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

[Alsmez]

15 minutes ago, Robinsilver said:

So, I guess I am not expecting this to be dbBistro quality, but I will hope to have it more than edible. Good to know we can pick from the MDR menu as well. We will be in Alaska, so hopefully we will have more fresh fish, and that the steaks, which my DH will probably order more often than not, will be edible. As far as sous vide goes, I didn't not read everyone's post, so wasn't sure where it was mentioned, but we always sous vide our steaks, have even done it with burgers, we like them rare and just sear them at a high heat after cooking them to 124. I would not be surprised at all if they sous vide various dishes. 

 

Actually, I would say that a few of the best dishes that I had in Luminae might have risen to the level of DB Bistro Moderne, and the service was actually better (our waiter was a real jerk on our last visit there)! Not everything was at that level, of course, but I'm sure you will find most everything in Luminae edible. And I agree with you that sous vide is a great way to do steaks AND burgers!

[emelle]

Interesting and appreciated review of Luminae. Not much to add except this.....about the vegetables.....

While I appreciate fine dining and great food and wine parings, I usually find the offerings, on land or in Luminae short on vegetables of the "usual" sort. Especially after several days of not having a home kitchen and fresh market at my disposal......So I begin each cruise by politely asking my waiter for "extra green and fresh/steamed/lightly sauteed vegetables." I may have to explain or remind them one more time, but from then on I always get a small serving bowl of whatever is "fresh" that meal....maybe a mixture of spinach and carrots or brocolli and string beans or asparagus etc. etc. It's always plenty and enough to share with DH or whomever may be with us on the trip (if we have a large group the waitstaff usually adjusts to several bowls of "fresh green veggies for Mrs _____.")  I also at times ask for extra fresh salad greens to make an appetizer more of a salad dish.

So i encourage you to ask if you want extra, "plain" veggies with your meal. I've never had a problem with the Luminae staff making it happen.

 

[Lace]

Celebrity novice here.  What exactly is Luminae?

 

where do people go to eat?

 

are there three sit down meals offered a day?

 

can you order multiple apps and entrees?

[niborHS]

33 minutes ago, Lace said:

Celebrity novice here.  What exactly is Luminae?

 

where do people go to eat?

 

are there three sit down meals offered a day?

 

can you order multiple apps and entrees?

Luminae is a side restaurant next to the main dining room, with a different menu, that is only open to those staying in the suites. 

[niborHS]

Is there open seating in Lumimae or set seatings? We did not ask, got the early, which is too early for us, although the late is too late. I think it's been 3 years since we were on a regular Celebrity sailing, it was on a smaller ship, and there was no Luminae.

[TeeRick]

9 hours ago, emelle said:

Interesting and appreciated review of Luminae. Not much to add except this.....about the vegetables.....

While I appreciate fine dining and great food and wine parings, I usually find the offerings, on land or in Luminae short on vegetables of the "usual" sort. Especially after several days of not having a home kitchen and fresh market at my disposal......So I begin each cruise by politely asking my waiter for "extra green and fresh/steamed/lightly sauteed vegetables." I may have to explain or remind them one more time, but from then on I always get a small serving bowl of whatever is "fresh" that meal....maybe a mixture of spinach and carrots or brocolli and string beans or asparagus etc. etc. It's always plenty and enough to share with DH or whomever may be with us on the trip (if we have a large group the waitstaff usually adjusts to several bowls of "fresh green veggies for Mrs _____.")  I also at times ask for extra fresh salad greens to make an appetizer more of a salad dish.

So i encourage you to ask if you want extra, "plain" veggies with your meal. I've never had a problem with the Luminae staff making it happen.

 

Agree about the veggies!  In Luminae we always order extra veggies or usually at least a fresh salad or Caesar salad  from the MDR menu.  On Edge they added Caesar Salad to the every day offerings.

[Alsmez]

2 hours ago, Robinsilver said:

Is there open seating in Lumimae or set seatings? We did not ask, got the early, which is too early for us, although the late is too late. I think it's been 3 years since we were on a regular Celebrity sailing, it was on a smaller ship, and there was no Luminae.

 

Luminae is open seating, as is Blu, which is the dedicated dining room for those staying in  Aqua Class rooms. Luminae is the dining room for those staying in suites. The MDR is the dining room for all other passengers, but you are no longer limited to early or late seatings there either - Celebrity now offers a Select option which allows you to arrive any time you like.

[Alsmez]

10 hours ago, emelle said:

 

So i encourage you to ask if you want extra, "plain" veggies with your meal. I've never had a problem with the Luminae staff making it happen.

 

 

Good idea - we will keep this in mind for our next cruise in AQ!

[niborHS]

Can suite guests eat in Blu, if they like something on the menu? I went on a short NCL cruise with my sister-in-law and cousin because it worked for her vacation time, and seating was open and it worked out great. We would put our name down, sit and have a glass of wine while listening to music, and then our pager would go off that our table was ready. We were very happy with how it all worked out. And funny thing related to your food review, the best meal we had was a short rib served with papardelle.

