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

[need2bespoiled]

Oh, one more thing, the current pastry chef onboard is new and French (and AMAZING) but he and a couple other staff who opened Luminae on Summit are leaving today and going to Eclipse, which is also in port with us, to work on having Lumniae open for the trans-Atlantic. Lucky Eclipse passengers. His work has been noticeably outstanding. I hope the staff on Summit has been well trained and can keep up his work!

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Gordoncruickshank]

I don't know if cruise critic fixed it or my last solution which was to delete and reinstall the app fixed it but I'm back in business via iPhone and heading back into the water.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I suspect that it would have restarted working by itself. Mine did after not being able to log in for a spell. Inactivity sometimes works.

Gordon

[maggie.1008]

Jenna thank you so much for letting us all take this journey with you. Hope to meet you in Luminae on Saturday night. I am traveling with my travel agent friend who was also on your Millennium cruise. See you soon, Heather

[need2bespoiled]

Heather, please introduce yourself! Or we can dine together? 8:15 right after muster? It is their busiest time due to the muster schedule so plan for a longer meal. No worries if you have plans but if you'd like we'll make a reservation.

 

I can't say enough great things about the pastries. The cream in the donuts was amazing. The dolce leche croissants are insanely good. This is NOT a breakfast for those on diets or with weak will power.

 

 

I had the florentine Benedict. Dee had the hash and poached eggs. We split evenly and each had yogurt, fresh granola and berries (healthy, right? ;) ). The eggs disappointingly weren't delivered soft as ordered and Dee's were not hot. The florentine was good but the spinach and mushrooms were salty. Yogurt is high quality Greek.

 

 

No dinner menu yet, e're off to the French side.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[maggie.1008]

Jenna, sounds good. We will be in Luminae at 8:15pm

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Actually, the dipthong AE is pronounced differently, depending on whether you are studying Classical or Ecclesiastical Latin. I studied classical Latin, so AE was pronounced "ai" as in aisle.

 

In this clip, they are basically talking about Classical pronunciation of vowels and dipthongs. AE is pronounced as "ai" (or aisle, or "eye" or long I):

 

 

and also

 

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Latin/Lesson_2

 

Fun. I can't remember the last time I had a conversation about Latin. :D:D:D

 

Eileen, I studied classical latin in Georgia with a teacher who had a VERY heavy southern accent. That was quite interesting. :)

 

Linda

 

[cherylroslyn]

Jenna thanks for all of your work on this thread, it is amazing and your photos are gorgeous. Where were you when you took the photos in post #180?

 

It is such a beautiful view:)

[maggie.1008]

Another thread shows photo`s of food in Blu on the Summit. It looks wonderful. Is it easy for suite guests to dine in Blu a few nights ?

[need2bespoiled]

Heather,

 

Email me your room number(s). Email is my name with the letter g at the end and the number 6 at gmail.

 

Linda, we were at Galley Bay which is a nice resort, 92 rooms and all but 8 full and it felt empty. Most are in bungalows on the beach. We were the only day pass guests and actually just paid to lunch which was ok. Not as good as our last trip. It's about 15 min and a $20 cab plus tip from the port.

 

Today we're at gallon bay on the French side of Saint Martin. It's near orient beach down the road with the Butterfly a Farm. It's breezy which means the wind will be howling at Orient. We've been here many times but today with 4 ships in port it is more crowded than normal. $20 for 2 chairs, an umbrella and calm warm water. We rent a car so we can leave, not take the chance of not have a ride (saw it happen to another couple we brought back to port once on a day when it wasn't busy) and do some shopping in Marigot. There is a good beach restaurant and free but terrible wifi. There are some non powered water sports rentals.

 

 

 

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[need2bespoiled]

Another thread shows photo`s of food in Blu on the Summit. It looks wonderful. Is it easy for suite guests to dine in Blu a few nights ?

 

 

You can just walk up to the host at Blu and be seated. I'm guessing there is plenty of availability now with Luminae open.

 

If we could get menus further in advance it would be easier to decide where to eat. It would be nice to have them all in Michael's Club at least a day or 2 in advance.

 

One sky suite note, they're making a concerted effort to have the concierge (concierge class) available for them. Yes, they have many more cabins than the MC Concierge and you still have butler but if you need something and want to avoid guest relations they can help.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[takemewithyou]

getting ready to try Luminae in Oct on Infinity......

 

We are quite concerned about the amount of salt they are using in the food!

 

Hopefully you are letting them know that you are finding several of the dishes to be too salty so they can make some adjustments.

 

It really can be a big problem for those of us with high blood pressure and those who are salt sensitive! It would be better to use less salt in the preparation.....there is always the salt shaker for those who want it.......

 

OK....off my soap box now.....! Thank you for your review and the pictures are great!

Edited April 9, 2015 by takemewithyou

[wwcruisers]

getting ready to try Luminae in Oct on Infinity......

 

We are quite concerned about the amount of salt they are using in the food!

 

Hopefully you are letting them know that you are finding several of the dishes to be too salty so they can make some adjustments.

 

It really can be a big problem for those of us with high blood pressure and those who are salt sensitive! It would be better to use less salt in the preparation.....there is always the salt shaker for those who want it.......

 

OK....off my soap box now.....! Thank you for your review and the pictures are great!

 

I too have salt issues -- to the point that my waiter or Matre'd always brings me the next day's menu, to help me make "low sodium" choices. But it quickly becomes apparent when you have a head chef who is heavy-handed with the salt shaker. We're SO looking forward to trying Luminae on Summit next month -- hope this isn't a problem!

