Cruising Princess

I am so sorry for not adding more context to this original thread but I had a family emergency and today is my first day back on CruiseCritic. This morning I spent over an hour comparing the Luminae dinner menus between our last 2 suite class cruises: Constellation in March 2022 and Beyond in December 2022. While reviewing the menus today, almost all of the choices each evening where the same except there were some differences that seemed like they were substituting some proteins to reduce costs. Note: Not every menu could be compared since some nights each ship had one of the other dinner menus that Celebrity rotates. Here are the findings: Main Course Changes - (Beyond vs Constellation) Cod vs Barramundi Snapper vs Alaskan Halibut Chicken Breast vs Duck Breast And one interesting Appetizer Change (Beyond vs Constellation) Pig Foot Carpaccio vs Scallop Carpaccio Regarding choice of menus - the Beyond menus chosen for our sailing we believe are those that had cheaper ingredient options. Missing that we enjoyed on the Constellation were: Veal Chop, Lamb Shank and Venison Loin. On the Beyond they served menus that had Cod on two evenings as well as Lamb Loin (which was served on back to back nights). Bottom line - the changes are subtle to someone who doesn't sail in retreat class often, but when you know the menus as well as me and hubby..... its noticeable.

When we were on the Beyond in December we noticed they made significant changes to the suite lunch and dinner menus. Not all good changes. We were told they made these changes on all of the E-class ships. Since then has anyone seen changes to the Luminae menus on the other class ships?

No speaker on the Beyond in November..

Has anyone who is boarding today get notice about meal/food available after boarding tonight? Just curious. Also, any news about cabins needing to be vacated before docking? Assume they will need time for turnover.

I just got off Beyond on Sunday. The Luminae lunch menus didn’t appear on the app until the day before the cruise.

Update: First night since we didn’t like the Luminae dinner menu we went to Fine Cut Steakhouse. Bottom line….Steaks overcooked, and all side dishes luke warm. And our premium red wine as ice cold. But service was top notch and of course we tipped very well. day 2 - had dinner in Luminae for chic night - the waiter kept messing up the sequence we wanted appetizers delivered to the table. He gave me an amuse-bouche that had caviar on top right after I told him I have serious allergic reaction to any fish or seafood. He appeared very inexperienced but he tried hard. Onion soup had just a few onions and no taste. The ribeye was very oddly shaped and super thick. It had the texture and taste of prime rib. I questioned the head of Luminae. He said it’s a different cut of ribeye! That’s a head scratcher. But the worst item was the escargot. They changed the vessel to one with very small shallow holes. This results in the escargot being cut in small pieces to fit and very little room for the garlic butter. Hubby asked if they had the other plates the older ships still use and was told no. “This is the same as the Apex.” We heard that response about a lot of items. Guess I’m never going on the Apex! Luminae was dead at 8 pm. I am guessing folks either eat early or someplace else. For those booked to sail….there are still millions of pluses like the attentive retreat staff, the crew and officers. Everyone is super friendly. And the Captain is the funniest I have ever encountered in over 60+ cruises. I’ll do a review when I get home. And yes, any deficiencies are mentioned very politely and out of ear shot of others.

Currently on Beyond with my hubby. We ate lunch in Luminae on embarkation day yesterday. Very dissatisfied with the quality of the food. Frozen butter, cold soup, undercooked thick cubes of bacon in Cobb salad with watery under seasoned chicken (all 5 small bite sized pieces), undercooked thick French Fries that tasted like the kind you get in freezer bag from food store, and a apple berry crumble that was dry dry dry like they forgot to add butter to the crumble. Worst is that Celebrity changed a lot of the dishes on the menu for the rest of the week. Gone are some of the expensive cuts of meat and fish. The menus just do not look appealing. Tonight is Chic night. I’ll share feedback/update in next few days.

I just sailed on the Summit for 4 night sailing. We found it to have an older crowd which was a bit surprising since it was over a weekend. Agree the ambiance was same as longer cruise. we loved it and will be booking a few more between longer ones.

Loving your review! We board this Sunday! How is the service in Luminae?

I am currently on the Summit. Went to Tuscan the first night. When I got the bill I added $35 to the tip line. I didn’t look at the bill closely. Next day I saw an odd amount on my account. I inquired and was told that starting about six months ago Celebrity is now adding an 18% gratuity on top of the cover charges. I was not aware of this new charge. Sorry if I’m posting a thread that might of already been hashed around but this was new to me. So thought I’d share. I am booked in a sky suite on the beyond in 4 weeks and will probably cancel my specialty restaurant reservations. Luminae is good enough for me.

Yup! It’s raining here in Cozumel!!! And btw, I was very careful in wording my question when I asked the waiter if the beans were fresh. You know his answer.

My husband and I have been sailing in Sky Suites almost exclusively the last 5 years and noticed some food items downgraded but frozen haricot verts beans which are so thin to begin with do not freeze well. I was excited last night to enjoy my dinner but it wasn’t to be. I may have to give up my goal to reach Zenith and look again to the other luxury lines.

Okay do folks remember growing up when your mother served you string beans that were previously frozen. They were olive green colored and mushy and tasted nasty. Well that’s what they are now serving in Blu (aqua class) restaurant along side their short rib dish. I confirmed with the head waiter that yes indeed they switched to frozen to save money. I under a company needs to cut costs, raise prices , etc….but not to sacrifice quality. Doing so results in customers looking at other options. I recall after 9-11 and no one was cruising Celebrity started switching out more expensive meats, vegetables and lettuces. But eventually the products reappeared. So I hope in this case things turn around where they are generating profits and return to fresh vegetables!!! so sad….