[Alsmez]

13 minutes ago, Robinsilver said:

Can suite guests eat in Blu, if they like something on the menu? I went on a short NCL cruise with my sister-in-law and cousin because it worked for her vacation time, and seating was open and it worked out great. We would put our name down, sit and have a glass of wine while listening to music, and then our pager would go off that our table was ready. We were very happy with how it all worked out. And funny thing related to your food review, the best meal we had was a short rib served with papardelle.

 

Suite guests can eat in Blu if there is availability - it's up to the maître d' to decide. Aqua guests cannot eat in Luminae, though, unless invited by a suite guest.

[TeeRick]

On 6/3/2019 at 11:21 AM, Alsmez said:

 

Suite guests can eat in Blu if there is availability - it's up to the maître d' to decide. Aqua guests cannot eat in Luminae, though, unless invited by a suite guest.

Actually unless invited and paid for by a suite guest.  ($30 dinner, $20 Lunch, $10 breakfast).

[robertacrusies]

wow! thanks for the detailed review!

[George C]

We did luminae last year on summit and a few months ago on infinity and loved it , we were on for 9 days this year and service and food was just excellent . Even though our next cruise is in a royal suite so we can eat in specialty restaurants for free I am sure most dinners will be in luminae. Agree they should expand hours for breakfast.

[Alsmez]

2 hours ago, George C said:

We did luminae last year on summit and a few months ago on infinity and loved it , we were on for 9 days this year and service and food was just excellent . Even though our next cruise is in a royal suite so we can eat in specialty restaurants for free I am sure most dinners will be in luminae. Agree they should expand hours for breakfast. 

 

Will you be on M-Class, S-Class or E-Class? If I were in a Suite on S-Class with unlimited specialty dining I'd have a hard time saying no to at least a handful of trips to Murano.

[George C]

1 hour ago, Alsmez said:

 

Will you be on M-Class, S-Class or E-Class? If I were in a Suite on S-Class with unlimited specialty dining I'd have a hard time saying no to at least a handful of trips to Murano.

We are on M class , I was not that crazy over Murano on our one trip but that was a long time ago.

[Alsmez]

2 minutes ago, George C said:

We are on M class , I was not that crazy over Murano on our one trip but that was a long time ago.

 

In that case, I would be sticking with Luminae too - neither Qsine or Tuscan really interest me. I do like Sushi on 5, though, and I'm sure my husband would insist on at least one trip to Tuscan just to see if their tiramisu is still good! 🙂

[George C]

I will do Tuscan at least once really like there antipasto. But service is so great in luminae, again our murano dinner was very entertaining, place was almost empty but couple sitting somewhat close to us got into a argument and woman picked up her plate and threw it at man sitting with her, best entertainment of the week.

[niborHS]

We just returned from our cruise, and after many sailings on Celebrity ships all in suites except for 1 that was a music specialty charter,  the addition of Luminae ranks high on my list of great additions by Celebrity. I know people like the specialty restaurants, but in my opinion paying $50 or $55 extra for specialty dining is just not worth it. I agree that not every dish was quite as great, overall we had much better food, and served in a much better atmosphere, than we have had during any other cruise. We ate all our breakfasts there as well. If service was off, it was only at breakfast, and we were sorry that we didn't comment about that until the end of the cruise, as I know that they did take our suggestions to heart. My biggest complaint was that I would see a particular waiter walking around with a coffee pot to fill another diners cup, but didn't check with other tables, and of course I was always waiting for coffee. Same with the tray of pastries. Of course they probably did me a big favor not offering me pastry, as I way over-ate on this cruise. 

[Cruise a holic]

On 6/5/2019 at 4:06 PM, Alsmez said:

 

In that case, I would be sticking with Luminae too - neither Qsine or Tuscan really interest me. I do like Sushi on 5, though, and I'm sure my husband would insist on at least one trip to Tuscan just to see if their tiramisu is still good! 🙂

You will be missing a great experience if you do not try Qsine.  Having sailed perhaps 50 times, mostly on celebrity and in suites, I find lumanie fair to good- the service and seating the best part of the experience-food meh- we typically order from the MDR menu when in lumanie- try the speciality restaurants.  You can go to a speciality restaurant the first night- a special reduced price, or purchase a package that also reduces the cost .  Enjoy the experience.

Edited June 25, 2019 by Cruise a holic

[Alsmez]

1 hour ago, Cruise a holic said:

You will be missing a great experience if you do not try Qsine. 

 

We have been to Qsine a couple of times and I have to disagree. The food is more or less the same quality you might find in the buffet, dressed up with silly presentations to make it seem like something worth paying an upcharge. The concept was done to death long before it made it onto X's ships and it doesn't surprise me at all that they are implementing Le Petit Chef in its place, although IMO that's not really an improvement. 

[PRH]

You had my very favorite waiter!  Gede is superb!  Probably the best waiter we have ever had on a ship.  Unobtrusive and attentive.