3 couples in Aqua Class...1 not. Sailing Dining strategies???

[Sascol]

My opinion - since the 3 couples got a bargain (less than a regular room) for Aqua by booking early, you are not really 'losing' any money (premium) that would normally have cost you extra for Aqua.  Just plan on mixing it up a few nights and plan to dine outside of Blu with them....either all together or on an alternating basis.  I'm sure you'll work out a plan and all involved should understand. 

 

We have Aqua for our scheduled Apex cruise next fall and we got the deal for less than a concierge cabin.  Blu can get repetitive on a 12 night cruise so we are planning to eat in the MDRs on a good chunk of those nights. 

Edited November 20, 2019 by Sascol

[TeaBag]

2 hours ago, warmwinds said:

Next time on the M-class get one of the Aqua Class AFTS - but they do book up very early.

Maybe not!  We have just been in AQ #1140, middle aft cabin, (with huge deck) of those 5 on the back.  We booked it the day the cruise opened for sale and as you say, they go quickly.  We felt it was ruined by the movies up on top.  The volume was so loud, we could hear everything said and it was impossible to read a book in peace out there.

We usually eat in Blu and we have found on each cruise that wherever you are seated the first night, becomes the area you are seated in for the rest of the cruise, unless you ask for something different.  That way you get the same waiter.

Edited November 20, 2019 by TeaBag

[TeaBag]

There have been some very good solutions offered here.

 

I don't think I would be comfortable as the 4th couple in having the others chipping in so we could be AQ also.  Since this cruise is in Feb, there might still be some price drops.  I would ask the 4th couple to check the prices daily.  They might be able to upgrade at a price within their budget.

 

We usually sail in AQ but we find the breakfast gets a little boring, (no waffles) so we often eat in Oceanview instead.  You could all do that.  On port days, you could agree to have lunch together also.  That might just be enough for all of you.  Is this a 7 day cruise?

[zdad59]

35 minutes ago, TeaBag said:

There have been some very good solutions offered here.

 

I don't think I would be comfortable as the 4th couple in having the others chipping in so we could be AQ also.  Since this cruise is in Feb, there might still be some price drops.  I would ask the 4th couple to check the prices daily.  They might be able to upgrade at a price within their budget.

 

We usually sail in AQ but we find the breakfast gets a little boring, (no waffles) so we often eat in Oceanview instead.  You could all do that.  On port days, you could agree to have lunch together also.  That might just be enough for all of you.  Is this a 7 day cruise?

 

Yes....a 7 nighter out of San Juan to St. Kitts and the ABCs.    We're all also doing 3 days in OSJ before the cruise, so we have that time together too.

 

A lot of good conversation in the thread.   Thanks to you all.    I'll get my gang together on line in the next couple of days to discuss.    Based on what I see here, I am going to ask our 4th if they want to look into moving up, else they'll be doing dinner solo.    Breakfast and lunch not so big a deal for our gang.   We're all usually on our own on sea days, and on shore days we meet on the pier.     Again, looking forward to our first Celebrity, and smaller ship.   Last three have been on the megas...Allure, Harmony, and Symphony.    Love them but looking for a change of pace here, an our first time to the ABCs.

Edited November 20, 2019 by zdad59

[jagoffee]

Zdad59, they can keep checking the current AC pricing/perks and compare it to what they paid.  It does look like the current offer is one perk and an extra $100 OBC.  There also might be the possibility of bidding on the Move Up process at some point. (when available)

 

We have cruised with another couple a few times, where we were in separate dining facilities for dinner.  It was not a big deal, but it was just the four of us.
 

IMO the one couple should be just fine if they decide not to upgrade.
 

 

[warmwinds]

3 hours ago, DrKoob said:

You must never have been in a regular aft cabin on an M class. They have HUGE verandas. You could play football on one. The aft Aquas were add-ons and not in the same ballpark 😀

Actually I've been in the Concierge Class afts many, many times.  We love them.  But once we tried AQ we're happy to deal with the smaller balconies (but bigger than most - and we always get either 1138 or 1140).  We found we really prefer Blu and we still have the view of the wake which is my happy place.

