Aqua Class vs Concierge Class

[LMKohler]

Kathy, thank you for the advice. Everyone in our group has Select dining. We are all linked together and we have already selected our dining times each night. Hopefully, we should not have a problem, but I think we will take your advice and see the head maitr'd when we board.

 

However, Heather just stated that you can't opt out of Blu:confused:

 

Lucy

[bubbachief]

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.

 

Define stuffy--not friendly or what?

[Gordoncruickshank]

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!:)

 

I hope not on the same cruise as me.

 

Gordon

[dkjretired]

Define stuffy--not friendly or what?

 

The people in Blu are just ordinary cruisers, many of them were there due to cheap upgrades....Sounds a little like jealousy to me..

[kitkat9438]

Kathy, thank you for the advice. Everyone in our group has Select dining. We are all linked together and we have already selected our dining times each night. Hopefully, we should not have a problem, but I think we will take your advice and see the head maitr'd when we board.

 

However, Heather just stated that you can't opt out of Blu:confused:

 

Lucy

 

You are not "opting out of Blu" if you get assigned to your friend's table. If you have select dining, you won't have an assigned table. Select dining, you just show up and they will seat you where there is availability, which might be a problem for a large group. We had an 8:30 assigned dining time for 12 of us. It was absolutely no problem to either dine with our friends or in Blu. In Blu you show your room card which states you are in Aqua and they let you in. You are not restricted to dining in Blu. If so, you wouldn't be able to eat anywhere else on the ship, no specialty dining, no room service, etc.

[PS90]

Along the lines of what other posters have mentioned, I think the ONLY reason I would choose a Concierge cabin, or any other balcony cabin, over AQ is if I was traveling with a bunch of my friends or family members. Blu can accommodate some larger groups - but is mostly set-up for 2-tops, and even then everyone in your group would have to pay for AQ to eat together. In such a case of a large group, the MDR is much more suitable.

 

Personally, however, I have no interest in making meaningless small-talk with strangers on a cruise, so the 2-tops in Blu are a major part of the reason to choose AQ, if it's just my DW and me.

[Jade13]

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.

 

You can opt out of BLU and eat in the MDR.

[jackdiamond]

Define stuffy--not friendly or what?

We have had three ten night cruises in AQ on the Equinox; and, in Michaels Club, Blu and the happy hour venue, we have only encountered paucity in the way of stuffy folks.

[mylove]

Define stuffy--not friendly or what?

 

This was exactly my thought....:confused::confused:

 

I will be in 1605 on the Eclipse,will let everyone know how much i loved it when we get back....:):)

 

Kimberley

[Hlitner]

After reading some of the posts we had to clear the air about a few issues. Yes, it is true that many of the AQ cabins are located under the pool which we agree is not our ideal location. But we just booked an AQ cabin that is a bit further astern, under passenger cabins, and relatively close to the stern elevator. There are concierge cabins in this same area of the ship, but they are even further astern and further from the elevators. As to Blu (we are looking forward to meeting the "stuffy" folks), it does seem to be true that the AQ cabins cannot get an assigned seating in the MDR (we never do assigned seatings anyway). However, the AQ cabins can use Select Dining in the MDR (with or without a reservation).

 

As to "stuffy" folks at the Elite cocktail hours (or breakfast) we have met lots of folks at the Elite venues on other ships and enjoyed their company. I am not sure why a frequent cruiser woud be "stuffy" but so be it :) We personally enjoy chatting with well traveled passengers (often found in the Elite venues) so we can exchange info on various places to go and see.

 

Hank

[Rahi]

The price of these rooms are so close to the price of C3 rooms.. but I would never want to be under that overhang that I am sure makes your room so dark. I felt that once on a cruise with an aft room.. the balcony was so deep that it made the room dark.. ( a different cruise line),I just don't like that. I wish these rooms were placed else where.. I would switch in a heart beat.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Kathy, thank you for the advice. Everyone in our group has Select dining. We are all linked together and we have already selected our dining times each night. Hopefully, we should not have a problem, but I think we will take your advice and see the head maitr'd when we board.

 

However, Heather just stated that you can't opt out of Blu:confused:

 

Lucy

 

I wasn't completely clear. You don't have to eat in Blu; you can eat in any restaurant including the MDR but only in Select dining, not in fixed. I wanted fixed.

 

You can opt out of BLU and eat in the MDR.

 

Sort of ... my PCC told me that we cannot opt out of Blu and have traditional dining with a table assignment. That's what we have always had, it's what we like and it's what we want. I was stunned they wouldn't let us do that, but they even checked "up the ladder" ... no go.

