The ULTIMATE Luminae Review - 5/19/19 Summit to Bermuda

[Alsmez]

My DH and I just returned from a 7-night cruise on Summit in our first-ever Sky Suite, so I thought I'd take a moment to share my review of our Luminae experience. I also reviewed the ship/cruise in general, which you can find here. We have sailed the S-class several times and after our first cruise, elected not to return to the MDR. Since then we have eaten in Blu or specialty restaurants most of the time, but since Summit has limited specialty options, we decided to take the suite plunge and try Luminae.

 

A bit about me: I am an avid cook, read food blogs/magazines religiously, bake breads and experiment with natural yeasts, make my own cheeses and sausage, and I’ve taken courses in pastry and sugar art. We live in NYC, so we are privileged to be surrounded by some of the world’s finest restaurants, as well as really fantastic ethnic foods. I realize that taste is subjective, but quality and skill of preparation generally are not, so I will try to include both opinions and objective observations here. I know I have high standards, but since Celebrity markets Luminae and the Suite Life as a high-end experience (with a price to match), I feel that they should be up to the task of meeting (or exceeding) them!

 

Talking about and critiquing food is one of my favorite hobbies, so I apologize in advance for the length of this review. Since a picture (even a poor one like mine) is worth 1,000 words, I have included those as well. I'll put each day in a separate post to make it a little easier to read and digest! And now - the review!

Edited May 30, 2019 by Alsmez

[jcpc]

I've sailed on Summit and eaten in Luminae many times.  When Luminae first started I thought it was great, but not so great recently.  Just by reading your intro I can look into my crystal ball and predict that you were not happy with Luminae!  I'm looking forward to your comments and opinions.

 

[Alsmez]

Sunday, 5/19/19: Lunch

 

We embarked the ship a bit late due to the kerfuffle with Anthem of the Seas, but lunch was still on offer in Luminae. Yuksel, the maître d’, showed us to a lovely window table and introduced us to our head waiter, Gede. Gede and his team served us for the rest of the week and did a truly outstanding job. The entire staff in Luminae, including Yuksel, were absolutely fantastic – I didn’t have a single complaint or quibble about anything.

 

We sat down and requested Perrier (my water of choice, which was waiting for me every night thereafter), and prepared to be impressed. The lunch menu is somewhat limited, with three appetizers and five entrees (including the signature burger, which is apparently always available). Dinner is only slightly more expansive, and many of the options are fish/seafood based. I am a seafood lover so this was never a problem for me, but DH doesn’t care for shellfish, and therefore struggled a bit on occasion to find something that suited him. Luckily we had no issues ordering from the MDR menu, and they handed it to us along with the Luminae menu every evening.

 

Anyway, we started with pea soup for DH and shrimp ceviche for me. I don’t care for pea soup generally speaking because I don’t like peas, but this one was fine because it didn’t taste like peas! It was smooth and light but DH as a pea lover was a bit disappointed. My shrimp ceviche was executed well, with tender shrimp and perfectly ripe avocado, but was otherwise unremarkable.

 

Next up, the burger for me and steak frites for DH. Normally I would have ordered the lobster roll but I have seen photos of it on Cruise Critic and I know it would have just been a disappointment. The burger was actually a disappointment too – the meat was very bland, despite having been cooked to a perfect rare. Clearly a lower grade of ground beef. The bun was flavorless, the onion jam almost sickeningly sweet, and the cheddar cheese processed. The fries were hot and crispy but had no truffle flavor. DH’s steak was also cooked perfectly rare as requested, but had the weird rubberiness and off flavor that you find in steaks at places like Golden Corral, where everything is brined/tenderized in a chemically solution. His béarnaise sauce was lukewarm and needed a hit of lemon, and his potato wedges were undercooked. While the service was wonderful, we left wondering if we had made a big mistake with Luminae.

