Eating Dinner in Blu

[nngardener]

We were in Aqua Class on the Eclipse in February 2013, and we have already booked our February 2014 cruise again in Aqua Class. We found that we liked several things about dining in Blu but the food choices weren’t appealing. The first night we ate there I had a fish dish that was really delicious, but my husband didn’t care for his meal. We tried eating there one more time and were really disappointed. Since we’re traveling in Aqua again in a few months and I’ve seen many comments about how good the food is in Blu, I’m wondering what has been your experience? Are you able to order off the menu, have them modify the choices or have you been satisfied with what you’ve received? I’m hoping to eat more often in Blu because I prefer the smaller dining space and the quieter atmosphere. However, I would also prefer good food. Thanks for letting me know about your experience and any advice you can give.

[CallyCruzer]

I love Blu! In fact we will only book Aqua when we sail because we do not want to end up in the MDR. My husband is a very picky eater and even on our 14 day cruises he has only ordered the every night steak option once due to not finding something he wanted. I have to say I have never had a bad meal in Blu.

[Lady Arwen]

We also are not fans of Blu. In April when we were on the Summit we actually requested to be changed to the MDR. The maitre d's of Blu and the MDR made all the arrangements for us with no problems at all. We were asked where we would like to be seated and we stayed there for the duration of the cruise. We found the service to be on par with Blu and the food was much more enjoyable.

 

We also don't like the table arrangements in Blu...far too close to our "neighbours". We found the wine service to be very slow, as well. In the MDR we had our classes refilled without having to ask.

 

We would not pay extra for Aqua Class in the future.

[Orator]

We were in Aqua Class on the Eclipse in February 2013, and we have already booked our February 2014 cruise again in Aqua Class. We found that we liked several things about dining in Blu but the food choices weren’t appealing. The first night we ate there I had a fish dish that was really delicious, but my husband didn’t care for his meal. We tried eating there one more time and were really disappointed. Since we’re traveling in Aqua again in a few months and I’ve seen many comments about how good the food is in Blu, I’m wondering what has been your experience? Are you able to order off the menu, have them modify the choices or have you been satisfied with what you’ve received? I’m hoping to eat more often in Blu because I prefer the smaller dining space and the quieter atmosphere. However, I would also prefer good food. Thanks for letting me know about your experience and any advice you can give.

 

I've been in Blu enough times to know the menu. I usually enjoy the offerings, but there are two menus that give me some difficulty. I discuss options with the Maître 'd and have always been satisfied. Food preferences and tastes are so varied that it would be quite unlikely that all would enjoy the same things. make your preferences known in advance.

[Blazerboy]

As you know, the opinion of food quality is subjective. For us, the food quality is o.k., slightly better than the MDR, as it comes from a kitchen producing fewer meals. The real appeal of Blu was the better service and smaller room with much less noise. And the breakfast was great, too. We had great service from maitre d', waiter, assistant waiter and sommelier. Others haven't had that happen, so I've always wondered if it was the ship, us, the other person or dumb luck. We have standards, but are also fairly easy going...:)

 

Andrew

 

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[bighairtexan]

I didn't like the food in BLU the first time I tried it (several years ago). I decided to give it another chance, last week on a different ship. Love the venue, the service was superb. Absolutely top notch. However, I still found the menu choices underwhelming. My travel mate (first time for her in BLU) felt exactly the same. (At least on the Millennium) we were able to order the anytime choices from the MDR (French onion soup, escargot, caesar salad, desserts etc). But we weren't allowed to order any MDR entrees.

Our best meals were lunch in the MDR on sea days, frequently ordering the SPE items.

 

As I mentioned on another thread, now that the MDR has SPE offerings in just about each category at lunch and dinner, I won't be going back to BLU.

For me the best of both worlds would be the current MDR menus offered in BLU.

[jackdiamond]

I didn't like the food in BLU the first time I tried it (several years ago). I decided to give it another chance, last week on a different ship. Love the venue, the service was superb. Absolutely top notch. However, I still found the menu choices underwhelming. My travel mate (first time for her in BLU) felt exactly the same. (At least on the Millennium) we were able to order the anytime choices from the MDR (French onion soup, escargot, caesar salad, desserts etc). But we weren't allowed to order any MDR entrees.

Our best meals were lunch in the MDR on sea days, frequently ordering the SPE items.

 

As I mentioned on another thread, now that the MDR has SPE offerings in just about each category at lunch and dinner, I won't be going back to BLU.

For me the best of both worlds would be the current MDR menus offered in BLU.

What are SPE items?

[HazyDavy]

What are SPE items?

