Complaint about Blu

[NutsAboutGolf]

11 hours ago, Octavias said:

That is a dilemma for sure.  If they let the line form, then the entire place will be seated at essentially the same time (when they open) which will cause problems too.  I have no idea what a good solution is.  
 

I like that they seat you at/near the same place with the same staff each night but it is unfair that some people end up with a view every time and others never.  

 

From what I've seen, the doors are closed and no crew member is to be seen until they open the door.  I cannot see X willing to post a crew member to enforce a no line rule

[Poconolady]

Well, since it-takes almost two hours to get thru a dinner, I assume these early diners are trying to make the early show. Not everyone is a night owl and wants to stay up late. Also, since people travel from all parts of the world to take a cruise, perhaps these early-birds are Europeans, Asians etc, and its some other time entirely according to their inner time clocks.

 

Now, on the other hand, If they are going to state that the opening time is 5:30, then 5:30 should be the earliest that they seat  anyone. Opening times are set so the staff is ready, the food is reafy, etc.

I also miss the ice tea that they used to bring to the room. I recently  asked for it and they brought it on the Apex, but said they couldn’t on the Infinity, however they compensated by bringing extra waters daily and bringing a kettle for me to make my own tea. The afternoon  canapes?  I’m glad to see those gone, in the okden days when you could order a shrimp platter or cheese plate, then they were worththe extra trouble to the staff.

[jelayne]

13 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

From what I've seen, the doors are closed and no crew member is to be seen until they open the door.  I cannot see X willing to post a crew member to enforce a no line rule

Before opening the doors to Blu (and Luminae) have  always closed but I never heard that “ no crew was to be seen”.  I have seen them moving around inside setting up before opening. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

The problem is, even if X posted a crew member in front of the Blu entrance, folks will start lining up around the corner where the crew can't see

 

The Millie's Blu did this, was scheduled to open at 530, they open for seating only at 5, if you were in line the line by 445 no chance of a window seat and you may need to arrive earlier

 

It should be noted whenever you're at a restaurant, you should tell the host upon your arrival what kind of table you want such as a window, a specific section, a booth, a non-both table, etc

[sanger727]

45 minutes ago, mrgabriel said:

 

We've sailed in AQ over a dozen times and some hosts/hostesses do a better job than others. A few times we have had hostesses in Blu who had superior skills in assigning seating. They didn't fill all the window seats first, they scattered people around the restaurant. That opens up the possibility for those who come at different times to be seated in a section they prefer PLUS it scatters the patrons so all of the servers have people in their sections all of the time. This is not difficult - it is done in restaurants all of the time. 

 

 

I guess I was operating under the assumption that people asked for window seats. I see absolutely no reason for why those should be held so that someone who wishes to eat later can sit at them over people who showed up early for dinner. Also, most likely all the window seats are not in one section. 

 

I just can't see any reasonable expectation of showing up for dinner at 5:30, when it just so happens that many people on your sailing want to eat at 5 and arrive early - and then expect to get a prime seat or prime wait team. It was bad luck to be on that sailing, but those things can happen. 

[Miaminice]

1 hour ago, OnTheJourney said:

Same here...I don't see the advantage but would appear to be several disadvantages. 

The only one seeing disadvantages seems to be you.

 

 And opening early or not is entirely up to them and doesn’t hurt you a bit unless you spend a lot of time worrying about it.

Edited May 19, 2023 by Miaminice

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

Before opening the doors to Blu (and Luminae) have  always closed but I never heard that “ no crew was to be seen”.  I have seen them moving around inside setting up before opening. 

 

Blu varies by ship, E-Class you can see in, M class they have a huge sliding door and I think that's the same for the S-Class...When on the Millie they had the door closed until they opened for service

[jelayne]

45 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Blu varies by ship, E-Class you can see in, M class they have a huge sliding door and I think that's the same for the S-Class...When on the Millie they had the door closed until they opened for service

S class has glass doors, you can see into the dining room.

 

[cheeseheads4ever]

We were in Aqua Class a month ago on Beyond. I looked at the Blu menu on the app and I’m really not a duck, quail, lamb chop, octopus type person. So I was kind of what will I have? Then reading here’s that they won’t let you order from the MDR menu really threw me for a loop. After the first night they would let me order Prime Rib, Lobster or what ever else I wanted. Maybe Maitre de liked us. We always got there at 5:30-6:00 and never seen anyone waiting. We had a table away from the window because we loved the waitress and assistant.

Would I go and book Aqua again feeling I had to do it again? Only if it was a good deal.

Service was incredible. BTW the French onion soup in Blu was over the moon. Super rich and flavorful. Absolutely loved it.

Yes E Class you can see in and see the workers busy..