 

Now I read Kathy's post saying that she was in AQ and had an assigned table in MDR at 8:30 and could either eat there or in Blu. I'd love to know how she was able to do that because my PCC at Celebrity told me we definitely could not do that, that we would have to choose Select.

 

Too late now anyway because the AQ hump cabins are gone for our sailing and I wouldn't want to be in any of the others.

 

we just booked an AQ cabin that is a bit further astern, under passenger cabins, and relatively close to the stern elevator.

 

Hank, there are no stern elevators on Solstice class. Are you talking about another ship? Unless you mean the AQ on Penthouse Deck. But those are a long way from the spa.

[psygist]

No doubt in my mind that the number one reason (and perhaps the only reason) to book AQ is to dine in Blu. IMO, the Blu dining experience (food quality, service, intimate setting) is far superior to any MDR experience I've had on any cruise ship or cruise line. It's like eating in a specialty restaurant every day. Breakfast is outstanding in Blu as well.

 

The other perks provided for AQ cabins, IMO, are relatively minor "bells and whistles" and shouldn't be a factor in deciding whether to book AQ over CC.

 

As for cabin location, my first choice would be to book one of the aft cabins that are located under other cabins. If unavailable, try one of the fore cabins not directly under the gym. We booked one under the salon which shouldn't be noisy during the evening and is closed at night. Some with AQ cabins under the pool deck complain about noise while others say noise is never a problem.

[Hlitner]

 

 

 

Hank, there are no stern elevators on Solstice class. Are you talking about another ship? Unless you mean the AQ on Penthouse Deck. But those are a long way from the spa.

 

Yes, I was specifically talking about Penthouse Deck AQ cabins to the aft of the "main" elevators. Now we could call those the "main" elevators, the "central" elevators or arguably the "stern" elevators because they are the the furthest "astern." And since somebody brought up the overhang issue with the AQ cabins, which was also a big concern or ours, those AQ Cabins located aft of the elevators have another passenger cabin deck above...which means the overhang is not a problem.

 

As to Blu, since cuisine is an important part of our cruise experience we are looking forward to trying this venue (its why we booked the AQ cabin). A smaller (more intimate) restaurant vs a massive MDR sounds like it would suit our style. We normally do Select Dining and always ask to share large tables so the open seating in Blu is good for us.

 

Hank

[sunshine nana]

We have one of the best hump cabins booked, but met a couple on our last cruise (princess) that loved Aqua. We love the Romance Suites on NCL because of Cagneys specialty dining room for breakfast and lunch.We would not book NCL without that perk. I hate the buffet, so was thinking of trying Blu.We have never been on Celebrity and have decided to give the A1 and the MDR a try. I do not like to be under anything noisy and can't be too far forward or too high up because of motion sickness.Aqua is $400 more total, so we plan to use that for excursions. Thanks to everyone for all the information. Hope we made the right decision.

[excitedofharpenden]

Along the lines of what other posters have mentioned, I think the ONLY reason I would choose a Concierge cabin, or any other balcony cabin, over AQ is if I was traveling with a bunch of my friends or family members. Blu can accommodate some larger groups - but is mostly set-up for 2-tops, and even then everyone in your group would have to pay for AQ to eat together. In such a case of a large group, the MDR is much more suitable.

 

Personally, however, I have no interest in making meaningless small-talk with strangers on a cruise, so the 2-tops in Blu are a major part of the reason to choose AQ, if it's just my DW and me.

I can quite understand your feelings expressed in paragraph one and you said it well. You completely spoiled it in paragraph two.

 

Phil

[HeatherInFlorida]

Yes, I was specifically talking about Penthouse Deck AQ cabins to the aft of the "main" elevators. Now we could call those the "main" elevators, the "central" elevators or arguably the "stern" elevators because they are the the furthest "astern."...................

 

As to Blu, since cuisine is an important part of our cruise experience we are looking forward to trying this venue (its why we booked the AQ cabin). A smaller (more intimate) restaurant vs a massive MDR sounds like it would suit our style. We normally do Select Dining and always ask to share large tables so the open seating in Blu is good for us.

 

Hank

 

Everyone on our cruise who dined in Blu absolutely raved so I'm sure you will love it. To me the elevators are midship, because I very much missed having stern elevators. It was, in my opinion, the only error they made on the Solstice ... my absolutely favorite ship of any of my cruises since 1982.

 

.................

Personally, however, I have no interest in making meaningless small-talk with strangers on a cruise, so the 2-tops in Blu are a major part of the reason to choose AQ, if it's just my DW and me.

