RICCruisers

One of the benefits of Blu on E Class ships is that you will likely have the same waitstaff for each dinner and likely the same for breakfast. If you change dining rooms to sample all 4 you won’t have that.

We did a B2B on Beyond last October in the Mediterranean. Ship was full and we never felt it was crowded other than the Martini Bar. We were Aqua and ate both breakfast and dinner in Blu other than a couple of specialty restaurants. We had the same table every night in Blu early (about 6:15) and never had a wait. When we left at 7:30-7:45 there was a short line a few nights.

Wi-Fi upgrade on our 8/16 Eclipse cruise is currently $5.99 pp/p/d and Premium is $15.99. We watched it almost on a daily basis and caught the Premium upgrade at $10.99. Drink package is always +20% gratuity. For us the $10.99 makes sense because DW always has a pre-dinner drink at the Martini Bar and we like the upgraded water at dinner. I’ll keep an eye out for a lower Premium upgrade. We got $6.99 on our B2B last October.

Eden is a unique restaurant. They have their own menu of drinks and all are priced over the Classic and almost all are priced over the Premium package. And in my opinion, all are not worth drinking. In addition to the ones listed, you can receive any type of drink you prefer. Most regular cocktails like martinis, cosmos, gin or vodka and tonic, rum and coke etc can all be ordered from the Classic package as long as you request it to be made with brands available in the Classic package. If you choose “top shelf” liquors then they will be over the Classic. You should always tell the bartender which liquor you want and ask if it’s included in whichever palate you have.

We were on Beyond for a B2B in October. No reservations were needed. If you arrive at a similar time each night you will likely have the same table and waitstaff each evening. It’s not exactly a reservation, but kind of works the same way. Let them know if you plan to eat elsewhere so they don’t hold your table that evening. We found Blu had great service and didn’t notice any loud noises other than one evening an older gentleman was watching something on his phone with the sound turned up. I looked at his wife and signaled to her to turn it down or use headphones. She got the message and took care of the issue. We actually sat near the most nights and he was apologetic.

I’ll be home in a couple of days and try on my desktop. Been trying on my phone.

For the past 3 days I have been trying to search on the X website for cabins on a couple of cruises. I can get to the actual cruises without any issues. My problem arises when I click on a different deck to search. It freezes on the deck that is loaded when the category comes up as a suggested cabin. I know cabins are available on other decks because when I ask for a List View they show up. Anyone else having this issue or a suggestion on how to correct it? I figured when it happened it was due to some site maintenance going on over the weekend, but it’s still happening today (Monday). And no, I don’t want to flip between sites to check cabin location.

There are 2 chairs on the veranda in IV, Aqua and Concierge cabins of E class ships. My reply was addressing the comment that was requesting foot stools to be added.

I was referencing the Infinite Veranda cabins. Sunset Veranda and all Suites have actual balconies and are much larger than the small verandas. The majority of the cabins on E Class ships are IV’s including Aqua, Concierge and IV.

There is no space for footstools on E Class verandas. You would need to move the chair into the cabin in order to use them.

Finding a “Good” Aqua Class cabin on M and S Class ships takes time to check out the location. Most cruisers agree that a good cabin is one that has staterooms above and below. It is actually easier to select a “good” veranda cabin with that type of criteria. @zitsky may have overstated their case by saying Aqua cabins are the worst cabins, but they are correct that there are a lot of poor locations especially since X is getting more money for these locations. I seem to recall when Aqua was created that there were many comments that those locations were selected because they were less desirable and adding Blu and the Persian Gardens as perks allowed X to sell them at a higher price. Not many cruisers would choose a cabin under the pool or buffet if other cabins are available.

Maybe yes or maybe no. Most everything is for sale if the right price is offered.

We just did a B2B in the Med on Beyond in October. We were very fortunate with weather. No rain from October 9-20 and visited Crete, Santorini, Istanbul, Kusadasi, Athens, Naples. Temperature was great. 78-82F each day and mid 60’s at night. If you have the flexibility to cruise then I recommend it. The second cruise was Italy, Adriatic October 20-30 and was a couple of cooler days but mostly high 70’s. Crowds were still there, but not what mid summer brings.

Hi Charla, We are currently on Beyond sailing toward Kusadasi and staying onboard for the next cruise. Weather has been perfect so far and hoping some of the long range forecasts are not correct for the October 20th cruise. I’ve always enjoyed your trip reports and look forward to reading one from a cruise we are also sailing on. We’ll wish Jeremy a happy birthday if we happen to see you folks onboard. Ed and Betty

They do lists some basic martins. Here’s a photo of the menu on Beyond from 10 minutes ago.