Luminae first time may be last

I just returned from a cruise in a suite and tried Luminae for the first time. The dinner menu is very limited with 3 appetizers, one soup, 5 entree's, and 3 deserts compared to double the number of choices on the MDR menu. After a bad meal on 5/11 where I only saw a soup and steak for dinner that looked good. The soup was too spicy for us to eat. The steak was so tough the wife only ate 1/4 of it. I was so disgusted we got up an left before finishing the main course and I penned a letter to the hotel manager. We met him the next after now and I told him as a former Grill class passenger on Cunard I was very disappointed in the selection and quality of the food I was getting in Luminae. He promised they would do better. I requested a MDR menu for the rest of the cruise and ordered items from both to have a decent meals for the rest of the cruise. Breakfast was OK, except for the has browns that I set back and the biscuits and gravy that I will never order again. We ate the next night in the Tuscan Grill and it was the best dinner we had on board. The crab cakes in the Tuscan Grill were superior those I had in Luminae. I am booked in a suite on the Silhouette next year for my 75th birthday and will try Luminae one last time. If it is not improved I will go back to Aqua call and the Blu. I asked my wife when we got home which she liked better and she said Blu.

Island Princess 5/4/17, Silhouette, 2/26/17, HAL 56 days, RCCL 104 points, NCL 28 days, Princess Elite 228 days, Royal 14 days, Cunard 49 days, Celebrity Elite+ 28 cruises

We had the opposite experience in our Luminae visits. Which ship were you on? I would suppose that there could be differences in the preparation from ship to ship.

In fact, while not as good as Normandie, it was close, and we found something we really enjoyed each evening. We did occasionally order Escargot from the MDR menu, and on occasion made a tasting plate of the appetizers. On the one evening we were not thrilled with the choices, the chef made us a special dish, with advance notice of course.

I just returned from a cruise in a suite and tried Luminae for the first time. The dinner menu is very limited with 3 appetizers, one soup, 5 entree's, and 3 deserts compared to double the number of choices on the MDR menu. After a bad meal on 5/11 where I only saw a soup and steak for dinner that looked good. The soup was too spicy for us to eat. The steak was so tough the wife only ate 1/4 of it. I was so disgusted we got up an left before finishing the main course and I penned a letter to the hotel manager. We met him the next after now and I told him as a former Grill class passenger on Cunard I was very disappointed in the selection and quality of the food I was getting in Luminae. He promised they would do better. I requested a MDR menu for the rest of the cruise and ordered items from both to have a decent meals for the rest of the cruise. Breakfast was OK, except for the has browns that I set back and the biscuits and gravy that I will never order again. We ate the next night in the Tuscan Grill and it was the best dinner we had on board. The crab cakes in the Tuscan Grill were superior those I had in Luminae. I am booked in a suite on the Silhouette next year for my 75th birthday and will try Luminae one last time. If it is not improved I will go back to Aqua call and the Blu. I asked my wife when we got home which she liked better and she said Blu.

 

Island Princess 5/4/17, Silhouette, 2/26/17, HAL 56 days, RCCL 104 points, NCL 28 days, Princess Elite 228 days, Royal 14 days, Cunard 49 days, Celebrity Elite+ 28 cruises

Don't know which ship you were on.

My kids were in a suite on the Infinity a few weeks ago followed by a Concierge on B2B.

The two main differences of Luminae VS MDR were the much better service (in Luminae) and the ability to order anything off of either the Luminae, Blu or MDR menu (at dinner).

Because of the three menus to choose from there was always something enticing !!!

Sorry you didn't like Luminae....but could not disagree with you more....service was wonderful and the staff will do whatever they can to make you happy. If you want the MDR menu, they will get it for you....if you want a salad(tossed or Caesar) between courses they will get it for you.....if you don't your entrée or anything else they will change it without question....

We loved it both times we've been lucky enough to be in a suite on Reflection and Eclipse and is the primary reason we will book a suite whenever we can.....oh and Michael's Club too was wonderful!!!