 

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Edited May 30, 2019 by Alsmez

[Alsmez]

Sunday, 5/19/19: Dinner

 

Luckily, our fears were unfounded and Luminae more than redeemed herself at dinner. Upon looking at the menu we both knew we’d be having short ribs, but the escargot from the MDR was calling, so we ordered those and MDR beef spring rolls to start. After an unremarkable but inoffensive amuse-bouche of beet soup (I despise beets usually, but this had very little dirty sweet beet flavor so it was manageable), the escargot was, as always, buttery and tender, and the “baguette” Luminae provided (which was most definitely NOT a baguette in the strictest French sense of the word, but was good in and of itself – a somewhat dense bread with maybe 50% whole wheat flour, soft on the inside with a crisp-tender crust) did the trick of sopping up the butter. I find bread on Celebrity to be generally disappointing, so I was pleased that they did a reasonably good job with this one. Spring rolls came in a puddle of sticky sweet and sour sauce that I could have lived without, but were freshly fried, crisp and savory.

 

We then chose the short ribs as a second appetizer course, followed by the veal cannelloni for me and cod for DH. We didn’t know what to expect from portion sizes at Luminae but for the most part, we found them to be fairly restrained, with appetizer portions around two ounces of protein, and mains maybe 6-8 ounces depending on the meat. We aren’t big bread, starch or dessert eaters (our meals are typically protein and vegetables only), so two appetizers and a main was not too much for us.

 

Anyway, the short ribs were excellent, very tender with big beefy flavor. The parsnip puree was silky and complemented the rich sauce on the beef, which hinted at pomegranate without being sweet. DH’s cod main course was cooked nicely (maybe a hair past where I would have preferred it temperature-wise, but not dried out), but the delicate fish was overwhelmed by the piperade – there was too much of it, and it was too thick/intense. A brothier texture would have suited the cod better. My veal cannelloni were marvelous, though – tender filling, toothsome pasta, perfect béchamel – and it paired wonderfully with Cherry Tart pinot noir.

 

Speaking of wine, the sommelier in Luminae was terrific and kept our glasses filled, but I wasn’t enormously impressed with the list of wines available by the glass. Most of them were basic and available everywhere on board, and the variety started to feel very limited by the end of the week. I drank mostly white and ended up defaulting to the Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc since the other premium options were three oaky Chardonnays, a blend (with a lot of Chardonnay in it), and a Pinot Grigio or some such. We did pay the upcharge once or twice for a glass from the “Exceptional” by-the-glass list, but aside from a delicious Amarone, those wines weren’t a whole lot better than what was already included in the Premium list. Luminae does have an extensive list of wines by the bottle, but it irks me to have to pay for bottles when I have already paid for the Premium Package.

 

Luminae’s desserts that evening didn’t interest us but DH wanted a bite of chocolate to go with his double espresso after dinner (which, by the way, was brought to him nightly thereafter without him having to ask), so we ordered a slice of the chocolate caramel cake from the MDR menu, which IMO is the most reliably delicious dessert on board. It is always moist and not too sweet, so it’s our default if nothing else sounds good. And it was delicious!

 

Edited May 30, 2019 by Alsmez

[jcpc]

Gede has been a waiter for Celebrity for a long time and has been in Luminae since its inception.  He truly is a great waiter and a very nice and warm person.  You were fortunate to have him serve you for the week.  Another outstanding person in Luminae is, in my opinion, Alper.   I always think that the service in Luminae is phenomenal no matter what I think of the food.  Yuksel also is a long time Celebrity employee and is very accommodating to his guests.

 

 

Edited May 30, 2019 by jcpc

[Alsmez]

Monday, 5/20/19: Lunch

 

We slept in and didn’t make it to Luminae for breakfast – this would be a theme until disembarkation, LOL. Luminae closes at 9am which IMO is simply too early – we are on a cruise, and the last thing we want to have to do is get up and dressed before 9am! We did manage to get to lunch on time, though! We both chose the crabcake sandwich for our first course (crabcakes, as long as they don’t contain too much crab, are an exception to DH’s I-hate-shellfish rule). I asked them to serve me just the crabcake atop the broiled feta salad, and DH wanted the crabcake by itself, no sandwich. They obliged happily and were glad throughout the week to fulfill this type of alteration to dishes when possible. The crabcake pleased DH by not having much crab in it, but I as a true crab lover was disappointed. It was tasty enough, just not very crabby. The salad, though, was delicious – very fresh with crisp-tender asparagus, bright snap peas and light minty pesto dressing. 

 

Our salmon and filet mains came cooked as requested (whoever mans the grill at Luminae has meat temps down to a science) and were quite enjoyable, although I started to wonder if EVERY dish at Luminae was going to consist of a protein on top of a vegetable puree (in case you are bored and want to quit reading this review, the answer is mostly yes). The succotash with the salmon was dressed with a bright vinaigrette that provided a nice counterpoint to the sweet corn. I was glad to note that the filet did not have the off flavor and texture of DH’s strip steak from the previous day and crossed my fingers that that was just an anomaly.

