Booked Aqua for early dining access

[Montana]

Ok we booked late for June Alaska trip on solstice so since both select and early dining were filled, we booked an Aqua class room. We sailed Aqua on the INFINITY on our last cruise and moved to the MDR on our second night due to menu. To be honest Aqua food was a little tasteless for us. I guess we are not dining aficionados. We like our escargot and onion soup in the MDR and of course prime rib. Anyone know if we will be able to dine select early this time in MDR?

[WestLakeGirl]

If the MDr is sold out for early dining that's probably not going to be offered as an option. But if you are willing to go very early (that is, first in line) you can probably switch to select once you are on board. Consult with the Blue maître d' to make the arrangement for you, don't just show up at the dining room

Edited May 7, 2016 by WestLakeGirl

[SheriffJoe]

Ok we booked late for June Alaska trip on solstice so since both select and early dining were filled, we booked an Aqua class room. We sailed Aqua on the INFINITY on our last cruise and moved to the MDR on our second night due to menu. To be honest Aqua food was a little tasteless for us. I guess we are not dining aficionados. We like our escargot and onion soup in the MDR and of course prime rib. Anyone know if we will be able to dine select early this time in MDR?

 

Not sure if you need early dining for health reasons or just a preference or have cruised Alaska before but we are early dinner eaters at home too but always eat late (and LOVE IT) on Alaskan cruises since it stays light till well past 10 in July and just grab a snack in the buffet around 5 or 6 to hold us over....its so nice to not be rushed out of the MDR after dinner, you can relax, have a drink or 2 or coffee, chat with the wait staff....its just a much nicer, more relaxed atmosphere IMO and its STILL nice and bright outside...

[dkjretired]

Ok we booked late for June Alaska trip on solstice so since both select and early dining were filled, we booked an Aqua class room. We sailed Aqua on the INFINITY on our last cruise and moved to the MDR on our second night due to menu. To be honest Aqua food was a little tasteless for us. I guess we are not dining aficionados. We like our escargot and onion soup in the MDR and of course prime rib. Anyone know if we will be able to dine select early this time in MDR?

 

Your assigned dining room is Blu, you do not have a seat assigned for you in the MDR. Chances are you will be able to eat in the MDR. I don't understand why you would book Aqua unless the price was lower.

[WestLakeGirl]

I understand why. They'are number one priority is to have early dining. So with both select and early sold out there only other choice was to book some stateroom category that has open seating. That would be aqua or suite

[grandgeezer]

We would not book a cruise if we couldn't get early seating or Anytime dining. We got stuck at late dining once, because we booked so late, and hated it. We have a set routine and it threw everything off. Not looking for an argument it's our opinion.

[Christine Frances]

We would not book a cruise if we couldn't get early seating or Anytime dining. We got stuck at late dining once, because we booked so late, and hated it. We have a set routine and it threw everything off. Not looking for an argument it's our opinion.

 

Totally know where you are coming from. We book the early seating because we like all the entertainment after (normal "dinner and a show" experience") We usually are in our cabin by 11pm after the casino, theatre, casino, bars etc. The one time we had late seating we hated it. Didn't finish eating until 10 and went to bed feeling like a beached whale which makes for a bad nights sleep:(

[morechances]

Ok we booked late for June Alaska trip on solstice so since both select and early dining were filled, we booked an Aqua class room. We sailed Aqua on the INFINITY on our last cruise and moved to the MDR on our second night due to menu. To be honest Aqua food was a little tasteless for us. I guess we are not dining aficionados. We like our escargot and onion soup in the MDR and of course prime rib. Anyone know if we will be able to dine select early this time in MDR?

 

I believe that the MDR menu is also available in Blu.

[jelayne]

I believe that the MDR menu is also available in Blu.

Not in our experience on the S class ships. You can get a few items like onion soup, shrimp cocktail, etc. In Luminae we were able to order from the MDR menu but those 2 kitchens are in the same area. The kitchen for Blu is separate.

Edited May 7, 2016 by jelayne

[thebutlerdidit]

You can order the escargot, Caesar salad, French onion soup and shrimp cocktail any time in Blu. But if Blu doesn't suit you, they'll most likely work to accommodate you.

[4cats4me]

I believe that the MDR menu is also available in Blu.

 

 

 

No, it wasn't, not the two cruises we ate in BLU.

The food was so good in BLU I don't know why people would want to eat off the MDR menu anyway

Edited May 7, 2016 by 4cats4me

[dkjretired]

I understand why. They'are number one priority is to have early dining. So with both select and early sold out there only other choice was to book some stateroom category that has open seating. That would be aqua or suite

 

Makes no sense if they are going to eat in the MDR, their choice in AQ has no bearing on their MDR seating arrangements.

[cruisestitch]

Early dining and Select dining in the MDR were sold out, they need to eat early, so what other way is there but to book some room where they can go to dinner at any time to be able to be certain they can eat early. They can wait list Early and Select, but this way they are guaranteed to be able to eat early in Blu and have the opportunity to try to move to Select once on board. It's a rather expensive way to ensure an early dinner time, and they might end up in Blu every night but it's cheaper than booking a Suite, which would also give them open dining.

[TRAVELBABE1]

I just booked an Aqua cabin on an Alaska cruise next month. The rep told me that Blu is "anytime dining," even though it shows me assigned to the first seating. He also told me that we could show up anytime at the MDR and be seated if the menu looked more to our liking.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Early dining and Select dining in the MDR were sold out, they need to eat early, so what other way is there but to book some room where they can go to dinner at any time to be able to be certain they can eat early. They can wait list Early and Select, but this way they are guaranteed to be able to eat early in Blu and have the opportunity to try to move to Select once on board. It's a rather expensive way to ensure an early dinner time, and they might end up in Blu every night but it's cheaper than booking a Suite, which would also give them open dining.

 

Their cabin is assigned to Blu, and the dining rooms are sized based on the number of cabins that each is supposed to serve. So when they dine in the MDR, they are adding to the delays that Anytime diners complain about. This is selfish. If dining early is so important, they should dine in Blu when it opens -- or in the buffet.

Edited May 8, 2016 by Host Jazzbeau

[WestLakeGirl]

TRAVELBABE, your travel agent was wrong about "just showing up in the MDR, you should go through the Blue staff to arrange this request to dine in the MDR, where you might be seated in Select, or maybe In Traditional; its a space-available thing. They will try to accommodate your request but you might be told no.

 

BlU is all open seating, the dinner time information is an artifact of the computer system and is meaningless when it comes to Bku so your travel agent was right about that

[ivycruise]

Our experience in aqua class across numerous ships while dining in Blu is that multiple MDR items are on the menu. Not a full menu of options but your wait staff will also be very accommodating in trying to get you something from the MDR menu if you ask. Sometimes they can, sometimes they can't but from the few times we've asked, they always try. Same in Luminae.