Never again Aqua!

[baldercash]

We're going to try Oceania and some river cruises on Viking and AMA.

It is likely true that X is targeting a different, younger or possibly a less affluent demographic.

One must consider that if one has been sailing the same cruise line for 15 years as we have that as a demographic we have also changed over that time. Our wants and needs have changed in that time as well as what cruising offers.

 

I remember thinking Horizon and Zenith were optimum but over time was won over by M class ships. Having sailed Azamara and Oceania we enjoyed them but find them too "sedate" for multiple cruising.

 

We are booked this fall Honolulu to Singapore 35 days in an 11th deck A1 on Millennium.

We considered doing it on a smaller ship Princess or larger like the Solstice. Upon careful consideration we concluded the M class would best meet "our wants".

Combining Elite status perks with Aqua class gives one a level of cruising that we believe is tough to beat by any line, plus no other line offers a top deck cabin like M class AC.

A good balance of activities and venues for sea days and not excessively large for small islands.

 

That being said we are booked on the Oasis Sept 2014 eastbound and Oct 2014 return trans Atlantic. Never been on a ship this size but looking forward to the adventure.

Investigating doing a river cruise while spending a month in Europe waiting the return cruise.

How will we ever coupe with 2 weeks on Oasis followed by a week or two on a river boat!

 

Looking forward to the challenges.

[ghstudio]

It is likely true that X is targeting a different, younger or possibly a less affluent demographic.

One must consider that if one has been sailing the same cruise line for 15 years as we have that as a demographic we have also changed over that time. Our wants and needs have changed in that time as well as what cruising offers.

 

I remember thinking Horizon and Zenith were optimum but over time was won over by M class ships. Having sailed Azamara and Oceania we enjoyed them but find them too "sedate" for multiple cruising.

 

We are booked this fall Honolulu to Singapore 35 days in an 11th deck A1 on Millennium.

We considered doing it on a smaller ship Princess or larger like the Solstice. Upon careful consideration we concluded the M class would best meet "our wants".

Combining Elite status perks with Aqua class gives one a level of cruising that we believe is tough to beat by any line, plus no other line offers a top deck cabin like M class AC.

A good balance of activities and venues for sea days and not excessively large for small islands.

 

That being said we are booked on the Oasis Sept 2014 eastbound and Oct 2014 return trans Atlantic. Never been on a ship this size but looking forward to the adventure.

Investigating doing a river cruise while spending a month in Europe waiting the return cruise.

How will we ever coupe with 2 weeks on Oasis followed by a week or two on a river boat!

 

Looking forward to the challenges.

 

We too are elite and book Aqua class now. I've said in other threads that it gives a small ship experience on a larger ship. However we've seen too many real changes relatively recently. Many are dining oriented. We've had some wonderful meals on Celebrity, but few of those recently. My recent experience 28 days on the millennium has me believing that the new version of seasoning is add more salt (and I love salt...knosh on pretzels and pickles). Almost impossible to get the sommelier's attention in aqua...that is an 's not an s...there was only one. The nice touch of someone refilling your glass is long gone. Desserts used to be terrific....many of us remember the fruit tarts and the swans....today, the tarts are almost tasteless, no swans unless you call the no-sugar added ones in the brunch swans... (they too are tasteless). Desserts in the buffet have become "anything you can cook in a sheet cake pan" and so on. My pet peeve is that Celebrity seems to have removed the onions from the onion soup......how cheap can you get? Murano's menu has changed, presumably to remove some more expensive dishes...I don't know. Finally, because of the distance from the kitchen on the M-class solsticized ships, the food arrives warm, not hot...the poached eggs get hard while being brought up to Blu and served....s-class Blu is far better in this respect.

 

As far as cabins, the aqua cabins are nice, but I would much rather be in a cabin that wasn't directly under the pool with a huge overhang....they are, in a word, lousy cabins except for those who still believe that being on the top deck is best. The canapes used to be interesting and varied...and you could choose what you wanted....today you get four small canapes, mostly something squeezed out of a tube on to a cracker or similar.

 

Even with all that negative stuff, Celebrity offers a great deal of value with the aqua offering.....and it's far from NCL or even RCL's monster ships which my wife refuses to even think about booking. At it's price point, I think Celebrity's aqua class might be the best deal out there....(of course you have to look for a special price or good deal on aqua...but that's always true).

 

We still have two cruises booked in aqua....as it turns out they are both on the infinity...the fall TA (with friends) and the Antarctica cruise. Assuming we have a good cruise on the TA, we'll do the Antarctica one....if not, we may just cancel it and find an oceania cruise in that timeframe.

