Early breakfast closing in Blu and Lumina, thoughts?

I'm a long time Celebrity traveller. I like Celebrity, but one thing keeps me from booking more cruises next year. The early breakfast closings in Blu and Luminae.

No other supposedly " premium " cruise line does this. Oceania and Seabourn are open until 10 am.

This draconian policy is especially frustrating on sea days, where one hopes to sleep in a little before getting ready for breakfast. Yet they close the doors at 9:00. 8:30 on port days, so those that stay on the ship are penalized.

Nothing " Modern Luxury " about that.

I once complained to a Food and beverage officer on the Silhouette about it. Luminae was new and he kept the restaurant open until 9:30 am ....

Yes I've heard the excuses about staffing etc..they are excuses not legitimate reasons.

I'm hoping that if others voice their displeasure, the Celebrity " official " cruise critic lurker might alert the management that this policy is really unpopular.

Agreed, we enjoy breakfast in Blu but the window of opportunity is too brief and the closing time unreasonably early, particularly on sea days.

I don't have a problem with it. You can always get room service or go to the Lido. If you want to eat in Blu or Luminae in a more formal setting, get up and go. It's your choice if you want to sleep late. I think it is unreasonable to expect them to stay open late.

Most always stay in Aqua Class. Most always miss breakfast. I wish they would stay open later. When I'm on vacation I don't want to be up and dressed to get somewhere before 9AM. I realize I can still get breakfast elsewhere but that's not the point. I book AQ for the perks and the breakfast is great.

Linda

Most always stay in Aqua Class. Most always miss breakfast. I wish they would stay open later. When I'm on vacation I don't want to be up and dressed to get somewhere before 9AM. I realize I can still get breakfast elsewhere but that's not the point. I book AQ for the perks and the breakfast is great.

 

Linda

On our cruise earlier this month in Europe. Luminae closed some days at 8:30 am, the latest it was open was 9:30 am.

I'd like to see both Luminae and Blu have longer breakfast hours. I'd like to have the option of getting 7-8 hours of sleep and still be able to enjoy the breakfast experience that's been paid for. I'm not saying that they should stay open until the last Aqua passenger has rolled out of bed at 2 pm, but 10:00 am sounds reasonable to me.

I totally agree, 10am would be the absolutely minmum for breakfast on a sea day, but really should be open each day until 10am. For me, it is primarily a small nagging issue, but wouldn't keep me from cruising with them, just one of those things that bugs me when it is so easily solved.

Restraurants that use the execuse that no one came and they should close don't see the early closing or inconsisten hours as a deterent to patronage.

If Celebrity actually provided the upscale breakfast Blu or Luminae provides fr those that chose those options, as room service, I might be ok and let it slide more. The "Lido" is not a consideration and a totally unequal replacement in terms of service or experience.

Happy sailing,

Jenna

I don't have a problem with it. You can always get room service or go to the Lido. If you want to eat in Blu or Luminae in a more formal setting, get up and go. It's your choice if you want to sleep late. I think it is unreasonable to expect them to stay open late.

The primary " perk " of Aqua Class or Suites is the dedicated restaurant. It is not unreasonable for them to stay open until 10am for breakfast to allow their customers to not be rushed.

I shouldn't have to go to the buffet if I don't want to get up by 8-8:30 am to get ready for breakfast.

I'm on VACATION ..!! I'm paying a premium for real restaurant service in a civilized atmosphere.

We were on the recent Transpacific sailing of Millie from Vancouver to Tokyo. There were a few mornings on the many sea days we didn't quite make the 9:00am Luminae/Blu deadline and had wished they would have stayed open until 9:30 or 10:00 (at the latest). Since suite passengers also have access to Blu, maybe continue to close Luminae at 9:00am but keep Blu open until 10:00am? We had breakfast in both venues, however actually like Blu over Luminae for this particular meal. Just our personal experience/preference.

I will give Celebrity high marks for our day in Kobe last week. We were originally scheduled to arrive at 10:00am, however didn't arrive until 1:00pm due to dodging a typhoon the night before. I was pleased to see they opened both Luminae and the MDR for lunch that day (11:30am-1:00pm) when previously both venues would have been closed based on our scheduled 10:00am arrival.

We were also delayed leaving Yokohama by 4 hours (5pm to 9pm) due to high tides. The lifeboat drill was scheduled at 5:00pm and the Elite cocktail hour was rescheduled from 5:00 to 7:00 to 6:30 to 8:30 instead. Good to see =X= roll with the punches when it makes sense to do so.

Cunard offer a little longer in the waiter service restaurants, Breakfast: (Port day) 7:30 - 9:00, (Sea day) 8:00 - 9:30. We have missed breakfast in Blu a time or two, often by minutes, another half hour would help!