[wrk2cruise]

1 hour ago, zdad59 said:

Breakfast and lunch not so big a deal for our gang.

 

Since you say it's your first time on Celebrity I just want to remind you that Blu is not open for lunch any day.

[Luvcrusn]

In our case DH and I booked our cruise in Aqua 1 1/2 years ahead. The other couple decided to join us after final payment. We advised them of our dining in Blu and that they'd need to book Aqua to dine there with us. Although there were desirable Aqua cabins available and the cost was within their budget and they were selling for a price similar to what we had paid they decided to book a reqular veranda. They were fine with dining alone, and frankly so were we. It gave us each some "time away."  In your case, with three couples in one spot and 1 in the other dining room, as long as couple #4 understands that their choice will have them dining alone I wouldn't think they should feel left out. They may like the time apart from the group.

[dkjretired]

Be proactive and check prices.

 

The Celebrity buffet in the evening is excellent and quite relaxing.  Good alternative for at least one night.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

1 hour ago, dkjretired said:

Be proactive and check prices.

 

The Celebrity buffet in the evening is excellent and quite relaxing.  Good alternative for at least one night.

 

Actually, the Celebrity buffet in the evening can be a surprisingly good choice.  We were on a Med cruise and came back tired after an all-day excursion and decided to just grab a bite in the buffet.  They had fresh mussels sourced from shore!  Along with other good options.  We ended up eating in the buffet several times after that.  

[cruise kitty]

7 hours ago, zdad59 said:

 

Yes....a 7 nighter out of San Juan to St. Kitts and the ABCs.    We're all also doing 3 days in OSJ before the cruise, so we have that time together too.

 

A lot of good conversation in the thread.   Thanks to you all.    I'll get my gang together on line in the next couple of days to discuss.    Based on what I see here, I am going to ask our 4th if they want to look into moving up, else they'll be doing dinner solo.    Breakfast and lunch not so big a deal for our gang.   We're all usually on our own on sea days, and on shore days we meet on the pier.     Again, looking forward to our first Celebrity, and smaller ship.   Last three have been on the megas...Allure, Harmony, and Symphony.    Love them but looking for a change of pace here, an our first time to the ABCs.

 

Sounds like your group will probably have a great time whether or not you can all eat in Blu together :)   That said, Blu isn't open for lunches, so you all could lunch together....  one of the best aspects of Blu is their breakfast (in my opinion)  so you should definitely try that on a few days....     A nice solution might be to try a specialty restaurant on one night or two for all four couples to dine together.

 

Best solution would be for them to switch to Aqua, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you that there will be a price drop or offer up for them

 

 

[ipeeinthepool]

15 hours ago, zdad59 said:

 

Yes....a 7 nighter out of San Juan to St. Kitts and the ABCs.    We're all also doing 3 days in OSJ before the cruise, so we have that time together too.

 

A lot of good conversation in the thread.   Thanks to you all.    I'll get my gang together on line in the next couple of days to discuss.    Based on what I see here, I am going to ask our 4th if they want to look into moving up, else they'll be doing dinner solo.    Breakfast and lunch not so big a deal for our gang.   We're all usually on our own on sea days, and on shore days we meet on the pier.     Again, looking forward to our first Celebrity, and smaller ship.   Last three have been on the megas...Allure, Harmony, and Symphony.    Love them but looking for a change of pace here, an our first time to the ABCs.

 

Excellent approach.  Unless you have kids on the cruise or there's a really interesting itinerary on RCL, I don't think you'll ever go back to RCL and the Megas.  

 

Enjoy your trip

[Caribbean Chris]

21 hours ago, verizon said:

I had no problem dining in Blu with two other couples suite guests when I was in Concierge class.The MC concierge make the arrangements for us.

 

Since no one in the original post is in a suite, there’s no Michael’s Club concierge available in this scenario.

