Dining advice for those who sail in Royal & Penthouse suites

[sfoltz]

Its been several years since I have cruised on Celebrity. I am booked in a RS on the 9 night September 8th cruise on the Equinox.  It is my understanding that I have unlimited dining in all specialty restaurants.  I have never dined in Luminae (on any ship).  Should I forego dining in Luminae and book specialty restaurants for all nine nights?  If no, is there any opinion on how many times I should dine in Luminae versus the specialties?  Thanks for any information & opinions that you can provide.

[CalTexCruiser]

Yes unlimited specialty dining.

 

We first look at Luminae's menu to determine the entrees served each night, and skip those nights that we don't fancy.

 

I think it is good to mix it up a bit.   The service provided by Luminae is great and we quite enjoy meals there as well.

 

On one cruise we tried the specialty dining every night and got tired of specialty dining after night 4, and spent the remaining three nights in Luminae.

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2022 by CalTexCruiser

[sfoltz]

Thank you! That was very helpful.  So, when and where can you view the menus?  Is this something you need to do each day?  If yes, you review the menu each day, is there always "room for one more" in the specialties?

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I would suggest starting in Luminae.  See how you like it.  Your butler, the Retreat Host, or the maitre d' in Luminae will be able to get you reservations in whatever specialty restaurants you desire to visit.  Personally, I find Luminae equal to most of the specialty restaurants.  Last time I cruised on Equinox, friends of mine had reserved Murano for their anniversary.  When they came back the next night, they said it was fine but that they could have had an equally fine dinner in Luminae.  They were only in a sky suite, thus had to pay for Murano.  When the specialty restaurants are included in the price of your cabin, that's a good time to try them out.  Then you can decide what you prefer.

[CalTexCruiser]

9 minutes ago, sfoltz said:

Thank you! That was very helpful.  So, when and where can you view the menus?  Is this something you need to do each day?  If yes, you review the menu each day, is there always "room for one more" in the specialties?

 

You can see Luminae's menu with the Celebrity app in the weeks before the sail date (don't look too far ahead as sometimes those early menus are inaccurate).

 

Then when the shoreside concierge contacts you 2 or 3 weeks (sometimes 1 week) before the sail date, you can ask the shoreside concierge to book your first two or three specialty dinners.

 

Then once you are onboard, your Retreat Host (i.e. butler) can make the remaining dinner arrangements, and by that time you can be sure the app will have accurate menus.

 

And yes, for the most part, your Retreat Host or the Retreat Concierge can most likely get you a reservation in a specialty dinner even on short notice--I have never been told no even when booking a specialty dinner on the day of.  But of course never say never.

[sfoltz]

Thanks HappyCruiser & CalTexCruiser.  One of these days I need to come up with a witty handle/user name!  My first name's initial and last name doesn't quite cut it. 

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

We are on the same cruise, same category, the following sailing. Interesting advice.
Haven’t been on Celebrity in many years. We normally cruise on Regent. Let’s see how it compares…..

sheila

[Whinenowine]

4 hours ago, Bellaggio Cruisers said:

We are on the same cruise, same category, the following sailing. Interesting advice.
Haven’t been on Celebrity in many years. We normally cruise on Regent. Let’s see how it compares…..

sheila

 

Celebrity will be different than Regent in many respects (avg cruiser age, mostly 'non-suite guests', etc).  It's still very nice, the staff in the Retreat are fantastic and the restaurants are very good (just not Regent level).  

 

As for Luminae vs specialty restaurants, we shake it up and do 50/50. We generally make the specialty reservations in advance with the shoreside concierge.  I think they'll try their damndest to get you into a specialty restaurant at the last minute......but I still think it's easier to get into Luminae.  

[chuckw]

We are long time Regent cruisers, did our first Celerity in 15 years last October round trip Seattle.  Granted it was at reduced capacity, but it was excellent.  Booked a Royal suite for next year similar price to Regent but a bigger suite.  It will be interesting to see how a full ship compares.

