Another Blu Question

[ILoveScotland]

Have read the threads and seen the menus someone posted, but I still have a question about Blu since will be in AQ on Eclipse in mid January.

 

People keep commenting on how different the food is, with some saying it's better than and others saying it's worse than food in MDR. What I don't understand yet is what's so different, and why the differing opinions?

 

Maybe I just have too much time to think about these things on a Christmas Day when I'm snowbound.

 

Anyway, who can explain?

 

Thanks.

[Fblack]

My wife does not like the menu in Blu. She prefers a more mainstream menu like in the MDR. She does not eat fish or seafood and prefers simpler dishes of beef and chicken. If you look at the Blu menu, while I would not call it exotic, (and I like it) my DW does not.

[alexsarasota]

We also are in AQ soon and my philosophy is anything is better than what I get at home...just kidding dear (smack!);).

 

All kidding aside, I'm always looking at "Blu threaders" and the majority of the complaints seems to be geared to too much emphasis on the healthy side. Thus the lack of spice, herbs etc. but I'm purely basing that on assumption.

 

My attitude going in will be positive and that we're are going to love the experience!!

 

BTW, have you seen some of the pics of how the food is presented from fellow threaders? WOW!!

[dkjretired]

Have read the threads and seen the menus someone posted, but I still have a question about Blu since will be in AQ on Eclipse in mid January.

 

People keep commenting on how different the food is, with some saying it's better than and others saying it's worse than food in MDR. What I don't understand yet is what's so different, and why the differing opinions?

 

Maybe I just have too much time to think about these things on a Christmas Day when I'm snowbound.

 

Anyway, who can explain?

 

Thanks.

 

Bigger portions, more made to order since they have their own kitchen. I think the differing opinions in many cases are that there are many out there who like things simple and are basically meat and potatoes eaters. MDR usually has more items on the menu. Many may disagree with me but if you took each items individually they could be placed on either menu, I just don't see the difference. The items in Blu are probably better cuts of meat and as I said bigger portions, more cooked to order.

[ILoveScotland]

Bigger portions, more made to order since they have their own kitchen. I think the differing opinions in many cases are that there are many out there who like things simple and are basically meat and potatoes eaters. MDR usually has more items on the menu. Many may disagree with me but if you took each items individually they could be placed on either menu, I just don't see the difference. The items in Blu are probably better cuts of meat and as I said bigger portions, more cooked to order.

 

 

Thanks, Don (and everyone else, too). I had wondered if we would be missing out by not being in MDR, but maybe we'll actually have meals we enjoy more, because we like variety and love seafood.

[Gracie115]

Thanks, Don (and everyone else, too). I had wondered if we would be missing out by not being in MDR, but maybe we'll actually have meals we enjoy more, because we like variety and love seafood.

 

 

I don't know about the portions being bigger, it didn't strike me that way at all. What I did notice was the lower sodium use in the preparations of the foods, less heavy sauces, mind you there are still sauces they are just not overwhelming and more from the meat/fish renderings than filled with butter. There is always a "salad entree" available if you want a lighter option. The food is always hot(at least both cruises we were in Blu) which I understand can be a problem in the MDR because the food is prepared much more to order in Blu. I love fish and trying different things and Blu offers not only different fare(pheasant/quail) but offers different types of preparation which is nice. We loved it, we had very accommodating wait staff on both Solstice and Eclipse. Would love to go back RIGHT NOW!!!:D

[themutis]

We will be on Solstice Jan 8th and are looking forward to Blu. We usually book a suite, but with info we'e found on Blu, we've booked Aqua Class.

 

Having been on several cruises, we often find that after a day or two, we just don't feel good. Too much food, too rich, too heavy. We tend to eat healthy at home and are looking forward to lighter, healthier fare in Blu.

 

When we discovered the Aqua Spa Cafe on the last cruise, we thought we had died and gone to heaven :)

 

Will report back when we return.

[Beyondships]

When I first went on the Solstice class ships, I was somewhat apprehensive about the Blu because it was supposed to be geared toward "healthy cooking," which can translate into "tasteless and unsatisfying". What I found was that the food in Blu was just the opposite. It was not bean sprouts and grass but rather main stream dishes prepared in a clever way and cooked ala minute. Some of the best food that I have had at sea.

