Aqua Class - What's Changed?

[prim8keeper]

For anyone who has sailed in Aqua Class recently what has changed over the past few years? We last sailed in Aqua class in 2015. Since then we have been sailing in suites because we got tired of the menus in Blu due to how often we cruise. However, recently our TA had a great price on Aqua class so we decided to go back to Aqua in November. We are looking forward to the change since the Luminae menus haven't changed much over the past few years.

[jelayne]

The menus in Blu have changed. Some of the favorites have remained and some new additions have been made.

[cruisestitch]

You aren't sailing until November? Anything can happen between now and then. Check back closer to your cruise.

[Elaine0138]

We haven't sailed Aqua for a while either, do you still get daily water?

[helen haywood]

No daily water. Just water on embarkation day.

[prim8keeper]

You aren't sailing until November? Anything can happen between now and then. Check back closer to your cruise.

 

True enough, but I knew I had seen some threads over the past few years about Aqua. I just had not paid very much attention to them so I was mostly looking for any big changes that may make me rethink staying with Aqua.

 

No daily water. Just water on embarkation day.

 

Good to know. Thanks!

[Elaine0138]

No daily water. Just water on embarkation day.

 

Thanks just found the bit on the X site about the extra bits for Aqua no afternoon canpes either oh dear that will be a great loss lol the last time they were awful.

[sn2792]

Thanks just found the bit on the X site about the extra bits for Aqua no afternoon canpes either oh dear that will be a great loss lol the last time they were awful.

 

 

 

We were in Aqua in October. We still got the canapés every day. Usually when we were trying to take a nap. They were insistent on delivering them.

 

 

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[prim8keeper]

Thanks just found the bit on the X site about the extra bits for Aqua no afternoon canpes either oh dear that will be a great loss lol the last time they were awful.

 

Is it bad that I don't even bother looking at the X site since there is so much wrong information on there? :p

[Luvcrusn]

Thanks just found the bit on the X site about the extra bits for Aqua no afternoon canpes either oh dear that will be a great loss lol the last time they were awful.

Gee, I hate to disappoint you ;p but the afternoon canapes still exist. We had them in December on Reflection. You can ask for something different like a cheese or fruit plate or .... !

[Hlitner]

We have done quite a few Aqua Class cruises, but gave up Aqua after having several negative experiences (the most recent in Dec 2015). The changes in Aqua were all cut-backs...some silly and others bad news. For example, they stopped giving us unlimited bottles of water. For us this was just an annoyance...and since we had the Premium Beverage package we simply stocked-up with Pellegrino (and even used it to brush our teeth). The afternoon canapies became a joke (sometimes we could not even identify some of the items). Chocolate covered strawberries were replaces with "expensive" items like celery or a few olives. Cabin stewards changed from teams to individual stewards....but they ended up with more cabins per person (this does impact service). But our major problem was Blu with its tired menus which often were not as interesting as the MDR menus. Blu loves to serve various potted meats (because you can use cheap cuts)...so you might get lamb shank, Osso Bucco, port shank, beef shank, mystery mean shank. Yes, they do try to enhance the names...but in the end its potted meat that often tastes alike. And consider that Blu has served the same little items (like humus, celery, etc) for many years. And the bread never changes.

 

So what did we do? On our most recent cruise (21 days on the Reflection) we booked a regular balcony (upgraded to Concierge) and saved lots of money. Some of the savings we used to purchase 14 meals (a 6 and 8 meal package on the two cruises) which we got at a 20% discount (during a Celebrity sale). That put the cost of those alternative restaurant meals at $25 per person/meal which was significantly cheaper than if we had booked Aqua to dine in Blu. So we enjoyed 10 wonderful meals in Murano (Blu does not even begin to compare), 2 in Qsine (always a lot of fun for us), and 1 each in the Tuscan (disappointing as usual) and the Lawn. Most of the nights we dined in the MDR were the Chic Nights when they had the best menus. Food wise, we thought this approach was far superior to Aqua. About the only thing we missed was having an occasional breakfast in Blu.