[chemmo]

9 hours ago, sfoltz said:

Its been several years since I have cruised on Celebrity. I am booked in a RS on the 9 night September 8th cruise on the Equinox.  It is my understanding that I have unlimited dining in all specialty restaurants.  I have never dined in Luminae (on any ship).  Should I forego dining in Luminae and book specialty restaurants for all nine nights?  If no, is there any opinion on how many times I should dine in Luminae versus the specialties?  Thanks for any information & opinions that you can provide.

We are opposite to several of the above posters mainly choosing to dine in the speciality restaurants. Whilst we have never had a bad meal in Luminae we do find the choices quite limited. The menu is quite ‘playfully’ written so it can be difficult to actually know what to expect. There have been a few picture reviews done, looking them up could be useful. I would also add that vegetable portions can be more of a garnish than a portion. You can order a side of veggies or a salad to supplement. Luminae is open for breakfast every day, lunch on boarding day and sea days and every evening. 

 

Re the speciality restaurants…

 

Murano, our favourite restaurant. Quite classical in style, service and presentation. Several of the dishes have a degree of table side presentation. Murano’s is the busiest speciality on Equinox in our experience and can book up towards the end of the cruise. It is a longer dining experience so we tend to enjoy on a sea day rather than on a day we have had a busy excursion.
 

Tuscan, think a relaxed steak and pasta venue. Fantastic wake views, worth booking for! We tend to dine here on evenings we are leaving a port at about 6pm. We love to watch the port slowly disappear from view as we peruse the menu, the sun begins to set as we enjoy our entrée and darkness descends as we enjoy coffee and cognac. Quite magical!

 

Le Petite Chef. It is fun dining rather than fine dining. To us a ‘once and done experience’. YouTube it to see what you think. Some people really enjoy.

 

Sushi on Five. Does have more than Sushi. We tend to dine there one or two lunchtimes rather than in the evenings.

 

If I was you I would peruse some menus…The shoreside concierge will contact you about two weeks before you cruise. I suggest you pre book a Tuscan and a Murano early in the cruise to try, then do a night or two in Luminae and go from there. 
 

Edited July 9, 2022 by chemmo

[chemmo]

8 hours ago, Bellaggio Cruisers said:

We are on the same cruise, same category, the following sailing. Interesting advice.
Haven’t been on Celebrity in many years. We normally cruise on Regent. Let’s see how it compares…..

sheila

I haven’t cruised Regent so I cannot offer a comparison.
 

However, we feel Celebrity gives us two experiences in one…We have the club like atmosphere of the Retreat areas when we want it but a wide range of other bars, restaurants and entertainment venues too. Service levels throughout the ship are generally very good so no need to simply stay in the Retreat areas. We can have some lively evenings and some quiet ones.

 

 

 

 

[SHIP TRAVELER]

I just wanted to suggest that you DO book a specialty restaurant the first night because even Luminae can experience a little first night confusion, but nothing like the chaos and lines in the MDR of course.  If you have a scenic sail away you might want to reserve Tuscan with a seat by the full window facing aft.  Tuscan is not our favorite but it has the very best view and you will want to try it at least.  We booked every night with the shore side contact before boarding because we like to eat at 6:30ish.  When you get on board you can usually adjust this schedule based on your experiences on board.  We wanted a second night in Murano and only 8:45 was available so we opted for Luminae which was not busy on chic night.  Being in a Royal Suite you can get a primo table by the window in Luminae.  Any way I guess to sum it up, (imho) it is worth while to book a SR the first night and also to book every night in advance if you like an earlier dining time.  You can always change things later.

[George C]

We did upper suites our last three celebrity cruises. We always eat lunch and dinner in Luminae the first day. After that it depends on menu for Luminae, normally service in Luminae will be better than specialty. We normally do 3 nights in specialty. 

[drarill]

17 hours ago, sfoltz said:

Its been several years since I have cruised on Celebrity. I am booked in a RS on the 9 night September 8th cruise on the Equinox.  It is my understanding that I have unlimited dining in all specialty restaurants.  I have never dined in Luminae (on any ship).  Should I forego dining in Luminae and book specialty restaurants for all nine nights?  If no, is there any opinion on how many times I should dine in Luminae versus the specialties?  Thanks for any information & opinions that you can provide.

We had lunch every day at Le Grand Bistro, it was wonderful.  This is a link to a video I made with every lunch we had there. We mixed Luminae with some specialty dining, we went to Eden,  Fine Cut Steakhouse and the Rooftop Garden Grill. Regret going to Luminae the last couple of days, it was too full. https://www.instagram.com/tv/Ccg3ppVIbF3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

[chemmo]

3 minutes ago, drarill said:

We had lunch every day at Le Grand Bistro, it was wonderful.  This is a link to a video I made with every lunch we had there. We mixed Luminae with some specialty dining, we went to Eden,  Fine Cut Steakhouse and the Rooftop Garden Grill. Regret going to Luminae the last couple of days, it was too full. https://www.instagram.com/tv/Ccg3ppVIbF3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The OP is on Equinox not an Edge class ship…

[emelle]

I agree, mix it up since it's your first time. Preious posters and I agree on the specialties for the most part. Don't forget Porch, if it's still around and you like seafood. I use it for lunch on sea days or if we are staying on board and I get the seafood tower. DH won't touch seafood so I get all I want!

 

I would say though, as an upper level suite, be sure you communicate with the Luminae maitre  d'.....especially if you will not be there the first day. I find they like to see your face, match you with the picture they have, find out which table you may prefer, and they want to please you, etc. While service first day may be getting all the gears working....some of luminae (if you are a previous cruiser) is finding your favorite waiter and being sure you are seated in their area, getting the water/bread service person to know your preferences, the sommielier the same etc. After the first time, it smoothes itself out and usually you don't have to specify unless you change your mind. I like luminae menu, fwiw, and DH if he doesn't knows he can have a steak from the MDR menu....the waiter will learn and accomidate quickly. At the beginning of the first dinner, I always tell the luminae waiter that each eveing I want a "bowl" of extra green veggies...then I give an example....if asparagus/spinach/brocolli etc are on the menu that night, they should just make an extra "plain" serving for me. After the second dinner, they will "speak it for me" after I have ordered my entree..." and of course an extra serving of green veggie for Mrs.-------..." and there are smiles all around.

Murano is good for a special evening and while husband likes Tuscan, it's too much "steak house" for me....but we usually go once a cruise. Sushi on 5 is lunch time for us (they have small slider burgers for DH) and we have never done Petit chef because though it's just not my thing, it may be yours. HTH and have a great time.

 

Edited July 9, 2022 by emelle

[DCPIV]

I tend to agree with much of the above advice. Luminae is quite nice, and it's very nice to have a staff that knows your preferences and rhythm, and service. While the menu is rather limited, you can order from the MDR and Blu menus if there's something there you'd rather have. We dine in Luminae much more often than not. 

 

That said, you do want to mix things up and check out the specialty restaurants. We'll probably get to Murano at least a couple times during our upcoming Equinox sailing. We'll certainly get to Sushi on 5 a number of times for lunch (it's open even on port days).  Tuscan Grille isn't bad, but we prefer Luminae (it is a fantastic view, though). Le Petit Chef isn't our thing, but many have enjoyed it. You also can do the Chef's Table if you enjoy that sort of thing. 

 

Someone mentioned The Porch, but there isn't one on Equinox. 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We go to Luminae for lunch when we board and the 1st night for dinner.  After that it is anyone's guess. The only time we went consistently for breakfast was on Edge when we were right across the hall from Luminae. The last night Luminae was super busy and we wished we had gone to a specialty. (There were only 900 or so guests but suites were sold out.)

