Aqua Class and pre-paid gratuities

[crossoverstreet]

We're booked in Aqua Class on the Eclipse in a few weeks and look forward to dining in Blu.

 

I spoke with Celebrity today, and they said that if I choose Celebrity Select Dining, they will put me in the Main Dining Room instead of Blu even though I'm in Aqua Class. I was advised not to choose Celebrity Select, to choose a dining time for Blu, and then ignore the dining time because in Blu one can eat at anytime.

 

This seems silly. If I choose Celebrity Select to prepay gratuities, I'm assumed to be eating in the Main Dining Room even though I'm in Aqua Class. And, if I decline Celebrity Select and book a time for Blu, I'm assumed to ignore this time and eat whenever I like.

 

Has anyone else experienced this from Celebrity? How does one prepay gratuities and dine in Blu with Aqua Class?

 

Cheers,

[Sloop-JohnB]

We're booked in Aqua Class on the Eclipse in a few weeks and look forward to dining in Blu.

 

I spoke with Celebrity today, and they said that if I choose Celebrity Select Dining, they will put me in the Main Dining Room instead of Blu even though I'm in Aqua Class. I was advised not to choose Celebrity Select, to choose a dining time for Blu, and then ignore the dining time because in Blu one can eat at anytime.

 

This seems silly. If I choose Celebrity Select to prepay gratuities, I'm assumed to be eating in the Main Dining Room even though I'm in Aqua Class. And, if I decline Celebrity Select and book a time for Blu, I'm assumed to ignore this time and eat whenever I like.

 

Has anyone else experienced this from Celebrity? How does one prepay gratuities and dine in Blu with Aqua Class?

 

Cheers,

 

Hi Crossoverstreet,

 

Have heard of this issue at least twice now in the last week or so here on the CC CELEBRITY BOARD...

 

As stated then... it sounds "totally messed up"

 

And more than likely where a person on the phone at Celebrity doesn't know what they are talking about (sadly happens frequently enough)...

 

OR A MAJOR CHANGE IN POLICY

 

I will see if I can't find the link to the previous posting for you... so you can follow that conversation / and it's ongoing pursuit as well.

 

Cheers!

[cruisestitch]

Yes, this appears to be a glitch in their system -- has been around for a while. Others have found the "work around" for it and I'm sure someone will chime in on how to do it.

 

I THINK it will work to just keep your Blu status, ignore the Select Dining info, and choose to have your gratuities pre-paid ( if that is, indeed your goal in this case )

[Gonzo70]

It USED to be the case that if you chose select dining you were assigned to the main dining room instead of Blu. This is not the case anymore; you can now chose select dining and Blu will remain your dining room. A lot of the phone reps have not become privy to the changed policy.

[jgga]

Just returned from Equinox Aqua class and dining in Blu is open seating every night regardless of what dining time/choice you select. Prepaid gratuities is not an issue and is applied automatically wherever you dine. You always have the option of opting out of prepaid grats.

[cruisestitch]

I think (although I may have misunderstood) that the OP is trying to opt-in to pre=paid gratuities -- that is, paying them as part of the cruise cost during the booking or final payment and not waiting until onboard.

[Sloop-JohnB]

I think (although I may have misunderstood) that the OP is trying to opt-in to pre=paid gratuities -- that is, paying them as part of the cruise cost during the booking or final payment and not waiting until onboard.

 

TO CRUISESTITCH,

 

That was indeed the way I read it as well.

 

Cheers!

[hulamoon]

If she wants to pay in advance can't she just over pay her account and they can be applied that way? Does it work that way?

[ghstudio]

The safest way to do this is to sign up for either early or late seating (which will be ignored since you will be assigned to Blu) and then put the amount of the gratuities as a prepaid amount on your account. Call Celebrity to find out how to make that prepayment.

 

Don't try to fool their system to bill you for select dining....you are only asking for trouble irrespective of what anyone tells you.

 

In the future, never call celebrity for a clarification on anything and if you do, only believe it if it comes in writing signed by a manager. If you rely on anything that a customer service rep tells you on the phone, you have at best a 50:50 shot at it's being correct.