 

 

From a March 25, 2013 press release:

 

CELEBRITY CRUISES PARTNERS WITH SPE CERTIFIED TO PROVIDE INNOVATIVE, HEALTHY DINING OPTIONS FOR GUESTS

 

 

Born from the Latin phrase, Sanitas Per Escam, or “Health Through Food,” SPE Certified is a unique certification and consulting program designed to enhance the nutritional quality of meals without compromising taste. SPE’s team of experts include chefs, nutritionists and registered dieticians who collectively take an innovative and scientific approach to certifying dishes – essentially, giving them their seal of approval – based on a specific set of criteria, including seasonality, sourcing, sustainability, ideal portion size, and the assurance that every dish they certify is low in salt and saturated fats, low in processed ingredients, and dense with nutrients, including vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. And the “tastiest” asset for consumers is that SPE certification ensures that each dish is not only nutritious, but also incredibly delicious.

 

Full press release: http://specertified.com/explore/press-archive/celebrity-cruises-partners-with-spe-certified-to-provide-innovative-healthy

Edited October 10, 2013 by HazyDavy

[phoenix_dream]

As you know, the opinion of food quality is subjective. For us, the food quality is o.k., slightly better than the MDR, as it comes from a kitchen producing fewer meals. The real appeal of Blu was the better service and smaller room with much less noise. And the breakfast was great, too. We had great service from maitre d', waiter, assistant waiter and sommelier. Others haven't had that happen, so I've always wondered if it was the ship, us, the other person or dumb luck. We have standards, but are also fairly easy going...:)

 

Andrew

 

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We are fairly easy going as well, but I have to say on our one and only Blu experience service was very lacking. A couple of times we literally sat there for more than 15 minutes without a waiter even acknowledging us. That never, ever has happened to us in the MDR on our other 23 Celebrity cruises. One morning we had to get up and go ask the hostess to send one over as we sat and sat and sat without being waited on. The first night the people sitting next to us had to get up and chase down the sommelier because despite calling his name and waving hands he never came back after the first time. We also had many issues with our sommelier - we often did not get our wine until the main course had arrived. I am not claiming the people were not working hard - I just think they were expected to handle way more people than they should. I would like to add that the assistant waiters, on the other hand, were generally excellent.

[keesar]

We have dined in Blu several times. There are two nights that we do not eat there due to the limited and unappealing menu. Overall, the food is good but it is not like that served in a Specialty Restaurant. Breakfasts are quite good.

It is quieter in Blu but it is not intimate dining due to the close proximity of tables.

[warmwinds]

I'm really trying to get my head around whether people think the food is too fancy or too plain, too weird or too pedestrian. I've looked at the menus and I think they sound great.

 

On the nights when some of you found NOTHING you like, can you tell us what the choices were?

 

For example, on another thread, people complained about salmon and lentils...that is something I would make at home, so I think it sounds fairly ordinary...but someone else might think it's very strange.

[ghstudio]

I'm really trying to get my head around whether people think the food is too fancy or too plain, too weird or too pedestrian. e.

 

Depending on who you ask, any of the above might be true.....food is in the eye of the beholder.

[dkjretired]

Depending on who you ask, any of the above might be true.....food is in the eye of the beholder.

 

Yes, read this thread, first couple of posts are informative from an objective observer....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1926665

[warmwinds]

That was too funny, djk. I can't wait to taste for myself.

[Gracie115]

We loved Blu, loved the choices, and the service, excellent each time, we will be in AQ again on Connie in December and can't wait to go back to Blu after a FAR less than adequate experience on Connie in April in the Select Dining area.....THAT was a huge disappointment. We truly felt like cattle being herded in and out as fast as was humanly possible.:eek:

[richstowe]

We will be sailing Aqua class mostly because it was a very small difference in price when we booked over a regular balcony and DW had to try it.

She is really looking forward to Blu, me less so. I liked the MDR and love having a large selection to choose from.

Breakfast at Blu sounds nice.

We have dined in Blu several times. There are two nights that we do not eat there due to the limited and unappealing menu. Overall, the food is good but it is not like that served in a Specialty Restaurant. Breakfasts are quite good.

It is quieter in Blu but it is not intimate dining due to the close proximity of tables.

 

I've been in Blu enough times to know the menu. I usually enjoy the offerings, but there are two menus that give me some difficulty. I discuss options with the Maître 'd and have always been satisfied. Food preferences and tastes are so varied that it would be quite unlikely that all would enjoy the same things. make your preferences known in advance.

Which are these days? Do you remember a particular dish on these days ? Edited October 11, 2013 by richstowe

[bigbenboys]

I will say the service was great in Blu. But the food was so so. Thanks to Cynbar here is a link to some of the menus.

