Cost to upgrade free Blue Chip club veranda to AquaClass?

[Luvtoeat]

Has anyone recently upgraded the free veranda to AquaClass? Trying to verify what Blue Chip club charged to do the upgrade. I called today and was told 

it is $20.00 a day pp. Just wondering if anyone was charged a different amount. We never were in AquaClass since some of the locations depending on ship are not the greatest. We usually like midship close to the elevators. However, some of the perks that come with it are appealing such as eating in blu. Wonder if the food is really better then MDR?.

 

[SFCAcruiser]

31 minutes ago, Luvtoeat said:

Has anyone recently upgraded the free veranda to AquaClass? Trying to verify what Blue Chip club charged to do the upgrade. I called today and was told 

it is $20.00 a day pp. Just wondering if anyone was charged a different amount. We never were in AquaClass since some of the locations depending on ship are not the greatest. We usually like midship close to the elevators. However, some of the perks that come with it are appealing such as eating in blu. Wonder if the food is really better then MDR?.

 

 

I have read just about all of the BCC posts over the past 5 months and I gather that the price varies, depending upon the cruise and perhaps even upon the agent with whom you speak. We were charged $10 pp/day when we booked a couple of months ago into Aqua class. But it is irrelevant what we paid, since BCC sets the price to whatever they want it to be. 

It might be worth your time to call again and you may get a different agent. Or wait until closer to sail date to try again.

[Georgia_Peaches]

IMO food quality is about the same. One benefit is the access to Persian Gardens. Sorry, can’t help you with the pricing but assuming you are not traveling solo and you are on a 7 night cruise $20 per person per day or $280 to upgrade seems like a pretty good deal. Does your promotion include a drinks package or wifi?  

[Mike45LC]

40 minutes ago, Luvtoeat said:

However, some of the perks that come with it are appealing such as eating in blu. Wonder if the food is really better then MDR?.

 

I have not found the food in Blu to be as good as that in the MDR.  I think they call it “clean” or something that their advertising team thought up instead of “health food”.  I prefer real food to rabbit food!  No kale, no spinach, no asparagus, no broccoli for me!!

 

Now that Blu supposedly serves the MDR menu, I will eat there for the better service, and I will enjoy the Persian Garden.  Worth $20/day?  I doubt it.

[dlh015]

13 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

I have not found the food in Blu to be as good as that in the MDR.  I think they call it “clean” or something that their advertising team thought up instead of “health food”.  I prefer real food to rabbit food!  No kale, no spinach, no asparagus, no broccoli for me!!

 

Now that Blu supposedly serves the MDR menu, I will eat there for the better service, and I will enjoy the Persian Garden.  Worth $20/day?  I doubt it.

Sampling of Blu signature entrees:

 

Grilled NY Steak salad

 

Broiled Dorade (type of fish)

 

Cabernet-braised Short ribs (with potatoes, verts, croutons)

 

Smoked Chicken breast

 

Grilled Calamari

 

Pan Seared Red Snapper

 

Sherry-Glazed Cornish Hen (oven roasted tomatoes, paprika-smoked potatoes)

 

Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb (green pea melange, fingerling potatoes)

 

Looks pretty good to me...no mention of broccoli or kale (ugh)...I would call this real food...

 

ETA: Should have said I haven't eaten there though!

Edited November 27, 2022 by dlh015

[Killin Time]

We recently cruised on Celebrity Solstice and were successful in our bid to upgrade to Aqua class. The service in Blu was outstanding and it was a lovely intimate setting. It was great to be able to order from the Blu and MDR menu. It was also nice to be on the 11th floor. 
I didn’t expect to use Persian Garden as much as I did. On a week long cruise I went there 4 days. So relaxing which was just what I needed. 
The rooms are no bigger than regular balcony rooms but the private restaurant and the steam room really enhanced the cruise for me. 

[Luvtoeat]

1 hour ago, Mike45LC said:

Now that Blu supposedly serves the MDR menu, I will eat there for the better service, and I will enjoy the Persian Garden.  Worth $20/day?  I doubt it.

Since this is a free cruise except for taxes/fees, I think the extra money for AquaClass may be worth it for blue and the other extras that AquaClass provides. If I decide to go with it I will call Blue Chip

tomorrow to change cabins.

[breezin101]

I upgraded a free veranda to aqua for the $20 per person per day yesterday. We love blue and you'll also earn 5 tier points instead of 3. For $280 total the upgrade was a no brainer for us.

