Luminae Menu cutbacks?

[CruiseRQA]

A few years ago we hosted our daughter's wedding reception at a very nice local restaurant.   We were able to put 3 entrees on the menu but for each extra we had to pay extra $$.   After much discussion and review we had 5 entrees on the menu for the guests to choose from.

 

75% (that's right, 75%) ordered filet mignon.  90% ordered one one the original 3 and only 10% picked one of the two extra entrees we ordered.   

 

If I had to do it all over again I could have saved $$ by sticking with the 3 original entrees.  I am sure the 20 out of 200 guests that ordered from the extra two entrees would have been happy with one of the first 3.  Especially if they didn't know what wasn't on the menu.

 

Perhaps Celebrity is thinking the same way?

[sptrout]

I had beef nearly every evening. Beef, and lamb, are usually safe items. One thing missing though (maybe always missing) the size is seldom not mentioned. This could be just my bad memory. 

[prmssk]

1 hour ago, Dezmo said:

On our upcoming constellation cruise 2/13 the lobster roll on embarkation lunch is no longer available 🙁. I’m still hoping it will be there on the day. 
 

I have also noticed menu changes for our sailing in the last week or so but I can’t remember specifics. 

 

On our Constellation sailing November, they switched the more typical embarkation day lunch menu with a sea day lunch menu.  Does the lobster roll show up for lunch on a different day?

[RichYak]

7 minutes ago, CruiseRQA said:

If I had to do it all over again I could have saved $$ by sticking with the 3 original entrees.  I am sure the 20 out of 200 guests that ordered from the extra two entrees would have been happy with one of the first 3.  Especially if they didn't know what wasn't on the menu.

 

Perhaps Celebrity is thinking the same way?

If your guests aren't happy with the food choices, can they just go to a different wedding instead? Because that's the way Celebrity should be thinking.

[George C]

We always liked Luminae never had a bad meal , but I was definitely disappointed in the food quality on beyond a couple of months ago , also fine cut was not as good as on our visit on Edge . Looking forward to summit in 2 months in royal suite. 

[Dezmo]

1 hour ago, prmssk said:

On our Constellation sailing November, they switched the more typical embarkation day lunch menu with a sea day lunch menu.  Does the lobster roll show up for lunch on a different day?

Just checked and there are no other lunch menus available only breakfast and dinner for the rest of the cruise. It’s a 12 day cruise with 4 sea days. 
 

It might be a glitch/ menu error with our cruise though as previously showed luminae open for lunch on some port days but closed during some sea days. 

[prmssk]

28 minutes ago, Dezmo said:

Just checked and there are no other lunch menus available only breakfast and dinner for the rest of the cruise. It’s a 12 day cruise with 4 sea days. 
 

It might be a glitch/ menu error with our cruise though as previously showed luminae open for lunch on some port days but closed during some sea days. 

 

 

Your cruise just isn't close enough yet.  I'm sure Luminae will be open on the sea days as well.  On my November cruise, there were a lot of missing menus and inaccuracies up until about 2-3 days before the cruise (and then I noticed changes even on boarding day).  

[Treasure Hunter]

Currently on the Edge in a celebrity suite. Luminae is open for lunch only on sea days. There are few choices. The first day they did serve a lobster roll that bore no resemblance to former ones. Two small pieces mixed in with greens. After not finding anything to our liking in main courses we have booked with our generous OBC specialty restaurants for most of the nights. Last night Eden was very good. Lobster casserole outstanding as was the gnocchi . the always available in Luminae is best bet. escargot, onion soup, caesar salad. Once they had a really delicious Bibb lettuce with pine nuts. But the mains are a real disappointment. The cannelloni bore no resemblance to anything Italian. And you can’t order from the MDR as it’s too far away

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

Another regular poster here recently made similar comments and specified a lack of beef dishes including the standard filet mignon which was always a first night dish in Luminae. When I checked the app for current menus though I saw multiple beef dishes including the filet and the menus did not appear to be much different from what I recall seeing posted here the past few years. Perhaps some specific cruises have had menu rotations changed or ran into supply chain issues that resulted in some substitutions? Overall though I think this appears to be a false alarm.

On my last B2B in December they still had the Filet but it was on a later day.  Just looked at at the Apex and they have it on the last night.    It was larger than previous cruises and very tasty.

 

The only meat I didn't like was something called a NY Strip Stake but it was round and no marbling and no fat on the edge -- looked more like a roast beef but thick cut.   Not very tasty.

[TeeRick]

2 hours ago, marieps said:

Say hello to Hendri in the WCB.  He's awesome.  If they offer the free cocktail class in the Retreat Lounge he teaches it and it's very informative.  Get there early.  It's at the bar in the RL and there's only four or five seats.

WCB is my favorite.  I will be sure to say hello to Hendri.

Edited January 18, 2023 by TeeRick

[Shiba_Lover]

I'm almost wondering if this is not an edge class ship issue.  I've previously sailed in the Retreat on non-edge class ships then this summer sailed on Apex for the first time.  I felt Luminae was a bit diminished then (which was pre all this "what is X doing" discussion.  Maybe it is due to the sheer size of Luminae and the number of guests on an e class ship.  I'll be back on the Summit in in a suite in 2 weeks and will see then.