 

http://eclipse2011ta.webs.com/blumenus.htm

 

For me the menu was just not great. And yes I'm doing Blu again in May 2014. The worst thing on the menu was the Kobe Meat Loaf. It looked like high end dog food. I will eat many things. Beef, chicken, fish, pork, escargot. I don't want to eat veal, pheasant, quail, duck, lamb. Some of these animals I think of as wild, others to young to eat or just cute. The menu seems to have a lot of these type of animals. Richard

[bighairtexan]

RICHARD I agree about the meatloaf. It looked odd unappealing, like a small can of pet food upended on the plate. The Kobe stuffed shells looked better, but the pasta wasn't al dente. It was just so rubbery, as was the pasta for the lobster ravioli. The gnocchi also was of a consistency like no other gnocchi I've ever had or made. I'm half Italian and I know gnocchi! :D

I agree also that BLU is kind of "duck-centric", appearing on the menu in one shape of form every few days. Pomegranate duck, pecan duck, duck confit, duck appetizers... all of which I did like since, luckily, I do like duck. The lobster in that weird broth was a disappointment as the delicate flavor of the shellfish was lost. The prime rib was nicely rare/medium rare but it was difficult to cut and harder to chew (both of us ordered it, neither of us finished it).

The BLU cheese and goat cheese appetizers I thought were quite good.

Then there were some things I ordered kind of by default, because I couldn't really find anything that wowed me, and lo and behold I really enjoyed it, such as the Caesar Salad Soup (sounds weird but it grew on me).

[bigbenboys]

RICHARD I agree about the meatloaf. It looked odd unappealing, like a small can of pet food upended on the plate. The Kobe stuffed shells looked better, but the pasta wasn't al dente. It was just so rubbery, as was the pasta for the lobster ravioli. The gnocchi also was of a consistency like no other gnocchi I've ever had or made. I'm half Italian and I know gnocchi! :D

I agree also that BLU is kind of "duck-centric", appearing on the menu in one shape of form every few days. Pomegranate duck, pecan duck, duck confit, duck appetizers... all of which I did like since, luckily, I do like duck. The lobster in that weird broth was a disappointment as the delicate flavor of the shellfish was lost. The prime rib was nicely rare/medium rare but it was difficult to cut and harder to chew (both of us ordered it, neither of us finished it).

The BLU cheese and goat cheese appetizers I thought were quite good.

Then there were some things I ordered kind of by default, because I couldn't really find anything that wowed me, and lo and behold I really enjoyed it, such as the Caesar Salad Soup (sounds weird but it grew on me).

 

I'm glad to here they did a Prime Rib. Our Wine & American Cup cruise did not have Prime Rib. I love Prime rib. They had Prime Rib two nights in the MDR. We in Blu had Rib Eyes. While I like Rib Eyes. At home I cook them on the barbecue a lot. It is hard to cook a rare prime rib for 2. Richard

[Lsimon]

We were in Aqua Class on the Eclipse in February 2013, and we have already booked our February 2014 cruise again in Aqua Class. We found that we liked several things about dining in Blu but the food choices weren’t appealing....

 

... I’m hoping to eat more often in Blu because I prefer the smaller dining space and the quieter atmosphere. However, I would also prefer good food. Thanks for letting me know about your experience and any advice you can give.

 

I'm very confused about your post. You say that you have some experience in Blu but didn't like the food. Since you know what to expect I'm not sure what you are looking for here.

 

If you search through this forum and read threads about Blu you'll find that there are some who love Blu and think the food there is just right and others who don't like it and prefer the main dining room menus. It sounds to me like you already know you are in that latter group so why wouldn't you just head there?

 

We had one experience in AQ and dined in Blu on a 2012 cruise. We've booked AQ for a 2014 cruise and we're looking forward to it. We've paid a premium for AQ just so we'd have access to dine in Blu. While the other AQ amenities are nice they would not have been enough to justify a cabin more expensive than a 1A standard veranda if we didn't consider Blu a significant plus to justify the cost.

 

If you are in the same position then I'd suggest downgrading your cabin so you can save some money while dining in the MDR. If you like AQ for other reasons then you might as well dine in Blu for a night or two and see if you like the experience more than your last cruise and if not then talk to the dining room management and arrange to transfer to the MDR for the rest of the cruise.

 

It's nice to have different options so we can pick the one that suits our personal tastes the best.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

We enjoyed Blu (3-4 nights) on the Reflection earlier this year. We had booked an AS cabin for our January return to the Reflection but just changed that earlier this week when a hump CS cabin became available.

 

When I called to make the change and expressed my only reservation about making the switch was the Blu dining option, I was told that we could dine there - but that it would be $5 pp.

 

Any previous suite passengers here who have tried that??

