Dining at Blu

[Travel Travel Travel]

We are thinking of booking a cruise on the Eclipse next spring. If my husband and I are in an Aqua class cabin, and my 3 children (21, 19 & 15) are in a regular balcony cabin, will they be able to join us for meals at Blu. I know there will be a charge, and that is fine. (We'd book two Aqua class cabins, but it appears none of them hold three people.)

[Adammara]

Afraid not, when we were on Eclipse in May, even suite passengers were lucky to get a seat. 230 of the 260 passenger in Aqua were dining in Blu, and it was really busy.

 

You could always go to Bistro on 5, a great place for a meal, and only a $5 pp charge.

 

 

Richard

[kitkat9438]

We are thinking of booking a cruise on the Eclipse next spring. If my husband and I are in an Aqua class cabin, and my 3 children (21, 19 & 15) are in a regular balcony cabin, will they be able to join us for meals at Blu. I know there will be a charge, and that is fine. (We'd book two Aqua class cabins, but it appears none of them hold three people.)

No you have to be in Aqua to dine in Blu. The only exception is if you are in a Suite, you can pay $5 on a space available basis. You cannot "pay" to dine there.

[cruisestitch]

There have been a couple of threads about this recently, and the consensus has been that you cannot bring non AQ guests into BLU, with the exception of Suite passengers who may be allowed to dine there if there is room. Suite guests have been turned away from BLU because there was no space for non-AQ passengers. There was even a report of one employee who did allow non-AQ guests into BLU and lost his job over it. So, no, you would not be able to bring your other family members with you to BLU.

[Travel Travel Travel]

Thanks everyone. As always, you're a wealth of knowledge.

[blackforest3]

Is there an age limit for Blu?

[TomMMD]

We are thinking of booking a cruise on the Eclipse next spring. If my husband and I are in an Aqua class cabin, and my 3 children (21, 19 & 15) are in a regular balcony cabin, will they be able to join us for meals at Blu. I know there will be a charge, and that is fine. (We'd book two Aqua class cabins, but it appears none of them hold three people.)

 

Friends of ours last winter were in Aqua class but their parents and sibling did not want to pay the extra so they reluctantly ended up eating MDR the whole trip. (I would have mostly eaten in Blu or joined the family on their booking. I don't see paying Aqua and not using Blu)

[dkjretired]

Is there an age limit for Blu?

 

If a child is staying in an AQ cabin there is no age limit, if they are staying in a suite, they must be 12 years old and pay the $5.00 surcharge. Here is a link.

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/beforeyourcruise/faq/home.do?faqSubjectName=Specialty+Dining&faqId=3348&pagename=faq_answers

[uktog]

Any recent suite guests from Eclipse - what has been your experience re Blu - have you been able to get in particularly on the first night?

[Cruising Forever!]

If you are in an AQ class, and have access to Blu, how does this work? Do you need to make reservations for your time in Blu each night, or can you just arrive at whatever time each night? Are the meals here much better than the MDR? I liked the MDR on Solstice a lot, so I'm wondering what Blu can do to impress us even more...

[Redtravel]

If you knew that you were traveling as a group, book similar type cabins....or just eat in MDR. I hope that you didn't pay extra for Aqua class. The only way agroup works with Blu is that all people in the group book Aqua class. I am booked on a future cruise with my family. Before we booked, we all discussed what type of cabin and location. We booked well in advance to get what we wanted...connecting concierge cabins. Connecting suites were gone. If It was just 2 of us traveling, then book any type of cabin, eat in whatever place you like....select dining. When you plan a group cruise, traditional MDR dedicated table is the best way. Everyone knows when and where to meet for dinner.

[dkjretired]

If you are in an AQ class' date=' and have access to Blu, how does this work? Do you need to make reservations for your time in Blu each night, or can you just arrive at whatever time each night? Are the meals here much better than the MDR? I liked the MDR on Solstice a lot, so I'm wondering what Blu can do to impress us even more...[/quote']

 

YOu do not just have access to Blu, Blu replaces the MDR for passengers in AQ. You do not need a reservation, it is totally anytime dining, go whenever you want. I considered the food better, most do but some don't.