 

We ordered both of the desserts out of curiosity and weren’t especially impressed with either. The white chocolate mousse was the better of the two, and had a nice silky texture and assertive white chocolate flavor, but the shortbread croutons on top were dry sawdusty nuggets of nothingness. The black forest cake was chunks of dry cake in a bowl of sickeningly sweet whipped cream with a couple of Amarena cherries thrown in for good measure.

 

 

Edited May 30, 2019 by Alsmez

[Alsmez]

Monday, 5/20/19: Dinner

 

After a refreshing amuse-bouche of tomato coulis topped with what they called ricotta but was actually probably Greek yogurt, we started with the MDR menu for dinner again. I can’t resist chicken liver paté! The MDR’s is usually a bit milder on the liver flavor than I would prefer but otherwise good, and tonight’s was no exception, although I could have used a sharp vinaigrette on the accompanying salad to cut some of the richness. DH went with the fishcake, which was a mistake – it was made with some strong-tasting fish he didn’t care for and served with a most unappetizing pea and lima bean salad.

 

We moved onto the Luminae menu for our next course, with lobster salad for me and squab for DH. The lobster salad was well-executed, with tender meat and a subtle hand with the vanilla. DH’s squab was slightly overcooked and therefore a bit grainy (they are so small, it is difficult to get them just right), but the barley risotto was a win – great chewy texture. Again with the lima beans, though – why? Did their mothers not torture them with lima beans as children?

 

The main event was lamb for me, ribeye for DH. Both fantastic. Good quality meats, no hint of chemical brines, very tender, perfectly seasoned and gorgeously cooked. The accompanying purees in both cases complemented the meats nicely.

 

I finished my meal with cheese (the Luminae cheese plate is a dollop of herbed Boursin, a couple of slices of Port Salut, some Brie/Camembert and another, stronger washed-rind cheese). All appropriately ripe (one maybe too ripe for some people), but served a bit too cold. DH wanted chocolate again and went with the Chocolate Palet, which was fine but not as good as the everyday choice from the MDR – a bit dry. The caramel gelato was wonderful, though – smooth and complex.

Edited May 30, 2019 by Alsmez

[Alsmez]

Tuesday, 5/21/19

 

Luminae’s lunch menu today didn’t interest us at all so we hit up the Mast Grill for hot dogs and fries while soaking up the sun on the Retreat Sundeck. We could have ordered lunch from the small menu up there, but we didn’t find the options all that interesting, and it’s not the most pleasant place to sit and eat a full meal given the lack of shade in the dining area.

 

Dinner started with the best amuse-bouche of the cruise, a delicious little ham and cheese croquette. It was a freshly fried, crispy bite of heaven! The bread offerings included cheese gougères, which are a favorite of mine, but these unfortunately were a bit too eggy and lacked cheese flavor.

 

We both chose the burrata for our first course. The burrata they serve in Luminae is not the highest-quality burrata around – it’s comparable to Trader Joe’s house burrata, maybe – but it was creamy and the roasted tomato accompaniment was nice. I could have used more pesto, though – the minty pesto from my salad the previous day would have been fantastic. They are NOT shy at Luminae about repurposing yesterday’s leftovers (just ask any vegetarian how many of their meals included butternut squash) so it’s too bad they didn’t take the opportunity to reuse an ingredient that was actually excellent to begin with!

 

We both moved on to the pork belly for our second course (we can be so predictable!). The meat was very tender and the carrot puree was thankfully very light on anise flavor (I find it can overwhelm very easily). The chicharon garnish was served hot and was therefore extremely tough, but crisped up after it cooled off – DH made that mistake and then told me I was a terrible wife for not warning him. J I made it up to him by “letting” him eat my beets.

 

In a surprise move, DH opted for the bucatini for his main, while I had the duck. The bucatini was below average, the pasta a bit too chewy and the sauce oversalted and extremely tight (needed pasta water and a hit of butter to finish). The duck had a lot of potential because the preparation was fabulous – something about the combination of parsnips and cherries was really quite magical – but the duck was improperly cooked. The skin wasn’t rendered fully, leaving it tough and chewy. Crispy duck skin is one of my most favorite things, so I was a bit disappointed even though the meat itself was fine.