[4774Papa]

On 11/19/2019 at 10:49 PM, zdad59 said:

Our group of 4 couples are sailing on Summit in February.    3 of the 4 couples will be in Aqua suites.   The other chose not to do it.    So we're going to have dining issues.   Group 4 won't have any access to Blu, but we surely can go to the MDR.    We'll do the last night in a specialty restaurant, so that night isn't an issue.     he other nights, maybe we alternate dinner locations ???     Group 4 can buy a pass to Persian Garden to join us there daily.    Off the top of my head I don't see any other conflicts.

 

Has anyone sailed with a mixed group like this?    This is our 1st time on Celebrity, typically being RCL folks.   We are really looking forward to Celebrity.

 

Secondary question.....we are used to same table, same servers for the whole cruise and therefore tipping our servers is easy.    Now when we may have different servers each night in Blu, whats the tipping strategy ?     (We don't believe in tipping.   We believe in OVER tipping.)

TIA

We were upgraded to Aqua once and like Blu, but missed our newly made cruise friends from the meet and greet.

Also, we had friends on Millie in 2015 and upgraded to a Skysuite and enjoyed Luminae.  Luminae was great, even better than Blu, but we missed our friends.  We now don't look for upgrades to AQ or suites and are happy to do the MDR and stay in a balcony.  At least you have two other couples dining with you.   Once you dine in Blu, you probably won't want to go to the MDR.

[waterbug123]

21 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

No issues, each couple should eat where they want, when they want..myself, I can’t stand to be locked into one table, same waiters the entire cruise..maybe someone else in the group of 4 couples feels the same way..

 

That all sounds well and good, but it comes across a little cavalier... the fact is that when 3 couples go off to a "special" dining room, all 6 of them together each night, and the 4th couple doesn't, it may make them feel very left out.  Yes, I realize they signed on for a non-aqua suite knowing this, but it doesn't change how it might make them feel onboard.

 

18 hours ago, zdad59 said:

 

Not harsh at all.     I was actually shocked they booked, but we'll love to have them along.    They did understand the differences.   We'll all have a great time together during the day and on excursions, but they may be relegated to a romantic dinner for 2 each night.

 

If they understand, that's a good head start.  But I think if you expect them to dine alone every single night that's a little insensitive.  As mentioned, the first 3 couples apparently got a great deal so why not spend a little to eat in a couple of specialty restaurants so everyone can eat together a few nights?  You can still get the benefit of Blu the other nights, but the 4th couple doesn't have to be completely left out of dinner every single night.

As for the suggest that the 3 couples take turns with 1 joining the 4th couple in the MDR each night, I don't care for the suggestion.  It makes it seem like you are drawing straws to see who has to sacrifice and get stuck eating in the MDR each night.  Better to all go to the MDR together 1 night, eat all together in a specialty a night or two, and then do your own thing the other nights.   Just make definite plans to meet afterward, at least briefly, for an after dinner drink or in an entertainment venue.

[TeeRick]

Everybody has offered a number of good solutions.  But I can't help thinking that couple #4 would feel some embarrassment if they happened to come across this thread about them.   

[Cruise a holic]

12 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Everybody has offered a number of good solutions.  But I can't help thinking that couple #4 would feel some embarrassment if they happened to come across this thread about them.   

They might be able to upgrade for a small amount when (if) move up is available.  

[phoenix_dream]

I found this thread quite interesting - and also weird.  It seems like the OP is asking us how to handle their relationships with their friends not in AQ.  We don't know these people.  We don't know what they like, or how they would feel about being left out of Blu dinners. We don't know the personalities or the nature of the relationships.   We can give ideas of other venues for eating, or answer questions about dining on the ship,  but to me this seems like an issue to be decided among friends, not among anonymous names on a Cruise Critic post.  

 

And to the OP, I also agree that paying extra for the spa area on M class is a total waste of money.  Check it out yourself before your friends invest.

[mayleeman]

21 hours ago, zdad59 said:

Last three have been on the megas...Allure, Harmony, and Symphony.    Love them but looking for a change of pace here, an our first time to the ABCs.

