MDR vs. Blu

[cmaleblanc]

Back in Feb 2022, we upgraded to AC on the Apex to give it a try and it came with access to BLU. We had supper in BLU the first night, but didn't go back, the service was nice, but it was to physically cramped for us. We like the small restaurant feeling, BLU just felt to cramped for us. We also didn't enjoy the food that much and found the MDR was just as good if not better, when we got to try it the 2nd night. The "healthy" option they try to sell the food as, to us, just seemed to be smaller portions with more vegetables. We did eat at the steak house on the Apex one night, and it was fantastic, I would recommend it to everyone. But as others have said, I don't believe the BLU restaurant is worth the cost of the AC upgrade. Go with another class (we are thinking concierge this next trip.) We also tried out the Thermal Spa, as it comes included with AC, we went, tried, didn't go back. I'm sure they are great options for some people but we didn't really use anything that I would think as "AC" level cost. Get a Specialty dinning package if you want to try them out, I wouldn't invest in the full AC experience for the "perks".

[Miaminice]

Also depends on the ship. On S or M class we wouldn’t cruise without Aqua and Blu because we really don’t like the rushed and hectic MDR.

 

On Edge class the 4 smaller MDRs are really good and the “need” for Blu is smaller.

[mtempelaar]

On 11/14/2022 at 1:31 PM, Cruise a holic said:

Honestly, we have tried both- the MDR is ok but like a catering hall.  Food good.  Blu sells itself as a private restaurant with "healthy options"   However it is very crowded.  Tables for two are on top of each other and food and service not great. We didn't appreciated the "benefits" of Aqua class.  

 

"Healthy options" LMAO.   I'm sorry but I sat there with eggs and bacon, to keep my high cholesterol and sodium levels at a nice high level, and then polished it off with blueberry pancakes and toast (with butter), to keep my glucose higher and to top off that cholesterol.   Last I finished it off with a little alcohol for my liver.    

 

Hubby and I agreed....it's faux healthy.   That being said, we did enjoy it enough to eat there a few times, enough to go for Prime Aquaclass sunset verandah instead of normal Sunset for our 2025 Solstice future cruise.  Then again it's 5 days at sea so that Persian Garden access kinda tipped us over the edge there.  

[Cruise a holic]

On 11/14/2022 at 5:20 PM, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

I can't only speak about the Equinox, they will only let you order the "timeless classics" and not the rotating items which was disappointing

Another benefit of the all included dining package (if offered for your cruise) is lunch is also included.  Some sp restaurants, like the lawn club grill and sushi on five offer lunch also.  Varies so check once on board.

[NutsAboutGolf]

7 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

Another benefit of the all included dining package (if offered for your cruise) is lunch is also included.  Some sp restaurants, like the lawn club grill and sushi on five offer lunch also.  Varies so check once on board.

 

It's not offered on any X sailings like RCL offers although higher-end suites do have unlimited dining as an amenity

[cavydad]

We were on the Summit in August for a b2b cruise, 26 nights, and ate at Blu for breakfast and dinner. Service and food in Blu was a step above the main dining room. If we saw anything on the main dining room menu it was available to us in Blu. My wife is on a special diet and the Blu staff did their best to accommodate her.

[mtnlvr53]

I'm a Celiac and have to eat gluten free. I picked Aqua class for Blu thinking that they might be able to accommodate my dietary needs better. Is that a bad assumption? I want to have good food and something for dessert besides fresh fruit every night. Does anyone have a menu? Even better is a gluten free menu. Oops forgot to say we will be on the Reflection.

Thanks so much for any help with this.

Janet

Edited November 23, 2022 by mtnlvr53
add info

[NMTraveller]

On 11/14/2022 at 10:31 AM, Cruise a holic said:

Honestly, we have tried both- the MDR is ok but like a catering hall.  Food good.  Blu sells itself as a private restaurant with "healthy options"   However it is very crowded.  Tables for two are on top of each other and food and service not great. We didn't appreciated the "benefits" of Aqua class.  

