Questions re: Blu on Solstice

[sunnyjack]

Not sure if anyone can help me out on this. When we booked our cruise on the Solstice with Celebrity the agent said that dinner would be open seating for the Aquaclass cabins at this restaurant. Can anyone confirm if this is true?

 

Also, will Blue have different menu options for each of the evenings?

 

TIA.

[Friscorays]

Our TA asked us early or late, so I think there will only be the two seatings.

 

From what I understand, Blu menu will have be supplemented with daily specials.

[Giorgi-one]

Not sure if anyone can help me out on this. When we booked our cruise on the Solstice with Celebrity the agent said that dinner would be open seating for the Aquaclass cabins at this restaurant. Can anyone confirm if this is true?

 

Also, will Blue have different menu options for each of the evenings?

 

TIA.

 

Thank God! How many filets and racks of lamb can I eat. Let me count the ways!

[hajekfam]

I also think that there will be two seatings. Blu has enough seating for half of the Aqua Class passengers - if Aqua class is fully booked with doubles.

[Leejnd4]

Celebrity Customer Service stated unequivocally that Blu will have two seatings, just like the main dining room. It IS the "main dining room" for AQ pax. I expect that, because of that, it will have a varying menu.

[FinelyCruising]

Thank God! How many filets and racks of lamb can I eat. Let me count the ways!

 

ME TOO!!!:D

[buramiko]

Does anyone know if Aquaclass guests can still dine at the main dining room?

[DCT61]

When we tried to book an Aquaclass cabin, we were told we could NOT opt out of Blu (we are basic "meat and potato" type people and wanted to dine with freinds not travelling in Aquaclass) so we went with Concierge class. Apparently we were given bad info (imagine that) and it is possible to eat in the main dining room, but from the way I read it...only with a reservation.

[Scandinavia]

When we tried to book an Aquaclass cabin, we were told we could NOT opt out of Blu (we are basic "meat and potato" type people and wanted to dine with freinds not travelling in Aquaclass) so we went with Concierge class. Apparently we were given bad info (imagine that) and it is possible to eat in the main dining room, but from the way I read it...only with a reservation.

 

I have booked my parents in AC and ourselves in CC, and we've requested to be seated together in the main dining room. According to our TA this works out fine.

/Clas

[Schplinky]

I have booked my parents in AC and ourselves in CC, and we've requested to be seated together in the main dining room. According to our TA this works out fine.

/Clas

 

 

That's an interesting answer from your TA. I wonder what they are basing it on? Every call we've made seems to contradict this, since we were trying to get friends to come who would not be AQ and X said it would not work out

[Scandinavia]

That's an interesting answer from your TA. I wonder what they are basing it on? Every call we've made seems to contradict this, since we were trying to get friends to come who would not be AQ and X said it would not work out

 

That's a bit of a worry I suppose. But to be more accurate it was the Celebrity Oslo (Norway) office that I spoke to, and she did take the time to call the head office to check it for me, so they should be able to arrange it for us.

[dkjretired]

That's a bit of a worry I suppose. But to be more accurate it was the Celebrity Oslo (Norway) office that I spoke to, and she did take the time to call the head office to check it for me, so they should be able to arrange it for us.

 

I would get it in writing and take it on the ship with me.

[Schplinky]

That's a bit of a worry I suppose. But to be more accurate it was the Celebrity Oslo (Norway) office that I spoke to, and she did take the time to call the head office to check it for me, so they should be able to arrange it for us.

 

Well, that's good news for you but disappointing for us. Our friends chose a different cruise because we would not be able to dine together and Celebrity would not bend. Of course, we booked early on and they may have softened their stance since then. I agree that you should have something in writing when you arrive.

[Scandinavia]

I would get it in writing and take it on the ship with me.

 

Thank you for your suggestions. I shall see to that.

/Clas

[Giorgi-one]

I would think that Celebrity will have a difficult time selling Aquaclass staterooms if they limit passengers to BLU for dining. I have seen artist renderings of photos of the BLU dining room and there is nothing that jumps out and says WOW. I know the Celebrity Main Dining room will be something special and would expect that most passengers would want to have the flexibility to dine in the Main Dining room at least several nights. Just my opinion!

[Leejnd4]

The thing is, Blu is supposed to be a "specialty restaurant" and as such, would be expected to have a higher quality of food. The main dining room is basically putting out thousands of the same plates every night, whereas Blu, like other Celebrity specialty restaurants, is supposedly going to be cooking "to order," sharing the galley with the other specialty restaurants. If this is true, I see it as a benefit that we will be dining most often in Blu. Celebrity is well known for its specialty restaurants producing some of the best dining at sea, WAY better than its main dining rooms.

 

However, I was also told that we WILL be able to dine in the main dining room, by reservation. I don't expect this to be a problem, given the number of other specialty restaurants - every time someone dines in there, they've freed up a space in the main dining room (unless they're AC, of course).

 

What I'm curious about is how they're going to MANAGE all this!

[elena7seas]

I have booked my parents in AC and ourselves in CC, and we've requested to be seated together in the main dining room. According to our TA this works out fine.

