Aqua class - pros & cons

[OnTheJourney]

On 8/31/2024 at 9:15 PM, LB_NJ said:

he one thing I DO NOT LIKE about Aqua is a lot of the cabins are under an overhang.

On the Summit, we actually sort of like that since it can provide some extra shade while out on the balcony.

 

On 9/1/2024 at 7:32 PM, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

I found the experience of dining in Blu to be comparable to Luminae

Now that's interesting, especially given that I'd consider trying suite class next time. Might all vary, of course, depending on which ship.

[mahdnc]

On 8/31/2024 at 2:13 PM, catspaw1 said:

How does AQ dining work? Do you make reservations like the MDR? Get an assigned time? Eat with the same people every night? Are the tables for two close together like the MDR? If you don't like the menu that night, can you still order from the MDR? Does classic & premium beverage packages work or do you pay extra for drinks? What are the pros & cons of AQ? Would you book it again?

 

I think most of your questions have been answered, but I will chime in anyway.

 

We have only done AQ once and that was as a move up during our cruise on our 12 night sailing on Solstice (Singapore to Hong Kong) this past Christmas.

 

For us the AQ markup is way too high over CC or veranda which is why we did it only once and only as a move up.

 

Blu is a nice venue.  Quite.  Small.  Very personable service.  However I found that I didn't like the menu and so I ordered at least one dish off the MDR menu every evening.

 

We are not spa people so we did not benefit from that.

 

For me, many of the AQ cabin locations aren't the best (and you are paying more for the privilege of being in it).  The overhead view from the balconies can be obstructed by the overhanging public deck from above and/or you can be located under a public deck (if you like lots of shade like my parents do, then this is a very good cabin location).

 

So in the end, we would be paying the AQ markup for Blu access and many times you can come out even or ahead by booking a veranda cabin and booking specialty restaurants for each/most dinners.

 

Our next sailing is on Solstice and we like our Concierge Class cabin location very much so we don't plan on bidding even a small amount on an AQ thru the move up process.

 

The development of the AquaClass cabins is a marketing success for Celebrity as these cabins are in high demand.  In some ways I am disappointed that we didn't value the experience.

Edited September 11 by mahdnc

[catspaw1]

Thanks! You have always given me great info so appreciate it. We have a midship balcony deck 7 & this is perfect for us so decided not to bid for AQ. Waiting for a good offer to see if we can book a restaurant package & upgrade to premium from classic. So far only 5% so we are not upgrading. If we get a good sale, we will buy though. 

[zitsky]

I just don’t want to eat breakfast in the buffet and MDR would be too slow before an excursion.  MDR is fine for lunch on a sea day.  But we could try Cafe Al Bacio for breakfast instead.  Maybe regular veranda plus specialty is not a bad idea.We have done AQ twice.  SS once plus another in January.

[Iamcruzin]

On 9/1/2024 at 11:01 AM, fabby50 said:

You don't "have" to eat in Blu, you can eat in the main dining room instead if you choose.

Blu is the reason to book Aqua. Nobody is booking it for room location. May as well book a regular Veranda if you are going to eat in the MDR.

[catspaw1]

31 minutes ago, zitsky said:

I just don’t want to eat breakfast in the buffet and MDR would be too slow before an excursion.  MDR is fine for lunch on a sea day.  But we could try Cafe Al Bacio for breakfast instead.  Maybe regular veranda plus specialty is not a bad idea.We have done AQ twice.  SS once plus another in January.

Cafe el bacio only has breakfast items like croissants. I liked breakfast in buffet- made to order eggs. If they have almond croissants,  they are dynamite. We also liked the hash, & cut up fruit

[zitsky]

10 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

Blu is the reason to book Aqua. Nobody is booking it for room location. May as well book a regular Veranda if you are going to eat in the MDR.

Celebrity took the worst cabin locations and called them Aqua.  Why can’t I have an Aqua cabin on deck 7-8 where it’s below other cabins and quiet?

[OnTheJourney]

11 hours ago, zitsky said:

Maybe regular veranda

The thing with those rooms (at least on the Summit) is the size. I never liked how you really can't open the closet and bathroom doors at the same time.

