brulee for dessert.  If that was considered healthy I would probably be about 30 pounds thinner!

 

I am not writing this to be argumentative, but I know some people are scared off from dining in Blu thinking it has a diet-type menu.  That is simply not the case.

 I thought it was clean cuisine.  They claim to use healthier oils, lighter sauces and etc.   I honestly didn’t notice any difference between dining in the MDR or Blu except for the entrees and many  times the menu  from the MDR looked better.    No matter where I dined I ended up gaining weight, like you Blu didn’t help my diet.  Blu did have it own signature cocktails that really weren’t that great except for the Bourbon Blu ( not sure if that is the name) only because I like bourbon 
 

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Edited June 6, 2021 by miched

[Vagabond Knight]

The "Is it worth it?" question is always subjective.  All I can say is that it's usually worth it to us, but of course it depends upon the price difference for that particular cruise and what's important to us may not be important to you.  We've never found the cabin location to be a negative so that's a neutral item for us, and we feel that some extra overhang is a plus. We don't use the Persian Gardens, so that's another neutral item.  What we really like are the calm, pleasant sit down breakfast in the morning and the enhanced dinner experience in Blu.  We've found the atmosphere and service in Blu to be a definite step above the MDR (not that it's bad in the MDR... Celebrity service throughout the ship is wonderful). Blu feels classy and personalized, but still friendly.  We've tried all the specialty restaurants on the S class ships (our favorite class) and we felt like the food was on par with Murano, but the service and atmosphere was not as stuffy as Murano.