Recent Luminae Patrons on Equinox

So happy to hear about the Equinox! Any comments about Michael's Club? It is the reason we booked a suite on the upcoming suite.

So happy to hear about the Equinox! Any comments about Michael's Club? It is the reason we booked a suite on the upcoming suite.

I'd also like to know the current concierge and bar staff in MC

I'd also like to know the current concierge and bar staff in MC

Jole is currently the MCC.

Hello, everyone. Reporting in from the Equinox :)

Our first 24 hours have been wonderful. Upon embarkation (which was incredibly quick), we went to lunch in Luminae. Although our first meal wasn't spectacular, we were greeted warmly by the staff (and our favorite server, Rakesh.) Dinner last night was very good quality but service was fairly slow (we dined at 7pm and didn't make it to trivia at 9pm.) The wait staff I have encountered in Luminae thus far are Rakesh, Serkan and Vishal (waiters) and Kurt, Leni & Florin (assistant waiters) with Red as the sommelier. Olgica is the Matre D and I think she is new. One of the senior dining staff members, Mihaela, has been a constant presence in Luminae. She introduced herself at dinner and said if we have any issues or concerns, please let her know. I don't sense the seamless coordination of service in Luminae like we experienced on the Solstice in January ... no complaints, mind you, but it's not "running like a well oiled machine" if that makes sense. We'll see as the week goes on.

Jole Jacoby is the MCC, very pleasant and helpful. Our butler, Alex, has also been great and chided us for getting our own coffee this morning, lol. We generally don't make full use of the butler like others, but he is certainly reminding us of his services.

Otherwise, weather is spectacular and the cruise is off to a great start. Hoping for calm seas, sunny days, and lots of fun. I'll report with an update in a couple of days. Let me know if anyone has any other inquires.

Until later,

Sharon

Hello, everyone. Reporting in from the Equinox :)

 

Our first 24 hours have been wonderful. Upon embarkation (which was incredibly quick), we went to lunch in Luminae. Although our first meal wasn't spectacular, we were greeted warmly by the staff (and our favorite server, Rakesh.) Dinner last night was very good quality but service was fairly slow (we dined at 7pm and didn't make it to trivia at 9pm.) The wait staff I have encountered in Luminae thus far are Rakesh, Serkan and Vishal (waiters) and Kurt, Leni & Florin (assistant waiters) with Red as the sommelier. Olgica is the Matre D and I think she is new. One of the senior dining staff members, Mihaela, has been a constant presence in Luminae. She introduced herself at dinner and said if we have any issues or concerns, please let her know. I don't sense the seamless coordination of service in Luminae like we experienced on the Solstice in January ... no complaints, mind you, but it's not "running like a well oiled machine" if that makes sense. We'll see as the week goes on.

 

Jole Jacoby is the MCC, very pleasant and helpful. Our butler, Alex, has also been great and chided us for getting our own coffee this morning, lol. We generally don't make full use of the butler like others, but he is certainly reminding us of his services.

 

Otherwise, weather is spectacular and the cruise is off to a great start. Hoping for calm seas, sunny days, and lots of fun. I'll report with an update in a couple of days. Let me know if anyone has any other inquires.

 

Until later,

Sharon

Thanks for the info Sharon. Interesting that in an earlier post yesterday, they reported that Vishal was an 'assistant waiter'. Wondering if there are 'two' Vishals floating around there. I am sure they will get the operations running smoothly in no time at all. Curious - is Rakesh serving in the front or back section? Have a fantastic time! Cheers...

Hi again with an update. To answer your question, WB57, Rakesh is serving in the front dining area. Perhaps I am incorrect regarding Vishal being an assistant ... I'll check his name tag. Either way, he's very good as well.

Our meals in Luminae continue to be hit or miss. Some have been quite good, some have been sent back. My son & I ordered burgers for lunch yesterday (medium, as asked) and both came out very well done and dry, with cool fries. Rakesh took them back and we got new ones, still a bit overcooked but at least juicy and hot along with fresh hot fries. There have been other incidents, and corrections are made with a profuse apology, but it's just not great.

Please understand, we are not picky people and I completely get this is a "First World Problem." That being said, our Luminae experience in January on the Solstice was second to none. We're having a wonderful cruise, staff all over the ship have been pleasant and accommodating. Weather has been awesome and the seas calm.

I forgot to mention that Barbara is the primary bartender in MC - a bit quirky but very good. Jole has been wonderful along with Anca, the Suite Manager. They are always checking in to see if we need anything.

All the best from St. Thomas!

 

I forgot to mention that Barbara is the primary bartender in MC - a bit quirky but very good. Jole has been wonderful along with Anca, the Suite Manager. They are always checking in to see if we need anything.