 

I think that people have expressed differing views regarding Blu because people have different tastes when it comes to food. I have often had conversations where people insist that a given cruise line's food is great and then a short time later hear from another set of people that the same cruise line's food is disappointing.

[pete_coach]

I guess to add to the questions about Blu and the main dining room, if you are Aqua Class, can you look at the Blu menu and if you don't like what is on it go to the MDR? Or vice versa? Considering there is open dining, do Aqua Class patrons have the opportunity to choose?

[ILoveScotland]

I guess to add to the questions about Blu and the main dining room, if you are Aqua Class, can you look at the Blu menu and if you don't like what is on it go to the MDR? Or vice versa? Considering there is open dining, do Aqua Class patrons have the opportunity to choose?

 

I called Celebrity about this one and was told we could eat in MDR any time so long as there's space.

[Chitown12562]

I have read conflicting reports on the MDR and Blu, so I have decided to wait and see for myself. I booked an AQ room for us and I know that we will have the choice of either dining room.

 

From what I have only seen the menu for the MDR looks more adventurous on some nighst, while Blu looks more subdued. My Sweetie and I eat light anyway and are not afraid to add salt if we need it or ask for something else we we don't care for a dish.

 

In the end we won't stress over food. We're all about the adventure. If something is not good we'll just try something else. We know we won't starve, that's for sure. :D

[pete_coach]

I called Celebrity about this one and was told we could eat in MDR any time so long as there's space.

I was under the same impression. I asked our travel agent and she said the fact there was open seating, any passenger, including Aqua Class, can eat in the main dining room.

[Despegue]

In a lot of cases in Blu, the main courses have at least one dish with the same basic meat/fish as the "always available" menu. eg. grilled salmon on day one.

To me, most of the menus do not have any wow factor in them and are frankly boring. Only one hot soup choice ( Cold fruit soups are desserts in Europe, if served at all), no alternative daily starters, poor choices of dessert.

 

All in all not for us so we'll be looking forward to the MDR cuisine.

 

Also, We do not want speedy service, a 2 hour dinner is standard for us.

[dmk]

Can someone tell me what are the desserts like in Blu?

I have a tremendous sweet tooth:)

[sptrout]

Can someone tell me what are the desserts like in Blu?

 

I have a tremendous sweet tooth:)

 

We loved dining in Blu, and would book another AQ cabin in a heartbeat, but the desserts were not their strong suit to be nice. However, most nights we were so stuffed we really did not care if we even had a dessert (but I always did!).

[floridacruisers]

You can always ask for creme brule(sp?) or rich cheese cake. Just let them in Blu know in advance. We had both and we also had escargot which is not on the menu. Just let them know. Works for us. We like the more laid back atmosphere and lower noise level of Blu.

Phil

[ILoveScotland]

Thanks (again) for all the responses. I knew I could count on CCers to come through yet again.

[I&J Cruisers]

We sailed on Solstice last January in Aqua Class and absolutely loved BLU. The service was phenomenal, the food was prepared with less salt, sauces were less rich and flavors more vibrant. Desserts less decadent. We found it very helpful to ask the servers to make recommendations and describe the menu items because the descriptions on the menus sometimes are not really desripitve of the items offered.

for example there is a dessert on the menu called chocholate rum cake, I'd never choose this dessert,but the server said it was the best offering. It wasn't choc rum cake but a rich chocolate mousse and was absolutely delicious and tasted very rich. I could'nt even finish it. We never went wrong when following the waiters recommendations. That said, we just got off the Dec 11 Eclipse Western Carribean cruise. The service in Blu was nowhere near as good. I'm not sure why, but the servers seemed spread thinner. They were very good and tried but seemed to have too many tables. The food was very good and pretty much the same menus as last year but the presentation didn't seem as polished. I enjoyed the food but I don't think it was quite as good as last year. Everything just seemed a notch off. This cruise was heavily discounted and I'm hoping the changes are due to a decrease in staffing due to decreased revenue from this particulair cruise. I also love the aqua spa cafe and think this concept is a winner. I hope this is not the beginning of the deterioration of the Blu experience. I'll be watching these boards to see how this developes.

