Summit Luminae Reservations???

Hope someone can help out with info???

I just received an email from the shoreside concierge Tanji (she is involved with my reservation, although Katie is the Summit concierge now)

She is telling me that the Summit is the only ship that requires reservations for Luminae and the times available are 6pm, 7pm, 8:30pm, and 9pm!

Is this something new for the Bermuda sailings??

I hope not! I imagined that Luminae was run just like select dining.

I would hate to have to be locked in to an exact time to be ready and show up for dinner!

Can anyone confirm that this is happening on the Summit, or are suite guests just going to dinner when they like and wait/get seated when they arrive at whatever time?

They did not require reservations in September although we were asked what time we wanted to dine. The only reason I can think of for the change right now is that in our experience the Bermuda sailings sail at full capacity. With 2 adults and possibly 2 children in a suite Luminae will start to get very busy. Summit also only has 2 specialty restaurants so less relief for the staff there.

Just got off the phone and was told it was a pilot program to have set times in Luminae and they are starting it on the Summit and will see how it goes.

Hoping someone on the Summit now, or on a future cruise before mine can report back on this and let us know how its working out.

Since it is a smaller venue I can't imagine how it would work if the majority of suite guests want the 7pm seating.

9pm seems so late to just start dinner, I'd be ready for bed by the end of the meal!

We just got off 2 weeks on the Summit in a Sky Suite. It appeared that many people made reservations several days ahead. We just waited until the morning and asked what times we could make a reservation. It was almost always 6:30 or 8:30. Not happy. So, we would just come a bit early, or late, and had no trouble getting seated.

We just got off 2 weeks on the Summit in a Sky Suite. It appeared that many people made reservations several days ahead. We just waited until the morning and asked what times we could make a reservation. It was almost always 6:30 or 8:30. Not happy. So, we would just come a bit early, or late, and had no trouble getting seated.

Apparently this new pilot program is going to eliminate being able to go to Luminae at whatever time you want and be seated.

I was told you have to pick a dining time either in advance, or once onboard and the choices are 6pm, 7pm, 8:30pm or 9pm.

I think it will be a problem when someone wants to eat at 7pm and are told only 9pm is available that specific day.

I know I don't want to eat as early as 6pm and as late as 9pm.

Thinking there will be a lot of unhappy diners if they stick to specific seating times in Luminae.

Wow! Here I thought Sky Suites and Luminae might be my future in cruising, and now Celebrity has to screw it up. I hope "Mr. Official Celebrity Cut and Paste Guy" is reading this thread. :(

Hello,

Were you contacted already for a cruise in August?

Thanks!

Hope someone can help out with info???

 

I just received an email from the shoreside concierge Tanji (she is involved with my reservation, although Katie is the Summit concierge now)

She is telling me that the Summit is the only ship that requires reservations for Luminae and the times available are 6pm, 7pm, 8:30pm, and 9pm!

Is this something new for the Bermuda sailings??

I hope not! I imagined that Luminae was run just like select dining.

I would hate to have to be locked in to an exact time to be ready and show up for dinner!

Can anyone confirm that this is happening on the Summit, or are suite guests just going to dinner when they like and wait/get seated when they arrive at whatever time?

Hello,

 

 

 

Were you contacted already for a cruise in August?

 

 

 

Thanks!

The reason I have already spoken with the shore-side concierge is because I was having huge problems with my reservation through the my celebrity area on the website and when I called for some help I was directed to Tanji who has been in contact with me over a few issues.

I'll have to guess that because we have the penthouse booked, she has been more than helpful and she is now my contact for any questions or problems I have.

If I didn't have the reservation issues, I'm sure they would have waited to contact me closer to the sailing about any preferences or request that we had.

I am not surprised they are testing out a new program on Summit, it is often their "test kitchen" for new things from the new buffet format that mostly failed, to the new Bistro on 5 menu that mostly rolled out, they often do this.

We were in the PH on our last sailing and while we always had a table when we walked in, we almost never had a window table without a bit of a wait as the early diners weren't generally done yet or were just finishing up.

Even with set times, for most suite guests, I would still think they would accommodate walk ins, they really try to never say "no' to a suite guest. If you never answer their reservation questions, it's not like they won't let you dine. They may ask when you you expect to the next night, but as someone said, if you just show up, they will accommodate you as best they can. We're never in a hurry to eat while on vacation so that may help our level of satisfaction when service times aren't too fast.

Happy sailing,

Jenna

Not happy to hear about this. We have previously eaten in Luminae. During that cruise, after each dinner, we had to tell them what time we would prefer the next evening. We like to eat at 8:00pm.