 

 

[CruiseRQA]

3 hours ago, RichYak said:

If your guests aren't happy with the food choices, can they just go to a different wedding instead? Because that's the way Celebrity should be thinking.

According to actual business reports (Value Line for one),  RCL as a company has record bookings at record prices for 2023 so what should Celebrity conclude other than the people are happy with the product? 

[cruisinsusin]

5 hours ago, Dezmo said:

On our upcoming constellation cruise 2/13 the lobster roll on embarkation lunch is no longer available 🙁. I’m still hoping it will be there on the day. 
 

I have also noticed menu changes for our sailing in the last week or so but I can’t remember specifics. 

 

Lobster roll was there on day one lunch of last week's Silhouette cruise, and filet was on the day one dinner menu.

[viperfoth]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

On my last B2B in December they still had the Filet but it was on a later day.  Just looked at at the Apex and they have it on the last night.    It was larger than previous cruises and very tasty.

 

The only meat I didn't like was something called a NY Strip Stake but it was round and no marbling and no fat on the edge -- looked more like a roast beef but thick cut.   Not very tasty.

Agree with you on the "NY Strip Stake", no marbling and very little 'steak' flavor.. Also agree on the Filet on the last day on our trip on Equinox.

 

[Mark_T]

5 hours ago, Dezmo said:

t might be a glitch/ menu error with our cruise though as previously showed luminae open for lunch on some port days but closed during some sea days. 

The pattern of sea/port days follows the current cruise, so is often not aligned with you specific future cruise. 

[Mark_T]

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

The only meat I didn't like was something called a NY Strip Stake but it was round and no marbling and no fat on the edge -- looked more like a roast beef but thick cut. 

The presentation of ‘named’ steaks across the restaurants does seem to end up as ‘round & flat’ regardless of what they call it.

 

Suffered this in Tuscan as well. 

[phoenix_dream]

3 hours ago, CruiseRQA said:

According to actual business reports (Value Line for one),  RCL as a company has record bookings at record prices for 2023 so what should Celebrity conclude other than the people are happy with the product? 

These changes being talked about began 1/1 and were not announced beforehand.  So these statistics mean nothing

[satxutcruiser]

Is the Filet no longer part of the classics menu every night in Luminae? It was previously part of the four classics you could always order for dinner (one was chicken breast, one was a filet, can't remember the other two).

[RichYak]

40 minutes ago, satxutcruiser said:

Is the Filet no longer part of the classics menu every night in Luminae? It was previously part of the four classics you could always order for dinner (one was chicken breast, one was a filet, can't remember the other two).

The only filet I can recall being available everyday in Luminae was the 4oz version from the kids menu. To my recollection, the beef on the timeless classics menu has been sirloin.

[SusieAV8R]

5 hours ago, ehall said:

I'm almost wondering if this is not an edge class ship issue.  I've previously sailed in the Retreat on non-edge class ships then this summer sailed on Apex for the first time.  I felt Luminae was a bit diminished then (which was pre all this "what is X doing" discussion.  Maybe it is due to the sheer size of Luminae and the number of guests on an e class ship.  I'll be back on the Summit in in a suite in 2 weeks and will see then.

 

 

Please keep us posted.  A comparison would be appreciated. 🙂

[RMac713]

We took our first X cruise last July on Equinox and loved Luminae.  We have a Beyond cruise in April and another Equinox in November.  Hoping things are still good, but I'm sure they will be.  On embarkation day I had a "crab cake sandwich" that was killer!

[ohiojohn]

We are currently on the Apex and was on the Apex same time last year.  The gloom and doom I read prior to this cruise on the Celebrity board kinda took the wind out of the sails so to speak.  However, we have found Luminae excellent and as good as last year.  The surprise was having lunch available this past Monday which was a San Juan arrival at 3:30.  Usually, I remember no lunch when arriving to San Juan.  I have found on this cruise we have interacted more with the Butler and Luminae staff than on previous cruises. So in summary, I will recall an expression I used when growing up on Long Island which is “ Foour get abought it”.  Now my experience is tainted by being in the retreat.  I will say the retreat prices may move us back to AQ.

[Treasure Hunter]

No filet in classics. Chicken breast, Salmon, and NY Strip . The steak is grey, thin and tasteless with some kind of au jus. It reminded me of the line in the movie Meatballs ( mystery meat). Basically the appetizers and desserts are very good ( had a delicious Burrata cheese and tomato appetizer last night) the mains poor. My chunk of Duck was hard, over cooked and tasteless with no sauce or glaze. So now we order four appetizers and if the main is bad at least we’re ok. And that’s Luminae! By the way the ship is packed. All suites sold out. Great service. 

[Treasure Hunter]

Also there’s ton of stuff they have that aren’t written down. You have to just know. Like chocolate cake, ice cream with fudge sauce, baked potato with sour cream and chives, dish of mixed steamed vegetables 

[TeeRick]

20 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

Sounds like a shrimp...

Not a shrimp.  More like a crawfish- and the Spiny warm water lobster actually is a crawfish.