[attilamom1217]

y'all are making me nervous. We are booked on our first AQ for our Jan 14 cruise on the Silhouette. At the time we booked, AQ2 was only $100/person more than the basic balcony (that along with the 123Go promo we got a deal).

 

i gather from the posts that we are better off AQ in the S class than the M class (we did Concierge Class on the M-class ships).

 

Interestingly - at least on the Silhouette - 1/3 of the AQ cabins are under cabins - but they are the cheaper AQ cabins. The rest of the AQ cabins (both AQ2 abd AQ1) are either under the pool, the spa, the fitness Center - all noise creaters. We would not have booked AQ if we had to be under the pool.

[CI66774]

I think the decision makers at Celebrity are brilliant. They take the cabins in bad locations, etc. and add a perk here or there, then charge you more and convince you you're getting a better experience than, say, a regular balcony in a good location. Brilliant marketing!

[ivycruise]

That's not a problem for us...we aren't looking for an intimate dinner for two in blu or at normal restaurants at home. If we want that special ambiance, we eat at Tuscan or murano...or at a fine restaurant at home. We have more than enough time during the day and evening to talk privately. we actually prefer to dine with others on cruises...and blu or select allows us to dine with various, mostly interesting, folks.

 

Exactly the same for us. We met a great couple from Sweden on our most recent Reflection cruise in Blu and probably wouldn't have happened otherwise. On another night in Blu we sat with them and then the other table was so close we started conversing with a very interesting couple from Toronto. For the evenings we expected a more intimate dinner we dined in either Murano or Tuscan.

[ghstudio]

y'all are making me nervous. We are booked on our first AQ for our Jan 14 cruise on the Silhouette. At the time we booked, AQ2 was only $100/person more than the basic balcony (that along with the 123Go promo we got a deal).

 

i gather from the posts that we are better off AQ in the S class than the M class (we did Concierge Class on the M-class ships).

 

Interestingly - at least on the Silhouette - 1/3 of the AQ cabins are under cabins - but they are the cheaper AQ cabins. The rest of the AQ cabins (both AQ2 abd AQ1) are either under the pool, the spa, the fitness Center - all noise creaters. We would not have booked AQ if we had to be under the pool.

 

I'm not trying to make anyone nervous...we are a bit off on a tangent of why leave celebrity for another cruise line.....and inherent in that discussion is that you have to be willing to pay at least 50% more to be on the other cruise line...

 

We think celebrity aqua is the best option if choosing between HAL, princess, RCL and certainly NCL, Carnival as well. We have never cruised on Cunard, so I can't comment on that as a choice. IMHO, the quiet of blu vs the noise of the MDR is our overriding reason for selecting aqua. I'm not sure if the food in blu is any better or healthier than the MDR....we've had some good meals in the MDR, even when booked in aqua (joining non aqua friends). Blu works better, IMHO, on the s-class ships, so you should have an excellent experience.

 

Some don't like the tables so close, we don't mind; we would like someone to pour a glass of wine for us every so often, others don't care; we find the food salty, others love it just the way it is....and so on. And then there is the $ consideration....would you rather do more cruises on Celebrity vs possibly less cruises on Oceania or other (unless $'s aren't an issue, of course).

 

Very wise to pick an A2 cabin not under a noisy area. You'll have a great trip....

[BamaD]

I want to reiterate... we've always been so happy in Blu. It feels like 'coming home at the end of the day.' We're usually at 4-tops, but have been very happy at 2-tops.

 

Social conventions should dictate that we read each others 'social cues' well enough to invite or discourage engagement with neighbors, for the length the dinner. My engineer husband, smiles, nods... and he's done. Twenty year old daughter goes to Blu for dessert, to meet people:confused:!

 

We've sailed Solstice, Eclipse, and Equinox. We tend to eat at primetime and have never waited more than a moment. We've visited the MDR - no problem. On the Equinox, two of us were AQ and two were CS - no problem. This is not to say that others have not experienced troubles. I guess we've just been lucky.

 

PS - We're big believers in communicating our plans to the Maitre D.

[baldercash]

Last cruise on Oceania on an R class ship the tables for 2 in the MDR were close together which also allows discussion between tables maybe a max of 24 inches apart?

Not sure as I did not pay close attention but did have conversations with other dinners and at times even a table over would be involved.

MDR is much smaller so not loud at dinner time.