[MiaPortia]

Hi, Jenna – Your informative reviews have been so thoroughly enjoyable and appreciated! The new Suite Class and included amenities have been enticing Hubby and I back to Celebrity from the smaller luxury lines, and we have been keenly awaiting the debut of Luminae’s intimate, epicurean dining experience. I was also wondering about sea-day activities: Are any enrichment speakers included among the offerings? Thank you again, Jenna, for not only your insights, but also for taking your time to post “live.” :)

[maggie.1008]

Jenna, we are in Sky Suite cabin # 6123.

[chamima]

Another thread shows photo`s of food in Blu on the Summit. It looks wonderful. Is it easy for suite guests to dine in Blu a few nights ?

 

 

 

I did a search and couldn't find that thread.

What was the title?

(We sail in Aqua and at some point Celebrity said they were going to upgrade Blu as they were introducing Luminae so I'm curious)

Thanks!

[Karynanne]

Jenna, thank you for your wonderful pictures and day by day reports on Luminae. We board Reflection on Sat. and are excited to dine in this new venue. I can already see that any hopes of weight control have been dashed...

 

Karyn

[maggie.1008]

Check out the thread that says " pic Summit 28/03/15. Photo`s of dining in Blu.

[chamima]

Found it!

Thanks!

 

(The pictures are ok, but nowhere as good as Jenna's)

[need2bespoiled]

We've let them know a lot salty dishes and front of house have agreed with our assessment as they're tasting too and lucking for feedback. We've also forget to ask for no added salt as Dee just had a check up and has high blood pressure so the issue is new to us. Sauces are pre-made so it may be hard to accommodate some preferences. There have been special events though not speakers in Michael's club. I haven't noticed any enrichment speakers on this sailing but usually there are on less family based sailings. There is only 1 sea day on each sailing as well.

 

They are currently working on new Blu menus but stated they're 2-6 months away from launch. They're also working on new Murano/M-Class equivalent updated menus.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[chamima]

.

 

They are currently working on new Blu menus but stated they're 2-6 months away from launch. They're also working on new Murano/M-Class equivalent updated menus.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

I hope they don't do away with the tuna!

I'm a vegetarian (eat fish) and I LOVE the 3 tuna dishes that are currently on the Blu menu but I know they are probably on the expensive side of fish choices.

[need2bespoiled]

I think they goal is upgrading Blu and based on the quality of the products being used in Luminae I think it will be an upgrade with higher quality products. In general quality has been very good (though the first night filets were unimpressive, but I think it was partly due to cooking on a not hot enough electric grill. Sometimes when ingredients are expensive, they do things like integrated them into the dish in smaller amounts.

 

Back to the beach for a bit more for me, then damage in Marigot and Phillipsburg to make up for the stores being closed in Holetown Barbados for the Easter holiday.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

Sent from my iPad using fat fingers and Tapatalk

[Angelsea57]

Need2bespoiled,

Thanks again for all the great postings and photos.

We are really enjoying them.

Question for you, How does the shows and entertainment compare to

Royal Caribbean's?? Hoping just as good. We will be on Summit during the summer with the family. We have been on Royal Caribbean ships before (over 20 cruises), but this will be our first time with Celebrity.

Just curious about the entertainment on the Summit. Is it a lively ship?? Thanks.

Edited April 9, 2015 by Angelsea57

[MiaPortia]

I appreciate your response, Jenna! BTW, I so agree that the dessert offerings (i.e., almond cake w/ mascarpone; hazelnut cake; dark chocolate mousse; bittersweet chocolate tart) sound impressive, and the photographed morning pastries also look to be melt-in-the-mouth sensational! It appears that Celebrity’s vision for Luminae is right in our wheelhouse: creatively conceived, freshly prepared, scrumptious dishes paired with (for us) an earthy, full-bodied red and followed by delectable dessert and robust cappuccino. Just wondering – have you heard any discussion of a cheese course? Including an interesting cheese and fruit course would be a very welcome addition... :) :)

 

We are really looking forward to experiencing Luminae and the other Suite amenities on upcoming Celebrity voyages and await more of your delightful, expressive, Luminae posts… Thanks again, Jenna!

Edited April 9, 2015 by MiaPortia

[british lady]

Thank you for this wonderful review. I hope you both enjoy The "Normandie". It was the best restaurant at sea (in my opinion).

 

We have booked Celebrity again after cruising other lines so now we are looking forward to

trying the New Suite Dining on the Reflection.

 

Sara

[need2bespoiled]

I know someone asked about entertainment previously and saw Angelsea57's questions about the liveliness of the ship. We go to some shows which are good likely some comedians and acrobatics but it carries by ship. Celebrity is launching 18 new shows over the next 18 months. The first, iMagic launched on Summit but we missed it. We're going to try and go next week. I don't think the shows are as varied or good as Royal Caribbean. As far as bands and such there is the house band, party band, duo, soloist, DJ and steal pan drummer. Entertainers change frequently but I've seen some reviews from this Caribbean season including the Celebrity Todays so you can get a good idea. It will probably change for the Bermuda season out of ny/nj.

 

Tonight's menu looks great. We were told the Luminae baked Alaska will be served calming. We'll have to wait until next week to try it as we're heading to Normandie tonight.

 

 

 

Happy sailing from the Martini Bar which seems pretty slow compared to some sailings,

 

 

Jenna

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk