Luminae Questions

[J80crew]

After many Celebrity sailings, we will be in the Retreat for the first time next week. I get reminders from X to reserve MDR dining (have already reserved specialties). If I reserve times, will those reservations automatically go to Luminae, or will they assume I want the main dining room?  Also, is it possible to order from the MDR menu in Luminae?  Thanks for your help. 

[dcbiker97]

Luminae doesn’t have a reservation system. It’s all open dining. As for whether you can order off the MDR menus, it depends on the class of ship you’re in. You can on M and S classes, but not on Edge because the two kitchens are not connected on Edge. 

Edited February 3, 2022 by dcbiker97

[jelayne]

Ignore the emails, no reservations in Luminae just go when you want.

[jalves]

39 minutes ago, J80crew said:

is it possible to order from the MDR menu in Luminae?

Yes, your Luminae server will be happy to get you food off the MDR menu.

[wrk2cruise]

14 minutes ago, jalves said:

Yes, your Luminae server will be happy to get you food off the MDR menu.

 

On M and S class ships.   On E class the galleys are on opposite ends of the ship.

[sptrout]

On the Reflection last week our Luminae server did not want to serve from the MDR menu and I saw very few, if any, people that had items from the MDR. Our server said that the MDR standards were not up to Luminae standards. 

 

I have ordered from the MDR menu while in Luminae without issues during other cruises. Cannot say why the server last week said what he did unless there was actually new issues. Anyway, I just ordered from the Luminae menu and all was mostly fine; with only a couple losers. The duck breast was just five very small and I mean very small (think a long finger nail) and very thin. I could have eaten all five in one bite. The rack of lamb was also poor; small quantity and tough. I did not complain about either; I know, I should have.

[miched]

Per another post they don’t do in on the E class

 

We never had a issue on the M or S class.   It may be that the server is new or just doesn’t want to do it.  Ask to be seated in a different area with another server

 

Another that I have learned from my experience and reading. What people post.  Don’t believe everything you read, and it could also be my post as things change 

 

I have read that I if you ask for the Chef to make you a dinner that is their specialty they will do that.  Was always told they don’t do that.   They will make a dinner according to your diet needs.  

 

I have also read where many say that the wine server pairs the wine for each course and it was to perfection.   I have asked  many times and the server said we don’t that.   They said that they will make suggestions and we should just drink what we like 

 

I think some lie to exaggerate.  This is my opion  and I am sure others will differ

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🚢

[J80crew]

Thanks to all of you. We’ll be on Reflection, so will try to order from MDR if there is something we prefer to what is on the Luminae menu. Hope we don’t get sptrout’s waiter!

[Algebralovr]

We were on Reflection in a suite in November and had no issue ordering off the MDR dining room menu.    Quite often, we prefer the MDR to the Luminae menu.

[George C]

We have cruised M class the most and concierge had menus for Luminae and Mdr , I would look to see if we liked what was there or wanted to go to specialty restaurant. Love perk of free specialty restaurants for royal suite and above, but even with that option we would eat most meals in Luminae.

Edited February 3, 2022 by George C

[verizon]

 

I should be thankful to my  sommelier that brought me dessert wine thats not even from the wine list in Luminae.

Guess is the remainder from the bottle. .

I just gave them time and they always tried  their best.

[sptrout]

Apparently my comments about our waiter have been misconstrued. We actually thought that our waiter was one of the best we have ever had. Sharp memory, greeted us by name every night (as all did even the bread server), always remembered even minor requests such as no potatoes for me.

 

For all I know the MDR menu thing may have been a one night issue when comparing similar beef dishes. As nearly everyone in the restaurant, he was from India and wore a mask so it was many times difficult to understand exactly what he was saying. We always ask the waiter for their recommendations and he would just point to the dish(es) that he suggested. A lot easier that way. That was the one situation where wearing a mask was a problem; neither one of us could fully understand each other. 

 

If we were on the Reflection now, we would ask for the same waiter.

[DaKahuna]

W sailed on Refection on a B2B in December and were presented with the MDR menu along with the Luminae menu each night.  We had no issue ordering any item from either menu. 

[cruise kitty]

40 minutes ago, sptrout said:

Apparently my comments about our waiter have been misconstrued. We actually thought that our waiter was one of the best we have ever had. Sharp memory, greeted us by name every night (as all did even the bread server), always remembered even minor requests such as no potatoes for me.

 

For all I know the MDR menu thing may have been a one night issue when comparing similar beef dishes. As nearly everyone in the restaurant, he was from India and wore a mask so it was many times difficult to understand exactly what he was saying. We always ask the waiter for their recommendations and he would just point to the dish(es) that he suggested. A lot easier that way. That was the one situation where wearing a mask was a problem; neither one of us could fully understand each other. 

 

If we were on the Reflection now, we would ask for the same waiter.