[gold1953]

7 hours ago, Luvtoeat said:

Since this is a free cruise except for taxes/fees, I think the extra money for AquaClass may be worth it for blue and the other extras that AquaClass provides. If I decide to go with it I will call Blue Chip

tomorrow to change cabins.

For my January cruise it is$20 a day. My Dec.cruise it converts to full price. Offers have different codes. Good luck. Also we waited to upgrade for January and were told  that all upgrade cabins were sold-out 

 We

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by gold1953

[sdnich]

We paid $20 pp per day and I think it is totally worth it! Great food smaller dining room .And I am really looking forward to the Persian gardens !! I was called by Celebrity but missed the call so I called back and had my room choice ready for March cruise  .I was on hold for an hour! Still worth it !!

This week we had another offer for Caribbean and had room numbers ready for veranda and Aqua  class. they wanted 60% of the cost of the cruise for Aqua so I happily took the infinite veranda on the 10 night Edge in March also !! 

[NutsAboutGolf]

Blu generally has better service and you have the ability to order off the Blu menu or MDR menu on most ships (Equinox in Sept said new Blu rule, can only order the timeless classics).  With that being said, for most the best food on the ship is at specialty restaurants as even suite guests frequent them.

[Luvtoeat]

Called Blue Chip and asked all the questions I had wanted to ask. Yesterday they mentioned some of the available AquaClass cabins and one of them was a slanted balcony cabin. Went on Celebrity website this morning to see what was still open and the slanted cabin was not available. Called to do the change to AquaClass and apparently that cabin was actually available so I had them make the change. The cost was $20.00 a day pp. Actually don't mind the extra expense since We were on the 9/17 sailing on Equinox and I tested positive on day 5 of 9 day sailing and received pro rated refund for 4 days. Will be on another Blue Chip cruise in a few weeks and unfortunately never thought about making an upgrade and hopefully will be able to enjoy the whole cruise.                              

[sdnich]

Good for you !! I had rooms picked out on the edge of the equinox and since we’ve never been on the edge I took the veranda room I wanted to much to upgrade to aqua class. but I did have a room picked out on the equinox in aqua class if we couldn’t get our first choice which was the Edge .

 

I am curious how come you have not been refunded your four days on the equinox because of Covid ?We were on 9/21  Summit got quarantined with Covid for the last four days and I’m  still been waiting for a refund?

[PTC DAWG]

19 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

I have not found the food in Blu to be as good as that in the MDR.  I think they call it “clean” or something that their advertising team thought up instead of “health food”.  I prefer real food to rabbit food!  No kale, no spinach, no asparagus, no broccoli for me!!

 

Now that Blu supposedly serves the MDR menu, I will eat there for the better service, and I will enjoy the Persian Garden.  Worth $20/day?  I doubt it.

Blu is far from all rabbit food, I do know that.  Had some great steaks on my recent cruise..

[39august]

Blu is generally much quieter than MDR. That is a big plus for me. Service was great when we did this a couple of years ago. Probably going back to Aqua class in '24 as suite prices are going way high.  Definitely not  "rabbit food". Can you say short ribs and steak?

Edited November 27, 2022 by 39august

[NutsAboutGolf]

20 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

I have not found the food in Blu to be as good as that in the MDR.  I think they call it “clean” or something that their advertising team thought up instead of “health food”.  I prefer real food to rabbit food!  No kale, no spinach, no asparagus, no broccoli for me!!

 

Now that Blu supposedly serves the MDR menu, I will eat there for the better service, and I will enjoy the Persian Garden.  Worth $20/day?  I doubt it.

 

With Blu:

-There's a regular section and clean cuisine section which includes the tenderloin/filet at least twice on a 7 night sailing.

-In Blu, you could always order items off of the MDR, nothing new.

 

Most see the value of AQ for $20/night but not everyone.  To me, in order I value Blu, spa access, CC points of 5/night, increased room size in M-class, panel shower and daily waters.  Personally I do not value anything else in such as the in-room items, fitness classes or daily canapes

 

 

 

[cruiserchuck]

51 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

daily waters

Is daily water still included in Aqua class?  I know it was included many years ago, and then it stopped.  On my last few cruises I had a beverage package, so it did not matter.  On my upcoming cruise with a Blue Chip deal, my fare is cruise only.