I really am less bothered about port days than sea days...Port days if we are on a tour it is often just pastries and coffee in the room.

Sea days, however, it is nice to just take your time. We are 'early birds' and are usually on the balcony drinking coffee by 8am at the latest...This is a real highlight of my holiday, one of the things I look forward to most.

When it gets to 8.30 there is the choice getting dressed and going up for a civilized meal or continuing to enjoy one of our holiday highlights of early morning leisurely coffee and facing Oceanview later...We have always found room service a bit 'hit and miss' both for food selection and heat of offerings even with butler delivery unless we have been in M class PH. We also would welcome Luminae remaining open until 10am.

Must say, most of the time now we will enjoy our balcony....some days we will just order pastries with our coffee and then have an early lunch....

Staffing means it comes down to costs and money and Cel;ebrity do not have or do not want to spend money on this, shame when it is for higher paying customers, you would have thought Celebrity would have gone out of their way to please those who pay them well.

Will find out when we do our one cruise with them In Aqua Class next year.

I'm a long time Celebrity traveller. I like Celebrity, but one thing keeps me from booking more cruises next year. The early breakfast closings in Blu and Luminae.

No other supposedly " premium " cruise line does this. Oceania and Seabourn are open until 10 am.

This draconian policy is especially frustrating on sea days, where one hopes to sleep in a little before getting ready for breakfast. Yet they close the doors at 9:00. 8:30 on port days, so those that stay on the ship are penalized.

Nothing " Modern Luxury " about that.

I once complained to a Food and beverage officer on the Silhouette about it. Luminae was new and he kept the restaurant open until 9:30 am ....

Yes I've heard the excuses about staffing etc..they are excuses not legitimate reasons.

I'm hoping that if others voice their displeasure, the Celebrity " official " cruise critic lurker might alert the management that this policy is really unpopular.

My husband and I are sailing in Aqua Class for the first time on our forthcoming cruise on

the Millennium in November, so are a bit disappointed to read about the breakfast closing times in Blu.:(

I wouldn't describe ourselves as 'lie a beds', but it is nice to be able to to be a bit more leisurely in the mornings when on holiday. Still, we shall see how we cope soon enough.:)

I'd like to see their numbers on this. I cannot imagine them being very busy first thing in the morning on sea days. Why not open later? I am rarely ready to face the world before 9am in real life, much less on vacation.

I'd like to see their numbers on this. I cannot imagine them being very busy first thing in the morning on sea days. Why not open later? I am rarely ready to face the world before 9am in real life, much less on vacation.

That seems such a simple solution! I must say on the couple of occasions we did use Luminae on sea days we entered at 8.45 and loads more people followed us in!

most always stay in aqua class. Most always miss breakfast. I wish they would stay open later. When i'm on vacation i don't want to be up and dressed to get somewhere before 9am. I realize i can still get breakfast elsewhere but that's not the point. I book aq for the perks and the breakfast is great.

 

Linda

agree 100% !!!

This draconian policy...

:roll eyes:

"Draconian" is if you miss Breakfast because they close earlier, there's no food available until dinner.

and then there are those of us who are bright eyed and waiting for them to open every morning.. Don't want to miss any daylight when I am at sea!!

Is there daylight before 9am??:D

Is there daylight before 9am??:D

Yes

Our breakfast waiter in Blu was working behind a counter in the Ocean view cafe by mid morning....

I'm a long time Celebrity traveller. I like Celebrity, but one thing keeps me from booking more cruises next year. The early breakfast closings in Blu and Luminae.

No other supposedly " premium " cruise line does this. Oceania and Seabourn are open until 10 am.

I agree with you entirely that Luminae should be open longer hours. I'd especially like to see them bring back brunch, as that was a nice way to spend a lazy sea day breakfast/lunch... Maybe that is just me.

BUT, I will disagree with you on the Seabourn comparison. We were on the transatlantic this past spring on Seabourn and main dining room breakfast was usually 8:30 - 9:30 (or 8-9, I can't recall exactly. But it was one hour.) Lunch was 12:00 - 1:30. Somehow I managed to miss breakfast daily in the restaurant and still not starve :)

I think a good compromise would be to have those restaurants (or even just Blu, since AQ people can't eat in Luminae but suite people can eat in Blu) stay open longer on sea days. On port days (at least in Europe), I'm usually up early. It would be nice to be able to sleep in a bit on sea days. What say you Celebrity?

and then there are those of us who are bright eyed and waiting for them to open every morning.. Don't want to miss any daylight when I am at sea!!

And how many others are there at the same time? Be honest (I'm honestly curious).

Love breakfast in Blu and eating it at 9:45 or later would be perfect for us.:)