how much would you pay for aqua class?

[jojo1966]

trying to decide what is good value for upgrading to aqua class.

 

can currently get it for an additional £368 for 10 days. this is the total cost for 2 of us? is it worth it??

 

Currently in a 1a hump cabin

 

Opinions??

 

Cheers

[TommyD3]

I look at the cost per day. Shoot for $100 per person per day. Sailed on a couple last year in AQ for $999 for 10 nights plus taxes and gratuities!

[shipshape sam]

trying to decide what is good value for upgrading to aqua class.

 

can currently get it for an additional £368 for 10 days. this is the total cost for 2 of us? is it worth it??

 

Currently in a 1a hump cabin

 

Opinions??

 

Cheers

 

Also depends on what you want. You need to see if what AQ offers is important to you.

 

Do you want to eat in BLU?

Will you want to use the Persian Gardens area of the spa?

Do want some upgrades to your cabin, like an upgraded shower head?

 

For the amount you mention, I would consider booking Aqua Class and find out for yourself if it is worth it. Many rave about BLU, but we were in BLU this past January and not overly impressed. We went to Persian Gardens, I think, 4 times and it was nice, but we have to remember and make the effort to get there. Never was busy. Shower head was nice.

[jkgourmet]

Nothing. But We don't do spas. I've been repeatedly reading that many people are unimpressed by Blu (though it seems to me that years ago everyone raved - has it changed or are folks just thinking same old, same old?) I spend ten minutes a day in the shower, so the shower head is, well, who cares.

 

Just my two cents.

[ghstudio]

At that price, I'd upgrade to an aqua cabin (A1 at A2 price since you've sailed with celebrity before). We have done a number of cruises in aqua, but now book 1A's on S-class ships for their larger balconies. We actually prefer select dining in the MDR and sitting with different folks for meals.

[Laurab23]

I would only upgrade to Aqua if I could get one of the 5 afts on an M class.

 

Laura

[wombatjoey]

just know that eating in the MDR is not a good experience, unless it is your first cruise and you dont know any better....so a Suite allows you to eat in the Luminae. Seems Celeb has made MDR so bad that Luminae seems so much better.

 

Next time if we sail Celeb, we will just eat in the Buffet. No more MDR for us and dont want to pay for a suite to get decent dining.

[Miaminice]

trying to decide what is good value for upgrading to aqua class.

 

can currently get it for an additional £368 for 10 days. this is the total cost for 2 of us? is it worth it??

 

Currently in a 1a hump cabin

 

Opinions??

 

Cheers

 

 

In a heartbeat!!! For BLU alone. Much relaxter, more personal and not as loud as the MDR.

[Champagne Cruiser]

We love AQ. The ambiance in Blu is so much quieter and the service less rushed than the MDR, especially breakfasts. We also use the spa. After our morning walk we love the heated tile beds, sauna and steam room. To us AQ is our first choice, but I would not pay too much more for it. The price you are quoted would definitely be worth it to me.

[Hlitner]

On the Solstice Class ships we would only be willing to pay about $10 (if that) per passenger day....over the cost of a mid-category balcony cabin! And we say this from experience having been in Aqua on several cruises. I will try to explain our reasoning...as it applies to that class of ship. IMHO the cabin locations for most Aqua Cabins are awful! The higher category A1 cabins are generally located directly above the pool deck with their balconies in a cave-like setting with a huge pool deck overhang blocking mush of the sky view (and the sun for many hours a day). You also run the risk of noise from the pool deck...especially early in the morning as the crew and passengers move around the loungers. Some of the A2 cabins are separated from the overhang by another passenger deck (these cabins are aft of the pool area) but you can still have a big support pole infringing on your balcony...and that overhang is still too darn close. As to Blu, after dining in that venue well over 30 times we tired of their menu...which often is not as good as what is in the MDR. In fact, Blu used to have a secret menu (no longer secret) of certain MDR items (i.e. escargot, french onion soup, cheesecake, etc) because they were in demand. Blu is also primarily 2 top tables (very close together) without the ability to share a large table (which we love to do in the MDR).