Irene

[kitkat9438]

Hi Irene. I'm glad you had good service in Blu. We, however did not. We had horrible service and the food was also not good either. I had all of the menus for Blu ahead of time so I knew what to expect. We had trouble getting our drink orders the first night, and I had to request lemon for my water from 3 different people before finally getting it. My friend's filet was way undercooked, as was her husband's chicken, which was actually still red (yuk). I didn't go to Blu for breakfast because I was leery but my friend went, and she loved it so we gave it another try Monday morning. This time the food and service were outstanding so we thought maybe the first night was off and tried it again on Tuesday morning. This time both the service and food were terrible again. Between getting all the orders wrong, and way overcooking my overeasy eggs and undercooking my bacon (pretty raw), no toast and the wrong pancakes. The worse part about it was the attitude of the server when told about the problem. He acted put out that we would want the problem corrected. As far as I am concerned if he has to take something back twice it is up to him to make sure it is right before he brings it back out. We have heard from several others who exeperienced bad service and food as well.

 

Regarding dining in the MDR, yes it is possible. We were actually able to link our reservations with friends who were not staying in Aqua class and eat with them in the MDR by seeing the head maitr'd upon boarding the ship. If you do not have friends to eat with as we did, you can still go to the MDR with select dining on a space available basis.

 

We were able to request creme brulee for dessert the first night with no advance notice and the wait staff was happy to accomodate in Blu and also my friend asked for an entree from Blu in the MDR and while they hesitated, they did accomodate her. It doesn't hurt to ask because Celebrity is normally #1 for service and wanting to make you happy.

[cynbar]

We will be trying Blu on Eclipse in January, and I have a question which may seem a little odd. Will there be bread/rolls on the table, or anything else to munch on before dinner? We try to avoid bread with dinner in our daily lives, but cruise ships always seem to excel in this area, so we will miss it if it isn't there because of the "healthier" focus.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We will be trying Blu on Eclipse in January, and I have a question which may seem a little odd. Will there be bread/rolls on the table, or anything else to munch on before dinner? We try to avoid bread with dinner in our daily lives, but cruise ships always seem to excel in this area, so we will miss it if it isn't there because of the "healthier" focus.

 

Yes, they will serve bread at dinner. As to "healthier" I did not find anything healthy in the 2 nights we ate there.

[2SeaWithMe]

They also have crudite and hummus. (On the post Thanksgiving sailing)

 

Celebrity seems to be having a PR war amongst themselves with what to actually classify Blu as. In my recent copy of Food & Wine magazine, there's a four page foldout advertisement of Celebrity's dining options. Blu is billed as a healthy, light option.

 

I was so worried about eating in Blu from the many different views, that I had upgraded to a suite (albeit, a free upgrade) so I could be sure to eat in the MDR.

 

After watching our salad, starter, and entree come out all at once and sit next to our table and get cold two nights in the MDR, we went to Blu and never went back.

 

I agree with a previous poster, I always took the advice of my waiter. Food was hot, fresh, and sometimes, very rich. I wouldn't expect to have a fried softshell crab on a "healthy" menu, or a pecan encrusted breast of duck, but they were there. They were even nice enough to cut portions for me, or take an entree and make it into a salad.

 

We met a couple who was gluten free and she ordered her meals the evening before, and they custom made her a gluten free version. Another guest was fetched sugar free desserts.

 

The staff was awesome, and they told us that the same staff opens all the specialty restaurants for all the new ships.

[jackdiamond]

We just returned from the Equinox Christmas cruise; and, as always the Blu experience is outstanding. We always arrange for the same waiter and assistant waiter, for the preferred service, and also because we tip them extra. We were pleased to give Miko and Hugo an additional Christmas present. Interrestingly, I happended to mention to Miko that my favorite pie was key lime pie, which I received for the four next succeeding nights without adoring same, together with whatever additional desert I desired.

Overall, the deserts are oustanding.