 

 

Edited May 19, 2023 by cheeseheads4ever

[OnTheJourney]

2 hours ago, Miaminice said:

The only one seeing disadvantages seems to be you.

Really? Seems to me that several here have agreed about it not being a good idea to open early 🤔

[OnTheJourney]

9 minutes ago, cheeseheads4ever said:

then reading here’s that they won’t let you order from the MDR menu really threw me for a loop.

No...you can order anything off  the MDR menu.

Edited May 19, 2023 by OnTheJourney

[OnTheJourney]

2 hours ago, sanger727 said:

I just can't see any reasonable expectation of showing up for dinner at 5:30, when it just so happens that many people on your sailing want to eat at 5 and arrive early -

You may have misunderstood. We DID arrive early once we saw how things were going. Generally we were down there between 5:00 - 5:15. By quarter after or so they were usually already open and I'd say even half-full. 

 

I really didn't expect a defensive attitude to show up on this particular thread, though should have since that's how social media is nowadays. Sorry if I ruffled anyone's feathers who has had wonderful experiences in Blu. There also seems to be somewhat of an attitude against people who want to eat real early. 

Edited May 19, 2023 by OnTheJourney

[OnTheJourney]

3 hours ago, Poconolady said:

Now, on the other hand, If they are going to state that the opening time is 5:30, then 5:30 should be the earliest that they seat  anyone.

Absolutely agree!  If people seem to want to start eating at 5 and it works for the staff, then list 5 as the opening time. This is not rocket science. 

 

3 hours ago, Poconolady said:

I also miss the ice tea that they used to bring to the room.

Yep...we felt that made it more worth the extra cost, along with afternoon treats. 

 

3 hours ago, Poconolady said:

I assume these early diners are trying to make the early show.

I'm sure. Dinner didn't generally take two hours but much longer than last time we were in Blu. Service was very good, but definitely slower this time. 

Edited May 19, 2023 by OnTheJourney

[OnTheJourney]

31 minutes ago, cheeseheads4ever said:

BTW the French onion soup in Blu was over the moon.

I'd say it was "good" but have had alot better. I wanted to try it since on one of the CC threads someone raved about it and said he orders like 4 of them. 

Edited May 19, 2023 by OnTheJourney

[Ken the cruiser]

Were currently on the Eclipse in Aqua and granted Blu is much larger on an S class ship with less window tables, which I believe there are only 5. On the first day of each leg of our 30-day B2B, they officially opened Blu at 5:45 pm. However, by day 2 or 3 they switched the opening time to 5:30 pm to allow folks to be able to make it to the early 7 pm show without having to skip dessert.

 

I have to admit, we’re one of those that would initially get in line around 5:15 pm to get near the front of the queue to get a specific window seat. As the cruise continued and more people started queuing earlier, we wound up getting in line around 5 pm. However, the Blu maitre d’ stood his ground and never opened the doors any earlier than 5:30 pm, which was find with us, and I would imagine with the crew as well.

 

I guess if you want a window seat bad enough, which we did as the sunsets on the Pacific Ocean are awesome and usually on the port side where Blu was, you’ll figure out the rules of engagement to get one and adjust accordingly, just like most everything else when you’re on a full ship. 
 

However, when we were on the Summit in August for 24 days on a B2B to and from Iceland, we chose just the opposite, table 24. Fourth row from the windows and close to the back as we really didn’t want to eat near anyone as we still had to test prior to transition day. 😁 On that set of cruises the hostess would fill the window seats first, then the row next to it, and then the next starting from the front. By the time someone sat down at the table next to us, we were almost done, which is how we planned it.

 

But I agree, the maitre d’ should never have opened the doors any earlier than maybe 15 minutes prior to the official time, for everyone’s benefit. Rules are important, especially on a full ship. As far as catering to suite guests, it was my understanding that only happens when there is space available, which didn’t seem the case on your cruise with the long queues. Of course, if we were in a suite and had the option of eating in Luminae or Blu, there would be no hesitation in picking Luminae as their chocolate desserts are totally awesome when compared to Blu’s meager choices. 😂
 

Anyway, that’s my two cents on the subject. 😁

[dlh015]

Agree that they should open the doors at the advertised time. Period. If people want to stand outside for 45 minutes or whatever, fine...let 'em.

 

On another note, that some decided to post about, people eat early because they want to.

 

Who cares what time people eat in Europe??

 

Get over it. It's their choice not yours. Maybe I don't understand people who eat late. How's about that? But I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. Nor am I going to say that I think it's strange. 'Shaming' people about what time they eat is what's strange...

[mrgabriel]

3 hours ago, sanger727 said:

 

I guess I was operating under the assumption that people asked for window seats. I see absolutely no reason for why those should be held so that someone who wishes to eat later can sit at them over people who showed up early for dinner. Also, most likely all the window seats are not in one section. 