 

This older thread indicates that the AQ is slightly larger by around 20 sq. ft. It must be, because I don't recall the doors banging against each other! We'll probably wind up trying it again (for a 3rd time) and see how things go.

 

I like the idea of Blu over the MDR but we just weren't as impressed with the food or service the last time. Also didn't like how they opened earlier than supposed to and thus long lines formed much sooner than you would have expected had they stuck with the stated opening time. Never had to wait in line before when we'd get there about 10 minutes before they opened. I started a thread about this shortly after that cruise and got sort of upbraided for it, so not going there again.

 

Our biggest disappointment, as I already stated, was that they took away some of the extra niceties that came with the room - the daily iced tea (it was really good!) and hors d'oeuvres during the afternoons. I don't expect any of that is coming back.

 

Edited September 12 by OnTheJourney

[Iamcruzin]

48 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Celebrity took the worst cabin locations and called them Aqua.  Why can’t I have an Aqua cabin on deck 7-8 where it’s below other cabins and quiet?

I know they are horrible on M class but are they better on S and E class. On M class room 1140,1141 Aft used to be the best room location and would sell out fast, until they added the movie theater. 

[mahdnc]

43 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

I know they are horrible on M class but are they better on S and E class. On M class room 1140,1141 Aft used to be the best room location and would sell out fast, until they added the movie theater. 

 

Oh, I didn't know those prized cabins have that problem now.

[Iamcruzin]

Just now, mahdnc said:

 

Oh, I didn't know those prized cabins have that problem now.

They added that movie theater a while ago. I think around 2015 or 2016. I was booking a cruise around that time and thought I was lucky to have been able to book 1140 on the Summit. Then I came to Cruise Critic and started reading complaints. I switched to a Concierge room.

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, Iamcruzin said:

They added that movie theater a while ago. I think around 2015 or 2016. I was booking a cruise around that time and thought I was lucky to have been able to book 1140 on the Summit. Then I came to Cruise Critic and started reading complaints. I switched to a Concierge room.

 

Actually, I was aware of the new movie area and have seen in on Summit.  I just didn't recognize the negative impact it had on those nice aft facing A1 cabins

[SSFrance69]

6 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

Actually, I was aware of the new movie area and have seen in on Summit.  I just didn't recognize the negative impact it had on those nice aft facing A1 cabins

On Summit last year, we had an aft facing Aqua stateroom on deck 11 and had no issues with the sound coming from the movies. Maybe we just used the veranda at the right times. We certainly could not hear it in the stateroom and the view of the wake from inside the cabin made it worth it alone. 

[publicpersona]

9 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

I know they are horrible on M class but are they better on S and E class. 

 

Really? We had the opportunity to upgrade Concierge to Aqua on a recent Equinox cruise for almost nothing, and passed on it since all the Aqua rooms under directly underneath the pool deck.

[zitsky]

40 minutes ago, publicpersona said:

 

Really? We had the opportunity to upgrade Concierge to Aqua on a recent Equinox cruise for almost nothing, and passed on it since all the Aqua rooms under directly underneath the pool deck.

It’s also a problem if you’re under the buffet.  I check the cabin spreadsheets before I book a cabin.

[Iamcruzin]

2 hours ago, publicpersona said:

 

Really? We had the opportunity to upgrade Concierge to Aqua on a recent Equinox cruise for almost nothing, and passed on it since all the Aqua rooms under directly underneath the pool deck.

So I guess the newer ships have the same situation. 

[IDL]

2 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

So I guess the newer ships have the same situation. 

Have stayed in AQ many times and never had a noise issue.   Will be staying in AQ on  an upcoming Ascent cruise. 

[Pushka]

28 minutes ago, IDL said:

Have stayed in AQ many times and never had a noise issue.   Will be staying in AQ on  an upcoming Ascent cruise. 

Have been in Aqua twice, both on the deck below the solarium. We usually book earlier and both times have selected the cabins underneath the nail salon or similar. Next time on M class we are on Deck 11 and are really looking forward to it. The movie noise for us isn't an issue. And we Love Blu. First time in Blu we didn't know they served breakfast until the last day. Doh. 

