Retreat Luminae: Add Specialty Restaurants or Not Needed/Pass?

[BoundForSea]

For those who have dined in Luminae before Covid, did you feel like the selection and experience was enough where you really didn't feel like you needed to purchase a Specialty Dining Package? 

 

Sailing on Millennium in June and on the fence as to whether we really should purchase a 3 dinner package or just pass on it.  

 

Wife is a Vegan however eats fish (forgive me as I don't recall the name for this) and I enjoy pretty much everything, however love a great Filet and Lobster Tail Surf and Turf while on board.  

 

Thanks for the input!

[Treasure Hunter]

We found the food in Luminae of good quality but strange. Does that make sense? We would often order from the MDR menu. My husband loves the Dover Sole in Murano and I really enjoyed the Lawn Club experience outdoors on the back of the ship eating grilled steak and salad during sunset wake views. You might want to try it. They will have sales for the specialty restaurants on board but If you wait, the times you want to go may be picked. 

[royalcruz]

You'll have a great selection of food in Luminae, and the smaller venue feels like specialty dining. You can order from the MDR menu also. You'll probably be able to get a nice discount on specialty dining on the first and last night just for the asking. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

You can also get a really nice filet mignon in Luminae by asking your waiter to arrange it for the next evening.

[chemmo]

The ambiance and service in Luminae are very good. However, we did find the menu quite limited. Also the menu is quite ‘playful’ and you do often need to ask the waiter what some dishes are.

 

There have been some excellent reviews on the food in Luminae with fantastic pictures, I suggest you search some of these to get an idea.

 

Unfortunately the M class ships are lacking in restaurant choices now having lost their Murano ‘equivalent’...Murano is the restaurant where they do serve beautiful Dover sole and some very nice turbot and the table side prepared lobster. There is a Tuscan Grill (focus on meat and pasta) and a Le Petite chef (set menu with a ‘show’ which will cater for dietary needs). There is also a Sushi on Five, which has less of a speciality restaurant feel but does serve some nice options (not just sushi). Again, I suggest you look up the menus and see what you like.

 

As Jazzbeau says, Luminae will offer alternatives if discussed the evening before. It may be worth while at the end of each evenings meal to ask for the next day’s menu then if you cannot see anything you like or your wife like you can discuss alternatives with your waiter.

 

If there was a Murano equivalent I would suggest you book the package but with your wife’s dietary needs you may be better catered for in Luminae...Why not wait until you board then have a discussion with the M’Ds at the speciality restaurants and see what they can suggest to you in addition to their standard offerings. If you are flexible about the day/time you dine you should be able to book on board with a discount.

[wrk2cruise]

4 hours ago, chemmo said:

If there was a Murano equivalent I would suggest you book the package but with your wife’s dietary needs you may be better catered for in Luminae...

 

I agree with this.  DW has dietary issues and we meet with Matre'd on the first day after boarding and discuss with him.  They seat you with the same waiter for each meal and the waiters are very good about food issues and communicate well with the galley.  I recommend asking to see the next days menus to discuss any variations required.  I think you will find they will go to great lengths even off menu to make sure you are happy.

 

Food may be slightly better in specialty restaurants but in my opinion the service in Luminae where they really know you far outweighs it.   In specialty restaurants we almost always have some miss-step with a dietary issue on each visit which diminishes the experience.   We now stay with Luminae.

[39august]

Since your  options for specialty on Millie are centered on meat, Tuscan and LPC, I would definitely wait to get on board and not book anything in advance. I agree with chemmo 100% about Luminae. 

[jelayne]

We would stick with Luminae.  We feel the food is better than either of the speciality restaurants on Millie and they can accommodate special requests easier.

[dkjretired]

Specialties on the M class ships are really limited, I would stick with Luminae where you will also be able to get items off of the MDR menu.

[Turtles06]

10 hours ago, Treasure Hunter said:

I really enjoyed the Lawn Club experience outdoors on the back of the ship eating grilled steak and salad during sunset wake views. You might want to try it.

The OP is sailing on the Millennium, which unfortunately does not have a Lawn Club Grill. As others have noted above, the specialty dining on the M-class ships is fairly limited. 

[TrulyBlonde]

+1 with what @chemmo said.

[George C]

We love Luminae food is really good service is even better but like trying one or two specialty restaurants to break up the week. Our last and next cruise we have a royal suite which includes all specialty restaurants, but we still had most of our meals in Luminae. 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

As others have said, the specialty restaurants on board the Millennium are very limited.  I find the food and service in Luminae to be excellent and you can also order off the MDR menu.  On my last cruise (on an S class ship) prior to the shutdown, my dining companions had purchased dinner at Murano to celebrate their anniversary.  When they came back the next night, they said that while the dinner was very good, they felt as if they had wasted $100 because they could have had just as good a dinner in Luminae.  I generally only go to Murano when specialty dining is included in the price of my suite.

 

[pennys mum]

Luminary has a separate vegetarian menu as the lady who sat next to us was always brought one.

As someone mentioned you can have the same waiter every night if you want and it helps as they remember your allergies etc

[BoundForSea]

Thanks to everyone who responded. This was very valuable info and interesting its so consistent among everyone! Thats a great sign.  Sounds like Luminae is going to be a great experience. This sounds ALOT like the Haven Restaurant (and thankfully much better than YC Restaurant which has zero offer for flexibility), where my DW had custom and great Vegan options, and they were so flexible to provide us with some dishes found in Specialty Reataurants with advance notice. Also having access to the MDR menu is a plus. We will coordinate with the MD on night one. We will be there for 14 nights so I think this will be a great experience. 

