Waiting at Blu?

We'll be in Aqua Class on the Equinox in July. We have never been in Aqua Class before and are looking forward to it. I just saw a video on You Tube where someone had a letter in their cabin saying that the suggested time to go to dinner at Blu was between 8:30 and 9:00 in order to avoid long lines that exist between the times of 7:00 and 8:00. Is that the case?

We'll be in Aqua Class on the Equinox in July. We have never been in Aqua Class before and are looking forward to it. I just saw a video on You Tube where someone had a letter in their cabin saying that the suggested time to go to dinner at Blu was between 8:30 and 9:00 in order to avoid long lines that exist between the times of 7:00 and 8:00. Is that the case?

I've been in AQ more than 25 times and my next three cruises will be in AQ. I can tell you that every cruise is different. Had a large group that went to dinner at 6:00 every evening and Blu was virtually empty by 7:30. As a general rule Blu starts filling at about 7:30. I only had to wait once for a table as we tend to dine at 6:30.

You will typically get a letter in your room the first night with a suggested dining time for the first night only. I've always ignored that and only had a wait once or twice.

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The early show gets out about 7:45 so Blu, Select dining & Luminae can have a line to be seated but generally the wait is just a few minutes. We have done 10+ cruises in Aqua and have a wait of more than 10 minutes on 3-4 occasions. We do normally get to Blu about 8:15pm

We normally get to Blu about 6.15-6.30 as we prefer to eat early. We have never had a problem.

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We too like to eat early (so I can have a snack later). Never had a wait but then it's too early for some people.

Bottom line is you can ignore the letter, busy times you might wait a few minutes. Blu is anytime dining all the time.

We have dined in Blu on multiple cruises and have never waited longer than 10 min for a table. The norm is to be seated right away, although there is some delay if a group of folks come at the same time...since the person at the door checks in each person and then seats them (while the others wait). Our normal dining time is around 8.

Hank

Great - good information; thanks all!

I've been in AQ more than 25 times and my next three cruises will be in AQ. I can tell you that every cruise is different. Had a large group that went to dinner at 6:00 every evening and Blu was virtually empty by 7:30. As a general rule Blu starts filling at about 7:30. I only had to wait once for a table as we tend to dine at 6:30.

That would be awful. We dine early and would not be willing to wait til 7:30

Since inception, we have always been lucky to be seated promptly, although on Infinity in Oct service was sooo slow. At times most of the waiters and assts disappeared for exyended petiods of time....and the maitre d and asst also were scarce. Waiters seemed untrained. The food and menu selection by chef wasn't great either so we set out to enjoy Tuscan, Q sine, MDR & buffet ...had some great non BLU meals

. Fairly sure this was a one off situation. Hope so..we have 3 more cruises booked in AQ

As long as you don't insist on a window and are not in a large group just arrive when you are ready. At most we waited around 5 minutes.

We were on the Equinox last September and never had to wait at Blu no matter what time we ate. However, we didn't dine there every night. We dined in Luminaire, and all of the specialty restaurants as well.:)

Have dined in Blu on multiple ships, both M and S class. Rarely had to wait more than 5-10 minutes max, and usually did not have to wait at all. We generally dine between 7:30 and 8:00. If you get there right after the 7:00 show ends you may need to wait a bit because of that.

As has been said, the letter you reference is only for the first day, and is a suggestion only. Come whenever you want.

Just off the Solstice and found one of the best times to dine in Blu was just before 7. A lot of folks ate early and left then to make the 7 o'clock show. Bob

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Just off the Solstice and found one of the best times to dine in Blu was just before 7. A lot of folks ate early and left then to make the 7 o'clock show. Bob

 

 

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Good idea - thanks!

Just off the Solstice and found one of the best times to dine in Blu was just before 7. A lot of folks ate early and left then to make the 7 o'clock show. Bob

 

 

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Additionally, captains club elite free cocktail event ends at 7pm and then folks wander down to dinner.....so beat the rush, go at 6:45.

Additionally, captains club elite free cocktail event ends at 7pm and then folks wander down to dinner.....so beat the rush, go at 6:45.

The thing about the Elite cocktail party is that it has little value to those with drink packages, which are a majority on most cruises. We are Elite Plus and used to love those cocktail parties. But once we started getting drink packages we found that the Martini Bar was just so much more fun then going to the Elite Parties. We have only been to one Elite part on our last 28 days of cruising.

Hank

The longest we have ever had to wait was 30 - 40 mins. Given a beeper and enjoyed a quiet drink until they were ready. Have to say though, that we like to dine around peak time ie 7.30 - 8.00pm. Avoid these times and I'm sure you will be fine.

The thing about the Elite cocktail party is that it has little value to those with drink packages, which are a majority on most cruises. We are Elite Plus and used to love those cocktail parties. But once we started getting drink packages we found that the Martini Bar was just so much more fun then going to the Elite Parties. We have only been to one Elite part on our last 28 days of cruising.

 

Hank

Just booked a cruise where we saved 1500 for two of us by asking for a base price without the perks. We will make good use of the Elite cocktail parties!

Just booked a cruise where we saved 1500 for two of us by asking for a base price without the perks. We will make good use of the Elite cocktail parties!

Likewise. When we just transferred to an A1 our A2 senior fare without any perks was $800 pp less that the Bigger 2 perk fare. (Loyalty one-level upgrade allowed us to use an A2 fare for an A1 cabin.) We will in deed enjoy an Elite pre-dinner cocktail.

We enjoy going a few times to meet other guests...although it's a hike to get back to BLU...