Luminae

[Shellyd22]

I’ll be on Beyond in a few weeks and have a few questions about Luminae.

How long is a typical dinner service? I know you can arrive when you want but was wondering when the best time to go would be to see the show.

 

How is the food? I looked at the menu and some of the dishes look interesting but as a foodie, I’ve kinda considered cruise meals as mediocre in the past. Do you think it’s up to par with specialty dining?

Can you request a window seat or are those reserved for VIP? (we will be in a lowly sky suite lol)

 

[jelayne]

Dinner is about 90 minutes.  The show is frequently at 9 & repeated at 9.  Some sailing recently

the shows have been 7:30 & 9:30.  

 

You can ask for a table by the window  you will probably get one at least occasionally. 

[markeb]

4 minutes ago, Shellyd22 said:

I’ll be on Beyond in a few weeks and have a few questions about Luminae.

How long is a typical dinner service? I know you can arrive when you want but was wondering when the best time to go would be to see the show.

 

How is the food? I looked at the menu and some of the dishes look interesting but as a foodie, I’ve kinda considered cruise meals as mediocre in the past. Do you think it’s up to par with specialty dining?

Can you request a window seat or are those reserved for VIP? (we will be in a lowly sky suite lol)

 

 

Can't speak specifically to Beyond, but...

 

Generally, if you're in a hurry, they'll pace the meal for you. Just ask. In my experience, other's may differ, figure an hour. You can go to 1 1/2 if you want. Can't answer on show times; we've pretty much quit qoing.

 

What's your definition of "foodie"? The menu is mildly to moderately adventurous, and generally well executed. It's not really adventurous, though. I think the "up to par with specialty dining" depends on why you're doing specialty dining. If you're looking for a great steak, probably specialty. The food will be a less boring than most MDR fare, and we like it, but, for instance, there's a seared tuna steak on the menu and I wouldn't expect it to be red. If that's what you'd like (I would) then go to Raw on 5.

 

Never had an issue getting a window seat in a Sky Suite. They're mostly two tops and it's a matter of timing. Ask and you may receive...

[bjahil47]

We got off Beyond a few weeks ago.  @jelayneis correct in her info.  
 

If you do not get to the show at least 45 minutes ahead of time you may not find a seat.  We personally feel the quality of Luminae has decreased.  They put this salty brown sauce on most everything.  We ate a few lunches in the buffet and had good meals, better offerings than Luminae.  
 

We sat in a window seat a few times.  You need to get there when it opens or later on to have your best chances at a window view.  Also, it was busy one night and we had to wait over 40 minutes for a table.  When they finally paged us, half the dining room was empty.  

[MartiniBarhooked]

Just off the Beyond a couple of weeks ago and stayed in a sky suite. 

1.  If you want a table for 2 next to the window you need to show up at 5:30 for early dining to make the 7:30 show.  And by the way if you were not in the Theater by 7:00 you didn't get a seat.

2.  They will try and seat you in the same section each night which meant if all the tables with two chairs where full in your section they would seat you at a table that one person has to sit on a couch not very comfortable for dinner.

3.  We insisted on two chairs and that meant we might be moved to another section.  The first time this happened dinner took about half the time and much better service.

4.  The menu.  We are  just a normal menu with normal food type of people.   I will explain that with what I told the folks there if the Roof Top Grill menu was in every dining room I would be happy.  But I am sure we are a minority when it comes to the menu.  There were a couple of nights that even having the availability of all 6 menus on the ship nothing sounded good to us and we just ordered the Cheeseburgers. Of the 11 nights we ate 4 nights Specialty 1 night Blu and 1 night Ocean view cafe.  

 

 

[Cap_D]

Was on Beyond last week, all of the above was true to our experience.  And, we did like it.  But, a few observations:

 

A+ on meeting dietary needs due to recent near fatal heart issues at 48.  That's the waiter being attentive and generally some safer menu items being available including several on menu fish dishes (non tilapia) and grilled salmon.  Very appreciative.  So, we would gladly do it all again.  It was easy.  No foraging for a full meal that I could eat or rest of family would want. 

 

Push to customize or get brown sauce left off.  I'd be surprised though if filets others in our family had would have been any better in Fine Cut.  My feeling is it's not worth the noise of the plaza, lack of char capability, and likely subpar sides.  Luminae does have odd cuts of beef, as is well documented on this board. 

 

Bread service around ship and OVC looks like same offerings we see in Luminae.  The lavash and breadsticks are ubiquitous.  Several mains seem the same, too.  

