Aqua Class vs Concierge Class

[PS90]

I used to bring my Caffe Mocha from Cafe el Bacio with me to breakfast in Blu. Can't remember if they had latte-type coffeess available.

 

Great. Thanks for the reply. If you brought coffee into Blu, then I will do it too:D.

[PS90]

i read it on here somewhere,maybe if you put sound proofing in the search you can find it.....it was because so many people were complaining about the gym area...

 

Do you mean that they soundproofed the newer ships as they were built? Or that they retro-fitted Solstice and Equinox with more soundproofing? Because that seems like it would be a pretty large undertaking.

[mylove]

Do you mean that they soundproofed the newer ships as they were built? Or that they retro-fitted Solstice and Equinox with more soundproofing? Because that seems like it would be a pretty large undertaking.

 

i believe it was just the area around the gym,i will try and find it....

[mylove]

My goodness, where did you hear that info. Effective sound proofing means more space between floors and more weight...neither of which are going to happen on the upper decks of cruise ships. Cruise ship design as certainly improved over the years, but most experienced cruisers prefer to avoid being underneath public areas where folks are walking around late at night or, in this case, early in the morning. The gym area is just one small part of the deck...we are talking about a large pool deck on top of cabins.

 

Hank

 

well i am just relaying what i read on here,i have also read that most were never bothered by being below the pool area.....there is always ear plugs.....I am an experienced cruiser over thirty and the noise really doesn't bother me...i don't think AQ class would be your cup of tea Hank...just my two cents...well it did happen,and is still happening,thank you very much..

[mylove]

here are just two i found right away about the new shock absorbers fitted on the Solstice ship....Celebrity Equinox Feb 2011 posted by Randal AQ room 1502.and another http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/review....if you would like me to find more i can do,but just google it and many come up...

[Hlitner]

well i am just relaying what i read on here,i have also read that most were never bothered by being below the pool area.....there is always ear plugs.....I am an experienced cruiser over thirty and the noise really doesn't bother me...i don't think AQ class would be your cup of tea Hank...just my two cents...well it did happen,and is still happening,thank you very much..

 

We have been under pool decks on other ships and its normally not a big problem unless you get some loud walkers early in the morning. But as to ear plugs, if I have to pay extra money for a high category cabin where I need ear plugs, something is wrong with me for paying the money and the cruise line for making it a high category. Come to think of it, we wonder when they will start renting noise cancelling ear plugs (is there such a thing) for some cabins. Think of it...build a bigger noisier ship and then charge passengers extra to help them tolerate the noise. It fits right in with the "maximize onboard revenue" philosophy of all the mass-market lines. (only teasing...or am I?) And I agree it may not be our cup of tea. We have cruised on more then 50 different ships and still are learning :)

 

Hank

[Oville]

Hank, it's clear you simply do not want to pay the extra to be in an AQ cabin, though often they can cheaper than a CC. For those of us who love this category and it's perks, we'll continue to book this category.

 

If anyone is contemplating an AQ cabin, there is a Sticky at the beginning of the Celebrity Forum regarding many, if not most, cabins on the Solstice class ships. This Sticky includes info about noise above, bed location and a few other items. Fortunately, these summaries are from people who have actually stayed in AQ cabins, not from someone who has never been in one, but has an agenda to discredit them for whatever reason.

 

There are many plusses to staying in Aqua Class, the most important one is Blu for breakfast and dinner. Although we do like on occasion to travel in a suite, we will only opt for an AQ on the Solstice Class ships.

 

OP, hope this helps with your decision.

[mylove]

We have been under pool decks on other ships and its normally not a big problem unless you get some loud walkers early in the morning. But as to ear plugs, if I have to pay extra money for a high category cabin where I need ear plugs, something is wrong with me for paying the money and the cruise line for making it a high category. Come to think of it, we wonder when they will start renting noise cancelling ear plugs (is there such a thing) for some cabins. Think of it...build a bigger noisier ship and then charge passengers extra to help them tolerate the noise. It fits right in with the "maximize onboard revenue" philosophy of all the mass-market lines. (only teasing...or am I?) And I agree it may not be our cup of tea. We have cruised on more then 50 different ships and still are learning :)

 

Hank

 

ear plugs were just a suggestion,fine don't book AQ leaves more rooms for the ones that love it.(AQ) although noise has never bothered me,but some complain if the napkin is folded wrong.....