I would not say the wait staff service was any better then on X, I actually thought MDR service was disjointed as an example we had to turn coffee cups over to stop servers from repeatedly asking if we wanted coffee. I could get into more detail but we were not overwhelmed.

 

I have to agree the food is not to the levels on X it once was and the service in the specialty dinning rooms is not to the same levels.

The days of having a harpist playing and simultaneous service were all seated at the table are presented with their dish at the same time are gone.

 

I also agree that strangely tasteless deserts seem the norm, not just on X but most lines.

 

Last RCI cruise I attended a seminar given by the head chief which was very informative.

He stated that the #1 complaint received was that the food was over salted. The #2 complaint was that the food was bland and not salted enough. They track the complaints and they know statistically those over 50 complain about excess salt and those under complain about lack there of.

He stated the issue of salt seemed largely a North American driven phenomenon, he also said the huge stack of dietary allergies and restrictions they had to deal with every cruise were overwhelmingly generated by North American cruisers as well.

He stated food is very subjective but cold food is not and should not be tolerated.

He stated RCI tracks the temperature of food and knows what temp it is to be served at the table. If it is not hot then it is the wait staff staging incorrectly. I assume the same standard would be held by X?

 

We find all lines we have cruised have their plus and minusis

One can always find issues but for us we will continue to cruise X and enjoy Aqua class until we happen upon a line we enjoy more.

[ghstudio]

Last RCI cruise I attended a seminar given by the head chief which was very informative.

He stated that the #1 complaint received was that the food was over salted. The #2 complaint was that the food was bland and not salted enough. They track the complaints and they know statistically those over 50 complain about excess salt and those under complain about lack there of.

 

No....I think you are misquoting...#1 is too much salt #2 is not enough seasoning. They are, in fact, the same complaint, but the Celebrity Chefs are just not bright enough to realize that salt is not the only seasoning.....sorry...but this is not a north american or American problem.....they aren't seasoning their dishes and just adding salt (which is very cheap) doesn't create a good tasting dish. They are cooking bland food these days....although the seasoning is better in blu where you can actually tell them less salt and more seasoning.

 

It is annoying to hear chefs misinterpret what they are hearing.....and I'm sorry, although they are paid as chefs, they have either no clue how to season or no budget to buy seasoning

[baldercash]

No....I think you are misquoting...#1 is too much salt #2 is not enough seasoning. They are, in fact, the same complaint, but the Celebrity Chefs are just not bright enough to realize that salt is not the only seasoning.....sorry...but this is not a north american or American problem.....they aren't seasoning their dishes and just adding salt (which is very cheap) doesn't create a good tasting dish. They are cooking bland food these days....although the seasoning is better in blu where you can actually tell them less salt and more seasoning.

 

It is annoying to hear chefs misinterpret what they are hearing.....and I'm sorry, although they are paid as chefs, they have either no clue how to season or no budget to buy seasoning

 

To much salt is not the same as not enough seasoning. One only needs to eat curry on any cruise ship to know this! Most cruisers find it too spicy if they try it at all. I am not just talking spicy hot but spice as in masala the spices used to make curry too over powering.

Who do you think Old El Paso is marketing their new Extra Mild Super Tasty Taco Kit to.

A Taco with no spice bet it is huge with the Latino community? The mild does not just reference the heat.

 

No I am not miss quoting he stated he must track every written complaint and was very specific about tracking the age of those who complained about excessive salt and it was the over 50 age. He may have actually given a lower age in the 40+ range.

He was from New Zealand and was very out spoken and had a rather vigorous discussion with a cruiser who was a pastry Chief. Neither was an advocate for the sugarless deserts which use a synthetic replacement.

He had left the line for a few years and had recently returned to help introduce the new menu which he was adamant was superior to the old just based on the cost and quality of the raw ingredients.

He was very forth coming and explained the absence of escargot was due to flooding in Indonesia or which ever the country they were sourced. It will take a year or so to generate a sufficient supply to meet RCI's requirements and it was decided they would be dropped until then. All or nothing.

He was not a supporter of genetically modified foods nor corn, hormone and antibiotic feed for livestock and fish. So not a big supporter of American agri business I assumed.

He used the reference to the ever increasing special diet requests and allergies to suggest there was actually something wrong with the American diet or environment that was responsible for this.

I was able to do a kitchen tour with him and he was just as uncompromising in his explanations. He stated the same coffee was served at every venue through out the ship so it should be the same. He acknowledged it was not and then outlined how staff change the brew in different ways during brewing by shirking guidelines.