 

Redemption came with my favorite Luminae dessert of the cruise, the almond cake with buttermilk gelato. Outstanding combination of flavors and textures. The cake was very almondy, moist and not too sweet with a pleasantly rough texture from the almond meal, while the buttermilk gelato was tangy and silky. Dollops of fig jam brought everything together with rich sweetness. A home run. DH was less fortunate – his brown butter pear with maple was cloyingly sweet (and this is coming from someone who would guzzle maple syrup like Buddy the Elf if it were socially acceptable – it is the one sweet with which I am truly obsessed) and lacked textural interest.

 

Edited May 30, 2019 by Alsmez

[Alsmez]

Wednesday, 5/22/19

 

We were out and about in Bermuda for lunch today (delicious fried fish and Bermudian peas and rice), and hit the stateroom for a nap before dinner so we’d be fresh for Luminae. Unfortunately, we encountered the weakest menu of the cruise on this evening, along with some poor execution. We started with a baccala croquette for our amuse, which could have been wonderful but was served cold and therefore a bit soggy. DH snagged a piece of “baguette” from the bread basket only to find that it was stale. He struggled with the appetizers and finally opted for the salmon sashimi, which had been sitting in its dressing long enough to turn into ceviche. I had the fennel soup, which was simply weird – hot soup should never be poured over grapefruit segments or pomegranate seeds. It also lacked fennel flavor – fennel fronds or fennel pollen would have boosted the flavor, and serving it cold would have done wonders for the dish in general. At least the lobster on the bottom was tender and sweet!

 

DH went for the pizzette next and struck out again – it was a thick, puffy, bland disc of dough with almost no sauce or cheese aside from cubes of something feta-like, which he removed after one bite. He liked the roasted broccoli, but wondered where the advertised roasted peppers were. Big fail. I had the one winner of the night – I requested a side of the spaetzle that was supposed to accompany a roasted chicken entrée, and it was excellent. Beautiful rustic texture, salty from the bacon and sweet from the squash. A hit of pepper and it was perfect.

 

For our mains, DH chose the strip steak because nothing else appealed to him, although he was concerned that he would get the same chemically, tough cut he received previously at lunch. I asked Gede if it was possible to substitute ribeye or filet and he said unfortunately not tonight, although normally if we gave him 24 hours’ notice he could get filet (apparently ribeye is in short supply since it is only served once per cruise). DH went ahead with the steak anyway and while it wasn’t AS bad as the one he got for lunch, it still wasn’t good – tough and bland despite a perfect ruby red center. The accoutrements were not interesting either – the beer jus tasted of nothing.

 

I chose the barramundi, and although it had a lot of promise, the elements didn’t work together. The fish was firm and moist but not especially strongly flavored, and simply could not stand up to the powerful assertiveness of the artichokes, which were presented both as quarters and as a puree. The fava bean pesto was delicious but had a texture more like a chunky hummus, so in combination with the artichoke puree there was too much pastiness on the plate. I think the artichoke elements could work well with a sweeter seafood like shrimp or a rich meat like crispy chicken thighs, but they overwhelmed the barramundi. The fava bean pesto and leeks alone with the fish would have worked better, especially if the whole thing were loosened up with a crisp/watery/slightly bitter vegetable, perhaps sautéed endive or chard. 

 

We ended on a final disappointing note with the hibiscus parfait, which was absolutely awful – a base of bouncy panna cotta (I think – it was so bad it was hard to tell what it was supposed to be!) topped with under-sweetened hibiscus finger Jello cubes and stale cake. Terrible. Gede noticed I wasn’t eating it and offered to bring me cheese but I had had enough to eat at that point and just swiped a spoonful of DH’s gelato, which he turned into an affoggato by pouring his espresso over it. He ordered a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of caramel which he assumed they would bring from the MDR, but Gede confided that he gotten it from the Gelateria because their ice cream is better (and he was right!).

 

Edited May 30, 2019 by Alsmez

[Alsmez]

Thursday, 5/23/19

 

We spent the day exploring Bermuda again but did grab breakfast and lunch quickly in the buffet. The food was more or less exactly the same as it has been on our previous sailings – acceptable but unremarkable. There was one fabulous Indian dish on the buffet today – pork bhuni – but everything else was average.