 

 

 

The hostess will typically ask your seating preference on the first evening of the cruise and then attempt to seat you in the same section every night so you have the same team of servers. Window seats seem to be in 2 or 3 sections.

 

Dining on a ship is supposed to be a relaxed experience - not a case of needing to stand in line for 2 hours to get a table with a nice view of the water from time to time. Again, several hostesses manage this quite well. Maybe they need to teach the others. 

[mrgabriel]

44 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

You may have misunderstood. We DID arrive early once we saw how things were going. Generally we were down there between 5:00 - 5:15. By quarter after or so they were usually already open and I'd say even half-full. 

 

I really didn't expect a defensive attitude to show up on this particular thread, though should have since that's how social media is nowadays. Sorry if I ruffled anyone's feathers who has had wonderful experiences in Blu. There also seems to be somewhat of an attitude against people who want to eat real early. 

 

I'm with you. Don't get the anger. But as my husband keeps reminding me, this is cruise CRITIC and that seems to be a license.

[mrgabriel]

4 hours ago, Poconolady said:

Well, since it-takes almost two hours to get thru a dinner, I assume these early diners are trying to make the early show. Not everyone is a night owl and wants to stay up late. Also, since people travel from all parts of the world to take a cruise, perhaps these early-birds are Europeans, Asians etc, and its some other time entirely according to their inner time clocks.

 

Dinner is always much shorter than 2 hours in Blu. Sometimes we're in and out in about 75 minutes, other times maybe 90 minutes. And yes, we enjoy a drink, appetiser, entree, and sometimes dessert. We don't have coffee so that tends to speed things up. 

[Octavias]

4 minutes ago, mrgabriel said:

 

I'm with you. Don't get the anger. But as my husband keeps reminding me, this is cruise CRITIC and that seems to be a license.

I noticed that many threads here seem to end up confrontational….

[patty1955]

5 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

 You'll get to the point where the stated dining (opening) times as listed on the daily planner are no longer accurate. Suppose the theatre would decide to start a show earlier just because a long line has formed? Now you've got people who'll be ticked off because they planned to get there close to 7 and the show has already started 10 minutes ago. 

 

 

 

They already hold shows for latecomers, so why not?

[Orator]

What does Celebrity Today say about the opening time?

[NutsAboutGolf]

27 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Were currently on the Eclipse in Aqua and granted Blu is much larger on an S class ship with less window tables, which I believe there are only 5. On the first day of each leg of our 30-day B2B, they officially opened Blu at 5:45 pm. However, by day 2 or 3 they switched the opening time to 5:30 pm to allow folks to be able to make it to the early 7 pm show without having to skip dessert.

 

I have to admit, we’re one of those that would initially get in line around 5:15 pm to get near the front of the queue to get a specific window seat. As the cruise continued and more people started queuing earlier, we wound up getting in line around 5 pm. However, the Blu maitre d’ stood his ground and never opened the doors any earlier than 5:30 pm, which was find with us, and I would imagine with the crew as well.

 

I guess if you want a window seat bad enough, which we did as the sunsets on the Pacific Ocean are awesome and usually on the port side where Blu was, you’ll figure out the rules of engagement to get one and adjust accordingly, just like most everything else when you’re on a full ship. 
 

However, when we were on the Summit in August for 24 days on a B2B to and from Iceland, we chose just the opposite, table 24. Fourth row from the windows and close to the back as we really didn’t want to eat near anyone as we still had to test prior to transition day. 😁 On that set of cruises the hostess would fill the window seats first, then the row next to it, and then the next starting from the front. By the time someone sat down at the table next to us, we were almost done, which is how we planned it.

 

But I agree, the maitre d’ should never have opened the doors any earlier than maybe 15 minutes prior to the official time, for everyone’s benefit. Rules are important, especially on a full ship. As far as catering to suite guests, it was my understanding that only happens when there is space available, which didn’t seem the case on your cruise with the long queues. Of course, if we were in a suite and had the option of eating in Luminae or Blu, there would be no hesitation in picking Luminae as their chocolate desserts are totally awesome when compared to Blu’s meager choices. 😂
 

Anyway, that’s my two cents on the subject. 😁

 

With dessert, how long does it take?  For us it's well under 10mins from ordering to being done eating it

 

Pro tip to save a little time, you can order dessert along with your starters/entree/etc although you'll need to look the dessert choices in the app as it won't be in the regular Blu menu since they have a separate dessert menu

[OnTheJourney]

3 minutes ago, Orator said:

What does Celebrity Today say about the opening time?

5:30....as already mentioned in one of my posts referring to the dining schedule

[OnTheJourney]

46 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Anyway, that’s my two cents on the subject. 😁

Great post...thanks.