 

I would take a regular balcony cabin if a suite isn't in your budget, and dine in specialty restaurants with the money saved for dinners.  So much better. If you need the captains club points, consider a concierge class stateroom which is typically less.

Hmmm.  I was wondering about this same topic.  We exclusively dine in specialty restaurants ...  We were wondering if Blu was better...

[Arizona Wildcat]

1 hour ago, mtnlvr53 said:

I'm a Celiac and have to eat gluten free. I picked Aqua class for Blu thinking that they might be able to accommodate my dietary needs better. Is that a bad assumption? I want to have good food and something for dessert besides fresh fruit every night. Does anyone have a menu? Even better is a gluten free menu. Oops forgot to say we will be on the Reflection.

Thanks so much for any help with this.

Janet

Food allergies can be accommodated at any dining venue.  Blu vs MDR really makes no difference.  There are menus posted at several on line sites.  Gluten free has no set menu as some of those items are prepared with modified ingredients to meet the needs of passengers.  Staff will let you know which menus items meet your needs. 

The rule is simple.  List food restrictions when you book.  Let special needs know your restrictions.  Ask again when ordering lest something slip.

Works the same on every ship.

[aml3679]

Blu is outstanding 

[CU64]

On 11/14/2022 at 12:29 PM, CruisinBanka said:

Blu is a much smaller venue with better service than MDR, however staying in a veranda stateroom and buying a dining package will get you the smaller venue, great service and better food experience. It will also most likely cost you less. 

Agreed

[TravelingCircusof5]

9 hours ago, mtnlvr53 said:

I'm a Celiac and have to eat gluten free. I picked Aqua class for Blu thinking that they might be able to accommodate my dietary needs better. Is that a bad assumption? I want to have good food and something for dessert besides fresh fruit every night. Does anyone have a menu? Even better is a gluten free menu. Oops forgot to say we will be on the Reflection.

Thanks so much for any help with this.

Janet

I could have written this post. Exact situation. Booked Aqua under the same assumption as celiac before i knew that I should have done extensive research before booking anything. When i finally found the Blu menus, they do not sound good to me at all. I do eat pretty ‘healthy’, but the menu is not to my palate- seems heavy on lamb, duck and quail. Some nights there is not even a chicken or a beef option, so I am a bit concerned. I wonder if I should have saved $800 and booked a regular IV and eaten in MDRs. This sounded like a relaxing getaway when i planned it during a very stressful time in our family, but it is now taking a lot of backtracking to discover if I made the right choices.

[NutsAboutGolf]

Once you're seated in Blu for dinner, usually the first interaction you'll have is with someone is they'll slap down a basket of bread with a tray of 3 butters.

[bigbenboys]

We were just on Solstice Nov 5th. We dined in Blu and we were able to order off the MDR menu. We avoid the 2 tops near the windows. When I comes to the E class ships. We have only done Edge in a suite and Luminae had very limited food choices. As to Blu at least on Edge the window tables did not have a nice view. I was told that Celebrity did make changes to the view in Blu on one or other E Class ships.

[zitsky]

3 hours ago, TravelingCircusof5 said:

I could have written this post. Exact situation. Booked Aqua under the same assumption as celiac before i knew that I should have done extensive research before booking anything. When i finally found the Blu menus, they do not sound good to me at all. I do eat pretty ‘healthy’, but the menu is not to my palate- seems heavy on lamb, duck and quail. Some nights there is not even a chicken or a beef option, so I am a bit concerned. I wonder if I should have saved $800 and booked a regular IV and eaten in MDRs. This sounded like a relaxing getaway when i planned it during a very stressful time in our family, but it is now taking a lot of backtracking to discover if I made the right choices.

I am saying the obvious but yea if you hate the food, don’t book Blu.  You may save a lot of money with cruise only and paying for a multi night specialty dining package.

