Luminae - lunch

[ghstudio]

What about those who cruised since Luminae officially launched under the new Suite Program in the past month, with the inflated prices, and not only did not get this, but other amenities in the new Suite Program?

 

I think if you should approach celebrity privately....

[Fredric22]

Good news. I am looking forward to the Luminae experience as it was originally advertised. I know that we will certainly be making use of the restaurant at lunch during our port days in Bermuda. I will report back with a full Luminae review after our May 24th trip on the Summit.

[takemewithyou]

Hi all,

 

We are excited about launching Luminae for our Suite Class guests. Luminae is now 100% operational across the Celebrity fleet. Beginning with each ship's next sailing, we will welcome our Suite Class guests for three meals a day, beginning with lunch on embarkation day.

 

Thank you very much for clarifying this.

I think we probably have you to thank for conveying to the "Powers that BE" that this was a major source of disappointment for those of us who booked suites believing what was advertised in the early announcements.

[groryjm]

Hi all,

 

We are excited about launching Luminae for our Suite Class guests. Luminae is now 100% operational across the Celebrity fleet. Beginning with each ship's next sailing, we will welcome our Suite Class guests for three meals a day, beginning with lunch on embarkation day.

 

I have been watching these threads with anxiety:( now I can look forward to July with anticipation:) Thanks Celebrity Cruises

 

(with the snacks in MC and 3 meals in Luminae I need to start my diet NOW:eek:)

[jenniebnyc]

I have been watching these threads with anxiety:( now I can look forward to July with anticipation:) Thanks Celebrity Cruises

 

(with the snacks in MC and 3 meals in Luminae I need to start my diet NOW:eek:)

Did they confirm the snacks in MC? They seem to be missing or inedible according to recent posters. Either way, not good news. Was looking to something yummy to go along with my cocktail when hanging in MC. Any additional news on what's up here would be helpful.

[JaneStarr]

Hi all,

 

We are excited about launching Luminae for our Suite Class guests. Luminae is now 100% operational across the Celebrity fleet. Beginning with each ship's next sailing, we will welcome our Suite Class guests for three meals a day, beginning with lunch on embarkation day.

Thank you for interceding on our behalf; it's much appreciated!

Happy to go back to anticipating the "Suite Life" in a few months.

Jane

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Hi all,

 

We are excited about launching Luminae for our Suite Class guests. Luminae is now 100% operational across the Celebrity fleet. Beginning with each ship's next sailing, we will welcome our Suite Class guests for three meals a day, beginning with lunch on embarkation day.

 

Thank you for your post and attention to posts on Cruise Critics expressing disappointment in the way Luminae was being rolled out. We are now excited for our next 3 cruises and are trying to plan a 4th with friends who have never cruised but who would definitely sail in a suite.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Hi all,

 

We are excited about launching Luminae for our Suite Class guests. Luminae is now 100% operational across the Celebrity fleet. Beginning with each ship's next sailing, we will welcome our Suite Class guests for three meals a day, beginning with lunch on embarkation day.

 

Thanks for the information. I was on the verge of cancelling my upcoming suite cruise. My last cruises in suites (RS and PH) left a few things to be desired.

 

Linda

 

[sylver]

Hi all,

 

We are excited about launching Luminae for our Suite Class guests. Luminae is now 100% operational across the Celebrity fleet. Beginning with each ship's next sailing, we will welcome our Suite Class guests for three meals a day, beginning with lunch on embarkation day.

 

Thank you for the information, this is great news!

[MiaPortia]

Hi all,

 

We are excited about launching Luminae for our Suite Class guests. Luminae is now 100% operational across the Celebrity fleet. Beginning with each ship's next sailing, we will welcome our Suite Class guests for three meals a day, beginning with lunch on embarkation day.

 

Celebrity: Thank you for clarifying! Lunch in Luminae each day is an essential component of suite benefits for us. Hubby and I often treat “port days” as “sea days” where we enjoy long, leisurely lunches -- and when we do spend several hours out and about in port, we always look forward to a quiet, epicurean lunch back onboard. Celebrity’s advertised suite-level benefits, most importantly Luminae’s daily, intimate dining experience for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, enticed us and we are delighted that Celebrity’s suite-level concept has evolved into viable option in the arena of luxury cruising. :)

[Ma Bell]

Hi Celebrity Cruises,

 

Was this the plan all along, as we were told, or was it really all the whining and complaining on Cruise Critic that accomplished the purpose?;) Inquiring minds want to know.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Hi Celebrity Cruises,

 

Was this the plan all along, as we were told, or was it really all the whining and complaining on Cruise Critic that accomplished the purpose?;) Inquiring minds want to know.