[aggiejd2000]

We did the BCC upgrade for the Mexican Riviera cruise we just got off of. It was $20/pp per day.  We were on the Solstice in June in Alaska in Concierge Class.  We found the food in the MDR to be really disappointing.  We were ready to jump to another cruise line when we were offered the complimentary veranda.  We upgraded to AQ to see if we'd have a better experience, and we did!  The cabin size is the same but you get the better shower and toiletries, which we enjoyed.  You get free access to the Persian garden and all fitness classes, if that's your thing.  I tried the Persian garden.  I wouldn't pay for it but it's a nice free perk.  Blu was a step up from the MDR.  The food was better prepared and had more variety.  The desserts are the same as the MDR (which are middling, except for the baked Alaska!) but we're not huge dessert fans so there was no loss there.  It's open dining.  That can be good or bad depending on who you get.  We liked the flexibility of going whenever we wanted but there was some loss of personalized service.  Blu is smaller and more intimate, which we liked.  One section definitely had the A-team while the other section was the B-team (other diners noticed the same thing).  The somm on the A-team was a total pro while the somm on the B-team was MIA.  The server on the A-team remembered our names while the server on the B-team didn't.  The manager of Blu was a total grump.  For us, we felt the $20/pp per day was very reasonable and totally worth it.    

[Retired888]

Daily water is delivered to the room by the attendant.  You cannot get it from restaurants/bars unless it is Elite hours or you have a beverage package.

[eas2225]

Our Beyond 10/26 cruise was on a Blue Chip free offer and the cost to upgrade to Aqua was $20. per person per day.

There was a large bottle of water in our cabin the first day, and the  water in the aluminum cans was replenished every day. 

Most nights we ate in Blu, mornings too, and thought the food and service were great.  Sometimes I just ordered from the MDR menu.

 

 

 

 

[cruiserchuck]

25 minutes ago, Retired888 said:

Daily water is delivered to the room by the attendant.  You cannot get it from restaurants/bars unless it is Elite hours or you have a beverage package.

That is good to know.  On our last cruise without a beverage package (about 8 years ago), I used to pick up water during the Elite hours.

[Mike45LC]

2 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

With Blu:

-There's a regular section and clean cuisine section which includes the tenderloin/filet at least twice on a 7 night sailing.

-In Blu, you could always order items off of the MDR, nothing new.

 

Most see the value of AQ for $20/night but not everyone.  To me, in order I value Blu, spa access, CC points of 5/night, increased room size in M-class, panel shower and daily waters.  Personally I do not value anything else in such as the in-room items, fitness classes or daily canapes

 

I liked the daily iced tea.  
 

I hated finding a plate of unknown food items (canapés) abandoned in my cabin and when I realized it was a daily dump, asked my steward to cease and desist.  I will not eat unidentified food.  
 

Back in 2019, Edge, the MDR menus were not available in Blu.  So I ate in each of the four MDRs to try each one for decor and ambience.  

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, cruiserchuck said:

Is daily water still included in Aqua class?  I know it was included many years ago, and then it stopped.  On my last few cruises I had a beverage package, so it did not matter.  On my upcoming cruise with a Blue Chip deal, my fare is cruise only.

 

You may want to double check that receiving water ever stopped; should be receiving two waters every morning and if you don't, need to speak with your stateroom attendant.

 

If you want more water and plan on playing at the casino, totally fine to ask for a cocktail and two cans of water

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

I liked the daily iced tea.  
 

I hated finding a plate of unknown food items (canapés) abandoned in my cabin and when I realized it was a daily dump, asked my steward to cease and desist.  I will not eat unidentified food.  
 

Back in 2019, Edge, the MDR menus were not available in Blu.  So I ate in each of the four MDRs to try each one for decor and ambience.  

 

I do the same, my WAG (Wild A$$ Guess) is at best it's the same food served in the buffet and at worst the food was picked from the buffet

[Luvtoeat]

I called  bcc yesterday and did the upgrade to Aqua. Cost was $20.00 a day pp. Same amount I was quoted day I booked. Some earlier responses people said they paid $10.00 but all the latest responses indicate $20.00. I was originally told by bcc that the $10.00 was upgrade from veranda to concierge not Aqua. It''s not that the addl charge for Aqua is that much especially when only paying taxes/fees but if some people actually did only pay $10.00 to upgrade from veranda to Aqua, that amount should be available to all.