 

[mtnlvr53]

On 11/23/2022 at 12:35 PM, zitsky said:

I am saying the obvious but yea if you hate the food, don’t book Blu.  You may save a lot of money with cruise only and paying for a multi night specialty dining package.

 

I had never even considered spending my cruise dollars on the specialty dining package in a "regular" cabin. Now, the more I think about it, the more sense it makes.  All of you bring so much to the "table". Thanks for insight. 

[aggiejd2000]

On 11/14/2022 at 10:19 AM, LB_NJ said:

Thinking about Aqua over a regular Veranda.  To us the real difference is Blu and wondering how much better it is then the regular MDR.  I realize this is somewhat subjective however would like to get some detailed feedback about the food differences.

We just sailed Solstice twice in five months.  First time in Concierge Class, second time in Aqua Class, so we have a head-to-head comparison.  The dining experience is an important part of the cruising experience for us.

 

We ate every night in the MDR and in Blu for each sailing.  We often tried to eat different dishes and tasted each other's to see what we thought.   

 

MDR

Service:  7/10.  Fixed seating.  Our server was a super friendly guy.  But often times, he just couldn't remember our preferences, nor did our plates come out as we ordered.  For example, I didn't want the potatoes and didn't want them to go to waste so I'd say no potatoes.  But they still came.  

Ambience:  7/10.  It's a large, lovely dining room, befitting of a cruise ship.

Food:  3/10.  This is subjective, but for us, the food was a major letdown.  The food in the MDR on our first cruise with Celebrity over a decade ago was amazeballs.  To this day, we still talk about it.  But the food in the MDR was poorly prepared and lacked imagination.  Almost every protein entree came with steamed or sauteed carrots and broccoli, and a scoop of mashed potatoes.  There was no interesting veggie in sight.  The steak was thin and overcooked.  It was sadness all around.

 

Blu

Service:  7/10.  Open seating.  Service depended on the section we were seated in.  We called it the A-Team and the B-Team.  The A-Team were top notch, remembered our names, were Johnny on the Spot.  The B-Team tried but were inexperienced or distracted and didn't remember our names. 

Ambience:  8/10.  Much smaller, like a restaurant.  Tables are closer together.  More intimate.

Food:  7/10.  Again, subjective.  Not everything we ate at Blu was great but it definitely is a step up from the MDR.  Larger selection of creative dishes and more veggies!  Lighter options, like sauteed fish dishes and entree salads, and the sides are not just carbs.  On the last night, I had an amazing ahi tuna, seared rare over a watercress salad with slivered red onions and caper berries tossed with a dijon vinaigrette.  It was the best dish I ate all week and I'd happily eat it again and again.

 

As you can tell, we much prefer Blu.  We like the open seating and think we can make up for the service by requesting the station we like better.  For us, we would not go back to the MDR on S-Class.  If you're between regular veranda and AQ, go AQ if the cost difference is not big.  If the cost difference is big, just go regular veranda and specialty dine if food matters to you.  I'd avoid concierge class because we don't think the minor perks for CC is worth price difference.  

 

 

[the penguins]

On 11/14/2022 at 6:19 PM, LB_NJ said:

I am sure this has been asked in the past however wondering if there are different answers post COVID.

 

Thinking about Aqua over a regular Veranda.  To us the real difference is Blu and wondering how much better it is then the regular MDR.  I realize this is somewhat subjective however would like to get some detailed feedback about the food differences.

As we always share a table at dinner for us it's Select Dining in the  MDR everytime. Also we don't like the location of the Aqua cabins - deck 7 middish is as high as we go. It's all about choice. 

[moonglum]

Just back from doing Aqua Class on the Silhouette.

 

Quality of food was of a decent standard although the choice on the menu was restrictive but if you asked you could get the MDR menu. Also not advertised on the menu was snails which were available most nights.

