A Luminae sceptic's observations and review , Live

[A Sixth?]

Hi Kevin

 

I too was a tad skeptical about the new "venue" but was blown away by the quality of service and food

 

The "famous" hamburger was the first nibble and it really is one of the best I have ever had.... (other than the ones I BBQ based on my own secret recipe of spices, fresh ingredients and select road kill )

 

I am booked for the winter for seven cruises (yes B2B2B2B2B2B2B) most in Aqua and now am tempted to bump it up a bit....

 

Lois and Pro_Gal here's a taste

 

 

 

 

 

Now if only I could convince Kevin to adopt me. (or marry Joni!!! Not sure how would work but heck, I did live in LA ) :p

 

Edited July 26, 2015 by A Sixth?

[RocketMan275]

Think that sadly you are right and that you may only have one SD freebie. Our trip is 12 nights and was basing my comment on that. Think I need to have a word with my travel agent as I've not been offered any OBC or any other perks. Well done you getting a good deal!

 

Up to you but I would discuss this with your TA. Sometimes you just do have to ask. My TA first offered $300 but upped her bid when I pointed out that another TA was offering $550 so she upped her bid to $575. Total OBC $875. (BTW, she could see the other offer on the web.) She also matched the price on Celebrities website so how could I turn that down?

[scifimonkey]

Winner winner, Game hen dinner!

Here's my latest Lumina update ten days into our Silhouette cruise.

Overall the food and service in Lumina remains better than I expected and much better than Blu or the specialty restaurants.

Two nights ago we had the game hen dinner and the lobster, there are two lobster dishes, the latest featured what appeared to be real cold water lobster, or a whole warm water tail. Either way it was a much better product than the standard Celebrity lobster.

We've enjoyed two game birds since my last update. A Cornish game hen and a Guinea hen. Both roasted perfectly. Some may remember my many posts about my game bird experiences / fiasco's in Blu. I'm of the belief that Blu should just give up since they can't cook game birds consistently or correctly. I've even been served a semi raw bird with freezer burn.

Anyway Luminae does it right and they all tasted great.

A few other observations: Luminae serves Hamachi crudo ( yellowtail sashimi ). To my knowledge this is the only Celebrity restaurant to offer this fish, a wonderful appetizer addition.

The service remains friendly and flawless. I have to admit that we've found the food at least as good as Seabourn , and probably better. I'm pleasantly surprised. Fortunately I haven't cancelled three Celebrity cruises Id booked for 2016. Luminae is reason for me to reconsider.

If you are a " foodie ", if a real modern restaurant experience with good food and service in a civilized atmosphere is important to you, you should try Luminae. We aren't using our last free specialty restaurant voucher.....Luminae is much better than any specialty restaurant and Blu. ( IMO )

 

Thanks Kevin for the in depth review. Am now really looking forward to Luminae on Eclipse next year. Sounds like it could be the best of the new suite package perks.

[Kevnzworld]

Am now exited from the ship unfortunately but in Amsterdam. ( Andaz, really good ).

Luminae is what Celebrity had been missing. I had been complaining on Cruise Critic for over a year about the decline in overall value as Celebrity's prices had risen. I had gravitated to Seabourn for that reason.

I hope that Luminae expands and improved upon their lunch offerings. The menus would get very old when sailing on a transatlantic ( a cruise we do bi annually ). Lunch will be an important part of my calculus going forward, it's an important meal for me.

I get a lot of query's about why Oceanview isn't " good enough ". It was when I was paying a lot less per day. If I'm going to pay the additional cost of a suite, I want a civilized lunch with different daily options in a real restaurant atmosphere. I don't like chasing for a table while my food gets cold. A stack of dirty un bussed dishes beside me.

That isn't a luxury experience, it's stressful.

Luminae has just a couple of menus for the day. The lunch seems like the unplanned afterthought that it was. Originally they hoped to get by with a sea day brunch and it shows.

I really hope they complete the concept considering that they are so close. I'm also curious about how the World class bar concept will evolve. I really began to like the craft cocktails at the Molecular bar after dinner.

I'll be following other reviews as the months go by since there's a lot of time before final payment on the spring T/A I have reserved.

Kudo's to Celebrity, Luminae though imperfect is pretty darn good.

[BEAV]

Second question, do you see a big need to upgrade to a premium beverage package?

