Blu vs Specialty Restaurants

[Orator]

I've been in Blu many, many times and have observed that the ship often gives special prices to those in Aqua Class when Blu is expected to be crowded as they really want to alleviate wait times in Blu. With the limits on seating that might be in place I expect these specials to be offered on a more frequent basis. I would suggest excursing patients may save lots of money.  

[OnTheJourney]

8 hours ago, zap99 said:

Our plan A is fly to Vancouver, 2 night stay, X Eclipse Alaska, Globus 10 night Rockies tour, fly back to UK from Calgary, or Rocky Mountaineer back to Vancouver, overnight ( or 2 ) and back to Heathrow.

 

Great plan  👍🏻

[AstoriaPreppy]

Blu has a number of benefits compared to the MDR:

 

The food is prepared à la minute, which is probably the biggest benefit. You're getting food that has a much less banquet, mass produced style than the MDR food (which is still very good on Celebrity).

 

The service tends to be much more attentive. On our last assigned time MDR experience on the Millennium, the servers seemed frantic, and didn't make any effort to get to know us or engage. The lower passenger load in Blu means there's much more of an opportunity for interaction. 

 

The wine stewards in Blu are exponentially better. In the MDR, we would regularly have to flag down our sommelier, who would regularly forget to bring us wines. In Blu, the service was much more attentive, and the wine stewards would always randomly "find" something better than what we'd actually ordered. 

 

Re the speciality restaurants: Tuscan Grill on the Equinox was great... they hand-make their fresh pasta every day, which was a great discovery. Qsine with the old menu was always fun, but the world-cuisine fusion flavor profiles was off-putting to a lot of cruisers who just want a steak or hunk of chicken. Le Petit Chef was lots of fun, but we provably wouldn't do it again (without friends who hadn't experienced it before). Sushi on 5 on the M class ships is better than it should be for cruise ship Japanese food. Raw on Five on the Edge is fantastic... we splurged for a seafood tower and it was high quality and expansive. 

Finally, the Fine Cut Steakhouse on the Edge... was one of the best meals I've ever had on a ship. I'm not a huge steakhouse person, but the *dry aged* steak was incredible, like something I'd find in a super-upscale NY steakhouse. The entire restaurant had a very modern, high end Vegas vibe, which was reflected in the food. 

[terrydtx]

On 3/11/2021 at 7:22 PM, NMTraveller said:

How does the wine menu in Blu compare to that of the specialty restaurants?

Blu had a different list of wines by the glass than the MDR. We sail only on AQ class with Celebrity because of Blu and its smaller venue than the MDR. We also will do a night or 2 in a specialty restaurant. In M class ships you can also get anything from the MDR menu in Blu if there is nothing on the Blu menu you like. 

[terrydtx]

On 3/7/2021 at 12:17 PM, Ramona760 said:

Do you know if Blue has room service?

 I do not remember seeing the BLU menu available for room service But you can still get the MDR menu room service.

[cruisestitch]

As stated in posts # 14 and 19.

[keesar]

I have never received or seen a room service menu for Blu.  Have seen one for the MDR.

 

As for wine lists, Blu has their own but there are relatively few wines under the Classic Package.  If I want a rose under the classic package, one will appear that is not on the wine list.  

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, keesar said:

I have never received or seen a room service menu for Blu.  Have seen one for the MDR.

 

As for wine lists, Blu has their own but there are relatively few wines under the Classic Package.  If I want a rose under the classic package, one will appear that is not on the wine list.  

Thanks to our TA we got upgraded at no cost to the premium drinks package where there is a good list of wines $15 or less. This will also get us the premium martinis at the martini bar.

[AstoriaPreppy]

Here's a good Blu v. MDR service example. 

On my first AQ sailing, we would regularly order glasses of Chandon at dinner. It's a very drinkable California brut, around $22 per bottle at the liquor stores in my neighborhood. After realizing that at least a few of us would drink it each night, they'd have a bottle waiting on ice for us. Good, attentive, proactive service. 

 

On the last night of the cruise, the wine steward came over and gave us this really... odd story about how they'd run out of Chandon. We were all very confused. 

He then proceeded to produce a bottle of Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque brut as the "replacement." At this point, I nearly slid out of my chair, because I realized immediately that this was a $180 bottle of champagne in a store (and more on board). We planned to tip him well, but this extra touch at the end of the week bumped it up significantly. 

 

Service "wins" like this seem like they're happening less and less in the MDR, but still exist in Blu.

 

[dkjretired]

On 3/12/2021 at 2:40 PM, Orator said:

I've been in Blu many, many times and have observed that the ship often gives special prices to those in Aqua Class when Blu is expected to be crowded as they really want to alleviate wait times in Blu. With the limits on seating that might be in place I expect these specials to be offered on a more frequent basis. I would suggest excursing patients may save lots of money.  

Correct and we have found that often they put a small strip of paper with a percentage off in an envelope on the desk that explains Blu dining procedures. Our experience is that they do this most often for the specialties on the first night. Problem with that was Blu for awhile did filet mignon on the first day.