To the OP, were you aware that you could order off the MDR (Main Dining Room) menu at any time?

We were just on Equinox for 24 days (disembarked on 5/9), and found the meals in Luminae quite good. Not perfect...for on the whole, good. If there was something we did not like, we told our waiter, and another choice was made and served.

Luminae has so many pluses. Beautiful, quiet atmosphere, wonderful service, and innovative choices of meals.

Sorry to hear that it didn't meet your standards.

Opinions are like noses...everyone has one.

Karyn

We also had a poor experience with Luminae on Silhouette last year but put this down to being shortly after it's introduction. Poor sommelier, never offered mdr menu or tweaking of menu and no continuity of service at dinner. Breakfast took an hour several mornings and hated watching water for my dreadful cup of tea walk backwards and forwards across the restaurant before being delivered just hot with no choice of teas!!!! We are on Solstice in 5 weeks and hoping for a better experience now that it has been established for over a year. Not judging yet but your post isn't encouraging!!

On our last cruise, we were in Luminae. On the third night, I told them I had seen beef carpaccio on the MDR menu and could I have some as it's my favorite dish. The waiter said okay but then came back and said it wasn't on any menu that night, it had been the night before. I apologized and picked another appetizer. About 10 minutes later the waiter came out with a plate of beef carpaccio. He said the chef felt bad that I had missed it and had made it specially for me. I was shocked. It was really good, too.

Well, this just proves that we're all different. We think Luminae is the best thing to happen to Celebrity since we started sailing. We love the venue, the menu is plenty big enough, and we had a hard time narrowing down our selections each night. No it's not a huge menu with tons of choices, but we found them all good. Some sea days we ate there 3 times a day, and they were great about adding more green vegetables to my plate if I asked, or just fixing a big plate of lettuce with grilled chicken on it for lunch so I wouldn't have such a rich meal.

The service is amazing, and we never even used all the free specialty restaurant meals we had. Well we did eat in Tuscan Grill once because we love it, but we always felt like we were missing something in Luminae.

We ate in Blu the previous 5 cruises (as a suite guest) and loved it. We kept thinking before the Luminae cruise that we'd maybe split our time between the two. Well....we never even came within 10 feet of Blu the entire cruise!

I do hope you find it better next time.

We have recently returned from the Silhouette and our experience in Luminae was similar to Claudias. We were absolutely blown away by the fantastic service, food and ambiance in Luminae, in fact we only used one of our free speciality dining perks and we didn't get around to dining in Blu either although we love it there but we didn't want to miss out on Luminae.

We have been well and truly spoilt. It just goes to show how peoples opinions differ.

I think the crux of most issues is the size and scope of the menu. That was certainly my impression back in January 2016. I just found it was a very limited menu. What was on it was good and well prepared albeit with terrible menu gobbledygook . However I would prefer more choice than was offered.

I have read of people being presented menus from other restaurants but I never asked for anything else, so we worked with that menu. Service by ship standards was good, albeit somewhat dis-jointed at times.

I have never eaten in a Celebrity main dining room so cannot compare, but I did find the service in Qsine to be far superior and much more engaged on the night we went there.

No great issue with Luminae and I have just booked another two cruises in suites to see how things are shaping up over the next 9 months. Overall i'd say it was good but by no means excellent, however that probably is more the size of the menu than the service/food we received.

I working on typing up our menus from the cruise in April. The first days dinner menu is:

APPETIZERS

COLD SMOKED SALMON Horseradish/Rye Crumble

BURRATA Prosciutto/Arugula Pester/Peasant Bread

SMOKED TOMATO SOUP Basil/Focaccia Croutons

CRISPY PORKBELLY Brussels Sprouts/Apple Cider

ENTREES

BUCATINI Spiced Sausage/Toasted Tomato/Broccoli Rabe

ROASTED TURBOT Potato/Piquillo Pepper/Black Olives/Caramelized Fennel

SEARED DUCKS BREAST Parsnip/Trumpet Mushrooms/Swiss Chard/Sour Cherry Jus

GRILLED FILET MIGNON Truffle Potato Puree/Spinach/Bordelaise Sauce

ZUCCHINI SPAGHETTI San Marzano Tomotoes/Arugual/Pecorino/Breadcrumbs

That seems like plenty to me.