 

 

How big of a wine drinker are you with dinner? When it comes to wines by the glass is where I feel I get the best value out of upgrading to the Premium package. With the Premium you can order up to $13 a glass, or just pay the difference if a higher price. With the Classic, I believe the cap is $8 and you can't pay the difference to upgrade, but rather have to pay for the entire glass outright.

 

If wine isn't that important to you, I'd probably stick with the Classic package since you'll have access to Michael's Club.

 

Whatever the case, enjoy! ;)

[jelayne]

Kevin, glad to hear you two are enjoying Luminae and your cruise. I also have become a fan of the Kendall Jackson reserve Pinot Noir- glad to hear you were able to get it outside of the restaurants. We hope our paths will cross again in the near future.

Joan

[need2bespoiled]

 

The service continues to be absolutely impeccable. There is a level of service, discipline and training in Luminae that doesn't exist anywhere on the ship other than possibly Murano. Unlike Murano, Luminae's food is more complex, really good and modern

 

This is really a good description of Luminae. I'm glad you're appreciating some of the high points. Remember (or at least I try to), that even in Michelin star restaurants, I've had dishes that I thought were misses. Unfortunately, it happens everywhere.

 

EDIT: Just realized, this was a bit older than I expected. Hope you had a great cruise!

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

Edited August 29, 2015 by need2bespoiled

[ladylemondrop]

Great review thanks! Sounds like something we would enjoy I hope we can try it some day [emoji3]

[POA1]

Thanks for your review. I really appreciate the specifics of what you like and why, as well as what you don't like and why.

[Kevnzworld]

I've been off the Silhouette for over a month now. I've altered my spring cruise plans to include a Celebrity transatlantic, thanks to Luminae

[vulcan1971]

This is really a good description of Luminae. I'm glad you're appreciating some of the high points. Remember (or at least I try to), that even in Michelin star restaurants, I've had dishes that I thought were misses. Unfortunately, it happens everywhere.

 

EDIT: Just realized, this was a bit older than I expected. Hope you had a great cruise!

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

Jenna - during my downtime from the real world to move to upstate NY, I missed this live review, so thank you for accidentally bringing it back to my attention.

Edited August 30, 2015 by vulcan1971

[vulcan1971]

I've been off the Silhouette for over a month now. I've altered my spring cruise plans to include a Celebrity transatlantic, thanks to Luminae

 

Kevnzworld - I appreciate all of your detailed comments for food in Luminae and look forward to a single meal with a fellow suite passenger on my 2015 Constellation cruise and my first [official] suite experience on the Reflection in 2016.

[Chunky2219]

I'm grateful for all the reviews and very pleased at the positive reports about Luminae. We'll be there for the first time in April.

 

DW and I are Cunard Grills fans and although we love Celebrity too, the quality of food in MDR would have made us think again about booking with X. Speciality dining was adding a lot to the cost of a cruise there's only so many times you can visit Blu without getting that groundhog day feeling. Great for breakfast though.

 

.

[Dorene1]

I will be on the Summit in October, went from Aqua Class to Sky Suite, the 18th is my anniversary and my plan is to surprise my husband with the upgrade. He enjoyed Blu but reading this I think he will be excited about trying something new.

 

Thank you

 

Dorene

[hulamoon]

Thanks Kevin...

 

I have been off CC for awhile and feel a bit better about the crazy big price I paid for our next cruise. My fault of course, I was too busy to follow up on drops if there were any.

[Project_gal]

Thanks Kevin...

 

I have been off CC for awhile and feel a bit better about the crazy big price I paid for our next cruise. My fault of course, I was too busy to follow up on drops if there were any.

 

I would not worry too much. Suite price have been holding up, in general, since the new perks were implemented.

[hulamoon]

I am looking forward to trying the new venue. This thread is great for ideas as to what to order, and I am glad the tables have a bit more space between.

 

I was told by Captains Club the Murano type restaurant is also open for lunch many days during a sailing now.

 

So is that where people are using the specialty restaurant perk?

 

Dorene1 we also like Blu..it was a difficult choice to switch. But the extra space I do appreciate! I was hoping Blu got some of its original great reviews back. Last Dec, it was improved for us though.

[Kevnzworld]

I am looking forward to trying the new venue. This thread is great for ideas as to what to order, and I am glad the tables have a bit more space between.

 

I was told by Captains Club the Murano type restaurant is also open for lunch many days during a sailing now.

 

So is that where people are using the specialty restaurant perk?

 

Dorene1 we also like Blu..it was a difficult choice to switch. But the extra space I do appreciate! I was hoping Blu got some of its original great reviews back. Last Dec, it was improved for us though.