 

How much credence should we put in their answer (the one which I doubt will be forthcoming) ?

 

Tom

[TommyD3]

Hi all,

 

We are excited about launching Luminae for our Suite Class guests. Luminae is now 100% operational across the Celebrity fleet. Beginning with each ship's next sailing, we will welcome our Suite Class guests for three meals a day, beginning with lunch on embarkation day.

 

Thank you for quickly fixing this problem:)

[TommyD3]

they could make it an elite plus benefit. I think specialty restaurants are already discounted. But there are a lot of ways to leverage this. Plus I think the Tuscan and murano lunches were awesome. We paid for those.

 

They could at least start with Zenith......

[TommyD3]

Hi Celebrity Cruises,

 

Was this the plan all along, as we were told, or was it really all the whining and complaining on Cruise Critic that accomplished the purpose?;) Inquiring minds want to know.

 

I think it was the whining.

 

The same thing happened with Azamara when they tried to eliminate ALL free internet for their loyalty members. After the whining the perk was reinstated:)

[cruiserchuck]

I think it was the whining.

 

The same thing happened with Azamara when they tried to eliminate ALL free internet for their loyalty members. After the whining the perk was reinstated:)

 

I do not think that asking for what was advertised/promised, and already paid for, should be considered whining.

[Pushka]

I think it was the whining.

 

 

 

The same thing happened with Azamara when they tried to eliminate ALL free internet for their loyalty members. After the whining the perk was reinstated:)

 

 

Do you really consider it whining simply to get what was advertised and paid for? It was a significant promotion re Luminae for suite guests. And that the product supplied fell well short of the offer.

[hvsteve1]

As someone who has seen restaurant launches from the inside, I can tell you that they have to be eased in, to the point of not opening them to the public until everything has been worked out by serving only private guests. Doing this with a restaurant on a ship while sailing is not really an option so those who were on board during the rollout got kind of a break as Luminea was open to them, though not full time, rather than the MDR. Celebrity could have tried opening all restaurants full time on all ships all at once and ended up with a train wreck. So we have folks complaining the couldn't get lunch on all days or that some ship had Luminea at one point and theirs did not. I was not on the Celebrity boards a year ago so, were all these folks really promised when they booked in March of 2014 that they would be having lunch in the suites-only restaurant on the days they cruised?

[Karynanne]

As someone who has seen restaurant launches from the inside, I can tell you that they have to be eased in, to the point of not opening them to the public until everything has been worked out by serving only private guests. Doing this with a restaurant on a ship while sailing is not really an option so those who were on board during the rollout got kind of a break as Luminea was open to them, though not full time, rather than the MDR. Celebrity could have tried opening all restaurants full time on all ships all at once and ended up with a train wreck. So we have folks complaining the couldn't get lunch on all days or that some ship had Luminea at one point and theirs did not. I was not on the Celebrity boards a year ago so, were all these folks really promised when they booked in March of 2014 that they would be having lunch in the suites-only restaurant on the days they cruised?

 

 

I was on the 2nd sailing of the Luminae opening, and I completely understood how difficult it is to open a new restaurant. I guess I'm a very tolerant person, that doesn't hastily judge an issue, until the issue has been settled. Then if that issue is not settled to my satisfaction, I'll complain.

 

I do understand that many were upset with the initial roll-out, but somehow I knew that Celebrity would rectify the situation, and appease their passengers.

 

For those of you with upcoming cruises, I hope you enjoy this lovely venue.

 

Karyn

[gcgold]

What about those who cruised since Luminae officially launched under the new Suite Program in the past month, with the inflated prices, and not only did not get this, but other amenities in the new Suite Program?

 

 

Interesting. I sought some advice regarding my up and coming suite cruise and the promised benefits. I booked in the UK so I believe our consumer rights could be stronger than say the USA.

 

As I suspected, the advice was that I booked the suite based upon the information given.

 

In fact we upgraded just after the CC Q &A with CEL X UK . She explicitly said Luminae would be open 3 times per day. As No changes were notified before final payment then we would have a very strong case.

 

the interesting bit for me was his analysis of what probably happened. If one assumes that most bookings are made well in advance then a high proportion of the suite guests in the early days of the roll-out booked in advance of the announcements , so don't really have a case. Of the ones who booked at the time of , or after, the announcements how many were from countries with consumer laws like the UK.