 

Dinner at Luminae started off slowly with a weak amuse – a goat cheese “puff” that was really a stale roll with some cheese filling piped into the middle. However, the bread basket featured fresh brioche rolls, warm from the oven, so we enjoyed those instead (probably the best bread I have had on any Celebrity ship)! Tonight’s menu had a lot of options that appealed to me, fewer for DH, who was resigned to ordering burrata again for his first course. Luckily it was a better preparation than the previous one – the eggplant caponata was a delicious and intensely-flavored relish with sundried tomatoes and eggplant. The coarsely-chopped, dry texture was a nice contrast to the creamy burrata. I had chicken liver pate again – Luminae’s version is much stronger on the liver flavor than the MDR, which I appreciated, but it really needed an acidic element to balance it instead of the chicken broth gelee on top.

 

For the next course I wanted the octopus but was also curious about the duck consommé, so I ordered both, while DH stuck to the pasta. The duck consommé was inedibly salty, and the dumplings were filled with shreds of leftover duck breast (dry and stringy), not actual duck confit. Do they really think people don’t know the difference? Luckily the octopus was tender, although the potatoes really overwhelmed it both with their texture and blandness. Once I pushed them to the side I enjoyed it immensely!

 

DH had the pasta, which tasted neither of duck nor of anything resembling Bolognese (which is a MEAT sauce, NOT a tomato sauce!!!!!!) – it actually tasted more or less like the same tomato-heavy sauce he was served earlier in the week. Pasta was overcooked and oversauced. Seems to be a weak point for Luminae in terms of recipe/concept and on Summit in terms of execution.

 

Finally, we both ordered the short ribs – another winning preparation. Very tender and beefy. The portion was surprisingly quite large, but mine had a lot of fat – this is typical for short ribs, so I thought perhaps they served larger portions knowing that most people would cut away most of the fat. Little did they know that the fat is DH’s favorite part, so I swapped him my fat for some of his leaner bites. The little bao buns that came with it were cute, too. The sauce was intensely-flavored and I loved the spicy chiles on top – I just wish they had been pickled, or that they had served a lime wedge with the dish – it needed a hit of acid to really bring it to life.

 

DH needed chocolate with his espresso so he ordered the chocolate caramel tart – another excellent dessert from Luminae. The chocolate was quite bitter (as I prefer) and the caramel dark with a bitter edge. The accompanying black currant sorbet was watery and blah, though, and the lime sorbet I ordered as a palate cleanser was way too sweet.

 

 

Edited May 30, 2019 by Alsmez

[Alsmez]

Friday, 5/24/19

 

We had lunch in Bermuda before sailing away – had to try some fish chowder! We never got around to trying the local fish sandwich on raisin bread, so we’ll do that when we return to Bermuda someday.

Tonight was the second formal night and the infamous Lobster Night! We were actually invited to attend a dinner with the Hotel Director in the MDR, but I had zero interest in dining there, especially when I was pretty sure Luminae would do a better job with lobster J. So, even though DH was not thrilled with tonight’s menu, back to Luminae we went. He was NOT amused when the amuse arrived - chicken liver pate with mango sauce (two of his least favorite things). The pate was as good as it had been the night before but quite honestly even I had had enough chicken liver pate by this point. The mango sauce was really gloopy and flat-tasting, too. Why is it so hard to get a bright and acidic sauce on this ship? Do they use up all their lemons and limes at the bar?

 

Anyway, I was feeling a bit low on vegetables by this point in the cruise, so I ordered the vegetarian butternut squash entrée as an appetizer, thinking that surely it would be served with something green. Nope. It was butternut squash chunks on butternut squash puree, and it was pretty awful. I mean, the puree was fine, but I had been eating nothing but puree all week and I was pretty sure I was going to get more with my other courses, so why eat more now? The squash chunks (out of season, so really my own fault) were stringy and flavorless. I really feel sorry for any vegetarians dining in Luminae if that’s what they get for a main course (I mean, I feel sorry for vegetarians anyway just because BACON, but this made me even more sorry).

 

DH’s beet risotto was much better, even for me as a beet hater. The rice was nicely toothsome and tasted like Arborio, which is not the norm for Celebrity in my experience – every other “risotto” I have had on board, even in Murano, has been made with regular long grain rice. The yellow beets in the risotto itself lent a mild sweet flavor, and I left the intense quartered red beets to DH.