/Clas

 

From what I have read, it is quite easy to arrange a table so that friends from AC can join you in the main dining room. Someone else has posted about four couples travelling together and only one is in AC. They have been told to request a table for 8 in the main dining room, and their friends from AC can join them when they want to (perhaps letting the Maitre d' know? I don't know what the mechanics would be for keeping this all straight).

 

However, the reverse does not seem to be true:

 

Originally Posted by Schplinky

That's an interesting answer from your TA. I wonder what they are basing it on? Every call we've made seems to contradict this, since we were trying to get friends to come who would not be AQ and X said it would not work out

 

From what I have been able to gather, I understand that it is NOT possible to have your friends from CC join you in AC on any consistent basis, and that reservations in BLU will only be available to non AC guests after all AC and suite passengers have access to the available seating. I'm guessing there might be a time by which AC passengers are asked to release their table assignments if they are NOT dining in BLU that night, and then an opportunity for suite passengers to pick up the available options to dine in BLU, after which any available unreserved seats might be made available to other passengers. Just guessing of course.

 

The only thing I know for sure is that the whole dining reservations system on SOLSTICE is going to requre a high degree of coordination :) .

[rolfecms]

My hunch is that they'll use the cabin TV's for making and canceling restaurant reservations. With all the specialty restaurants it almost makes it a necessity from a seat management standpoint. In this scenario, when you make a reservation in one restaurant it would automatically cancel your existing seating. So, for example, if I were an AQ passenger and had a standing reservation in Blu, and then made a reservation at Murano, it would open up my normal Blu seating so others could use it for that meal.

 

We've already heard what =X= has in mind for viewing and purchasing photos from your cabin so it's not stretch to expect the computer system to also support a computerized reservation system. :rolleyes:

[dmk]

Whereabouts on the Solstice are the restaurants located? I have missed something. But I don't seem to find their locations.

[Leejnd4]

My hunch is that they'll use the cabin TV's for making and canceling restaurant reservations. With all the specialty restaurants it almost makes it a necessity from a seat management standpoint. In this scenario, when you make a reservation in one restaurant it would automatically cancel your existing seating. So, for example, if I were an AQ passenger and had a standing reservation in Blu, and then made a reservation at Murano, it would open up my normal Blu seating so others could use it for that meal.

 

We've already heard what =X= has in mind for viewing and purchasing photos from your cabin so it's not stretch to expect the computer system to also support a computerized reservation system. :rolleyes:

 

That would be GREAT! If they are intending to do this in any manual fashion, it sounds like it would be a nightmare.

[Hypo]

My hunch is that they'll use the cabin TV's for making and canceling restaurant reservations. With all the specialty restaurants it almost makes it a necessity from a seat management standpoint. In this scenario, when you make a reservation in one restaurant it would automatically cancel your existing seating. So, for example, if I were an AQ passenger and had a standing reservation in Blu, and then made a reservation at Murano, it would open up my normal Blu seating so others could use it for that meal.

 

We've already heard what =X= has in mind for viewing and purchasing photos from your cabin so it's not stretch to expect the computer system to also support a computerized reservation system. :rolleyes:

 

 

Yes,,, and we all know what experts RCL/Celebrity are with computer systems!:rolleyes:

 

I wonder what they will do when the computers crash?

[rolfecms]

Whereabouts on the Solstice are the restaurants located? I have missed something. But I don't seem to find their locations.

 

On the Entertainment deck.

[Schplinky]

My hunch is that they'll use the cabin TV's for making and canceling restaurant reservations. With all the specialty restaurants it almost makes it a necessity from a seat management standpoint. In this scenario, when you make a reservation in one restaurant it would automatically cancel your existing seating. So, for example, if I were an AQ passenger and had a standing reservation in Blu, and then made a reservation at Murano, it would open up my normal Blu seating so others could use it for that meal.

 

We've already heard what =X= has in mind for viewing and purchasing photos from your cabin so it's not stretch to expect the computer system to also support a computerized reservation system. :rolleyes:

 

I think this is exactly what will happen. Otherwise, it's a logistical nightmare.

[dmk]

On the Entertainment deck.

 

Thanks! What about the main dining room?

[elena7seas]

My hunch is that they'll use the cabin TV's for making and canceling restaurant reservations. With all the specialty restaurants it almost makes it a necessity from a seat management standpoint. In this scenario, when you make a reservation in one restaurant it would automatically cancel your existing seating. So, for example, if I were an AQ passenger and had a standing reservation in Blu, and then made a reservation at Murano, it would open up my normal Blu seating so others could use it for that meal.

 

We've already heard what =X= has in mind for viewing and purchasing photos from your cabin so it's not stretch to expect the computer system to also support a computerized reservation system. :rolleyes:

 

I'm sure you're right. But hey...you wouldn't ever want THAT system to crash!

 

My whole working life has been involved with one massive computing system or another, and there hasn't been one yet that hasn't had down time for sone reason. I wonder what their backup system would be?

 

It's great to live in the age we do though...I use 'Open Table' a lot, and I'm always amazed at how easy and reliable that system is...I click away here in Vancouver and seconds later have my confirmation for my dinner next week in Napa Valley.

 

With 10 restaurants on board the Solstice, it would be fun to be able to use a system like 'Open Table' to book our reservations at alternate restaurants before we even leave home!