[Orator]

Very few don't prefer the food in Blu. While the food in the MDR is prepared in a production line manner, each meal in Blu is prepared individually and inspected prior to being served. Much easier to get special requests fulfilled.

[Wineart]

We are thinking of booking a cruise on the Eclipse next spring. If my husband and I are in an Aqua class cabin, and my 3 children (21, 19 & 15) are in a regular balcony cabin, will they be able to join us for meals at Blu. I know there will be a charge, and that is fine. (We'd book two Aqua class cabins, but it appears none of them hold three people.)

 

Unlike other cabins, Aqua class is limited to no more than 2 guests per cabin. It's a policy issue, not a space issue.

[willma]

UKtog, we were recently in a suite on the Equinox and had no problems getting a table for two in Blu. We are considering Aqua for our next cruise now as we really enjoyed the food and ambience there.

[Cruising Forever!]

YOu do not just have access to Blu, Blu replaces the MDR for passengers in AQ. You do not need a reservation, it is totally anytime dining, go whenever you want. I considered the food better, most do but some don't.

 

So there's no way for you to have a dinner in the MDR if you are in AQ? I thought we would have a choice?

[Cruising Forever!]

Also, is the Blu menu the same one each night?

[Moomintroll]

So there's no way for you to have a dinner in the MDR if you are in AQ? I thought we would have a choice?

 

You do have a choice; you can eat in Blu or you can eat in the MDR with the Select Diners.

[Moomintroll]

Also' date=' is the Blu menu the same one each night?[/quote']

 

No, it changes nightly.

[CathyCruises]

You CAN have dinner in the MDR if you are AQ, and no the menu is not the same each night!!!

[uktog]

UKtog, we were recently in a suite on the Equinox and had no problems getting a table for two in Blu. We are considering Aqua for our next cruise now as we really enjoyed the food and ambience there.

 

We originally changed from suites to Aqua because we were disappointed with the MDR however, thanks to price drops we are back in a suite. We are hoping to invest $10 most nights on a Blu experience and use the specials for the rest

[Gracie115]

We originally changed from suites to Aqua because we were disappointed with the MDR however, thanks to price drops we are back in a suite. We are hoping to invest $10 most nights on a Blu experience and use the specials for the rest

 

 

I think as long as you plan to eat late, after 8PM you won't have a problem getting into Blu, but if earlier you may be disappointed. We saw suite guests turned away on both Solstice and Eclipse that were trying to be seated around 7. Just so you know...

[Orator]

We originally changed from suites to Aqua because we were disappointed with the MDR however, thanks to price drops we are back in a suite. We are hoping to invest $10 most nights on a Blu experience and use the specials for the rest

 

If you are in a suite, have pre paid tips and plan to eat in Blu rather than the MDR ask very nicely if your tips can be directed to Blu staff. It doesn't hurt to ask and it may be possible.

[kitkat9438]

Even though you are assigned Blu as your dining room in Aqua Class, you are not required to eat there. You are always free to dine other places such as the MDR on the select dining option or the specialty restaurants. We would just check the menu each day and see what they were having in the MDR and Blu and decide where to eat.

 

FYI if you are traveling with others not in Aqua, you can see the head maitr'd upon boarding the ship and you can get assigned to their table to be able to eat with them whenever you want. This does not remove you from dining in Blu. Make sure it's the "head" maitr'd or you might get turned down. Just explain the situation. We did this in December on the Eclipse.

 

Here are some examples with pictures for Blu. They also have an everyday menu similar to the MDR where you can choose steak, chicken or fish.

 

https://docs.google.com/#folders/folder.0.0B5BK-JzLUuM2YzIzOWI0OWYtZWE5Ny00NWRiLTg2NTctNGRiMDllNzNkZDMx

[uktog]

If you are in a suite, have pre paid tips and plan to eat in Blu rather than the MDR ask very nicely if your tips can be directed to Blu staff. It doesn't hurt to ask and it may be possible.

 

Thanks for that hint - I also hope they get a cut of the $5

We are later eaters so it looks hopeful

If they oblige, we will of course be looking after the servers at the end of the cruise

 

A