 

Unfortunately, with the seafood-heavy Luminae menu, DH couldn’t find anything else he wanted for a second course, so he went with a tomato bisque from the MDR. Truly awful. Tasted like my memory of Spaghettios, which I think is burned into my memory because I found them so repulsive as a child. I ordered the scallops, which ended up coming out at the same time as my lobster main – this was the one and only time anything was served to us out of order or DH and I didn’t receive our dishes together, and I’m sure it was because he ordered the soup from the MDR.

 

I’m sure I looked like a glutton with both scallops and lobster in front of me at the same time, but they were both delicious enough that I didn’t care! Two very thoughtful preparations that were extremely well-executed. The scallops were tender with a lovely sear; the lobster was perfectly poached. The only misstep was, AGAIN, the lack of acid. I took one bite and waited for Gede to reappear so I could request some lemon wedges – he looked very concerned until he realized that was the only reason I wasn’t eating!

 

DH had the lamb chops, which were accompanied by a wonderful salsa verde – a bright, ACIDIC salsa verde that was one of the best sauces we had all week! Tender and perfectly cooked. He loved the olive oil potatoes as well, although I found them a bit dry.

 

Formal night in Luminae includes a cart of mignardises before dessert. Normally they wheel this around and let you choose, but we had rocky seas so they left it in place and Gede brought us a selection of his favorites. I rarely get excited about mignardises – they are mostly too sweet for me and I almost never want dessert anyway - but I will say the sesame chocolate bark was pretty good J. I finished off with a cheese plate and DH went for the Chocolate Bar with caramelized bananas, which he liked once he removed the too-gelatinous mirror glaze – underneath was a lovely mousse. The accompanying peanut butter gelato was very sweet but very delicious in small quantities.

 

Edited May 30, 2019 by Alsmez

[Alsmez]

Saturday, 5/25/19: Lunch and Dinner

 

Our last day! We were hoping for a strong finish and decided to eat both lunch and dinner in Luminae. We both had the lobster bisque to start, a wonderful preparation. No chunks of lobster, but a very intensely-flavored soup with two delicious little bread puffs and a swirl of cognac cream. Lovely. None of the entrees were interesting for DH (please no more butternut squash!) so he opted for the burger, which was even more mediocre than last time because his fries were cold. I had the bronzino, which was perfectly cooked with nice crispy skin, but did not work AT ALL with the grainy potato puree that came with it. The chunks of potato were also superfluous. I was sadly reminded of the wonderful branzino with sauce vierge that we enjoyed at the Porch on Reflection several cruises ago – Luminae should just adopt that recipe and be done with it!

 

For our final dinner we were greeted with another menu that didn’t thrill either of us – IMO, this or Day 4 are the nights to go to a specialty restaurant if you are so inclined. Anyway, after an unremarkable pea soup amuse, we both had the ginger crab cake. It didn’t have a ton of ginger flavor, or a ton of crab, but it did taste good if you are a fan of fried stuff, and it was very nice to get a hint of soy/spice after so many sweet vegetable purees.

 

I went with the black bass for my next course; DH chose pasta. I don’t know why he kept torturing himself hoping for a decent pasta dish, but he finally lucked out, because this one was pretty good. They managed to cook the rigatoni properly and the sauce actually tasted like something other than canned tomatoes due to the salami and spice. My bass was fine, just uninspired. The mushroom dumplings were the best part of the dish – they had been minced to a paste with some seasonings (not sure what; I think there was some rice vinegar and maybe soy in there) and burst in your mouth with rich flavor. The fish was underseasoned and the broth tasted of nothing much, so overall the effect was pretty blah.

 

We both ordered the lamb for our final course, with high hopes since the other lamb dishes in Luminae had been so good. Unfortunately, despite being a gorgeous medium rare, the lamb loin was dry and a bit sawdusty, and actually didn’t taste much like lamb – quite honestly, it could just as easily have been beef eye of round or shoulder filet. I suspect it was cooked sous vide, which IMO is only a good method for lean cuts if you watch the timing and temperature – more than an hour and a couple of degrees to hot and lean meats just turn to dry mush. Luckily, the merguez sausage was delicious and the yogurt sauce a refreshing change of pace. Also, NO PUREE!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Luminae’s desserts didn’t interest either of us so DH ordered tiramisu and peach clafoutis from the MDR, hoping that I would at least help him eat one of them J. I had a bite of each for research purposes and that was more than enough. The tiramisu wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t actually tiramisu, either – it was just coffee-soaked cake between layers of whipped cream, not a hint of mascarpone richness or marsala. The clafoutis tasted okay, but was made with canned peaches and gummy in the center.