[Christine Frances]

Because my DH is a light sleeper and also likes quiet times reading on the balcony, my cabin selection mantra has become "cabins above, below and across". The latter because we were on a 14 night cruise across from a crew door with an automatic closing system and it would slam closed the last 5". In the middle of the night is was like a gunshot:( They came many times to adjust it but because of safety issues they had to make sure it closed securely (watertight/bulkhead or something:confused:)

I just checked the deckplans for the Infinity after refit and I don't like the locations of AQ on the M Class as well. Half of the ones on Deck 11 are over the Sunset Bar and the ones on Deck 9 are right under the pool area. Guess we will be sticking with Specialty restaurants.

[Honeybearhollow]

We were on Solstice in room 1565. It was under the Solarium. We never heard any noise. The overhang was fine with us since it was cool and it can get hot in the Caribbean. I was very worried about Blu since healthy eating was the last thing I wanted on a cruise. I have to tell you, the food was fantastic. They have gourmet chefs who prepare it. The service was impeccable and they really cater to you. The desserts were not as good, but if you request something from MDR, they will bring it. The hot tile beds in the relaxation room were wonderful after a day in port. We have booked another cruise on the Solstice in March and we are definitely going AQ class. One more thing-no children. The hallways were absolutely quiet. The room stewards could not have taken better care of us. There was champagne and daily canapes AND the flowers were always fresh.

[excitedofharpenden]

I just upgraded from Aqua to sky suite and the suite I was assigned is several decks lower and on the aft starboard corner. I am wondering if I should accept the upgrade or stick with Aqua. Comments please.

Not sure how much you paid or if it was a free upgrade. If the former then depending upon how much it cost you get a much nicer room and the suite benefits listed on the Celebrity website together with a nice aft view. If the latter and because of these things it would be a no-brainer for me. I'd take the suite. The S1s are lovely cabins.

 

Phil

[Siglee]

Deck 5 Aft. Across from Qsine.

Thanks for getting back to me. I do see it now. We are booked on the 11/06 sailing in an Aqua Class cabin. Getting excited. We have been on over 30 cruises, but the next one is always exciting. Luv to cruise!

[Gordoncruickshank]

HAving read the comments above on the pros and cons I have just changed my booking from Concierge to Aqua which sems to have cost around £60 for the entire 2 weeks.

 

Thanks for your help

 

Regards

 

Gordon

[Hlitner]

After reading everyone's advice we booked a Silhoutte cruise in AQ. Have to admit that after nearly forty years of crusing we are curious about this concept and figure its worth the small price for a new experience.

 

Hank

[lori450]

OK, now youhave me worried. I do tend to be fussy about noise. We are booked into 1585 on the Eclipse. Can you tell me if this is under anything noisy? I'm fine with an overhang, I'm not a sun person. I checked that sticky and it wasn't very definitive about this cabin. Thanks for your input!

[Potash]

Not sure how much you paid or if it was a free upgrade. If the former then depending upon how much it cost you get a much nicer room and the suite benefits listed on the Celebrity website together with a nice aft view. If the latter and because of these things it would be a no-brainer for me. I'd take the suite. The S1s are lovely cabins.

 

Phil

 

Thanks Phil. Really appreciate your input. yes it was a free upgrade and since we are doing the Sept 5th cruise out of Barcelona in Aqua we opted for teh free upgrade to S1 for the Sept 17th cruise. You know, change of scenery for the second cruise.

 

Doug

[murphyandmax]

We were on the TA in May to Barcelona and upgraded to aqua. Met tons of people but couldn't eat with them in Blu which is where you eat in aqua class. We could join them if they had room but they couldn't join us and that stunk. Most people in Blu were pretty stuffy too. Not worth the money.

[Ron & Kristy]

We just booked Aqua Class on the Summit which will be retrofitted in January I believe. We cruise in April. I'm hoping for the best. I had no idea which cabin to pick so I just opted for something mid ship. This is our first cruise on Celebrity, we're doing the southern Caribbean. We're totally excited about it.

[excitedofharpenden]

Thanks Phil. Really appreciate your input. yes it was a free upgrade and since we are doing the Sept 5th cruise out of Barcelona in Aqua we opted for teh free upgrade to S1 for the Sept 17th cruise. You know, change of scenery for the second cruise.