We dined in Luminae last October (for 15 days) on the Sihouette. I have to say that the service and ambiance was fantastic. Tables were nicely spaced. I also have to agree that on a couple days I did have difficulty finding something I really wanted. We were not aware that you could order off other menus. That said, I would not hesitate to dine there again. It was an outstanding dining experience.

Diane

We also enjoyed Luminae, much better then Blu- In addition to the listed menu, you can all have anything on the regular diningroom menu- you can also modify the selections on the menu.

While we enjoy the speciality restaurants a few nights during our cruise- Luminae beats all of the other options. Their breakfast is excellent. In addition, the small cabins in Aqua Class, do not compare to Sky Suites on any of the Celebrity Ships.

We walked thru one afternoon and took pictures of the room while on the Equinox last year. :D

I working on typing up our menus from the cruise in April. The first days dinner menu is:

APPETIZERS

COLD SMOKED SALMON Horseradish/Rye Crumble

BURRATA Prosciutto/Arugula Pester/Peasant Bread

SMOKED TOMATO SOUP Basil/Focaccia Croutons

CRISPY PORKBELLY Brussels Sprouts/Apple Cider

 

ENTREES

BUCATINI Spiced Sausage/Toasted Tomato/Broccoli Rabe

ROASTED TURBOT Potato/Piquillo Pepper/Black Olives/Caramelized Fennel

SEARED DUCKS BREAST Parsnip/Trumpet Mushrooms/Swiss Chard/Sour Cherry Jus

GRILLED FILET MIGNON Truffle Potato Puree/Spinach/Bordelaise Sauce

ZUCCHINI SPAGHETTI San Marzano Tomotoes/Arugual/Pecorino/Breadcrumbs

 

 

That seems like plenty to me.

I agree. It also seems pretty close to the quantity of choices in the MDR, if you take away the "everyday" items. Given that this is only 1 of the 14 Luminae dinner menus, I'm really looking forward to our cruise! [And of course when you add the complete MDR menu, Luminae gives far more choices -- but several posters seem to feel Luminae should be judged only by its own printed menu.] OP is entitled to his opinions and to his taste in food, but I have never had anything on any ship that I could call "too spicy" -- I wonder if the mismatch was between Luminae's culinary style and OP's tastes in general?

We are aboard the Infinity right now and the service Felix and EVERYONE has provided us has been stellar as has the food! I know people have different opinions/tastes, but between the Luminae menu, the MDR menu, and Blu, I'm surprised you couldn't be accommodated. They've treated us like royalty...

We are looking forward to our first experience with Luminae in October on the Equinox. We have been on Cunard twice, but ate in the MDR. I don't know if Celebrity would use Luminae to compete with the Grill Class on Cunard. Cunard, especially the QM2, with or without its Grill classes, is in a class unto itself. I am not dissing Celebrity at all since it is now our favorite line. But, I suspect having come from Cunard's Grill Class it would be difficult to expect similar quality on Celebrity.

Well, this just proves that we're all different. We think Luminae is the best thing to happen to Celebrity since we started sailing. We love the venue, the menu is plenty big enough, and we had a hard time narrowing down our selections each night. No it's not a huge menu with tons of choices, but we found them all good. Some sea days we ate there 3 times a day, and they were great about adding more green vegetables to my plate if I asked, or just fixing a big plate of lettuce with grilled chicken on it for lunch so I wouldn't have such a rich meal.

 

The service is amazing, and we never even used all the free specialty restaurant meals we had. Well we did eat in Tuscan Grill once because we love it, but we always felt like we were missing something in Luminae.