 

After reading many posts here on CC we came to an interesting conclusion. Why not book a much less expensive regular balcony cabin (they are exactly the same size as AQ cabins) on deck 9 or 10. Not only do you save money, but you are away from that overhang and the pool deck. And with all the money we save on the cabin, we can use some (or all) of it to purchase a dining package at a nice discount. If you do this during the 20% off sale (X does this a few times a year) the cost per person/meal drops to about $25. We did this on a recent 21 night Reflection cruise and used the dining package to have 10 dinners in Murano, 2 in Qsine, and one in both The Lawn and Tuscan. The other nights we dined in the MDR (mostly during the Chic nights when they have their best menus). The food and service in Murano is far superior to what you get in Blu...and our cost was actually cheaper than if we had booked Aqua to dine in Blu.

 

Hank

[Iamthesea]

trying to decide what is good value for upgrading to aqua class.

 

can currently get it for an additional £368 for 10 days. this is the total cost for 2 of us? is it worth it??

 

Currently in a 1a hump cabin

 

Opinions??

 

Cheers

 

For less than £200 a person, the answer is YES!

[Luvcrusn]

Definitely! Some posters here indicated that they have tired of the Blu menu after multiple cruises in Aqua class, but this will be your first time. You will find it new and different. The service was wonderful and very attentive. Blu also offers the option to dine when you want without the need to make reservations, which is often necessary in the MDR Select dining option to avoid long waits. We only had a wait one evening of under 5 minutes on an 11 night cruise. We like tables for two, but the layout in Blu offered the option of having our privacy or talking with nearby fellow passengers. As to the cabin location, yes, be careful when making your selection, but we just sailed Reflection in a cabin under the pool deck which we selected carefully by using cruisedeckplans.com and dragging one deck atop another to see exactly where we'd be located. Our cabin was extremely quiet at all hours, was on the hump, offering us a huge balcony with both shade and sun (very nice to be able to move our chairs + footstools out of the sun when we'd had enough) and during a short rain squall offered us nice shelter to be able to enjoy the outdoors. Enjoy!

[jillmoyra]

I often see comments about getting an automatic upgrade if you have sailed on Celebrity before. Is just in the USA? We have sailed Celebrity before (and RCI) and have just booked A2 AC but not being offered A1. My TA says that only applied when you have sailed more times.

[2theship]

I often see comments about getting an automatic upgrade if you have sailed on Celebrity before. Is just in the USA? We have sailed Celebrity before (and RCI) and have just booked A2 AC but not being offered A1. My TA says that only applied when you have sailed more times.

If you have sailed Celebrity at least once, you're in Captain's Club which entitles you to a one category upgrade within the "supercategory". It can be a little confusing with some categories, but with AQ it's easy but you have to ask for it at the time of booking. We book an AQ1 cabin and pay the AQ2 price. Since it has to be done at the time of booking, it's really helpful if your travel agent understands it.

 

Having said that, we only book AQ1 on M-Class ships because we love the aft cabins on Deck 11. If we can't get one when booking, I stalk the Celebrity website and another website that shows cabin availability. If one opens up, I'm on the phone!

 

On S-Class ships our preferred cabins are forward on the starboard side, not under the overhang. These are AQ2 cabins so we can't get a further discount.

[Luvcrusn]

Just as 2theship says, you only have had to complete one sailing to get the upgrade. We have however gotten the upgrade applied retroactively to our booking by our TA. Ask your TA to do that.

[Jade13]

We weren’t willing to pay anything on our last cruise but were able to upgrade after final payment and move from an OV to AQU at zero cost.

 

We would consider it on the M class ships if you can get a cabin on deck 11 which has been upgraded.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Ashland]

I just paid $460.00 for my upgrade to AQ1 (#1552) on Eclipse 10 nights. I was offered a comp upgrade to Concierge but I didn't care for the locations.

