Celebrity Summit Live report 4/4/15 - First Luminae and new suite benefits sailing

[koolforkatz]

 

Finally I had a conversation with a senior officier who I flat out asked about lunch. It's with great disappointment that he stated there are no current plans to add lunch Luminae. He said it came down to staffing levels as Luminae has its own dedicated staff. I understand we see the same staff for breakfast and dinner and they do need (and deserve) a break but surely they could staff lunch with a few more staff. I am certain these comments are controversial and some who read this thread will not doubt state this will impact staffing elsewhere and I do get that point of view.

 

Thank you for your sleuthing on this. This is definitely disappointing especially since at the time of writing, they are still advertising breakfast, lunch and dinner at Luminae on their website. I will find out in a few more days! We have five sea days so hopefully they will be serving brunch during those days. Who knows....

 

I have loved your reviews so much. Thank you for taking so much time out of your trip to post your pics and opinions. Much appreciated. :)

[sunshine nana]

Thanks for the update re: lunch for suites. It will impact our decision to book a suite again at the current prices without the beverage, free grats and OBC. We can go to the MDR for breakfast every day and lunch sea days without being in a suite. We were in a suite last year and had great service in the MDR for dinner along with the 2 specialties and the option of Blu. We really liked NCL's taking us directly to Cagneys for lunch as soon as we embarked and being able to eat lunch there everyday without going to the buffet and were hoping for a similar suite experience with Celebrity.

[Project_gal]

Sorry - a little off topic but it's a question that comes up while we're on a cruise and I have never figured out the answer.

My husband likes his shirts laundered and ironed.

The only way I figured out to do this is to use the dry cleaning coupon.

How do you put a shirt in with the "wash and fold" load and then use the ironing coupon for just that one (or two) shirts in that load without sending them in twice and thus taking 4 days to get a shirt done?

 

I have mixed items I want pressed and those I do not want pressed in the same bag but only if I want, for example, all shirts ironed. I list all the items on the "wash" section of the form with zero in the price column and put the necessary Captain's Club offer in the special instructions. I then relist the, say, shirts in the pressing section of the form with the cost next to them. I have now done this on two cruises [different ship] and it has worked except for not being charged anything on the last cruise.

 

As far as whether or not their is a charge for laundry in the higher-end suite, I really wish they would just say one way or another. It always caused issued when there were discretionary perks in the past and I hope that these would be done away with now we have the new suite perks. I am not sure why it bothers me. I would have the laundry done anyway. We do not travel light but I appreciate not coming home to too much laundry.

[Fredric22]

Very true. A nice, quiet embarkation lunch would really set the tone for the upscale experience we have paid for and been promised for the week.

[need2bespoiled]

We did have embarkation lunch both cruises. Sea days have had brunch which we're looking forward to in a bit.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

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[Fredric22]

We did have embarkation lunch both cruises. Sea days have had brunch which we're looking forward to in a bit.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

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Thanks, Jenna. It seems from reports from other ships that the embarkation lunch was not offered. It's strange to me they are doing something different on the Summit. Perhaps they are testing some things out on the Summit?

[Project_gal]

Thanks, Jenna. It seems from reports from other ships that the embarkation lunch was not offered. It's strange to me they are doing something different on the Summit. Perhaps they are testing some things out on the Summit?

 

You also have to remember that Summit has a much later sailing time [and, hence, muster drill] than other ships with consequent later dining. There is less time to include lunch on other sailing. Having said that, I hope that this assumption is incorrect and they do offer embarkation lunch on Millennium a week on Sunday .

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Jenna, was there any response to you requests for a cheese course or cheese offering for dessert?

 

I can't wait to see your post from formal night.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I'm disappointed Celebrity is not going to live up to their advertising of breakfast, lunch & dinner in the suite's restaurant. But, we would probably not go to lunch very often, maybe once or twice on a 14 day cruise. On sea days we are not up early enough to have breakfast in the dining room so brunch will be nice. On port days we are usually up and off the ship early. If we do stay on board we like the grill, international offerings, and salad options at the buffet and it is not as crowded.

[h20cruzer]

Well in the olden days:):), when you sat at the same table at the same time every day, with the same people you had the same waiter and bus boy for all 3 meals. Not sure why the waiters now can only work 2 meals instead of 3.

Also the same waiter and bus boy worked both early and late sittings.