[terrydtx]

50 minutes ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

On my first AQ sailing, we would regularly order glasses of Chandon at dinner. It's a very drinkable California brut, around $22 per bottle at the liquor stores in my neighborhood

I agree this is, for the price, a very good California sparkling wine.  If I remember right it is $14 per glass and available in the premium drinks package. 

 

Access to BLU and its better service is why we will always sail on Celebrity (AQ Class) over HAL in a Signature Suite. We are booked on the Westerdam in September only because it was a replacement for a similar itinerary on the Constellation that was canceled by X. 

Edited March 14, 2021 by terrydtx

[Ramona760]

On 3/14/2021 at 8:39 AM, dkjretired said:

Correct and we have found that often they put a small strip of paper with a percentage off in an envelope on the desk that explains Blu dining procedures. Our experience is that they do this most often for the specialties on the first night. Problem with that was Blu for awhile did filet mignon on the first day.

I'm sorry, but what are they giving percentage off on? Alternative dining? We will be experiencing Aqua Class for the the first time this fall and would love to know the "ropes"

[Alakegirl]

Yes, specialty dining discounts for the first night are not uncommon

[keesar]

21 minutes ago, Ramona760 said:

I'm sorry, but what are they giving percentage off on? Alternative dining? We will be experiencing Aqua Class for the the first time this fall and would love to know the "ropes"

 

We typically get between 30-50% off per person at a Specialty Restaurant on the first night.  We do stay away from Blu the first night as it has been rather chaotic from our experience.   At one time, you would get a discount offer in your room when boarding.  On our last couple of cruises, the discounts were available online under your reservation with the Specialty Restaurants.  We have booked there.

[dkjretired]

11 hours ago, Ramona760 said:

I'm sorry, but what are they giving percentage off on? Alternative dining? We will be experiencing Aqua Class for the the first time this fall and would love to know the "ropes"

 

It can vary as to what the percentage off was, I'm thinking they made the decision depending on Specialty reservations already booked.   We haven't been in Blu in a couple of years so don't know if they are still doing it.   I would check the menu  thought to see what's offered first night. 

Edited March 16, 2021 by dkjretired

[4774Papa]

We have done one AQUA cruise and dined in BLU and one in a Suite dining in Luminae.    We rarely dine in Celebrity's specialty restaurants because of the expense and the MDR is pretty good.

 

I would rate Luminae close to as good as specialty, but BLU a bit below Luminae.   Still, we liked BLU.

[jelayne]

There is 30% off the 1st night for the speciality restaurants which can be booked thru the Cruise Planner.  When that started about 2 +/- years ago it seemed to fill the Speciality restaurants eliminating the 50% offers that were sometimes available.

We enjoy the 1st night menu in Blu, which was filet or short ribs, so we didn’t book a specialty but did ask if there were discounts- best available was 30% off LPC👎

[Jazzbo]

On 3/7/2021 at 8:48 PM, dkjretired said:

Correct, room service in Blu and the Suites comes from the MDR menu.

When we were on the Summit in AQ with my parents and brother in April 2019, my Mum injured her foot on broken pavement in Antigua. She was in a wheelchair for several days and couldn’t leave the cabin for dinner the first 2 nights.  I called and got the “you can only order room service from MDR” story.  My brother went down to Blu and talked to the maitre d’. He gave my brother the menu to take up to my Mum and we called in the order. Same thing the following evening. When my Mum showed up for breakfast (still in the wheelchair) the following morning, the maitre d’ and servers gave her a royal welcome.  When she walked into  Blu the next evening, she was greeted with applause! They couldn’t have treated her any better. Even though the injury spoiled several plans, everyone in Blu was wonderful!

[dkjretired]

7 hours ago, Jazzbo said:

When we were on the Summit in AQ with my parents and brother in April 2019, my Mum injured her foot on broken pavement in Antigua. She was in a wheelchair for several days and couldn’t leave the cabin for dinner the first 2 nights.  I called and got the “you can only order room service from MDR” story.  My brother went down to Blu and talked to the maitre d’. He gave my brother the menu to take up to my Mum and we called in the order. Same thing the following evening. When my Mum showed up for breakfast (still in the wheelchair) the following morning, the maitre d’ and servers gave her a royal welcome.  When she walked into  Blu the next evening, she was greeted with applause! They couldn’t have treated her any better. Even though the injury spoiled several plans, everyone in Blu was wonderful!

 

Right, special circumstances but the only from the MDR story is SOP in Blu and Luminae.   There are always exceptions.  

[NantahalaCruiser]

On 3/11/2021 at 9:33 PM, jelayne said:

Our sommelier was able to get us wines that were not on the Blu wine list.

Yes - we were in Blu on the Millennium on a B2B, but also ate in the Tuscan Grille a couple of times. Having enjoyed a nice glass of wine in the Tuscan Grille, we asked our Blu wine steward about it and he had a bottle of it available for us for the rest of our B2B.