 

Ouch! Well, fortunately both for you and for all of us you are able to eliminate all chance of having to make "meaningless small talk with strangers". Blu for 2 will be perfect for you.

 

But some of us just see it differently. We see meeting people on a cruise who share our love for the sea, enjoy making new friends and having fun and interesting conversations as one of the highlights of a cruise and one of the absolute best parts of cruising.:)

 

DH and I get to look at each other over dinner alone every single night. So on a cruise we love company and have never in all our years of cruising had a bad experience.

 

You are not "opting out of Blu" if you get assigned to your friend's table. If you have select dining, you won't have an assigned table. Select dining, you just show up and they will seat you where there is availability, which might be a problem for a large group. We had an 8:30 assigned dining time for 12 of us. It was absolutely no problem to either dine with our friends or in Blu. In Blu you show your room card which states you are in Aqua and they let you in. You are not restricted to dining in Blu. If so, you wouldn't be able to eat anywhere else on the ship, no specialty dining, no room service, etc.

 

Kathy, still hoping to get an answer from you. This is the complete opposite of what my PCC told me so I'd really like to know if I've been steered wrong. She insisted we could only dine in Blu or use Select Dining in the MDR.

[PS90]

I can quite understand your feelings expressed in paragraph one and you said it well. You completely spoiled it in paragraph two.

 

Phil

 

It was just my opinion. I HATE getting stuck at an large MDR table with a bunch of people I don't know. So, therefore, we now always go Select, and am trying Blu for the more intimate 2-person table setting.

 

I'm not trying to tell anyone else what to do, I just don't like eating with strangers.

[Christine Frances]

I don't think wouldn't enjoy eating with different people each night (we wouldn't opt for Select Dining), but we really enjoy a 6 or 8 top with traditional dining so we eat with the same people. Many lasting friendships have been acquired over the years which we treasure. My DH and I are empty nesters and we have an "intimate 2 person table setting" every night at home - we know all each others stories:D so when we cruise it is so much fun to meet and talk to other people. And that's just our opinion:) Love the choices we have while cruising!

[Cruiseorr]

We had AQ 1624 on the Equinox. The location was great, and we had no noise issues from above as it is under staterooms. However, there was a huge intake fan for the ventilation system on the ceiling above our balcony which ran nonstop and was noisy enough to make it hard to hear the sound of the ocean when we were at sea....but on the other hand it made it so you didn't hear people talking on balconies near you and that was nice.

We also liked the fact that there's a timer on the balcony light so your neighbor can't leave it on all night. I hope they do this on all the M-class ships when they get renovated.

We found that even though there are many tables for two in Blu, they are very close together. Try and get a table around the perimeter since at least you only have people on either side, and not surrounding you. Blu really is a lovely venue for dining and offers a quality experience. Breakfast is also terrific! No waiting for a table, lovely ocean views, excellent selection on the menu. A perfect start to any day.:)

[NelleS]

Thank you all for your help! We just booked an A2 cabin that is below other cabins. Got an OK rate, plus pp gratuities & a decent SBC.

 

Thanks again,

Ellen

[Christine Frances]

Have a wonderful cruise:D

[davwen81]

Having travelled in Conciege class and loving it and then in Acqua Class last year on Eclipse, we would thoroughly recommend Acqua class anytime. It is a little more pricey, but with that goes Blu, which everyone else has raved about and we thoroughly agree, it is fabulous and the food is simply stunning, for breakfast as well as dinner. Blu is quieter, important when one of us is slightly deaf and struggles in noisy dining rooms to hear over a table of 8. We met lots of lovely people even though we didnt dine in the MDR once,which was a concern for us as sharing a table for dinner is one lovely way of meeting fellow travellers.

Also we used the Persian Gardens and the lovely heated lounges nearly everyday, and incredibly my husband who was initially very reluctant, LOVED it and we regularly fell asleep, waking up with our tired legs feeling relaxed and refreshed after a day walking around each port. A wonderful way to relax and unwind! The wet/sauna rooms and different rain showers were also lovely.

We also used the Relaxation room occasionally and it was normally full of people, but a quiet calm place overlooking the front of the ship.

The cabins are exactly the same for each, but Acquaclass is one level higher on the ship, so you do get the overhang from the pool deck, something to watch for in some climates.

Otherwise, we can only say book it and try as it is worth every penny, pound or dollar, Aussie or US!!

[jomf]

I hope not on the same cruise as me.

 

Gordon

 

 

No! End of September for us!