 

Hank

[Loracpin2]

We sailed AQ for the sixth time last month on the Jan 7 Silhouette sailing. As someone previously mentioned bottle of water on day one. Our room steward was fantastic about providing the daily bucket of ice we requested. No more of the special quality towels when Aqua was first introduced. Hand towels were very thin. Sleeves on robes frayed.

 

On to BLU, wait staff fantastic but there are just so many times they can apologize for the quality of some of the proteins. I politely sent dinner back three of the seven evenings. The woman sitting behind us comment was "take this away".

[Luvcrusn]

We have done quite a few Aqua Class cruises, but gave up Aqua after having several negative experiences (the most recent in Dec 2015). The changes in Aqua were all cut-backs...some silly and others bad news. For example, they stopped giving us unlimited bottles of water. For us this was just an annoyance...and since we had the Premium Beverage package we simply stocked-up with Pellegrino (and even used it to brush our teeth). The afternoon canapies became a joke (sometimes we could not even identify some of the items). Chocolate covered strawberries were replaces with "expensive" items like celery or a few olives. Cabin stewards changed from teams to individual stewards....but they ended up with more cabins per person (this does impact service). But our major problem was Blu with its tired menus which often were not as interesting as the MDR menus. Blu loves to serve various potted meats (because you can use cheap cuts)...so you might get lamb shank, Osso Bucco, port shank, beef shank, mystery mean shank. Yes, they do try to enhance the names...but in the end its potted meat that often tastes alike. And consider that Blu has served the same little items (like humus, celery, etc) for many years. And the bread never changes.

 

So what did we do? On our most recent cruise (21 days on the Reflection) we booked a regular balcony (upgraded to Concierge) and saved lots of money. Some of the savings we used to purchase 14 meals (a 6 and 8 meal package on the two cruises) which we got at a 20% discount (during a Celebrity sale). That put the cost of those alternative restaurant meals at $25 per person/meal which was significantly cheaper than if we had booked Aqua to dine in Blu. So we enjoyed 10 wonderful meals in Murano (Blu does not even begin to compare), 2 in Qsine (always a lot of fun for us), and 1 each in the Tuscan (disappointing as usual) and the Lawn. Most of the nights we dined in the MDR were the Chic Nights when they had the best menus. Food wise, we thought this approach was far superior to Aqua. About the only thing we missed was having an occasional breakfast in Blu.

 

Hank

I believe we were on Reflection the same time as you were. Blu was lovely, the service was excellent. The last light of the cruise (not an evening chic) we had a wonderful cut of prime rib that was perhaps the best we've had on any cruise. We enjoyed the dinners and did not experience the "potted meats" to which you referred. The breakfasts in Blu were lovely of course.

 

Although you are correct about no longer having a 2 person team for room stewards, our steward was perhaps the quickest, most thorough steward we've had in many years. Our room was made up twice daily almost as soon as we left it. We had fresh ice twice a day. We also had thick towels, (both bath and hand) and our robes were fresh and definitely not frayed. I have to agree about the canapes, but we asked for a cheese plate, fruit plate or shrimp cocktails instead. The best part was we upgraded to Aqua class after a price drop and applied our Captains Club upgrade to snag a hump balcony for the same money we'd paid for Concierge (which at booking was only $49 per person more than a verandah).

[pixiedust777]

We have done quite a few Aqua Class cruises, but gave up Aqua after having several negative experiences (the most recent in Dec 2015). The changes in Aqua were all cut-backs...some silly and others bad news. For example, they stopped giving us unlimited bottles of water. For us this was just an annoyance...and since we had the Premium Beverage package we simply stocked-up with Pellegrino (and even used it to brush our teeth). The afternoon canapies became a joke (sometimes we could not even identify some of the items). Chocolate covered strawberries were replaces with "expensive" items like celery or a few olives. Cabin stewards changed from teams to individual stewards....but they ended up with more cabins per person (this does impact service). But our major problem was Blu with its tired menus which often were not as interesting as the MDR menus. Blu loves to serve various potted meats (because you can use cheap cuts)...so you might get lamb shank, Osso Bucco, port shank, beef shank, mystery mean shank. Yes, they do try to enhance the names...but in the end its potted meat that often tastes alike. And consider that Blu has served the same little items (like humus, celery, etc) for many years. And the bread never changes.