 

Eden was, as it probably should be, superior (we ate there 3x with OBC).  We also had dinner at rooftop (for change of venue), and OVC 1x for veggies, salads and speed.  All were good, and not necessarily better than Luminae.  Dietary needs were known before I sat down, and food was about the same.  (Sorry to spoil it, but a lot of the items are available all over the ship at times).  We have never eaten in an MDR, so can't compare how less banquety the food is, and there is some of that in Luminae (e.g., ask for a side a veggies, and see what you get).  

 

We think Luminae on Apex in Spring 2023 was a bit superior in the service, hot food and quality department (pastas were hotter, child filet was available without it seeming like a challenge, for example).  (Admittedly this an odd comparison and bfast:  Granola now is now longer nature valley in taste, but rather Kellogg).

 

Lots of commotion in the dining room because of the placement of the wine fridges (often show fingerprints).  We had to work to not have a view of it multiple seatings.  There are also a lot of 6 tops for some reason. 

 

There is a window 4 top with a partition on left side of dining room.  It's very private, yet with a booth  for 2 of 4 seats. 

 

In our view, lunch is usually better executed than dinner. 

 

The support staff are great, but the maitre'd team is not all that warm and fuzzy with exception of Orhan (sp).  Head waiter is not friendly and unclear if she adds anything as compared to prior cruises (e.g. , Apex Spring 2023).

 

Hours for breakfast are limited to 9 am even on late port arrival days. 

 

Reality is it does take a while for food, but not sure why sometimes given the output.  

 

Host stand has no seating for anyone waiting, and awkward sculpture that is in the way.  Counter can cause issues for younger guests and their heads, and older guests and their midsections of trying to get out of way of guests being seated.  Poor design. 

 

More bathrooms than Apex and Edge, which only has one. 

 

Value - maybe, but also had good experiences at other venues and at some point question double paying for about the same thing or just time shifting the menu item. (Again, many items are same and will be at other venues, just different times).

Edited April 4 by Cap_D

[CruisinShips]

15 hours ago, bjahil47 said:

If you do not get to the show at least 45 minutes ahead of time you may not find a seat.  

We never had a problem getting a seat when sitting in the reserved Retreat seating area.

[bjahil47]

1 minute ago, CruisinShips said:

We never had a problem getting a seat when sitting in the reserved Retreat seating area.

The reserved Retreat section is only on Chic nights

[CruisinShips]

3 minutes ago, bjahil47 said:

The reserved Retreat section is only on Chic nights

True, but we never had a problem in that (second level) section on any night....

[bjahil47]

4 minutes ago, CruisinShips said:

True, but we never had a problem in that (second level) section on any night....

That’s great!  On Beyond a few weeks ago we arrived 30 minutes ahead of shows and could not find seats anywhere for a few of them.

[ICANTWAITTOCRUISE]

26 minutes ago, CruisinShips said:

We never had a problem getting a seat when sitting in the reserved Retreat seating area.

Isn't that only on chic night?

[RK-NC]

23 minutes ago, bjahil47 said:

On Beyond a few weeks ago we arrived 30 minutes ahead of shows and could not find seats anywhere for a few of them.

 

Early show 7:30 or late show 9:30? Thanks in advance!

[1Virgo]

6 minutes ago, RK-NC said:

 

Early show 7:30 or late show 9:30? Thanks in advance!

Reserved seating in theatre is only on chic nights for Retreat

[Cap_D]

With regard to reserved seating area, we knew about it, but the butler we had never promoted it.  It's the balcony, which has better pitch to the stage then the first floor.  Last week 30 minutes was any reserved seat, and then it filled in until showtime.  We felt there was enough reserved seating.  For Arte we sat center 3rd row balcony for the 930 show (30 minutes early) and our neighbors arrived at about 15 minutes early.  For the first production show at 7:30 we arrived 10 minutes early, and sat on the right side.  It was fine.  The key is to go to Deck 5 and snake into the balcony right side entrance.  Don't get caught on Deck 4 with the line.  But do arrive as early as you can.  There was a waiter taking drink orders. 

Edited April 4 by Cap_D

[RK-NC]

Thanks for the reminder @1Virgo about chic night reserved seating. I was asking @bjahil47 about shows on the other nights. We're trying to plan and wondering if one show is more popular than the other (early 7:30 vs late 9:30)

[CruisinShips]

26 minutes ago, ICANTWAITTOCRUISE said:

Isn't that only on chic night?