 

Blu's menu is getting tired, after over five years without any appreciable change. I found the food in Luminae to be in an entirely different category,.

I was going to cancel my 2016 Celebrity cruises for Seabourn, now I'm keeping the spring transatlantic.

One word of caution....if you find them trying to close Luminae early on port day breakfasts, complain to the F&W manager...they'll leave it open until 9-9:30.

I use my specialty restaurant perk for Lawn grill and Murano

[Project_gal]

I was told by Captains Club the Murano type restaurant is also open for lunch many days during a sailing now.

 

So is that where people are using the specialty restaurant perk?

 

Having eaten far too often in the specialty restaurant [until the opening of Luminae], we enjoy the specialty restaurant lunch menus and, so, yes we do you that perk. However, my guess is that, if they do not vary these menus either, we will eventually tire of the lunches.

[Towncar T]

 

 

There are some minor issues with Suite Class but so far and would comment that NCL still have a better Butler service.

 

That doesn't sound good. We basically fired our butler after two days on the NCL Pride of America. He was worse than useless and had a bad attitude, which was probably not typical of the butlers on NCL. The service we encountered on POA was some of the worst I have experienced at sea. Looking forward to our suite on Celebrity Solstice in November and to trying out the Luminae restaurant. The OP's review was very helpful. Do guests have pre-assigned seats in Luminae, or is it just first-come, first-served? Do you ever have to wait in line for a seat or can you just turn up at whatever time suits you and get a table? :-)

Edited August 31, 2015 by Towncar T

[Gracie115]

Do guests have pre-assigned seats in Luminae, or is it just first-come, first-served? Do you ever have to wait in line for a seat or can you just turn up at whatever time suits you and get a table? :-)

 

There is no "pre assigned seating" in Luminae, however we really liked our wait staff and did sit in their section every night, usually shifted between 1 of 3 tables depending on what was open when we arrived. They would prefer you to make reservations, but we chose not to and still never had a wait of more than a few minutes...most of the time no wait at all.... we really enjoyed Luminae and our butler, Singh, on Eclipse, was one of the best we've ever had!:)

[Towncar T]

There is no "pre assigned seating" in Luminae, however we really liked our wait staff and did sit in their section every night, usually shifted between 1 of 3 tables depending on what was open when we arrived. They would prefer you to make reservations, but we chose not to and still never had a wait of more than a few minutes...most of the time no wait at all.... we really enjoyed Luminae and our butler, Singh, on Eclipse, was one of the best we've ever had!:)

 

Great. Thanks for that. Looking forward to it :)

[Ehg]

There is no "pre assigned seating" in Luminae, however we really liked our wait staff and did sit in their section every night, usually shifted between 1 of 3 tables depending on what was open when we arrived. They would prefer you to make reservations, but we chose not to and still never had a wait of more than a few minutes...most of the time no wait at all.... we really enjoyed Luminae and our butler, Singh, on Eclipse, was one of the best we've ever had!:)

 

 

We had Singh too. He was great. [emoji2]

[Project_gal]

Apologies, duplicate post.

Edited August 31, 2015 by Project_gal

[Project_gal]

That doesn't sound good. We basically fired our butler after two days on the NCL Pride of America. He was worse than useless and had a bad attitude, which was probably not typical of the butlers on NCL. The service we encountered on POA was some of the worst I have experienced at sea. Looking forward to our suite on Celebrity Solstice in November and to trying out the Luminae restaurant. The OP's review was very helpful. Do guests have pre-assigned seats in Luminae, or is it just first-come, first-served? Do you ever have to wait in line for a seat or can you just turn up at whatever time suits you and get a table? :-)

 

That is possibly/probably because, at least as I understand it, the Pride of America only employs staff from the USA [something to do with the regulations for sailing round trips from Hawaii].

 

Although we have been fortunate enough to have always had great butlers on Celebrity ship, the one we had on NCL Sun was at least as good as the best Celebrity butler. Their suite concierge was amazing too. Unfortunately, that is as far as it went on NCL.

 

Although you do not have assigned seats or dining times in Luminae, the hostess will do everything she can to ensure that you have your choice of table. To do this, they prefer to have some indication of when you expect to eat each day but that is not essential if you prefer not to. You are unlikely to have to wait for a table unless you arrive at the same time as someone else [the hostess can only seat one table at a time] or you wish to wait for a particular table.