 

Our last cruise on Silhouette we spent a lot of time in Murano's and I have to admit we were getting a little bored with it. Pre covid they prepared 3 off menu meals for us and I guess we were hoping for a repeat.

 

Our next cruise we will definitely mix it up for dinner and will enjoy lunch at the Porch and Sushi on 5 on port days. Might even try room service for lunch on New Year's day.

 

[LGW59]

10 hours ago, drarill said:

We had lunch every day at Le Grand Bistro, it was wonderful.  This is a link to a video I made with every lunch we had there. We mixed Luminae with some specialty dining, we went to Eden,  Fine Cut Steakhouse and the Rooftop Garden Grill. Regret going to Luminae the last couple of days, it was too full. https://www.instagram.com/tv/Ccg3ppVIbF3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I wish I could watch this, but alas no Instagram

[chemmo]

1 hour ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

We go to Luminae for lunch when we board and the 1st night for dinner.  After that it is anyone's guess. The only time we went consistently for breakfast was on Edge when we were right across the hall from Luminae. The last night Luminae was super busy and we wished we had gone to a specialty. (There were only 900 or so guests but suites were sold out.)

 

Our last cruise on Silhouette we spent a lot of time in Murano's and I have to admit we were getting a little bored with it. Pre covid they prepared 3 off menu meals for us and I guess we were hoping for a repeat.

 

Our next cruise we will definitely mix it up for dinner and will enjoy lunch at the Porch and Sushi on 5 on port days. Might even try room service for lunch on New Year's day.

 

Silhouette has become our favourite ship partly because of the additional restaurants. Like you we love Murano but variety is nice, not just in terms of menu but ambiance. Whilst we are not great fans of the Lawn Grill it is nice mid cruise to eat somewhere with a family BBQ feel…

 

We have also experienced having none menu items in Murano on both Equinox and Eclipse. It wasn’t offered on Silhouette (post covid) and we didn’t ask, we thought the staff were busy enough.

 

In suite dining is something we enjoy occasionally too. We quite like some of the standard room service offerings including the chicken noodle soup and the club sandwich…Fine dining is not wanted every meal!

 

 

[asnaleah]

We enjoy Luminae so much we rarely eat in specialty restaurants even when included because of sailing in a Royal suite. Murano is good once or twice, but I can skip Tuscan. Porch is great for lunches!

[sbcs5390]

4 hours ago, DCPIV said:

You also can do the Chef's Table if you enjoy that sort of thing. 

This thread is very helpful. I'll be in a RS for the first time on Solstice soon. Chef's Table would come out of my OBC, right? 

[chemmo]

23 minutes ago, sbcs5390 said:

This thread is very helpful. I'll be in a RS for the first time on Solstice soon. Chef's Table would come out of my OBC, right? 

Yes, chefs table is not included in RS/PH.

[texkat]

My preferences on Equinox:

‘

Breakfasts in Luminae.

 

Lunch in Luminae or Sushi on 5.

 

LOVED Tuscan. Murano was fancy and the food great, but it’s a long, slow-paced dinner. And I found Le Petit Chef fun and charming- there are 3 different “shows”, each with its own fixed menu, all very good.

 

You’ll be able to see the menus for each venue by night in the mobile app before you embark, so you can peruse and compare. Enjoy!

[CharlieCharlieCharlie]

On 7/8/2022 at 3:47 PM, Bellaggio Cruisers said:

We are on the same cruise, same category, the following sailing. Interesting advice.
Haven’t been on Celebrity in many years. We normally cruise on Regent. Let’s see how it compares…..

sheila

After your sailing I hope you'll post your comparison, we have considered Regent, but not followed through with a booking.  It just seems like if the itinerary is similar, you get so much more with Celebrity for the prices.  Equinox is wonderful, as are the other S Class Ships - especially Silhouette, we love the retreat deck there, and think Reflection will be even better than it already is when it is updated.