Yes, I misspoke.  My point was the second level, starboard entrance (where we met with the butlers on chic nights) always seemed to have available seating closer to showtime than the first level areas.  At least that was our experience on the Apex.

[1Virgo]

2 minutes ago, RK-NC said:

Thanks for the reminder @1Virgo about chic night reserved seating. I was asking @bjahil47 about shows on the other nights. We're trying to plan and wondering if one show is more popular than the other (early 7:30 vs late 9:30)

sorry about that. When I posted I saw that it had quoted wrong place

 

As per best show times….on Ascent last week, the popular shows or features were packed both times.    you had to be there 1/2 hr early or more. Other shows not as busy at 9:30 show.  Least that is what we noticed for that week

have fun

[Shellyd22]

A 90 minute dining time is ok with me. I like to relax and enjoy my meal but any longer than that and I’ll be antsy. We also have Eden and Le Voyage booked. I was contemplating adding a third specialty restaurant, but figured we would utilize Luminae since we are able to. I like all different types of foods, and I can usually find some thing that will appeal to me. I guess I’m more concerned about the quality and how it’s prepared. I’ve seen some reports of food arriving cold or overcooked. I’ll make sure to warn my husband about the ribeye that’s not a traditional ribeye. Having to rush to grab a seat, kind of stresses me out and doesn’t feel vacation like, but I’m gonna go in with a positive attitude and I’m sure I’ll have a great time either way. In regards to the Butler, I have absolutely no idea what to expect since there’s been so many different experiences recently that I’ve read. But thankful for all of the tips I have received on here so I know sometimes you just have to ask her what you want! But I can totally see a first time cruiser not asking and feeling like the experience doesn’t really match was advertised? I am very excited for my trip and ordered some new outfits ! Lol

[bjahil47]

25 minutes ago, RK-NC said:

Thanks for the reminder @1Virgo about chic night reserved seating. I was asking @bjahil47 about shows on the other nights. We're trying to plan and wondering if one show is more popular than the other (early 7:30 vs late 9:30)

Shows were packed at both times.  We either tried early or late show depending on when we ate dinner.  

[Mark_K]

1 hour ago, bjahil47 said:

Shows were packed at both times.  We either tried early or late show depending on when we ate dinner.  

Are the theaters smaller, relative to passenger count, in E-class ships?  On several cruises on M and S class ships, we’ve never had a problem finding seats even when showing up 5 minutes before show time.

[George C]

42 minutes ago, Mark_K said:

Are the theaters smaller, relative to passenger count, in E-class ships?  On several cruises on M and S class ships, we’ve never had a problem finding seats even when showing up 5 minutes before show time.

I know that on M class theater can only hold half the passengers. We do music charters every year so they divide us into two groups and have the music headliners do two shows so we all can see the show.

[Mark_K]

Just now, George C said:

I know that on M class theater can only hold half the passengers. We do music charters every year so they divide us into two groups and have the music headliners do two shows so we all can see the show.

Yes, I can see that on a music cruise. But on a typical cruise they have two shows, and half the people don’t go to either one, leaving plenty of room.  I wonder if E class theaters hold less than half, if they’re full all the time.

[RK-NC]

15 minutes ago, Mark_K said:

I wonder if E class theaters hold less than half, if they’re full all the time.

 

Capacity of the theater is 990 according to this: https://www.celebritycorporatekit.com/fleet/celebrity-beyond/ 

 

Beyond Passenger capacity is 3260

Edited April 4 by RK-NC
addition

[Mark_K]

6 minutes ago, RK-NC said:

 

Capacity of the theater is 990 according to this: https://www.celebritycorporatekit.com/fleet/celebrity-beyond/ 

 

Beyond Passenger capacity is 3260

That could explain it.  
 

Eclipse theater seats 1113 has 400 less passengers.

 

Millennium theater only seats 900, but it has 1000 less passengers

[Cap_D]

Capacity is smaller.  The design of the ship has Eden, Plaza, The Club and other venues used for programing including during the production shows. 

 

The practical issue is the production show and theater labeling often win out (and by odds) when consideration is given by a guest of what entertainment to attend, per comments made by cruise staff on Edge class ships. 

 

My thinking is this especially the case if one factors in the availability of uniform cushioned seating, etc.  (If one has previously been to The Club, then one would know the seating and site lines are not optimal for many relative to the Theater.  Though there are some great seating options in The Club and the shows are often presented as 270 degrees).