 

All the best from St. Thomas!

Say Hi to Barbara from Robin and Royce. We were there when she joined the ship. She was supposed to be leaving in August to start a business in Jamaica. Can you ask Jole if she will be on through September?

Soney from Istanbul was our waiter in the Luminae.

Very friendly & personable both on & off the ship. We crossed paths with him at one of the beaches when he was on shore leave.

And his dining room service was excellent.

Barbara in Michaels Club did an outstanding job, as did Jole.

Also, be sure to congratulate Ferdinand for the birth of his first child (born in June).

As as correction, I learned that Olgica's role is actually that of "Hostess" and Mihaela is the Maitre D. Last night, the food was excellent in Luminae, but we ate a bit early and the restaurant never was very busy. Will status again before we disembark.

Soney from Istanbul was our waiter in the Luminae.

Very friendly & personable both on & off the ship. We crossed paths with him at one of the beaches when he was on shore leave.

And his dining room service was excellent.

 

Barbara in Michaels Club did an outstanding job, as did Jole.

 

Also, be sure to congratulate Ferdinand for the birth of his first child (born in June).

Thanks for the info Rumpelstiltskin. Is Ferdinand in MC or Luminae? And quick question, is Jole pronounced as 'Yo-la'...if so, we had her on previous cruises and she indeed is terrific. Cheers...

As as correction, I learned that Olgica's role is actually that of "Hostess" and Mihaela is the Maitre D. Last night, the food was excellent in Luminae, but we ate a bit early and the restaurant never was very busy. Will status again before we disembark.

Thanks for the update. Hope you are having fun! We can't wait to board on Sunday. Cheers...

We loved our experience in Luminae. We mainly ate in the back room, we are a family of 5. There was one night early in the cruise where the service was extremely slow. We spoke to Sam, the wonderful Maitre'D from Portsmouth, England, and he took care of things straight away. Service was great. Soner was our main waiter and we thought he was efficient, friendly in a very quiet way, and very much looking forward to his vacation back home in Turkey in about 3 cruises from now. Vishal was our assistant waiter and he was great with bread service and the drinks for our kids (they ordered a lot of iced coffee drinks from cafe al bacio). Red was a great sommelier. He gave suggestions and filled our glasses very quickly. I can't say enough about Sam, he was very professional, was chatty with all the tables around us.

We did the Chef's Table dinner on the Cozumel night, and it was amazing. When we told Sam that they didn't give us a tour of the wine tower in the MDR (which he had told us was part of the dinner), he took us and some of the other couples from our dinner into the wine tower for a personal tour.

We didn't utilize MC very often, only a couple of times for drinks, and to get priority tender service in Grand Cayman. Jole was very nice and professional...just not much going on in MC for a family with kids.

Is Ferdinand in MC or Luminae? And quick question, is Jole pronounced as 'Yo-la'...if so, we had her on previous cruises and she indeed is terrific. Cheers...

Ferdinand (aka Andy) is in MC.

And yes, Jole is pronounced Yo-la, so I'm certain she is the same person.

Last day onboard. Luminae still is a hit or miss experience in the food quality department, service is exceptional. I completely agree with a previous comment that I'd rate food a 5 and service a 9. I'd be interested to hear from those who board on July 30th ... if time allows, please let us know your experience.

Jole is onboard until November.

Safe travels to all.

 

Jole is onboard until November.

 

Safe travels to all.

Thanks for asking her. Will be nice to see her again. We had her last Nov and Feb.

Hello, everyone. Reporting in from the Equinox :)

 

Our first 24 hours have been wonderful. Upon embarkation (which was incredibly quick), we went to lunch in Luminae. Although our first meal wasn't spectacular, we were greeted warmly by the staff (and our favorite server, Rakesh.) Dinner last night was very good quality but service was fairly slow (we dined at 7pm and didn't make it to trivia at 9pm.) The wait staff I have encountered in Luminae thus far are Rakesh, Serkan and Vishal (waiters) and Kurt, Leni & Florin (assistant waiters) with Red as the sommelier. Olgica is the Matre D and I think she is new. One of the senior dining staff members, Mihaela, has been a constant presence in Luminae. She introduced herself at dinner and said if we have any issues or concerns, please let her know. I don't sense the seamless coordination of service in Luminae like we experienced on the Solstice in January ... no complaints, mind you, but it's not "running like a well oiled machine" if that makes sense. We'll see as the week goes on.

 

Jole Jacoby is the MCC, very pleasant and helpful. Our butler, Alex, has also been great and chided us for getting our own coffee this morning, lol. We generally don't make full use of the butler like others, but he is certainly reminding us of his services.