 

Sailed on our first Celebrity ship in March with access to Luminae. I'm quoting your post because our experience was the same; even the one dinner we had in Tuscan Grill. It was very good, but we felt like we were missing out on an evening in Luminae, especially since it was only a 5-night cruise. We absolutely loved it and can't wait for our next cruise with X.

Don't know which ship you were on.

 

My kids were in a suite on the Infinity a few weeks ago followed by a Concierge on B2B.

 

The two main differences of Luminae VS MDR were the much better service (in Luminae) and the ability to order anything off of either the Luminae, Blu or MDR menu (at dinner).

 

Because of the three menus to choose from there was always something enticing !!!

Thanks for this information. That's a great perk to be able to order off of three different menus. I am returning to X after a very long absence. This will be a great perk for my DW and I when we sali the Solstice in 2018.....:):):)

Bob

The fact they are offering the MDR menu reflects something....On our cruises looking at the menus there were a few evenings where we fancied a few items (felt spoilt for choice) but many where one of us might find something we might like but the other didn't.

If lots of people are choosing items from the MDR or Blu menu something is wrong with theirs. You do not go to Murano's and ask for a meal from Tuscan!

My suggestions to Celebrity would be,

Rewrite the menu to better describe the food.

Introduce 4/5 everyday items exclusive to Luminae (this could be based on items they know people are requesting, a decent steak and fish dish would be a start).

On our last cruise, second with Luminae we got the menus from the conceirge and then booked specialities on the nights we were uninspired by Luminae's. (RS so included)

We also found the lunchtime menus heavy...we did on a couple of occasions ask for salads but on other occasions we would simple go to the buffet and make up our own.

As someone previously stated taste is subjective....I am not saying the food is bad in Luminae, we have enjoyed some items. What I am saying is if people have to ask for the MDR menu to extend choice some tweaking must be required.

Reading this back it seems quite negative and I really don't mean it to be! Service and ambiance was excellent. With more cruises booked, suites again, we do love X. After more than a year of operation now they must know which dishes are popular, which are not, the days more people are looking at the MDR menu...

However much you like Luminae, the fact the menu needs to be supplemented by the MDR menu clearly reflects something is wrong!

We are looking forward to our first experience with Luminae in October on the Equinox. We have been on Cunard twice, but ate in the MDR. I don't know if Celebrity would use Luminae to compete with the Grill Class on Cunard. Cunard, especially the QM2, with or without its Grill classes, is in a class unto itself. I am not dissing Celebrity at all since it is now our favorite line. But, I suspect having come from Cunard's Grill Class it would be difficult to expect similar quality on Celebrity.

Used to travel on Cunard Grill Class and just coming back from my first Celebrity cruise on Silhouette. I know everything depends on the chef, but Food on Luminae was over expectations. In my opinion, better than sometimes on Cunard. The chef on this cruise was a real genius! Probably less caviar and dover sole, but much finesse in cooking . The only thing I missed was the High tea (tea bags are dreadful on Celebrity), and people properly dressed for dinner. Don't know what Celebrity means by "smart casual", but , in my opinion, it should not include base -ball caps and joggings!

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

I just returned from a cruise in a suite and tried Luminae for the first time. The dinner menu is very limited with 3 appetizers, one soup, 5 entree's, and 3 deserts compared to double the number of choices on the MDR menu. After a bad meal on 5/11 where I only saw a soup and steak for dinner that looked good. The soup was too spicy for us to eat. The steak was so tough the wife only ate 1/4 of it. I was so disgusted we got up an left before finishing the main course and I penned a letter to the hotel manager. We met him the next after now and I told him as a former Grill class passenger on Cunard I was very disappointed in the selection and quality of the food I was getting in Luminae. He promised they would do better. I requested a MDR menu for the rest of the cruise and ordered items from both to have a decent meals for the rest of the cruise. Breakfast was OK, except for the has browns that I set back and the biscuits and gravy that I will never order again. We ate the next night in the Tuscan Grill and it was the best dinner we had on board. The crab cakes in the Tuscan Grill were superior those I had in Luminae. I am booked in a suite on the Silhouette next year for my 75th birthday and will try Luminae one last time. If it is not improved I will go back to Aqua call and the Blu. I asked my wife when we got home which she liked better and she said Blu.

