Aqua class - pros & cons

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Before an early morning excursion we get room service for breakfast.  And then go to Cafe Al Bacio with whatever time is left before we head to the theater...

 

That CAB line can be brutal on port days before they start letting people off the ship

[the penguins]

4 hours ago, zitsky said:

I’m afraid they might hide it under the table, then jump up and yell “surprise!”.  I startle easily.

a quick kick in the you know where region would probably solve that issue.🤣

Edited September 14 by the penguins
spelling

[NMTraveller]

4 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

That CAB line can be brutal on port days before they start letting people off the ship

It depends upon the ship.  The Millenium line was short.  The Edge line WAS brutal.  Guess which ship I like ...

[zitsky]

1 hour ago, NMTraveller said:

It depends upon the ship.  The Millenium line was short.  The Edge line WAS brutal.  Guess which ship I like ...

I am reserving judgment on the Millie until January.  Lots of folks seem to like it.  I feel a bit cheated that it’s missing a few restaurants.  And it has the spa bench instead of loungers.

 

I wish they would turn LPC back into Qsine or something useful.

Edited September 15 by zitsky

[NMTraveller]

13 hours ago, zitsky said:

I am reserving judgment on the Millie until January.  Lots of folks seem to like it.  I feel a bit cheated that it’s missing a few restaurants.  And it has the spa bench instead of loungers.

 

I wish they would turn LPC back into Qsine or something useful.

It is a different ship.  I find it to be quieter and more relaxing than S class.  However it is missing some venues that S class has as you have noted.  There are tradeoffs.

 

Yep they should do something else with LPC...

[zitsky]

54 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

It is a different ship.  I find it to be quieter and more relaxing than S class.  However it is missing some venues that S class has as you have noted.  There are tradeoffs.

 

Yep they should do something else with LPC...

 

I looked at the bars on M class yesterday and some look interesting.  The Martini Bar for example.  I see the Rendevous lounge which is a bit different than the Ensemble Lounge on S class.  On M class it seems more like a dance venue and on M class it's more a quiet jazz lounge.  Then there's Cellar Masters and a few others.  Since we have access to the Retreat Lounge, I'm not sure how many bars I'll visit, but we'll see.  And there's the Sunset Bar for meet and greets.

[NMTraveller]

23 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

I looked at the bars on M class yesterday and some look interesting.  The Martini Bar for example.  I see the Rendevous lounge which is a bit different than the Ensemble Lounge on S class.  On M class it seems more like a dance venue and on M class it's more a quiet jazz lounge.  Then there's Cellar Masters and a few others.  Since we have access to the Retreat Lounge, I'm not sure how many bars I'll visit, but we'll see.  And there's the Sunset Bar for meet and greets.

The Sunset Bar has the best collection of champagnes on the ship.  I tried most ...  The more important part is that we were always able to get a seat at the bar out of the sun.

 

The Martini bar is smaller, but there are less people on the ship.  The same for most venues.  For embarkation day I thought that the ship was half full for a sold-out cruise.  On the second day there were more people,  but not as many as S class or E class mega ...

Edited September 15 by NMTraveller

[zitsky]

40 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

The Sunset Bar has the best collection of champagnes on the ship.  I tried most ...  The more important part is that we were always able to get a seat at the bar out of the sun.

 

The Martini bar is smaller, but there are less people on the ship.  The same for most venues.  For embarkation day I thought that the ship was half full for a sold-out cruise.  On the second day there were more people,  but not as many as S class or E class mega ...

 

Do you know if they have Veuve Clicquot by the glass at the Sunset Bar?  Or Gruet?  🙂

[NMTraveller]

22 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

Do you know if they have Veuve Clicquot by the glass at the Sunset Bar?  Or Gruet?  🙂

They had Veuve Cliquot by the glass at the Sunset Bar as well as 4 or 5 other champagnes.  Gruet LOL.  

[zitsky]

10 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

They had Veuve Cliquot by the glass at the Sunset Bar as well as 4 or 5 other champagnes.  Gruet LOL.  

 

Why are you laughing?  They DO make wine in New Mexico.  I swear!

[catspaw1]

12 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

They had Veuve Cliquot by the glass at the Sunset Bar as well as 4 or 5 other champagnes.  Gruet LOL.  

Is that included in premium pkg?

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

Why are you laughing?  They DO make wine in New Mexico.  I swear!