 

 

[Alsmez]

Sunday, 5/26/19: Debarkation Breakfast

 

We stumbled sleepily to Luminae where Gede greeted us with a confused smile after not ever seeing us at breakfast before. Luckily he and Alper (who is also an exceptional member of the Luminae staff) kept the coffee flowing and offered us a basket of absolutely drool-worthy pastries – what Luminae serves are much better than you find elsewhere on the ship. I had a caramel croissant, DH a cherry Danish – and both of us would have eaten two a day if we had known how wonderful they would be. Perfectly crisp-tender, buttery and divine laminated doughs; fillings just right and not too sweet. I had had almond croissants from Café al Bacio a couple of times earlier in the week and while they were fine (except the one time they were stale), they were not like this. At all. We will be rethinking our sleep schedule for our next cruise if we are in a suite!

 

Anyway, we both ordered eggs (over hard for me, which they actually cooked perfectly - many restaurants leave runny yolk behind) and DH got a side of kielbasa, which was excellent and served with beautifully caramelized onions. Much more delicious than any of the sausages available in the buffet. If only we weren’t so lazy, we could have enjoyed it all week. I wish Luminae would just change their hours, or maybe make breakfast available at lunch time for those who like a lie-in?

 

[Alsmez]

Conclusions:

 

Luminae is a substantial upgrade from the MDR, without question, and probably a step up from Blu as well (although it has been a few years since we dined there so I cannot say how Luminae stacks up against Blu's current menu). However, Luminae is not without faults. The menu is somewhat monotonous and repetitive, and very limited if you are not a seafood lover. They rely FAR too much on vegetable puree and fail to include any actual fresh vegetables in any quantity. Pastas are extremely weak and I can’t imagine trying to eat a vegetarian or vegan diet here. Desserts are a mixed bag and often sacrifice flavor for “creativity.”

 

On Summit specifically, they obviously have a very strong team of chefs cooking on the line in Luminae at dinner; the B Team seems to be on at lunch, although they are probably hampered by both lower-quality ingredients and a less interesting menu. I would assume that all ships in the fleet make an effort to put some of their best people in Luminae (as they should), and I hope that never changes, because Luminae is certainly one of the most worthwhile reasons to choose a suite room.

 

However, while we enjoyed Luminae, certainly wouldn't want to do another cruise in Luminae any time soon given that we ate nearly every dish of interest on the menu last week! I don’t think we would choose a suite specifically for Luminae on S-class, either, because we prefer to have a specialty dining package and rotate between different restaurants (and eat frequently in Murano, which is a much higher-quality restaurant and a more luxurious dining experience than Luminae in almost every aspect). If we sail M-Class again (which I think unlikely given our impressions of Summit, which you can find here), we might consider a suite again but would not dismiss Aqua Class for Blu, since Luminae's menu is so limited (or we might branch out more and ask for a table at Blu on nights when Luminae's menu doesn't appeal).

 

[TeeRick]

Alsmez,

Thanks so much for the detailed review from a food critic perspective.  It seems you had some hits and misses.  I can tell you that your pictures made me hungry!  For me as a person who enjoys food but is not a critic,  I generally like most meals in Luminae but not every meal.  We like the option of using the MDR menu to supplement the limited Luminae menu.  But this is the case now only on M- and S-Class ships, not E-Class.  I agree that Luminae is a step above the MDR for sure and we find it to be as good or better than some of the specialty restaurants.  Perhaps Murano is better on S-Class.

[Alsmez]

57 minutes ago, jcpc said:

Gede has been a waiter for Celebrity for a long time and has been in Luminae since its inception.  He truly is a great waiter and a very nice and warm person.  You were fortunate to have him serve you for the week.  Another outstanding person in Luminae is, in my opinion, Alper.   I always think that the service in Luminae is phenomenal no matter what I think of the food.  Yuksel also is a long time Celebrity employee and is very accommodating to his guests.

