Limited Luminae Menu Options

[Ken52891]

We are sailing on our first Celebrity Cruise in a few weeks, and we're sailing in the Retreat, so we get access to Luminae. I've heard amazing things about it, but when I look at the menus on the App, I see very limited options (especially at lunch) for appetizers. And none of them sound good or something the people I'm sailing with and I would be interested in (The app says borscht soup, Prawn Ceviche, and Kale Salad for embarkation day lunch). We've sailed in Haven on NCL many times and love eating in the suite restaurant on embarkation day to get a lay of the land and meet the servers we interact with during the week. It's also a nice pace compared to the buffet on embarkation day. However, I'm afraid we will not be able to do that. Does Celebrity have classic options that I can order from that are not on the menu, or is the app 100% accurate, and that's all we have for options? 

[cruisestitch]

The app is never 100% accurate.

 

however, in this case, it is likely that the app is fairly accurate because the Luminae menus don’t change that much from cruise to cruise.

[RichYak]

Why let the appetizer choices drive you away? I mean, there's a delicious burger and fries on the menu. That's typically something that people like who don't care for kale salad.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

If you like Lobster and the Lobster roll is on the menu you can get it as an appetizer without the roll. 

[K Cross]

The is no "classic menu", but you can usually order off the menu. For an appetizer you should be order something like a salad or a shrimp cocktail. Remember... on embarkation day the kitchen is limited or obvious reasons (restocking, guest turnaround, etc.) 

[asnaleah]

Which ship? If an S or M class, you can always order off the main dining room menu. Maybe not day one - someone else may know this answer. Luminae’s food is delicious, the service top notch. Enjoy!

[jelayne]

If you are on a E class ship then you don’t the option of ordering from the MDR or Blu menus as the kitchens are a long way apart.  M & S class you can.

 

On E class the Classic everyday items are available at dinner; chicken, sirloin, salmon, shrimp cocktail, French onion soup, Caesar salad.  I have not requested anything not on the printed menu at lunch on embarkation day.  Like you I find the Luminae menu limited ( can’t eat fish/seafood) so we often go the one of the MDR when we are on a E class ship. 

[LuvCruzn4Evr]

Embarkation day has a lunch for Concierge class in the main dining room. You can also pick from the Concierge lunch menu. I don't recall all of the choices but there is a nice butternut squash soup 😁

[Jim_Iain]

Ken -  You may want to go further down the page.   You are only quoting the appetizers.   Personally I rarely order an appetizer.

 

In addition to what you listed - the menu on Day 1 has:

 

Creamy Lobster Roll

Grilled NY Steak Frites

Seared Branzion

Cobb Salad

Luminae Signature Burger

 

There is also a Children's Menu that you may find something on.

 

Then of course there is desert

 

[The_Big_M]

Unfortunately those are all the appetiser options at lunch.

 

Agreed, the Luminae menu is quite restricted. It'd be an easyish fix to go back to more like the older MDR menus, which would give more options overall then, but it's not something they've done.

 

The other odd thing is that overall Blu, despite being a 'lower' restaurant, has more choices.

[PTC DAWG]

37 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Ken -  You may want to go further down the page.   You are only quoting the appetizers.   Personally I rarely order an appetizer.

 

In addition to what you listed - the menu on Day 1 has:

 

Creamy Lobster Roll

Grilled NY Steak Frites

Seared Branzion

Cobb Salad

Luminae Signature Burger

 

There is also a Children's Menu that you may find something on.

 

Then of course there is desert

 

All of that sounds excellent..

[CHEZMARYLOU]

You can also get the Cobb salad without chicken as a starter.

[Stem to Stern]

Another starter option to consider would be to order the lobster roll minus the roll.

[dock]

Is the Lobster Roll standard on embarkation lunch ? 
I don’t see it listed on any lunch menus for our Feb Ascent cruise in Retreat.

Thank You. 

[sptrout]

Actually the borscht soup is very good.  I had bowl yesterday and earlier in the cruise. I had no idea what borscht soup was, but like many times in a restaurant that if you do not like it they will bring something else. Not a problem. 

 

Another thing that I have noticed over the years is that the menu writers get very creative in their descriptions. Many times you just gave to ask what your server recommends and usually you will get  winner.

[peanut head]

I tend to ask for the lobster on the Cobb salad instead of the chicken.  One thing is for sure, you will not go hungry.😁

[mahasamatman]

30 minutes ago, dock said:

Is the Lobster Roll standard on embarkation lunch?

 

Yes. I recommend ordering it with double filling. Otherwise, the bread-to-filling ratio is terrible.

[Baynanno1]

18 minutes ago, sptrout said:

Actually the borscht soup is very good.  I had bowl yesterday and earlier in the cruise. I had no idea what borscht soup was, but like many times in a restaurant that if you do not like it they will bring something else. Not a problem. 

 

Another thing that I have noticed over the years is that the menu writers get very creative in their descriptions. Many times you just gave to ask what your server recommends and usually you will get  winner.

 

After my "Baked Halibut" at our first Luminae dinner came in small pieces swimming in a creamy sauce looking like soup, I always asked our server to describe how any dish I was considering was plated.

 

We always had plenty of choices between Luminae and MDR menus on an S class ship.

[sptrout]

Fish in general does not seem to be Celebrity's strong point. I have completely stopped ordering fish dishes and just stick with beef or lamb. My wife still tries fish dishes, but most of the time I think the fish were caught way too young. Last night was lobster night and she went for it. It looked to be no bigger than what we call in Texas; crawfish and even small for that.

 

[MNSails]

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

There is also a Children's Menu that you may find something on.

 

On my recent Ascent sailing they indicated there was no children's menu available at lunch.  

[Jim_Iain]

59 minutes ago, db8alien said:

 

On my recent Ascent sailing they indicated there was no children's menu available at lunch.  

 

I am often finding what may be available on M an S class ships are not available on E-Class ships. 

 

Having said that I was on Edge recently (last month) and ask for Tomato Soup and a Grilled Cheese which has always been on the Kid's Lunch Menu ---  The waiter didn't flinch and delivered it shortly with potato chips.   Just what I was in the mood for.      Then again sometimes they make exceptions and since we were on the ship for a month they would even get us what we wanted even from MDR and Blu.    Usually we would choose the day before to not disrupt service.   The MD even suggested a pizza 

[Ken52891]

Wow! Thank you everyone! This is all very helpful 😄

[markeb]

FWIW, the ceviche was delicious on Equinox. The Luminae menu does suggest (require?) stepping out of your comfort zone on occasion. 

[Northern Aurora]

We spent 40 nights on the Edge last fall leaving on December 9th.  In my opinion the Luminae menu was becoming rather stale so we were pleased to enjoy some new additions.  The borscht is one of those new additions and we thought it was wonderful.  A slightly different version of what we make at home.

 

On embarkation days we don't ask for anything special.  The turnaround days are so difficult for staff.  But on other days there are no issues with asking for a something such a simple salad for lunch.  Off menu options are somewhat more difficult on an E-class ship than on either a M- or S-class ship.  Our experience on Edge was that the children's sized filet mignon was available every night (the Luminae adult size is so large so even on nights when it was served I asked for the smaller size).

[Mark_K]

4 hours ago, sptrout said:

Fish in general does not seem to be Celebrity's strong point. I have completely stopped ordering fish dishes and just stick with beef or lamb. My wife still tries fish dishes, but most of the time I think the fish were caught way too young. Last night was lobster night and she went for it. It looked to be no bigger than what we call in Texas; crawfish and even small for that.

 

Especially from the fish’s point of view.