I wonder if they will be trying this pilot in Blu. They seem to have a much bigger problem than Luminae as far as crowds go. We will be in Blu for the next 4 cruises.

Way back, we enjoyed eating the late seating of 8:30. After being seated, ordering cocktails and appetizers, dinner was actually not served until around 9:00. Now that we are older, 8:30 is too late. 9:00 would definitely be late! 6:00 and 7:00 too early on a port extensive cruise, though there are those that prefer an early dinner. ;) We enjoy a cocktail or two before being seated.

Glad that we will not have to worry about this until next March when my daughters and I have a Suite reserved. Maybe things will be ironed out by then.

Reflection has been doing this unofficially already (they have more sky suites than the other ships). On our cruise in February, we were always offered 8pm or 8:30pm "reservations" every day, whether asking directly at the dining room or through the Michael's Club concierge. We asked for 7:30pm one night and were told it wasn't available. A few nights we showed up about 10-15 minutes "early" and were seated right away, so it does seem that they have some flexibility (though that would change if everyone wanted a 7pm dining time). We sat at a different table most every night, although we generally had the same service team. I'm not fundamentally opposed to selecting a dining time as long as there is some flexibility. Part of me thinks you should be able to do it in advance, but then I bet it will turn into a Disney-like situation in which the prime dining times are claimed at the moment reservations can be made, whether or not the guest intends to dine on a specific night or not.

We like Luminae so that we can eat when we are ready. A benefit to sailing in a suite. Recently on the Equinox and came in when we were ready every night.

They could not give us the table we wanted but did accommodate us at every meal. Great staff.

I do hope this will not be the norm as you will have a lot of suite passengers not happy:mad:

We have never (two cruises withLuminae) made a proper reservation. After breakfast we would always be asked about what time we wished to dine that evening and we would say 7ish or 7.30ish or tell them we were dining elsewhere. We would then arrive within 5/10 mins either way of the time. On days when we had not breakfasted in Luminae we would just arrive when ready, no issues.

I think the post that mentioned the limited specialities on M class has made an important point...on S class ships RS and PH will frequently be in one of the three specialities....Our only concern on our 14 night Millie cruise is that we only have Tuscan grill and Q'sine as other options....Q'sine I see as a fun venue but once per cruise is usually enough. Hence, more guests relying on Luminae.

On two recent Connie cruises they wouldn't let us make a reservation when we tried to give a specific time for one night (chic night and we had special plans). They said to show up when we were ready - no reservations needed. We loved showing up when we were ready and always had a great experience.

We would be disappointed to have specific dining times. We have always had Select, Blu or Luminae on Celebrity and love being able to be relaxed and spontaneous. We often find live music that we don't want to leave, new friends in a lounge that we are having a nice conversation with or are having a good run at the casino :). Sometimes we just aren't hungry at the time we thought we wanted to eat (those cocktails can be filling). Open dining helps give the cruise a relaxed, luxurious feel.

I realize that some ships/cruises may have some issues with open dining in Luminae and may need to make some changes, but I hope they can find a way to keep it open dining.

On two recent Connie cruises they wouldn't let us make a reservation when we tried to give a specific time for one night (chic night and we had special plans). They said to show up when we were ready - no reservations needed. We loved showing up when we were ready and always had a great experience.

 

We would be disappointed to have specific dining times. We have always had Select, Blu or Luminae on Celebrity and love being able to be relaxed and spontaneous. We often find live music that we don't want to leave, new friends in a lounge that we are having a nice conversation with or are having a good run at the casino :). Sometimes we just aren't hungry at the time we thought we wanted to eat (those cocktails can be filling). Open dining helps give the cruise a relaxed, luxurious feel.

 

I realize that some ships/cruises may have some issues with open dining in Luminae and may need to make some changes, but I hope they can find a way to keep it open dining.

Totally agree with everything you've said. When I wake up in the morning, the last thing on my mind is "what time do we want to eat dinner today!"

When select dining became available it was so welcomed by us.

Never liked dining at 6pm, way too early, especially if spending the day at a port, and 8:30...yikes! I wanted to go to sleep after eating at that time.

Always checking the time to be sure we got to the dining room on time!

Love, love, select dining (or Luminae anytime seating) because you didn't have to plan your day around a specific dinner time.

Hopefully we will get some reports from cruisers on the Summit, now that the Bermuda season has begun and I was told by Tanji that this new pilot program was going into effect with these cruises.

I hope it fails, bigtime! :D