 

Just a FYI:  We sail Aqua in April on the Reflection and enjoyed it, but I thought the MDR on Allure was better than the experience in Blu. Less packed together, more relaxed, and the waiters were more attentive--they seemed frantic in Blu. We tried breakfast and didn't like the menu. We tried the PG once--nice novelty, not something I would do regularly. YMMV

 

1 hour ago, phoenix_dream said:

It seems like the OP is asking us how to handle their relationships with their friends not in AQ. 

 

I think it was a question about logistics, not how to get along, and the novel idea of everyone pitching in seems to have appealed to the OP. Who, by the tenor of their posts, seems to have very close relationships with this group. Everything else seems to have gone off on a tangent about who will "feel" some particular way. A successful request in my view.

[zdad59]

2 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Everybody has offered a number of good solutions.  But I can't help thinking that couple #4 would feel some embarrassment if they happened to come across this thread about them.   

 

No.    In fact we’ve all talked about it and all 4 couple have seen the thread.      We’re a pretty tight group.     All our boys played D1 football together, so we’ve all done a lot of traveling together.     In fact this cruise is the extension of our tailgate parties!

[zdad59]

1 hour ago, phoenix_dream said:

I found this thread quite interesting - and also weird.  It seems like the OP is asking us how to handle their relationships with their friends not in AQ.  We don't know these people.  We don't know what they like, or how they would feel about being left out of Blu dinners. We don't know the personalities or the nature of the relationships.   We can give ideas of other venues for eating, or answer questions about dining on the ship,  but to me this seems like an issue to be decided among friends, not among anonymous names on a Cruise Critic post.  

 

And to the OP, I also agree that paying extra for the spa area on M class is a total waste of money.  Check it out yourself before your friends invest.

 

Sorry if I wasn’t clear in the original post but this is all about logistics.   We’re a tight knit group.    Couple #4 is cruising with us for the first time.   We tend to use dinner as a common meeting location to laugh about the day and talk about tomorrow.    We just need a way now to do that another way.    All have seen the thread too.    The one thing we all chatted about last night was making sure we lunches together (since Blu is closed anyway) and always meeting for a before dinner drink and shows after the meal.    We’ll definitely be doing dinner in the Tuscan Grille on the last night together and depending on how we feel about the ambience and food in Blu we may dine a few nights as a group in the MDR.    Going to play that by ear.   Group 4 has insisted they are not foodies of any level and may choose to just hit the buffet for dinner a couple nights.  

 

As for the PG spa topic many have brought up, that wasn’t the key reason for going AQ.    Our deal had an outrageous price and included all 4 perks.   The premium drink pkg, prepaid tips, $300 OBC per room and free internet were all the keys to booking.   My wife will use the PG every day and I may use it as a place to veg for a bit each day, but it’s not a key element of the trip.   

[PTC DAWG]

41 minutes ago, zdad59 said:

 

.     All our boys played D1 football together, so we’ve all done a lot of traveling together.     In fact this cruise is the extension of our tailgate parties!

That in itself is pretty cool...I'm sure you'll be fine whatever you decide upon.  

[Cruise a holic]

Honestly, if the non aqua class guest has financial difficulties, perhaps each couple can chip in for an upgrade for them.  Not sure how close the group is, but if it were my close friend or family member and say the chip in was $100-$125 per couple might consider it.

[cynbar]

I have to commend the OP for working on this issue in advance. It sounds like the lines of communication are active and open amongst the 4 couples. If all of you have seen this thread, you all have the same information about the dining concerns. The way I see it, the ball is in the court of couple #4. They can watch prices and try to move up, or they may feel comfortable dining separately. It’s true that they may be able to get a lower price on AQ after final payment, Celebrity generally allows you to upgrade yourself as long as the new cabin costs at least a little more. But really, sounds like the 4 couples have this all under control —- and there won’t be any surprises about dining after they board the ship. We posters seem more upset about all this than they are!!!!

[cb at sea]

Just let them add the tips daily to your account....it will go to the correct servers, and you won't have to carry money around with you!