Nice of you to come back & report that your waiter was good, most people wouldn't bother 🙂.  

[WonderMan3]

We had a server once (also on Reflection coincidentally) who tried to discourage us from ordering from the MDR menu giving us the line about quality too. We thanked him for his input and then asked him to bring us the MDR menu and we ordered what we wanted. I will say though that we generally don't order from the MDR menu but sometimes there are nights when we just aren't satisfied with the Luminae menu choices (usually the appetizers more than the entrees) and want another option.

[George C]

2 hours ago, verizon said:

 

 

I should be thankful to my  sommelier that brought me dessert wine thats not even from the wine list in Luminae.

Guess is the remainder from the bottle. .

I just gave them time and they always tried  their best.

We ordered our normal wine decoy which they were out of , sommelier who didn’t impress us at all offered us several inferior wines when we rejected them he gave us a upscale wine I believe caymus for same price as decoy . Another time we brought a bottle on board that sommelier asked for a taste , that was only time we were not charged the 25 corkage fee.

[asnaleah]

On Silhouette now, leaving tomorrow SAD! Anyway, our fantastic waiter, Marlon, brought MDR food to anyone who asked. If we wanted something not on the Luminae menu, we just asked Marlon who gladly brought us anything we wanted, such as a plain tossed salad, or adding the menu protein to a salad for us. We could not have had a better experience. Happy sailing!

[jalves]

15 hours ago, J80crew said:

Thanks to all of you. We’ll be on Reflection, so will try to order from MDR if there is something we prefer to what is on the Luminae menu. Hope we don’t get sptrout’s waiter!

We are on the reflection right now and our Luminae server has been happy to bring us items from the MDR.

[PTC DAWG]

If you want MDR food, why not just go the MDR?  Do folks walk into a specialty restaurant and ask for MDR food?  Seems to defeat the purpose, IMHO YMMV. 

Edited February 4, 2022 by PTC DAWG

[sptrout]

9 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

If you want MDR food, why not just go the MDR?  Do folks walk into a specialty restaurant and ask for MDR food?  Seems to defeat the purpose, IMHO YMMV. 

A person may only want one or two items off the MDR menu or, more importantly, want to keep the same waiter that one is familiar with in the Luminae. 

[sherylc]

For our group of 4, some of us would like the Luminae menu at a meal and others, not so much. It was nice to be handed both menus and be able to get whatever each person wants.

[kwokpot]

12 minutes ago, sherylc said:

For our group of 4, some of us would like the Luminae menu at a meal and others, not so much. It was nice to be handed both menus and be able to get whatever each person wants.

For clarity purposes the handing out of MDR menus in Luminae isn't fleetwide and isn't done on the Apex.

[Guppy99]

38 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

For clarity purposes the handing out of MDR menus in Luminae isn't fleetwide and isn't done on the Apex.

Where it is not offered outright, it should IMO not be requested. There is a tendency for suite (and elite+) passengers to take an entitled view of services.  Instead of being satisfied with what is offered, they ask for extras. This causes additional work. Staff is trained to always be polite and never say "no", and some people take advantage.  if you want to eat in te mDR, then make a reservation there. Luminae's menu is not Luminae + the MDR.... otherwise it would be consolidated into one menu offering.

[jagoffee]

2 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

If you want MDR food, why not just go the MDR?  Do folks walk into a specialty restaurant and ask for MDR food?  Seems to defeat the purpose, IMHO YMMV. 

Do you normally book a suite and dine in Luminae.

12 minutes ago, Guppy99 said:

Where it is not offered outright, it should IMO not be requested. There is a tendency for suite (and elite+) passengers to take an entitled view of services.  Instead of being satisfied with what is offered, they ask for extras. This causes additional work. Staff is trained to always be polite and never say "no", and some people take advantage.  if you want to eat in te mDR, then make a reservation there. Luminae's menu is not Luminae + the MDR.... otherwise it would be consolidated into one menu offering.

On the S class ships the two kitchens are right next to each other.  
The same question for you.  Do you normally book a suite and dine in Luminae?

You never make any special requests when dining in a restaurant?

[JFontaine]

Actually Luminae's menu is also MDR on M and S class ships. Celebrity realized a long time ago that the Luminae menu was too small for the majority of its cruisers.  They have tried to supplement it with the MDR menu on M and S class ships where it is easy. On the E class ships it is not, so they added always available, which is unwritten.  Some nights 60% of Luminae cruisers order something off an alternate menu. Celebrity knows exactly what is popular and what is not. I was hoping for an E class menu expansion before Covid, but it hasnt happened yet. Celebrity wants these cruisers to be happy, and they will do what they can to accomplish that.  Nobody should feel funny asking. All cruisers are entitled to eat in the dining room assigned to them with a meal they will enjoy (within reason).