 

We were a party of 4 and tables for 4 are very limited. On the second night , for some unknown reason, they would not push two tables together although this changed later after we complained.

 

Service on the first morning and on the second night was very poor. The sommelier was an absolute joke. Came to the table saw that 4 glasses were empty but only filled two and then disappeared. Appreciate he is run of his feet but that is up to Celebrity to provide adequate staff.  It took a complaint to eventually get things sorted out.

 

We always go balcony but if there is Aqua at a reasonable price we will go for it.

[OysterD]

8 hours ago, mtnlvr53 said:

I had never even considered spending my cruise dollars on the specialty dining package in a "regular" cabin. Now, the more I think about it, the more sense it makes.  All of you bring so much to the "table". Thanks for insight. 

On paper that might make sense, but in reality I suppose it depends on what you consider to be important when dining in a restaurant. 

 

Obviously the food is key, and for me the food in Blu is excellent, no complaints on that front. Restaurant itself, general ambience etc is also a factor. I prefer the smaller more intimate design of Blu but each to their own. 

 

What we really loved about Blu last month was the service and staff in there. After a few nights the Maitre D remembered us, as soon as he saw us come in he would have our normal two tables pushed together and set up and welcome us in. Waiter and his assistant would beam at us and ask us, by name, how our day had been etc. Sommelier knew what drinks we wanted and would bring them over for us without asking. Maitre D would always come and have a chat about our day, what we were planning for next day, give us tips about the next port etc. After night 6 or 7 our waiter somehow knew our tastes and would know before we told him which dish we wanted to get for the middle of the table to share amongst us. 

 

If you were to get a specialty dining package and eat in a different specialty restaurant every night you would lose this familiarity. You'd be starting afresh with a new waiter, sommelier and Maitre D every night. Some people might not mind that, but to us we certainly appreciated walking into Blu and feeling at home. When we did dine in Murano one night we all walked out and said the same thing, food was great and staff were nice, but it wasn't Blu. 

[Oceansaway17]

On 11/14/2022 at 5:30 PM, NutsAboutGolf said:

IMO, whatever you rank the MDR on a scale of one to ten (say a 5 for example), Blu is only 1-1.5 points higher.  As stated above, if you want something special buy a multi-night dining package.

yup I agree. I only did one dinner and I was surprised at the odd selections and small quantities

I did find BLU great for breakfast.  I also agree the tables are too close together but was lucky to have dinner by a wall.

the price of Aqua just is not worth it.  I did not like getting bothered every afternoon with the snacks, but I did like the flowers and the special pass to go out on the bow of the Equinox when we were docking in Antiqua.

[NJRonbo]

1 minute ago, Oceansaway17 said:

yup I agree. I only did one dinner and I was surprised at the odd selections and small quantities

I did find BLU great for breakfast.  I also agree the tables are too close together but was lucky to have dinner by a wall.

the price of Aqua just is not worth it.  I did not like getting bothered every afternoon with the snacks, but I did like the flowers and the special pass to go out on the bow of the Equinox when we were docking in Antiqua.

 

I think those of us that can order off the MDR while enjoying the ambience and elevated level of service at Blu may find we get our money's worth.  

[Oceansaway17]

Just now, NJRonbo said:

 

I think those of us that can order off the MDR while enjoying the ambience and elevated level of service at Blu may find we get our money's worth.  

while I understood I could do this, I felt it was more work and would the food arrive hot.

[NJRonbo]

9 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

while I understood I could do this, I felt it was more work and would the food arrive hot.

 

It's my understanding from the many replies I have read that, at least on the Milleniium Class ships (I am sailing Summit), the kitchens are adjoining so it makes the process quite easy.

[NutsAboutGolf]

9 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

while I understood I could do this, I felt it was more work and would the food arrive hot.

I do it all the time and haven’t been served non-hot items.

 

I won’t get into the logistics of it but will simply say, if you asked for a MDR item, they’d grab it along with other items for other people