 

This is my first cruise with Celebrity but am Elite due to my D+ with RCI.

 

I was originally booked in Veranda 1B (#9290) then was able to move to 1A (9292) at no cost.

 

I think I have done well and am pretty excited how this has turned out.

[miched]

I put it at $35/day pp over what a balcony would be for the same cruise on the S Class considering that any additional perks are the same. $30/day pp on the M class because there are no footstools on the balcony and the Persain Gardens isn’t as nice.

 

Anything more and I could get a dining package if we wanted or needed.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Luvcrusn]

I put it at $35/day pp over what a balcony would be for the same cruise on the S Class considering that any additional perks are the same. $30/day pp on the M class because there are no footstools on the balcony and the Persain Gardens isn’t as nice.

 

Anything more and I could get a dining package if we wanted or needed.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Interesting. We'd pay more on an M-class ship since they've removed Ocean Liners/Murano from them and we don't care for Tuscan, Qsine or Sushi on 5. Chocolate and vanilla.

[Maryeveryday]

The reason I like Aqua class is because of Blu and unlimited access to the Persian Garden on solstice class ships. As a solo traveler I appreciate that Blu is an intimate restaurant giving me opportunity to interact with nearly the same passengers on a nightly basis rather than new faces every time, i.e., it develops acquaintances one may not experience in the main restaurant.

[NantahalaCruiser]

Love eating in Blu, but the price spread between a 1A at the loyalty 1B fare and the A2 fare (for either an A1 or A2 depending on available locations) has gone out of sight - $950 per person difference on a 12N cruise.

 

We draw the line at around $30 per person per night fare difference since we can eat in specialty restaurants for less than that with the packages.

 

With current price differential trends, we will probably never eat in Blu again - Murano here we come!

[TFLG]

We did Aqua for the first time on our last cruise. We both really enjoyed Blu. We are usually pretty satisfied with the MDR food so we wouldn't pay a lot to upgrade to Aqua and the only reason we did it on our last cruise was because it was actually less expensive than a 1A Veranda cabin. It was a nice treat but I don't think it's worth that much more than a std Veranda maybe $20pp/day tops. Any more than that and I will just buy the specialty dining package for a few nights.

[shipshape sam]

Love eating in Blu, but the price spread between a 1A at the loyalty 1B fare and the A2 fare (for either an A1 or A2 depending on available locations) has gone out of sight - $950 per person difference on a 12N cruise.

 

We draw the line at around $30 per person per night fare difference since we can eat in specialty restaurants for less than that with the packages.

 

With current price differential trends, we will probably never eat in Blu again - Murano here we come!

 

That is our current thought process too and hope to try it soon!

[MVPinBoynton]

We enjoyed our first time in Aqua a year and a half ago, especially since we have been on so many X cruises and were ready for some new menus. Next month will be our 2nd time and we are looking forward to it again. We are in an A-1 again on the Constellation. With the smaller standard balcony cabins on M Class ships, it is worth a higher price. Plus, we do like the intimacy in Blu compared to the MDR. The M Class Persian Garden didn't impress me at all. A very small and dark area that has little appeal to us. I won't bother even going during the upcoming cruise.

 

Even though we like Aqua, we wouldn't pay much more for it, except on M Class ships. With our upcoming cruise in Aqua only costing $100 pp per day, there wasn't much of a price difference either.

[miched]

Interesting. We'd pay more on an M-class ship since they've removed Ocean Liners/Murano from them and we don't care for Tuscan, Qsine or Sushi on 5. Chocolate and vanilla.

 

 

We don’t use any of the pay for dining and the many times that we did sail on a M class we were fortunate enough to get one of the aft AQ cabins with the very large balcony. It was just a suggestion related to the extra cost involved.

 

 

We a.so found that breakfast in the MDR is just as good if not better than Blu. They offer the same pastries, juices, coffee and more food options. The service is also very good

 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