boxkite

mcamcat, Blu is wonderful but so is the MDR menu. Depending on the class of ship you will be on, you may be able to order from the MDR menu in Blu. I believe this option is available on most M and S class ships. However, on the Edge class ships if you want to order from the MDR menu you will need to go to one of the four MDRs as their kitchens are too far from Blu. You might be able to make arrangements the night before for a MDR dish to be served the next night in Blu. In addition to the food, we enjoy the better service we received in Blu. For example our drink order always arrive promptly. Breakfast in Blu is great and if you have the premium drink package you can order fresh squeezed OJ or Grapefruit juice, which go well with champagne.

I will have to remember to ask for a MM neat when I'm on my upcoming cruise! Seriously, I have not had a problem when asking for a double when ordering Bourbon no ice to take back to the cabin.

Also following along. Have a great cruise and I'm sure you will continue to post lots of pictures!

Thanks for your live report, will be following along also.

@Norwaylady, thanks for providing us with you most excellent day by day cruise report! Hope you and mrnorwaylady have a great rest of the cruise vacation.

@JackE, thank you for your informative review. Another cruise line to consider for future cruises!

@RichYak, thanks posting your experiences and comparisons between Celebrity suites and MSC YC! And thanks to everyone who added their own experiences and comparisons, great discussion! Much to think through for future cruises or maybe not?

mac_tlc, thanks for the review of Beyond and the cruise itself. We will be sailing in late April on Beyond to the ABC islands and may have to try the Dutch Pancakehouse in Aruba.

Charla, thanks again for all your live posts and pictures!. Have a safe trip back home.

Following along as we have an upcoming ABC cruise on Beyond in late April. Did you do anything in Aruba?

So sorry for you and your family's loss! Will be following along as we will be on Beyond for the same ABC island cruise in late April. We love Aruba, "one happy island".

It is my understanding that Celebrity does not require that both parties in the same cabin have the same drink package, only that they each need to have a package. So one can have the Premium and one have the Classic, which is what we have done on past cruises. I agree with post mentioning to not forget about the premium non-alcoholic drinks. My favorite being the fresh squeezed orange juice.

Jim, sorry I missed reading your latest cruise from the beginning to the end and being able to comment on your many wonderful pictures. I just finished reading through your last cruise a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully I will be able to read your April cruise from the beginning in near real time. Will now read through this cruise report from the beginning and will thank you in advance for all the great commentary and pictures!

In Blu, we were able to order from the main dinning room menu while on several different S class ships. For our upcoming Beyond cruise we will plan to either eat in Blu or one of the four dinning rooms depending on that night's menu. I agree with Moby Jones advice to talk to your waiter or maitre d', perhaps the night before so they have time to prepare. Don't forget to have breakfast in Blu, the OJ is freshly squeezed each morning!

We have been in Aqua class several times and I would say that Blu is worth at least $20 to $25 a day per person IF that price includes breakfast. For us, being able to eat breakfast in Blu is worth something. I will say that we were on S class ships when we dined in Blu so I can't speak to the Blu experience on the M class ships.

We were also able to order from the MDR menu while in Blu on Reflection this past year.

Charla, thanks for sharing your wonderful trip to Europe! Sure looked like Jeremy had a great time as well!

Looking forward to following another great GenerationX cruise, this time with DH. Happy milestone birthday to Jeremy! Have a super cruise to the Med! Especially interested in your continued thoughts about Beyond as we will be this ship for a Caribbean cruise next April.

I second KKB's suggestion for visiting Stingray City while in Grand Cayman. Going to the beach for Aruba and Curacao are also good suggestions.

mizLORlnj, Thanks for providing your cruise review. My wife will be doing a similar cruise in November with her sister on Princesses. I too miss the Molecular Bar!

I second the suggestion to order freshly squeezed orange juice for breakfast! Also, a good French 75 is also a great drink, but I like mine with a premium brandy instead of gin.

Thanks for sharing your cruise experience with us! We love Aruba and can't wait to visit again next April. "One Happy Island"

Thanks Ken, will be following along!

Thanks for your positive review of Beyond!

We were also booked on Reflection for their April 27th ABC cruise, which has now been switched to Beyond. Be sure to check what the current rates are for you cabin, compared to what you booked. We booked onboard and turns out the current rate for our Prime AquaClass cabin is lower. Our travel agent was able to call Celebrity today and got a sizeable drop to our cruise fare. That will help ease the pain of losing our bump veranda cabin to go to the infamous IV cabin!