[Sloop-JohnB]

Hi CrossoverStreet,

 

Found that past topic... http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1556500

 

Be sure and read the EXCELLENT replies by CATHYCRUISES (# 17) and DKJRETIRED (# 20) they've covered all the bases.

 

Hope this is helpful,

 

Cheers!

 

EDIT - see while I was searching / drafting... that GHSTUDIO has made many of the same points... sorry for the overlap.

[aquaclass]

just got back from Eclipse in Aqua Class

 

read my review http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4742

[L11]

Aquaclass, on my computer your link led to an article about Princess cutting a cruise short because of gastrointestinal illness.

[hulamoon]

Yeah, that is what happened to me too. I would be very unhappy to be on that cruise.

[shana7]

We're booked in Aqua Class on the Eclipse in a few weeks and look forward to dining in Blu.

 

I spoke with Celebrity today, and they said that if I choose Celebrity Select Dining, they will put me in the Main Dining Room instead of Blu even though I'm in Aqua Class. I was advised not to choose Celebrity Select, to choose a dining time for Blu, and then ignore the dining time because in Blu one can eat at anytime.

 

This seems silly. If I choose Celebrity Select to prepay gratuities, I'm assumed to be eating in the Main Dining Room even though I'm in Aqua Class. And, if I decline Celebrity Select and book a time for Blu, I'm assumed to ignore this time and eat whenever I like.

 

Has anyone else experienced this from Celebrity? How does one prepay gratuities and dine in Blu with Aqua Class?

 

Cheers,

 

Hi. I'm booked for the Summit 2/25/12 and spoke to Celebrity today to clarify the dining. I was told that AC guests dine in Blu and Select dining occurs in Blu, not in MDR. When I go into my reservation on the website it looks like I can select different dining times for each night.

[ghstudio]

Hi. I'm booked for the Summit 2/25/12 and spoke to Celebrity today to clarify the dining. I was told that AC guests dine in Blu and Select dining occurs in Blu, not in MDR. When I go into my reservation on the website it looks like I can select different dining times for each night.

 

No! Aqua Class passengers dine in Blu and they can eat at any time...there are no fixed seatings in Blu. "Select dining" only applies to the main dining room and it applies to a portion of the main dining room set aside for those who choose "select dining".

 

Said another way, if you aren't in Aqua, then you will eat in the MDR in either the fixed seating or select seating areas. If you book in Aqua, you will eat in the Blu dining room and you will be able to eat any time you want and it has nothing to do with "select dining".

[stagebaby]

Well, now I'm really confused. We are booked in AQ and we chose dining whenever and we pre-paid the gratuities on Equinox next month. We were definately left with the impression that we could dine anytime, anywhere- Blu when we wanted or MDR when we wanted. Who can tell me for sure what's up?

[uktog]

Well, now I'm really confused. We are booked in AQ and we chose dining whenever and we pre-paid the gratuities on Equinox next month. We were definately left with the impression that we could dine anytime, anywhere- Blu when we wanted or MDR when we wanted. Who can tell me for sure what's up?

 

As an Aqua class guest

 

1. You can dine in Blu each night any time you want - it is a walk up and be seated approach, very occasionally you may need to wait for a table, but if that happens we go to the Rendezvous Bar just nearby and the Maitre D comes for us when a table is ready

 

2. You can ask the Maitre D in the dining room if you want to go to Select dining and IF there is space available, you can eat there, however there have been many reports of select dining, which is for non Aqua class passengers who are assigned to the dining room, being fully subscribed for a whole sailing

 

So in summary -

Blu is your assigned dining room for dinner

Blu is a dining room available to you at breakfast, but so is the cafe and the main dining room

Blu is available IF space is available by prior agreement with the Maitre D (not guaranteed) and at a cost of $5 per head for suite guests

Blue is NOT available at any times to other guests

 

Main Dining Room is the assigned dining room for dinner for ALL non Aqua class guests

When booking those assigned to the MDR have three options; Early, Late or Select

MDR is available IF space is available by prior arrangement with the Maitre D for Aquaclass guests

 

The gratuity issue just confuses things - far better not to get tangled up in this and select to pay them up front in the cost of the cruise, thereby avoiding any confusion and giving you maximum flexibility

[Buranogal]

Hi again my dining option says "Your Choice Dining" ? We are in AQ class and I was not asked if we wanted to pre pay gratuities the TA just did it.