[zitsky]

26 minutes ago, Pushka said:

Have been in Aqua twice, both on the deck below the solarium. We usually book earlier and both times have selected the cabins underneath the nail salon or similar. Next time on M class we are on Deck 11 and are really looking forward to it. The movie noise for us isn't an issue. And we Love Blu. First time in Blu we didn't know they served breakfast until the last day. Doh. 

Breakfast is the main reason I book Aqua.  I have no interest in the World Cafe.  But I like room service if we have a big enough table.  I could get by with specialty restaurants at night on S or E class.

[Milhouse]

We just completed our first sailing in AQ this past Monday on Silhouette and thought I'd share my thoughts on the experience.  

 

We've been wanting to try AQ (and specifically Blu) for a while and we booked AQ directly since we felt the price wasn't significantly more than a verandah for our sailing.  

 

Our sailing was likely >90% full with AQ sold out.  Even so, we never had to wait to get a table during dinner and always had the same wait team.  However, when we went closer to 6pm, we were able to get the seating closer to the window.  Prime time seemed to be about 7-7:30pm for our sailing but it depended on port sailaway times/if it was a seaday/overnight.  When we ate dinner then, we sat in the mid-section and once along the side/back wall.  Even with our somewhat varied dining times, we ended up becoming familar and chatting with a number of other couples.  

However, for breakfast, seating and wait team was completely random.  

 

Table spacing was one of my favourite parts of Blu.  I complain to the missus about how I could literally lay my dinner knife across some of the deuces in the MDR.  Whereas in Blu, a few extra inches makes all the difference IMO.  Close enough to reasonably chat with your neighbour when you want but not feel like you're at the same table immersed in the same conversations.  In addition, Blu felt a bit more calm than the MDR IMO and much more so than the OVC of course.  This was especially noticeable for us during breakfast since it was a fairly full ship with OVC being a zoo most mornings.  

 

WRT the food, we appreciated the extended variety of appetizer and entree options (particularly seafood) and the added ability of ordering from the MDR menu.  Slight disappointment that the desserts were practically the same as the MDR other than for one sugar free option in Blu.  

However, I don't feel that the food/cook quality was necessarily better than the MDR.  Eg. We had a few proteins that were kind of overcooked. The salmon tartar was super salty because it was basically chopped up smoked salmon. 

 

While the relative calmness of Blu during the morning was fantastic, I generally did not enjoy the breakfast food; mainly because of issues getting specifically what I wanted in terms of breakfast items.  Eg. Two out of the three eggs bennie that I requested with soft poached eggs with runny yolks were hard poached.  I like my bacon somewhat soft but all the bacon I received in the MDR were super crisp.  I ask for one hashbrown (or whatever) and I get two but I end up eating both because we hate wasting food.   

I don't blame the staff; rather the specifics I'm wanting in my breakfast doesn't seem to be easily accommodated in Blu. 

 

Our cabin was on port side under the spa area.  I quite enjoyed the location.  The only AQ unique noise complaint I have was maybe some occasional faint vacuum thumping above us for a few mins around midnight to 1am.  

 

The missus loved unlimited access to the Persian Garden which I never used once.  Although I appreciate that the Relaxation Lounge is not a dedicated area for AQ, I really enjoyed the space (it's always so empty) and easy access to it from our cabin.  

 

The big question of would we book AQ again?  We would but based on how much we seem to use and appreciate the AQ perks, not at a significant premium over a verandah .  

[zitsky]

4 hours ago, Milhouse said:

We just completed our first sailing in AQ this past Monday on Silhouette and thought I'd share my thoughts on the experience.  

 

We've been wanting to try AQ (and specifically Blu) for a while and we booked AQ directly since we felt the price wasn't significantly more than a verandah for our sailing.  

 

Our sailing was likely >90% full with AQ sold out.  Even so, we never had to wait to get a table during dinner and always had the same wait team.  However, when we went closer to 6pm, we were able to get the seating closer to the window.  Prime time seemed to be about 7-7:30pm for our sailing but it depended on port sailaway times/if it was a seaday/overnight.  When we ate dinner then, we sat in the mid-section and once along the side/back wall.  Even with our somewhat varied dining times, we ended up becoming familar and chatting with a number of other couples.  