 

They produce wine in all fifty states

[zitsky]

10 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

They produce wine in all fifty states

 

Oh come on?  North Carolina?  Pennsylvania?  No way!

 

P.S.  I liked the wine in Eastern Virgina, but not Western.  We were there recently.

[NMTraveller]

21 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

Why are you laughing?  They DO make wine in New Mexico.  I swear!

I am very familiar with it.  I have even been to their winery.  While it is a good bang for the buck wine, other regions have better grapes. In NM it was around $10 a bottle at Costco.  Gruet has the technique down, but they would do better to grow their grapes in a different region other than the desert 🙂 

 

Don't get dessert confused with desert 🙂 

Edited Sunday at 06:06 PM by NMTraveller

[NMTraveller]

14 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

They produce wine in all fifty states

We have a winery in Pahrump.  V Sattui was going to take it over, but they could not get their people to move ...  🙂 

[zitsky]

4 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I am very familiar with it.  I have even been to their winery.  While it is a good bang for the buck wine, other regions have better grapes. In NM it was around $10 a bottle at Costco.  Gruet has the technique down, but they would do better to grow their grapes in a different region other than the desert 🙂 

 

Don't get dessert confused with desert 🙂 

 

I like desert wine.  Dessert wine is too sweet.

[NMTraveller]

1 minute ago, zitsky said:

 

I like desert wine.  Dessert wine is too sweet.

It can be, but does not have to be.  The best dessert wine I have ever tasted was the Far Niete Dolce wine.

[zitsky]

2 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

It can be, but does not have to be.  The best dessert wine I have ever tasted was the Far Niete Dolce wine.

 

I have a Tokaji I'm waiting to open.

[Iamcruzin]

2 hours ago, zitsky said:

 

I like desert wine.  Dessert wine is too sweet.

It makes sense that a desert wine would be dry.😁

[NMTraveller]

3 hours ago, catspaw1 said:

Is that included in premium pkg?

It is an upcharge with the premium pkg.

[catspaw1]

Thanks. Good to know. Costco routinely sells that champagne.

[the penguins]

21 hours ago, zitsky said:

 

I have a Tokaji I'm waiting to open.

your in great company - one of Queen Victoria's favourite drinks - well at least according to one of the Directors of  the Hungarian Tourist Office.  

[zitsky]

5 minutes ago, the penguins said:

your in great company - one of Queen Victoria's favourite drinks - well at least according to one of the Directors of  the Hungarian Tourist Office.  

Friends don’t let friends drink Sauternes.  🙂

[CruiseDad-NYC]

On 8/31/2024 at 3:13 PM, catspaw1 said:

How does AQ dining work? Do you make reservations like the MDR? Get an assigned time? Eat with the same people every night? Are the tables for two close together like the MDR? If you don't like the menu that night, can you still order from the MDR? Does classic & premium beverage packages work or do you pay extra for drinks? What are the pros & cons of AQ? Would you book it again?

I have been in Aqua Class only once (i.e., on the first leg of a B2B on the Eclipse this spring, with the second leg in a balcony cabin.)

 

We didn't need reservations like the MDR.  We could just walk in any time and sit down, which was a HUGE plus over the MDR, where there was a line every time, and it was an unpleasant ordeal).  It was also the only plus over a regular balcony, IMHO.  The food was not better or healthier than the MDR and on many nights there was overlap of items from the MDR on the Blue menu. I had been expecting that the food would be of a higher quality or healthier, and it just wasn't.  There were actually fewer items on the breakfast menu in Blue than the MDR.  We could still order oatmeal off menu, but it took forever.

 

Many of the Aqua Class cabins are also in less desirable locations than many of the balcony categories (i.e., they are at the very front of the ship or the very back).  Our AQ cabin had an loud exhaust that made the balcony essentially unusable for us.

 

The cabin was also essentially identical to our balcony cabin - the throw pillows on the bed were slightly different and the shower faucet was different. Other than that, it was the same.

 

I would pay only a very nominal amount for AQ in the future, and the only reason for us would be the ability to walk into dinner in the evening without the ordeal of the MDR.  Other than that, not worth it for us.  That's just my personal opinion - I know others love Aqua Class.

 

If the price difference is more than a nominal amount and the dining experience is important to you, I would consider booking a balcony cabin and going to specialty restaurants every night.  Pricewise, I think you could come out ahead and the food likely would be better.

[catspaw1]

Thanks. We have decided to keep our balcony cabin. We chose fixed time dining precisely because of the select dining meeting seated issues.