 

So what did we do? On our most recent cruise (21 days on the Reflection) we booked a regular balcony (upgraded to Concierge) and saved lots of money. Some of the savings we used to purchase 14 meals (a 6 and 8 meal package on the two cruises) which we got at a 20% discount (during a Celebrity sale). That put the cost of those alternative restaurant meals at $25 per person/meal which was significantly cheaper than if we had booked Aqua to dine in Blu. So we enjoyed 10 wonderful meals in Murano (Blu does not even begin to compare), 2 in Qsine (always a lot of fun for us), and 1 each in the Tuscan (disappointing as usual) and the Lawn. Most of the nights we dined in the MDR were the Chic Nights when they had the best menus. Food wise, we thought this approach was far superior to Aqua. About the only thing we missed was having an occasional breakfast in Blu.

 

Hank

 

 

Hank,

 

You have summed up our last experience ( Sept 2017) in Aqua perfectly.

Our next cruise we down graded to a simple veranda cabin with a balcony and have added on an eight night dining package.

Our meals were far superior in Murano and even the Tuscan Grill than they were in Blu our last cruise.

The only difference in the cabin for us will be the shower head as the canapés the last cruise were inedible 7 of the 10 days and the water was only on embarkation day.

[prim8keeper]

So for those of you who have sailed more recently, do you think the new menus have helped? I agree with Hank and a few of the other posters that you did have to be careful sometimes about what protein you were ordering. However, we always found the entire Blu menu to be that way, but I think it can be similar in any of the restaurants on board. Usually we could find something we liked, but I understand why some people can't. That was what pushed us to try a suite so we could have access to Luminae, which we love, but their menus haven't changed and it comes at a price that is higher.

 

We got our Aqua class cabin for just a little more than concierge which factored into our decision to go that route. We have done concierge and just eaten in the specialty restaurants, however in the end we can't eat that heavy every day.

 

We have the premium package so the lack of water doesn't bother me and we rarely eat the canapes when offered.

 

I appreciate everyone's feedback. We are on Millennium in July (in a suite) so I'll have to go look at Blu's menu's every day and possibly have dinner there one night if they can squeeze us in.

[miched]

We started cruising with Celebrity in 2010 and it was in AQ. Most of our cruises since then have been in AQ.

 

The menu in Blu does get a little boring after many cruises as it seems as if nothing ever changes. The servers claim that things have changed but I think it is mostly what they call the same entree and maybe change the garnish.

 

Sometimes we would go to the MDR for breakfast as it has a better selection on the menu and basically the same of everything else. Of not there to the Elite or Aqua Spa Cafe

 

 

We have noticed many changes thru the years and from cruise to cruise in AQ.

 

I don’t want to list them all because they are rather petty but they were noticeable especially when you cruised a few months prior. They weren’t game breakers and some were given back but packaged different. One was the nightly chocolate that was eliminated and then returned again but naturally it wasn’t the same. If you didn’t have some left from another cruise you may not remember the difference. Don’t think this was a AQ perk only but just an example.

 

Since you haven’t cruised in AQ for a few years chances are that you won’t notice them so it really isn’t worth knowing what has changed and just enjoy the category and cruise. If you enjoyed AQ before you will enjoy it again and remember that changes haven’t been restricted to only AQ.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[PhD-iva]

We are on Millennium in July (in a suite) so I'll have to go look at Blu's menu's every day and possibly have dinner there one night if they can squeeze us in.

 

 

We are on the Millennium 27 July southbound cruise from Seward to Vancouver. Which cruise are you on? Our rollcall is very quiet.

 

 

 

 

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[shipshape sam]

Gee, I hate to disappoint you ;p but the afternoon canapes still exist. We had them in December on Reflection. You can ask for something different like a cheese or fruit plate or .... !

 

Then you can ask them to stop bringing either. We had them both stopped by the 4th day of our 12 day cruise.