 

Tom

[bigbenboys]

We had one experience in AQ and dined in Blu on a 2012 cruise. We've booked AQ for a 2014 cruise and we're looking forward to it. We've paid a premium for AQ just so we'd have access to dine in Blu. While the other AQ amenities are nice they would not have been enough to justify a cabin more expensive than a 1A standard veranda if we didn't consider Blu a significant plus to justify the cost.

 

If you are in the same position then I'd suggest downgrading your cabin so you can save some money while dining in the MDR. If you like AQ for other reasons then you might as well dine in Blu for a night or two and see if you like the experience more than your last cruise and if not then talk to the dining room management and arrange to transfer to the MDR for the rest of the cruise.

 

It's nice to have different options so we can pick the one that suits our personal tastes the best.

 

On our May 2014 cruise we just booked. We wanted two C2 staterooms on deck 12. They were not available. So we are getting a A1's on deck 11 for less than a A2 or C1. We will check out both menus Blu and Select Dining to see which is best for us each night. Richard

[ghstudio]

We have had excellent meals in both the MDR and in Blu...and yes, we have had some terrible ones as well in both. Personally, I think it's a toss up as far as food goes and based on our experience the food in food is better when served on solstice class ships because the kitchen is so close and food actually arrives hot vs warm on the m-class ships. (note: don't every try to get a nicely hot poached egg for breakfast in blu on an m-class ship...they can't do it). But we find the atmosphere very different between the two dining rooms. In blu, we can talk in normal voices and we meet different folks each night who sit at tables adjacent to ours...easy to strike up a conversation or un-strike one if you choose. The MDR seems like a madhouse of waiters, busboys, and others doing ? walking around with big trays next to your table. In the MDR, the mint sauce for lamb sometimes is offered when you're already on dessert. I think celebrity does the MDR well, but it's noisy and just very busy (to us) and not relaxing. We find that in the MDR, if you are at a table for 2, you are just going to talk yourselves...and if you are at a larger table, you are going to eat with the same folks every night, whether they are interesting or not, talkative or not and so on.

 

We are only booking aqua now...for Blu...the other perks just don't matter and we hate the leaky shower doors on the M class aqua cabins....but it is what it is. Each cruise we eat at least one meal in the MDR because of something that appeals on the menu...and after the meal, we realize that, for us, Blu is a far better experience.

Edited October 11, 2013 by ghstudio

[gkjta]

I've been reading through this post with interest. In February we are sailing on the Summit in an aqua class room - first time with Celebrity but have cruised many other times. I hope this question isn't a dumb one but are you committed to dine in BLU with an aqua class room or can you pick and choose from BLU to the main dining room - any time dining or whatever they call their version of this - depending on the menu for the evening? That was how it was explained to me when I booked this room but maybe that's how I misinterpreted it. I have read through reviews that have menus posted for both places and truthfully I'm a bit worried that I am going to enjoy BLU. I know reading a menu isn't a full indication but in comparing the 2 menus I found more things in the main dining room than BLU that interested me. Thanks for your help!

[ghstudio]

I've been reading through this post with interest. In February we are sailing on the Summit in an aqua class room - first time with Celebrity but have cruised many other times. I hope this question isn't a dumb one but are you committed to dine in BLU with an aqua class room or can you pick and choose from BLU to the main dining room - any time dining or whatever they call their version of this - depending on the menu for the evening? That was how it was explained to me when I booked this room but maybe that's how I misinterpreted it. I have read through reviews that have menus posted for both places and truthfully I'm a bit worried that I am going to enjoy BLU. I know reading a menu isn't a full indication but in comparing the 2 menus I found more things in the main dining room than BLU that interested me. Thanks for your help!

 

There is usually no problem if you prefer to eat in the MDR rather than Blu. Dine in Blu the first night and ask the maitre d' how you would eat in the MDR if you preferred to do that some night. The common response is to tell you to just go to select dining and join the line to be seated.

 

But a couple of points:

 

1) sometimes select dining is oversold and too busy, so the maitre d' may ask you to arrange it through him and you may find that you will be asked to join the early or late seating rather than using select dining. Each cruise is different, so that's why you have to talk to the maitre d'

 

2) If you are going to eat in the MDR regularly, you need to understand that your "gratuity" goes to the Blu staff since you are booked in Aqua. If you decide that the MDR would be a better fit, then tell the maitre d' and he can have your gratuity appropriately changed to the MDR so the right people are compensated.

 

Personally, I think that when you try Blu, you will find it a great dining venue...and you will find that what you imagine having read the menu (in either venue) does not match what it served. The blu menu may seem less interesting but don't be fooled by words on a page.

 

Either way, you'll eat well....enjoy your cruise