Norma

[need2bespoiled]

Well in the olden days:):), when you sat at the same table at the same time every day, with the same people you had the same waiter and bus boy for all 3 meals. Not sure why the waiters now can only work 2 meals instead of 3.

Also the same waiter and bus boy worked both early and late sittings.

Norma

 

Remember, these waiters are doing more than 1 turn at dinner so figure early and late seating. Last night we didn't finish dinner until well after 11 (it was quite a social affair) and we started at a bit after 9pm.

 

Even in the old days, staff rotated for breakfast and often lunch, but maybe my old days / memory don't go back quite far enough.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[need2bespoiled]

Tonight's menu is the same as last week formal night 2 but I include it for reference.

 

The amuse-bouche was a large shrimp (u16 ish and too big to eat in one bite) with a lemongrass coconut sauce that was a bit spicy maybe with a curry. Yummy but no pic.

 

Dee has the wedge and I had the shellfish stew. Which was very good and not fishy.

 

The wedge was good and the blue cheese was good.

 

One thing to notes I I don't forget is Prince, our sommelier was excellent. Bojan, our waiter for almost all of our meals, was good and made dining fun. We'll tip them both extra tomorrow.

 

The butter poached lobster was good although s tad salty.

 

 

The hen. White meat was a tad dry, dark meat was excellent. The wheat was a bit cold.

 

 

Next up. Dessert.

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

 

 

 

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[need2bespoiled]

I was a bit disappointed that the chocolate cart is only presented on the first formal night so I kissed that both cruises. The amuse-dessert was gingerbread with tangerine, grapefruit, and gra fruit jelly. Neither one of us are more than a bite.

 

Dee had the baked Alaska and she said it was excellent.

 

I had peanut butter and chocolate ice cream which was great.

 

Finally the dress was cocktail elegant. Every gentlemen wore a jacket though one removed it to dine. Women were generally in cocktail dresses though I saw one gowns and a fancy pants set.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

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[Shirley C]

Thank you again for taking time out of your vacation to post all the pics and answer everyone's questions.

[hulamoon]

My thoughts are if they are going to continue to advertise lunch they must at a minimum give free lunch in bistro for all suites. all of us who purchased the suites did so under a different understanding.

 

cocktail elegant is an interesting dress code.

 

Thanks again Jenna, some of those dishes look great.

[junetraveler2014]

Jenna,

Could you please give alternatives to lunch on the Summit for the Suite Package? So far I think what is available is; Brunch in Luminae, Bistro on Five, Blu and Ocean View Café, brunch in MC or room service. Is this correct or are there more options? Sorry this trip is coming to a end. It has been fabulous reading. Thank you very much for taking the time to share your cruise with us. Enjoy your next one!

Thank you,

Victoria

[need2bespoiled]

Victoria,

 

Our cruise had the following:

 

For lunch on port days there was Bistro on 5, Ocean View (buffet), Aqua Spa Cafe and Mast Grill (burgers, dogs and fries by the pool).

 

For lunch on sea days there is Luminae for brunch but it is open plenty late with plenty of lunch choices, plus all of the above and I think the MDR but I can't find the Celebrity Today from today AND the did a pretty large "cookout" by the pool and were grilling right on deck. I think it is a good idea BUT it took away 15 or so chairs and made some less comfortable. With the crowding by the pool already in not sure whether this idea was good or bad.

 

Hula: the dress description is my terminology. The code is very clear, smart casual, there is a great sticky code up top for more dress code discussion ;) Servers are not in black, but they're in suites everyday. My description is simply what I saw. Quite a bit of LBDs but also others. Mostly party type dresses. All men in Blazers, sports coats/jackets. Maybe half with ties.

 

Finally, I hope if we, the guests booking suites speak up loudly and clearly enough, it will change. We'll certainly comment on our survey which was a bit new and actually had some specific Luminae and butler questions for the first cruise.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

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[Project_gal]

Jenna

 

I agree that suite guests do have to give feedback to Celebrity about opening times of Luminae. With eleven sea days on our up and coming transpacific, it will be extremely disappointing if breakfast is not included. Although we would attempt NOT to eat three meals a day [probably unsuccessfully], there is no way breakfast is the meal we would skip and 10:00 is far too late for breakfast.

 

We have actually enjoyed lunch in the specialty restaurants on our last few cruises with just a light snack for dinner to break up the routine. I just cannot see brunch working for us and we cannot be the only people.