 

Otherwise, weather is spectacular and the cruise is off to a great start. Hoping for calm seas, sunny days, and lots of fun. I'll report with an update in a couple of days. Let me know if anyone has any other inquires.

 

Until later,

Sharon

After reading your post and a few others it seems that pretty much the entire Luminae staff on Equinox changed since we were on in late 2016. I don't recognize any of the names you have mentioned. Bonnie (a guy) was our Sommelier and just the best ever. Daniel, Nino & Felix waiters, Gaga assistant waiter, Aurelian, the Maitre'D..all were spectacular, we had such great service from everyone, at least it sounds like with new staff that has remained the norm. I DO agree with you however that the food preparation in Luminae on Equinox is not as good as our other experiences on both Eclipse & Reflection. Items not prepared the same way, and not as good at dinner, happened fairly frequently....and some of the wait staff that had worked in Luminae on other ships agreed with us privately that the preparation was not as good. But still our favorite restaurant on any line and good enough that we don't bother with specialty restaurants anymore.:D

Nino was our waiter both last Nov and again this past Feb. I know he left in April and he told me it was very difficult for them to return to the same ship since they are only placed in Luminae and there are few opening so they have to go where the openings are. I'd love to have him again in Sept when we return.

Last day onboard. Luminae still is a hit or miss experience in the food quality department, service is exceptional. I completely agree with a previous comment that I'd rate food a 5 and service a 9. I'd be interested to hear from those who board on July 30th ... if time allows, please let us know your experience.

 

 

 

Jole is onboard until November.

 

 

 

Safe travels to all.

Thanks for all of the great info during the week. I hope you enjoyed your cruise overall. I will drop a note on my Luminae experience as well. Safe travels home. Cheers...

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We sail Sept. 4 on Equinox. Our previous experience with Luminae on that ship was outstanding. I am hoping people will continue to update this post as I am now a little concerned. The hostess at that time was Kendall (KJ) and she took very good care of us. I couldn't tell you who the Maitre'd was because we only saw him a couple of times. We had no food or service issues. The SO liked that he could order a steak and potatoes from the MDR anytime he wanted.

Looking for your review once you get back. We also love Luminae [from Connie] and are booked on Equinox in January. We found the combination of the Luminae and MDR menus to offer a very wide selection, and the Luminae staff bent over backwards to make us happy [the word 'no' is not in their vocabulary!]

We were also on the Connie last year and Luminae was wonderful! It was the reason why we rebooked with Celebrity for their sail to the Caribean on the Equinox. We also loved Michaels Club on the Connie as well! Just wondering how Michaels Club differs from the Equinox experience. We are hopeful that our experience on the Connie in Luminae is the same on the Equinox.

We were just on Equinox a couple weeks ago and ate in Luminae most nights. Serkan was our main server and he and his team were fantastic. Very professional and a good sense of humor, which made for enjoyable meals. We had a couple other servers there for breakfast/lunch and one night for dinner, and he was definitely our favorite. Not sure if he'll still be on the ship or which section he'll be, but he was serving in the back section when we were there (walk through the main entrance and past the partition). Tell him the honeymoon couple with the mushroom allergy recommended him!

Serkan is the MAN. Sadly, tonight will be our last night to dine with him as our top notch waiter. He has made us all, especially our two teen boys feel so welcome. He has gone above and beyond for us all. I don’t have enough kind words to describe our wonderful dining experiences in Luminae. Humbled.

We are interested in hearing from cruisers on the Equinox. We will be sailing on her in December, and hoping the kitchen can get it together.

Rollie

No problem. No, I don't recall his name, unfortunately. He was a young Asian guy. He was always quick to offer refills on our wine when we ran low (we drank wine there each night), and he went so far as to get a bottle from Murano for us that we had enjoyed the prior night. We were disappointed that neither he nor the maitre'd gave us any wine recommendations based on our meal choices, but Serkan did offer his recommendations a couple of times.

We were recently on the Eclipse in a Sky Suite. When asked what wine we would like we told the server that we haven’t seen a menu so we don’t know what we are ordering for dinner. He said it doesn’t matter just order the wine you like. We have been told this many other times in Blu. I don’t know how those others that write reviews always write how the wine was always matched to perfection with each course get it. We would then tell them what we read and they would basically roll their eyes and shake their heads.

Next time they tell me that it doesn’t matter I am showing them a screen shot of the class that X offers for $25 pp for the perfect wine pairing.

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

We are interested in hearing from cruisers on the Equinox. We will be sailing on her in December, and hoping the kitchen can get it together.

 

Rollie

Keep in mind that this thread is about a year old, except for the last couple of posts.

I'm on in Luminae in two weeks, and I'll try to remember to report back.

Thanks Abbyydancer, we look forward to all recent reviews.

Rollie