[cruisestitch]

Buranogal -- you are good to go -- enjoy Blu

 

stagebaby -- since you are in Aqua Class, Blu is your dining room. You might be able to eat in the MDR in the Select Dining area if space is available. Lately, many cruises' Select is selling out, so they might turn you away if you try to eat in Blu. You won't know until you try on board.

[Xport]

Though not required, anyone can pre-pay gratuities--including those dining in the Main Dining Room on a traditional [set time] basis or in Blu [where all dining is on a flex/anytime] basis--by electing to do so at final payment...

 

Those guests who choose to do Select Dining in the Main Dining Room are required to prepay gratuities at final payment...

[PatC]

Celebrity's "customer service" is not the place to find any answers.

 

We sail on Silhouette in March. We are in Aqua. We switched to Aqua after booking our Select Dining times. We have received our e-docs and the schedule for us is Select still. Our dining times for specialty restaurants is also on the schedule. Half of our group is Aqua, half regular cabins.

 

We have printed out our confirmations and e-docs for the scheduled times since it seems that, even though we know for a fact that our TA links our reservations, every time we board and check they claim or reservations are not linked! So, better safe than sorry.

 

I'll post after we return to let everyone know what happens.

[LMKohler]

I'm not going to worry about this;). We are travelling with 4 other couples and as PatC said, we have select dining and our dining times reserved. We are in AQ and if six of us want to try that one night we will go to Blu and eat there.

 

We'll see what happens next month:D

 

Lucy

[cruisestitch]

Your plan to bring non AQ guests to dine with you in Blu probably will not work, so you should not be counting on that as an option.

 

Blue is available to Suite guests on a space-available basis but is NOT available to guests in other staterooms.

 

There have been many reports of non-AQ guests being turned away from Blu, and one unfortunate incident where a Celebrity staff member allowed non-AQ guests into Blu and lost his job for having done so.

[Xport]

We are in Aqua. We switched to Aqua after booking our Select Dining times. We have received our e-docs and the schedule for us is Select still. Our dining times for specialty restaurants is also on the schedule. Half of our group is Aqua, half regular cabins.

 

We have printed out our confirmations and e-docs for the scheduled times since it seems that, even though we know for a fact that our TA links our reservations, every time we board and check they claim or reservations are not linked! So, better safe than sorry.

 

Your travel agent may be confused too... AquaClass guests typically dine in Blu but, by prior arrangement, can dine in the Main Dining Room... Non-AquaClass guests [other than those who are staying in suites who, subject to a $5 per person surcharge, may dine in Blu by prior arrangement on a space available basis] do not have access to Blu...

 

For those dining in Blu and for those doing Select Dining in the Main Dining Room, there is no reason to link reservations [and surely, you can't link reservations across dining rooms]... You show up at the appropriate venue with your group--which may vary from night to night--at the time of your choosing and request a table that accommodates you...

 

I do suggest, if your groups--one in the MDR and one in Blu--are large and if each group intends to dine at approximately the same time every night, that you speak with the Maitre 'D in Blu and/or the Specialty Dining Coordinator in the MDR upon boarding so that they can expect you/plan for you to be seated together [tables are not assigned in either case]...

 

The dining times you personally selected prior to transferring to AquaClass will not, I'm quite certain, carry over to Blu...

 

At this juncture, linking reservations is most appropriate for guests who dine in the Main Dining Room at a traditional [fixed--early or late--time] seating who want to be assigned to the same table with the same service team during the entire sailing...

[Look4me]

we are also booked on the Equinox in the AQ Class and were told by our travel agent we could dine in Blu anytime between 6pm & 9pm with no reservation required, however, we DO have the option of the MDR whenever we want. I would like to do the MDR on formal nights. If anyone has further info it would be appreciated. We are sailing out on 3/5/12 and would like to find out. Thx, Look4me