 

In his opinion Cel X have taken a calculated risk . They would know that the few suite guests who have a case AND make a formal complaint can be dealt with via good Customer Service.

 

Seems logical to me. [emoji41][emoji636]

[Hows the Serenity]

Hi all,

 

 

 

We are excited about launching Luminae for our Suite Class guests. Luminae is now 100% operational across the Celebrity fleet. Beginning with each ship's next sailing, we will welcome our Suite Class guests for three meals a day, beginning with lunch on embarkation day.

 

 

Thank you Celebrity, we are first time cruisers with you, we look forward to our Sky Suite in April 2017

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[need2bespoiled]

As someone who has seen restaurant launches from the inside, I can tell you that they have to be eased in, to the point of not opening them to the public until everything has been worked out by serving only private guests. Doing this with a restaurant on a ship while sailing is not really an option so those who were on board during the rollout got kind of a break as Luminea was open to them, though not full time, rather than the MDR. Celebrity could have tried opening all restaurants full time on all ships all at once and ended up with a train wreck. So we have folks complaining the couldn't get lunch on all days or that some ship had Luminea at one point and theirs did not. I was not on the Celebrity boards a year ago so, were all these folks really promised when they booked in March of 2014 that they would be having lunch in the suites-only restaurant on the days they cruised?

 

 

They absolutely published opening dates which while all in April varied by ship. They opened a number of the rooms early with the MDR menu and then started serving the menu on the published dare. Having sailed (and reported extensively) I know staff we're used as testers for the new menu while guests before launch date were served the old menu.

 

That's about as reasonable a phase in as you could hope for without spreading it out over months.

 

Remember this change included many benefit changes besides the new dining room. Staff was not well trained and changes were not implemented without pushing staff. It's ironic the only new perk that seemed to be consistently well implemented was unlimited internet.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Beamafar]

I've been following this subject with great interest. I'd booked a Sky Suite for my first Celebrity cruise as I fancied a change from MSC and see Celebrity as a viable alternative. I was very disappointed to learn how Luminae was to operate and am so glad that Celebrity has since seen the light.

 

MSC Yacht Club has a dedicated restaurant which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner so I would expect nothing less from other cruiselines' equivalent!

 

I can only imagine the reaction Celebrity received onboard from Suite guests when they became aware of the opening times of Luminae after they embarked! I would say that this, along with the outcry on social media and here would have made them realise that they'd seriously cocked this one up.

 

I get the impression that there were quite a number of people who'd booked suites were contacting Celebrity with a view to cancelling, too. As my final payment won't be due 'til October I was waiting to see how this played out - the cost of the Sky Suite is way out of my budget comfort zone and this could have been a tipping point for me. I'm eager to compare the suite experience with Yacht Club as each has very different elements to them so I'm very pleased to see that the three meals a day will be served in Luminae. I'm with some other posters here in that I enjoy having lunch onboard when the ship is in port.

[Grandma Gilly]

I second that.

 

On Sunday, The Sunday Times newspaper in the UK, circulation 2 million, ran a one page article on Celebrity Suite Class titled,

 

"Home suite home on the high seas"

with the by-line

"With butlers, suites and endless champers, cruising's golden age is making a comeback"

.

Over 60% of their readership are socio-economic group AB, which is very much the target market for Celebrity. So when these people think great lets look at Celebrity, acquire copies of the UK brochure which clearly states breakfast, lunch and dinner in Luminae and then find once on board that these meals are not provided, what exactly does Celebrity think will be the outcome? Let's be clear, in the EU and the UK, the Sales of Goods Act trumps the cruise contract and it applies to holidays as equally as it does to purchasing a television. A summary of its principal provisions are that:

 

All goods must be:

• as described
  
  
• of satisfactory quality and
  
  
• fit for purpose
  
  

 

If they're not, the retailer is in breach of contract and you have a claim under the Sale of Goods Act

There are to the best of my knowledge no exceptions.

 

It was only after reading that article that I considered Celebrity again, recently having sailed on the smaller lines of Seabourn, Silverseas, Oceania and Azamara.

We did indeed book a sky suite for next April. Hope things improve before then or its back to the other lines.

[Tiggertastic]

We had lunch today in luminae and it was great. The menu changes daily

 

We asked if they are open tomorrow in port and the head waiter said he will tell us tonight

Edited May 7, 2015 by Tiggertastic