 

I think Im going to book two or three nights at the Italian Specialty Rest, just to break it up a bit, and theres three dishes Id like to try on the menu (Im of Italian descent). Ill wait to make a  decision until on board and will play it by ear. We are big sushi fans, so we plan to enjoy lunches there as well. 

 

Thanks again guys. The Vegetarian/Vegan piece is big for the DW and key to a great experience for her. Its a big reason why we book the ship within a ship experiences, for the increased food quality and flexibility to suit her needs. 

 

Thanks Again!!

[abbydancer2003]

If I can add my opinion ...

 

I've done dinner packages when in a suite, but only on a 10 or 14 day cruise.  A 7 day would, IMHO waste the benefit of Luminae.  On the 3 7 day cruises i've done over the summer, we usually do one specialty night, but not 3.  So to me, on these 7 day "Someday is here" cruises, I'm planning to stick with only one specialty night, probably Tuscan.  We're on July 31.

Edited May 25, 2021 by abbydancer

[tfred]

https://www.celebritycruisespresscenter.com/press-kit/10/celebrity-edge-menus/

 

I found this site from Celebrity that shows some of the sample menus on Edge.  These change over time, so I don't think that this is 100% current, but will give you an idea of the food choices.

 

To us, Luminae looks good, but to others it may seem "weird".  Food is highly subjective so YMMV.

[gauchotex]

I'll go ahead and add my 2 cents to the thread too... 

 

I will start by saying that our experience on Luminae is one of the main reasons why we book Suites. Their service is probably the best, and they are VERY flexible and accommodating. I remember one night on the Millennium several years ago, we had considered trying out Blu (Aqua Class dining room), since at the time, I believe we had free specialty dining included... our waiter mentioned that we could get something from the Blu menu for us brought to Luminae (Not sure if this is still something they do, but I'm bringing it up to show the level of service).

 

Our last cruise before the Pandemic (February 2020), was on NCL's Haven, and the most disappointing part for us, was that their menu was always the same, so after a few days it did get boring, which wasn't the case at Luminae!

 

We will likely do Tuscan Grille one of the nights to break things up, but very much looking forward to enjoying the awesome service and food at Luminae in July!

[Alsmez]

On 5/24/2021 at 11:26 AM, pennys mum said:

Luminary has a separate vegetarian menu as the lady who sat next to us was always brought one.

As someone mentioned you can have the same waiter every night if you want and it helps as they remember your allergies etc

 

Definitely ask about this and/or any special vegan dishes they might be able to offer - if your wife starts the week by ordering fish/seafood they may not offer it, and the vegetarian options on the regular menu are pretty dismal. 

[Covepointcruiser]

Luminae always offers a fish and a vegan option.   This should be good enough for your wife.   The specialties are focused on meat so you would be wasting $50 or more on a Mel for your wife.   She will have a great selection of meals in Luminae.

[Hypaiceangel]

Having dined in Luminae on the Connie and Equinox, I find the service to be impeccable and the food to be fantastic. The were also wonderful with our 3 year old son (as was all of the Celebrity staff). I thoroughly enjoyed the experience at Le Petit Chef on the Equinox, but, otherwise I don’t know that specialty dining on the Millie is worth it because Luminae is just so good. 
In my experience, Luminae and the Retreat are far superior to NCL’s Haven overall. 

[El Crucero]

On 5/23/2021 at 10:28 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

You can also get a really nice filet mignon in Luminae by asking your waiter to arrange it for the next evening.

I have done the same with lobster in Luminae or really pretty much whatever you want.  Vegetarian, no problem.  Request the maitre'd in Luminae the night before and you are good to go.  Heck, we had one guy at our table in the MDR order from the next night's menu because he had some sort of food fetish.  He always got what he wanted in the MDR.

[wrk2cruise]

Actually that's how they handle all food allergies, they give you the next nights menu and review with you to find something which will work.   I guess if you truly had a fetish they would work with you as well.

[Cruise a holic]

On 5/23/2021 at 10:51 PM, BoundForSea said:

For those who have dined in Luminae before Covid, did you feel like the selection and experience was enough where you really didn't feel like you needed to purchase a Specialty Dining Package? 

 

Sailing on Millennium in June and on the fence as to whether we really should purchase a 3 dinner package or just pass on it.  

 

Wife is a Vegan however eats fish (forgive me as I don't recall the name for this) and I enjoy pretty much everything, however love a great Filet and Lobster Tail Surf and Turf while on board.  

 

Thanks for the input!

While luminae is very good, still great to experience the specialty restaurants.  We always go to each at least once during our cruises.  We enjoy luminae for breakfast and lunch when served.

[cangelmd]

If this is your first time in Luminae, by all means try it as many times as you can.

BC (before Covid) the menu was a 14 day rotating, so if you had been in Luminae 2-3 times, you had seen everything, and might be ready for a change. The menu is slightly "fancied up " food, but not as relentlessly French as Murano. I would order off the MDR with some regularity - typically either a plain Bibb lettuce salad or an appetizer that sounded really good. You can arrange to have your steak every night if you choose.

Be sure to have lunch in Luminae at least once.