He explained how the food temp was tracked and that if it was being delivered cool they wanted to know because it was the wait staff staging it incorrectly. The excuse that the kitchen is too far away is not correct as they time and monitor food temp at every stage to the table.

As stated this was on a RCI ship but I am sure when they put BLU on M class ships they took this into consideration.

 

Just saying.

[ghstudio]

To much salt is not the same as too much seasoning. One only needs to eat curry on a any cruise ship to know this!

Who do you think Old El Paso is marketing their new Extra Mild Super Tasty Taco Kit to.

A Taco with no spice bet it is huge with the Latino community?

 

 

My statement was or should have been if 1 is too much salt and 2 is not enough seasoning then they are the same complaint. Both complaints are caused by celebrity chefs using salt instead of seasoning...in fact some recent dishes, salt is apparently the only seasoning......and folks who enjoy food know better and complain that a) the food is too salty; and b) the food lacks seasoning.

 

Keep in mind that as a rule, Americans are more vocal about criticism than many Europeans, especially Brits.....so it might appear that complaints are coming from americans, but if they probed deeper, they might well find that the European's didn't like the food, they just don't complain about it...they keep it to themselves. Ditto on older passengers vs younger ones....older folks tend to vocalize their dislikes more than younger folks.

[baldercash]

My statement was or should have been if 1 is too much salt and 2 is not enough seasoning then they are the same complaint. Both complaints are caused by celebrity chefs using salt instead of seasoning...in fact some recent dishes, salt is apparently the only seasoning......and folks who enjoy food know better and complain that a) the food is too salty; and b) the food lacks seasoning.

 

Keep in mind that as a rule, Americans are more vocal about criticism than many Europeans, especially Brits.....so it might appear that complaints are coming from americans, but if they probed deeper, they might well find that the European's didn't like the food, they just don't complain about it...they keep it to themselves. Ditto on older passengers vs younger ones....older folks tend to vocalize their dislikes more than younger folks.

 

All points well stated and in truth I tend to agree with you.

He also stated they focus on comfort foods to please passengers and those are different from Americans for the English, Germans, Italian .....

Bet the English don't complain about too much salt and lack of spice. Just being facetious!

They know their curries.

 

One only needs to read Princess cruise reviews to see that that lines most stanch supporters believe it is all about the pizza and coffee bar. After spending some time in Italy I am willing to bet that is not the opinion of the average Italian. They don't seem to have a taste for McCafe, Starbucks or Dunken D's.

 

We did an MSC cruise and the majority of North American cruisers could not get their heads round an Italian antipasto buffet.

[BosoxI]

No....I think you are misquoting...#1 is too much salt #2 is not enough seasoning. They are, in fact, the same complaint, but the Celebrity Chefs are just not bright enough to realize that salt is not the only seasoning.....sorry...but this is not a north american or American problem.....they aren't seasoning their dishes and just adding salt (which is very cheap) doesn't create a good tasting dish. They are cooking bland food these days....although the seasoning is better in blu where you can actually tell them less salt and more seasoning.

 

It is annoying to hear chefs misinterpret what they are hearing.....and I'm sorry, although they are paid as chefs, they have either no clue how to season or no budget to buy seasoning

 

This is music to my ears and you hit the nail on the head. These "Chefs" and I use the term advisedly, simply don't know how to season properly a dish. Worst yet, when I complain to the waiter that the food is bland and tasteless, the standard response is to offer a bottle of Tabasco, as if that will add the flavor of rosemary, garlic, or any of a host of common herbs. So much good food is ruined because these guys slept through the class on Seasoning, when they were in cooking school.

[BosoxI]

We did an MSC cruise and the majority of North American cruisers could not get their heads round an Italian antipasto buffet.

 

Golly, give me real Italian antipasti (not a salad posing as one), and I will have no need for a primo or secondo piatto! What do Americans eat? My MIL, a fine and generous lady, would proudly put overcooked chicken, pork or beef on the table, along with mushy vegetables, and only salt and pepper then proudly announce it was a good home cooked meal. I appreciated her effort and her hospitality, but one serving was enough and a small one at that;)

[4774Papa]

We just finished a great British Isles cruise on Infinity in Aqua. We loved BLU and Persian Gardens. BLU was fantastic. The food and service were excellent.

 

I don't like salt in my food and never add salt to my food. I did not find the BLU food salty. Occasionally, in the MDR or buffet, a dish will have more salt than I prefer, but didn't find that problem in BLU.