 

Island Princess 5/4/17, Silhouette, 2/26/17, HAL 56 days, RCCL 104 points, NCL 28 days, Princess Elite 228 days, Royal 14 days, Cunard 49 days, Celebrity Elite+ 28 cruises

Methinks you are possibly better matched to Cunard for food. Very very few people have, subjective mind you, complained about Luminae.

My only reference point on Cunard is Princess Grille and I have yet to dine in Luminae and wold not think to compare the two....

Thank you for your review regardless, and bon voyage....

The fact they are offering the MDR menu reflects something....On our cruises looking at the menus there were a few evenings where we fancied a few items (felt spoilt for choice) but many where one of us might find something we might like but the other didn't.

 

If lots of people are choosing items from the MDR or Blu menu something is wrong with theirs. You do not go to Murano's and ask for a meal from Tuscan!

 

My suggestions to Celebrity would be,

 

Rewrite the menu to better describe the food.

Introduce 4/5 everyday items exclusive to Luminae (this could be based on items they know people are requesting, a decent steak and fish dish would be a start).

 

On our last cruise, second with Luminae we got the menus from the conceirge and then booked specialities on the nights we were uninspired by Luminae's. (RS so included)

 

We also found the lunchtime menus heavy...we did on a couple of occasions ask for salads but on other occasions we would simple go to the buffet and make up our own.

 

As someone previously stated taste is subjective....I am not saying the food is bad in Luminae, we have enjoyed some items. What I am saying is if people have to ask for the MDR menu to extend choice some tweaking must be required.

 

Reading this back it seems quite negative and I really don't mean it to be! Service and ambiance was excellent. With more cruises booked, suites again, we do love X. After more than a year of operation now they must know which dishes are popular, which are not, the days more people are looking at the MDR menu...

 

However much you like Luminae, the fact the menu needs to be supplemented by the MDR menu clearly reflects something is wrong!

My question would be, how many people are failing to find something they 'like' or find 'dis-tasteful'?

The number of people complaining or commenting about it here would be such a small sample that X would not need to worry about it, even at a fast food restaurant someone would find something drastically wrong or distasteful.

I Am sure the Chef on board is aware of the numbers and would adjust accordingly if out of kilter, especially knowing that there will be at least one party who would find the food 'wrong'. Then there are other venues in which to dine as well.... thank goodness.

bon voyage

The OP seems to have taken quite some stick but from my recent experience, I agree with just about every comment they made.

Staff are indeed very warm and pleasant but that doesn't make up for the fact that things can be a little slow. Food is good quality and well presented but the menu turned over in less than a week and three or four choices for each course with no a la carte isn't good enough. I got fed up of eating soup, poured from a jug over a mix of miscellaneous vegetables, seafood and biscuit.

In a proper suite restaurant there should be no need to even think of bringing in food from MDR, what's the point in needing to do that? Also, not having the place open for lunch on port days is poor.

The OP mentions the magic phrase, "Cunard Grills". In comparison, Luminae is a long way from matching up in terms of service, food quality, choice and flexibility. But if all that folks have been exposed to previously is Celebrity MDR then I can understand why they think it's the best thing since sliced bread.

I'm looking forward to our trip in the Grills in November. Next time on Celebrity we'll mix it up with Luminae, Blu and specilaity restaurants. It's a step forward, not yet in keeping with what you are paying for a high end suite.

.

I think there's more to it than just the food. I like the experience because of the small room and better service. At some point food is food however I can see where it might be hard for some to find something they like. I believe they will make special order dishes given 24 hours notice. These ships really were not built for a two class system while the QM2 was along with the new NCL and MSC ships. When the new class of ship appears all of this will be built in with proper galleys and crew.