[cruiserone]

Thank you Jenna and Emma. I wish you a safe journey home.

 

Your reporting was just what I needed for my upcoming trip on the Summit, in a suite.

 

We love to dress for dinner in smart casual except for the formal nights when DH wears a tuxedo and I wear a cocktail dress or this year, formal pants. There really should be no discussion if people are aware it is "formal" night. There are always other options for places to eat. I remember years when they would turn you away from the dining room if you were not "dressed" for dinner.

 

Your photo's were wonderful.

 

We hope to met you on a future cruise to hear about your journeys.

[uktog]

Jenna

 

As you prepare to disembark, can I thank you for all your reporting. I have just over a month to go before I enjoy all the delights you have told me about, thank you for adding to my excitement.

 

Like Projectgal, I am a little disappointed at the opening hours of Luminae versus what was advertised. However, I do understand the issue re staffing and I can see it will need a larger pool of staff to rotate to enable this to happen (and allow the hard working crew their time off in port).

 

One challenge we will have is due to time differences we will wake early anyway, so would need to eat before 10am however, I see the solution as these are the days the butler will be getting me breakfast or I might venture to Blu. We can have a light breakfast and then have an earlier brunch. So we have a work around!!

 

Our lunchtime workaround, on the basis that Bistro on 5 is covered as speciality dining is to be right there should the need arise.

 

So it is all looking good and thanks again for your reporting

 

Safe travels home!

[jcpc]

Jenna,

 

Thanks so much for posting for the past 2 weeks. Your "live" postings were one of the best - if not THE best - of any I've read on Cruise Critic. I am so looking forward to my Summit sailing in a week.

 

Have a safe trip home.

 

Janice

Edited April 17, 2015 by jcpc

[hulamoon]

Thanks for the enjoyable informative thread. I am slightly relieved it is smart casual dress! Lol

 

If they believe lunch will not be attended well they could open it up for fee for other passengers like they do when they have it in Murano. Certainly I understand staffing issues, maybe they need to hire more if it's spread too thin.

 

I completely missed the brunch started at 10 and there were no breakfasts that day. That is too late. It is probably going to keep Blu busier. The premium costs of suites is much higher than last year and for most the only difference is the restaurant. It really does have to step up to the promises still being promoted.

 

Safe travels home..or to work...:)

[Champagne Cruiser]

Thank you so much for your review. We usually cruise Aqua Class, but we were getting tired of the menu so we did our last cruise in the MDR. We liked it but the food was definitely "heavier". After reviewing your menus I think we will stay with AQ. I just can't eat so much food ala Normandie style every night. With a TA and a TP in our future we will stay with our AQ reservation, although I will miss my afternoon tea on the veranda.

[need2bespoiled]

Today we planned to do a catamaran trip. This is not our normal activity on an island but we wanted to try out this boat / company as we're traveling with family to St Thomas in January and plan to charter the entire catamaran. I emailed them 3-4 days ago for some details and to find out how many people had signed up and they told me us and 4 other but expected a few more but not a crowd.

 

We contacted another couple from our roll call who planned on the same trip to share a private cab we arranged while we were on the island last week. We're not fond of the shared taxi system on St Thomas because they make everyone going to a certain area wait until they're full. If your the first to that taxi you can wait for 15-20+ minutes. I called the arranged taxi and met him right across the street from the shared taxis. He took a bit longer to get there than I hoped but it was a tad cheaper than the shared taxi.

 

When we arrived on the beach to the catamaran and saw it was packed and were told there would be about 30 on board. There barely looked like room to sit so we bailed on plan A and decided on Plan B to go back to Secret Harbor for a mellow day on the beach and the amazing Tuna sashimi nachos at Sunset Grill. I'll get picks when we do lunch, but for now, this is what I'm doing for my last day of vacation

 

(Yes, those are freshly repainted)

 

Tomorrow will be a sad day for sure, as I don't even fly home, it's right to a work trip for me, but we do have a bit of a plan for Old San Juan tomorrow though not sure if we'll do that or be spontaneous.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

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Edited April 17, 2015 by need2bespoiled

[upwarduk]

With all the discussion about where to get something to eat prior to 10am, when the Brunch opens in Luminea, it occurred to me that no one has mentioned the Elite breakfast. Is this still operating?