 

Doug

Doug, you have scored a really nice upgrade. Have a great b2b on Solstice. I did Barcelona to Barcelona in June and had a wonderful cruise. Enjoy!:cool:

 

Phil

[Gordoncruickshank]

OK, now youhave me worried. I do tend to be fussy about noise. We are booked into 1585 on the Eclipse. Can you tell me if this is under anything noisy? I'm fine with an overhang, I'm not a sun person. I checked that sticky and it wasn't very definitive about this cabin. Thanks for your input!

 

I suspect you are under the pool deck. We have booked 1633 which is under the rooms in the derck above

 

Gordon

[adbnva]

OK, now youhave me worried. I do tend to be fussy about noise. We are booked into 1585 on the Eclipse. Can you tell me if this is under anything noisy? I'm fine with an overhang, I'm not a sun person. I checked that sticky and it wasn't very definitive about this cabin. Thanks for your input!

we are in 1583 and my ta called celebrity and the said it was on edge of pool deck and we thought it would be ok. we did not move.

[LMKohler]

On our March 17th Silhouette cruise, we were just "upgraded" to AQ class (1588) from a C2 at a lower rate:). We gave up a "prime" hump cabin, so I hope we made the right decision. We have never sailed on an S-class before so there will be lots of new venues for us.

 

We are travelling with 8 other people and have "Select" dining. It is very important that we keep that dining selection. I made sure to ask my TA if indeed we could because we want to dine each evening with our group. We will certainly try Blu for breakfast. Can anyone confirm that we don't have to do anything when we board to keep Select dining? Our confirmation on the upgrade to AQ does say we still have Select.

 

I'm a little worried about noise, but having never been on this class of ship we will just have to wait and see.

 

Lucy

[kitkat9438]

On our March 17th Silhouette cruise, we were just "upgraded" to AQ class (1588) from a C2 at a lower rate:). We gave up a "prime" hump cabin, so I hope we made the right decision. We have never sailed on an S-class before so there will be lots of new venues for us.

 

We are travelling with 8 other people and have "Select" dining. It is very important that we keep that dining selection. I made sure to ask my TA if indeed we could because we want to dine each evening with our group. We will certainly try Blu for breakfast. Can anyone confirm that we don't have to do anything when we board to keep Select dining? Our confirmation on the upgrade to AQ does say we still have Select.

 

I'm a little worried about noise, but having never been on this class of ship we will just have to wait and see.

 

Lucy

 

Does everyone else also have select dining? If not, here's what you need to do. Book the same dining time as them. Then when you get on board go straight to see the maitr'd in the MDR (make sure it's the head maitr'd not the person at the door). Ask to be assigned to your friend's table for dinner. This will not remove you from dining in Blu. That's what we did on the Eclipse last year because we travel with 9 other people. Blu is always anytime (or select) dining. We ate in Blu two nights, but the rest with our friends in the MDR or in a specialty restaurant. You can check out the menu that will be posted in front of both dining venues in the morning for the night's meal and decide where you want to eat.

 

You will enjoy Aqua class. It's very nice. Don't worry about the noise. We were in 1606 and never had any problems.

[HeatherInFlorida]

This is what stopped us booking Aqua. Odd decision to allocate badly-positioned cabins to the most expensive balcony cabins...

 

Mary

 

I feel completely differently than the majority of posters here. We were on Celebrity Solstice, Cabin 2105, last October and for us it was the perfect cabin, perfect location, perfect balcony on the hump, and right next to the most heavenly elevators on any ship anywhere. So we booked the same cabin for our upcoming Solstice cruise in January.

 

Celebrity is smart like a fox. They know that for the most part the AQ cabins are poorly located. The majority are under the pool and the drawback to the aft on the Solstice class is there is no elevator near the stern so it's quite a hike. If you're into walking hallways, that's a plus.

 

So to make those cabins under the pool attractive, they created Aqua Class, making those cabins more appealing by adding free water, spa yummies, etc. And to put the icing on the cake they gave AQ Blue ... that's what really reels most people in.

 

We're just different. We love the MDR, love having a large table for 8 or 10 people who we get to know over the week or two onboard. I love the festiveness of the large dining room and I love the food there. I was tempted by some of perks of AQ and the price was almost identical so I considered one of the few hump AQ cabins. I asked my consultant if we could opt out of Blu and be assigned to MDR. The answer was no. So we did not book AQ.

 

To each his (or her;)) own, but we'll take Concierge Class every single time over AQ.

[jomf]

I suspect you are under the pool deck. We have booked 1633 which is under the rooms in the derck above

 

Gordon

 

 

We have booked 1633! I'll let you know how it was on our return. And I'll try and leave it tidy for you!:)