However, for breakfast, seating and wait team was completely random.  

 

Table spacing was one of my favourite parts of Blu.  I complain to the missus about how I could literally lay my dinner knife across some of the deuces in the MDR.  Whereas in Blu, a few extra inches makes all the difference IMO.  Close enough to reasonably chat with your neighbour when you want but not feel like you're at the same table immersed in the same conversations.  In addition, Blu felt a bit more calm than the MDR IMO and much more so than the OVC of course.  This was especially noticeable for us during breakfast since it was a fairly full ship with OVC being a zoo most mornings.  

 

WRT the food, we appreciated the extended variety of appetizer and entree options (particularly seafood) and the added ability of ordering from the MDR menu.  Slight disappointment that the desserts were practically the same as the MDR other than for one sugar free option in Blu.  

However, I don't feel that the food/cook quality was necessarily better than the MDR.  Eg. We had a few proteins that were kind of overcooked. The salmon tartar was super salty because it was basically chopped up smoked salmon. 

 

While the relative calmness of Blu during the morning was fantastic, I generally did not enjoy the breakfast food; mainly because of issues getting specifically what I wanted in terms of breakfast items.  Eg. Two out of the three eggs bennie that I requested with soft poached eggs with runny yolks were hard poached.  I like my bacon somewhat soft but all the bacon I received in the MDR were super crisp.  I ask for one hashbrown (or whatever) and I get two but I end up eating both because we hate wasting food.   

I don't blame the staff; rather the specifics I'm wanting in my breakfast doesn't seem to be easily accommodated in Blu. 

 

Our cabin was on port side under the spa area.  I quite enjoyed the location.  The only AQ unique noise complaint I have was maybe some occasional faint vacuum thumping above us for a few mins around midnight to 1am.  

 

The missus loved unlimited access to the Persian Garden which I never used once.  Although I appreciate that the Relaxation Lounge is not a dedicated area for AQ, I really enjoyed the space (it's always so empty) and easy access to it from our cabin.  

 

The big question of would we book AQ again?  We would but based on how much we seem to use and appreciate the AQ perks, not at a significant premium over a verandah .  

I want to ask for raw, uncooked oatmeal in Blu, but I’m afraid to.  It’s what I eat at home when I’m not eating pain au chocolat from Costco.  (I like to pretend I’m French.)

[Provence55always]

13 hours ago, zitsky said:

I want to ask for raw, uncooked oatmeal in Blu, but I’m afraid to.

You could bring your own and just bring down a portion to Blu each morning. I do that and just add to my fruit and Greek yogurt. I use rolled oats for this purpose not jumbo oats.

[the penguins]

14 hours ago, zitsky said:

I want to ask for raw, uncooked oatmeal in Blu, but I’m afraid to.  It’s what I eat at home when I’m not eating pain au chocolat from Costco.  (I like to pretend I’m French.)

what are you afraid of?

I don't suppose for one moment you will be the first to ask.

I ask for margarine instead of butter at the Elite breakfast. Usually on day 1 I am told it's not on "on the list". By day it's available.  

[zitsky]

17 minutes ago, the penguins said:

what are you afraid of?

I don't suppose for one moment you will be the first to ask.

I ask for margarine instead of butter at the Elite breakfast. Usually on day 1 I am told it's not on "on the list". By day it's available.  

I’m afraid they might hide it under the table, then jump up and yell “surprise!”.  I startle easily.

[NMTraveller]

On 9/11/2024 at 5:54 PM, zitsky said:

I just don’t want to eat breakfast in the buffet and MDR would be too slow before an excursion.  MDR is fine for lunch on a sea day.  But we could try Cafe Al Bacio for breakfast instead.  Maybe regular veranda plus specialty is not a bad idea.We have done AQ twice.  SS once plus another in January.

Before an early morning excursion we get room service for breakfast.  And then go to Cafe Al Bacio with whatever time is left before we head to the theater...