 

 

I agree, Alper was also fantastic - I gave him a shout out a little later in my review. The service there really was excellent in every way!

[plucasana]

thank you for taking the time to write this review.

 

Pure poetry!

[Alsmez]

2 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

We like the option of using the MDR menu to supplement the limited Luminae menu.  But this is the case now only on M- and S-Class ships, not E-Class.  I agree that Luminae is a step above the MDR for sure and we find it to be as good or better than some of the specialty restaurants.  Perhaps Murano is better on S-Class.

 

I have heard that E-Class ships can't order from the MDR menu - that really does make the options limited. Now that we have tried most of the Luminae menu and know what our hits and misses are, I think my husband especially would rely heavily on the MDR menu if we did another cruise in a suite right away. 

 

I wouldn't rate Tuscan or Lawn Club higher than Luminae but Murano, absolutely. Murano isn't really meant to be an "every night" restaurant, though, and I fully understand that they can't provide a Murano experience in Luminae because of that. Given the cost of suites though (especially now post-Revolution), I think a regular room plus dining package provides much greater value for us than a suite with Luminae.

[FlorenceItaly]

Thank you so much for taking the time to share a detailed review with us.  It is  greatly appreciated, and one of the best I have read.

[Cruise a holic]

Wow am I getting hungry   Great review!

[Dr. Cocktail]

Thanks again for your spot-on food review.

 

I fully agree that the menu is much more pescatarian friendly.

 

The burger was tied for the single worst item of food I had during the week. That and the New York steak could convert anyone into vegetarianism.

 

My only additional comment on your extremely detailed and carefully thought out review is how we always found the fish to be overdone.

 

 

[Alsmez]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

Thanks again for your spot-on food review.

 

I fully agree that the menu is much more pescatarian friendly.

 

The burger was tied for the single worst item of food I had during the week. That and the New York steak could convert anyone into vegetarianism.

 

My only additional comment on your extremely detailed and carefully thought out review is how we always found the fish to be overdone.

 

I agree that the fish dishes were mostly cooked to the very edge of what I would consider acceptable in terms of well- doneness, but nothing was ever dried out or flaking to the point of falling apart, so I didn't complain. For DH, who is not always a fan of sea creatures and likes them a little less translucent, all the fish we had was perfect. I am sure that if I had asked Gede to tell them to make it a little more rare for me, they would have done so - they never refused any request!

 

That NY Strip, though - yikes. I'd have had a hard time getting my cats to take a bite of that one.

[Dr. Cocktail]

1 minute ago, Alsmez said:

 

I agree that the fish dishes were mostly cooked to the very edge of what I would consider acceptable in terms of well- doneness, but nothing was ever dried out or flaking to the point of falling apart, so I didn't complain. For DH, who is not always a fan of sea creatures and likes them a little less translucent, all the fish we had was perfect. I am sure that if I had asked Gede to tell them to make it a little more rare for me, they would have done so - they never refused any request!

 

That NY Strip, though - yikes. I'd have had a hard time getting my cats to take a bite of that one.

Of course, we never had the forethought or smarts to ask to have the fish cooked less!

 

I went to my butcher a few days ago (yes, a real live independent butcher!) and purchased and made proper New York Steaks.

My system had to be shocked back into normal. It was the culinary equivalent of running a malware scan to get rid of the junk!

[hcat]

Thanks for this detailed review and the photos. Your style and approach were quite pleasant...and as non foodies we could follow along  easily

 

The pics you posted confirm Luminae would not be a good fit for us...other than the very generous  servings of veggies underneath or  on the side of the  mains.  Much of the meat looked very  rare...fish looked more appealing. Small poultry is often overdone on X. We usually skip desserts.

 

 For our next cruise, we are taking a break from BLU and will try the 4 mdr concept on EDGE.  Looking forward to something new!

 

[Alsmez]

Just now, Dr. Cocktail said:

Of course, we never had the forethought or smarts to ask to have the fish cooked less!

 

I went to my butcher a few days ago (yes, a real live independent butcher!) and purchased and made proper New York Steaks.

My system had to be shocked back into normal. It was the culinary equivalent of running a malware scan to get rid of the junk!

 

LOL, the first meal I made when we got home was freshly-ground short rib burgers, grilled over charcoal. The Luminae burger had to be erased!!!!!!