Luminae vs Specialty Dining

[bigbenboys]

3 hours ago, C-Dragons said:

Yes, but X has added a limited number of every day items from the MDR menu which you can order in Luminae. 😊

As said the everyday items are Caesar salad, Chilled Shrimp Cocktail, Baked French Onion Soup, Escargots à la Bourguignonne, Broiled Salmon, Grilled Chicken Breast, Grilled New York Sirloin Steak. The everyday item are also available in Blu. So far it has only been the Edge class. Non Edge class you can order off the MDR menu in Luminae. One of the nice thing about Luminae is that you can ask if they can make something special. You must give them 24 hour notice.  I asked for spaghetti with peso.

[TommyD3]

7 hours ago, C-Dragons said:

Yes, but X has added a limited number of every day items from the MDR menu which you can order in Luminae. 😊

Our experience is that you can order anything off that day's MDR menu that you want (on M and S class ships).

[TommyD3]

6 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

Luminae is the best that Celebrity has to offer in our opinion.  We've been lucky enough to enjoy it on several cruises the last few years.  The service is, far and away, the best on the ship and the willingness to find you whatever you want, as long as it's on the ship is amazing. I can't speak to the Edge class, as we have no interest in sailing on that class, but on the "S" and "M" class Luminae has always been amazing.   We did a Chef's Dinner in 2016 and were very disappointed, it was a crazy amount of money and we enjoyed our dinners in Luminae much more.  

 

We are booked in a suite on a TA next April on Reflection....hope things are better by then and we get to go.  

We dined in Luminae onboard Eclipse for three weeks about a year ago. We were specifically told by the Luminae manager that we could not order ANYTHING off menu (except items on the MDR menu that day). NOT a fan of Luminae. FYI we have sailed Celebrity OVER 150 cruises !!! Definitely prefer the specialty restaurants (that is why they are included free with the top level suites) !!!

[Gracie115]

7 hours ago, TommyD3 said:

We dined in Luminae onboard Eclipse for three weeks about a year ago. We were specifically told by the Luminae manager that we could not order ANYTHING off menu (except items on the MDR menu that day). NOT a fan of Luminae. FYI we have sailed Celebrity OVER 150 cruises !!! Definitely prefer the specialty restaurants (that is why they are included free with the top level suites) !!!

 

We were on Eclipse for 2 weeks in 2018, Silhouette 2 weeks in 2019 and also on Reflection & Equinox since the inception of Luminae and one of the people with us ordered from the MDR menu nearly every day. He also asked for items not on any menu and the chef prepared them for him, sometimes immediately, sometimes the next day.  We sat next to a couple on the Eclipse and the gentleman had a steak that was on the Murano menu nearly every night.   We have found the staff at Luminae to be amazingly accommodating, sorry your experience was not the same.  Luminae is one of the main reasons we love Celebrity these days, and while we don't have 150 cruises with X we do have over 30 so we are not "newbies" by any stretch.  The specialty restaurants are very "hit & miss" as far as service is concerned and the food for the most part just okay. The last two trips have been in Royal Suites and while we had "free" specialty restaurants the only time we used them was with a group at Le Petit Chef, which was good and great fun, but definitely a one time experience. To each his own.

Edited May 25, 2020 by Gracie115

[TommyD3]

55 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

 

We were on Eclipse for 2 weeks in 2018, Silhouette 2 weeks in 2019 and also on Reflection & Equinox since the inception of Luminae and one of the people with us ordered from the MDR menu nearly every day. He also asked for items not on any menu and the chef prepared them for him, sometimes immediately, sometimes the next day.  We sat next to a couple on the Eclipse and the gentleman had a steak that was on the Murano menu nearly every night.   We have found the staff at Luminae to be amazingly accommodating, sorry your experience was not the same.  Luminae is one of the main reasons we love Celebrity these days, and while we don't have 150 cruises with X we do have over 30 so we are not "newbies" by any stretch.  The specialty restaurants are very "hit & miss" as far as service is concerned and the food for the most part just okay. The last two trips have been in Royal Suites and while we had "free" specialty restaurants the only time we used them was with a group at Le Petit Chef, which was good and great fun, but definitely a one time experience. To each his own.

We were able to order off the MDR menu whenever we wanted to. I don't think that is a big deal since the suites cost a minimum of 3X what the regular cabins cost. My issue is that I am a beef eater and they would not let me order a fillet mignon unless it was on the menu that day. In my mind due to the suite cost Luminae should have an everyday filet mignon (plus other upscale items) similar to the everyday items in the MDR (but featuring more expensive items).

[Gracie115]

3 minutes ago, TommyD3 said:

We were able to order off the MDR menu whenever we wanted to. I don't think that is a big deal since the suites cost a minimum of 3X what the regular cabins cost. My issue is that I am a beef eater and they would not let me order a fillet mignon unless it was on the menu that day. In my mind due to the suite cost Luminae should have an everyday filet mignon (plus other upscale items) similar to the everyday items in the MDR (but featuring more expensive items).

 

I like beef, but rarely order it when at sea or in any restaurant.  Like I said in my previous post the gentleman who often sat next to us when we were last on Eclipse had a steak every night that normally is sold in Murano, but the staff knew this in advance so not a problem for them to provide.  It was not a filet, but a T-Bone I believe(not sure, just know it was not a filet) but he had it every time we sat next to him. I enjoy the service and friendly staff at Luminae as much as the food, have never gone away hungry, it's just a very pleasant experience for us.

[Cruise a holic]

1 hour ago, Gracie115 said:

 

I like beef, but rarely order it when at sea or in any restaurant.  Like I said in my previous post the gentleman who often sat next to us when we were last on Eclipse had a steak every night that normally is sold in Murano, but the staff knew this in advance so not a problem for them to provide.  It was not a filet, but a T-Bone I believe(not sure, just know it was not a filet) but he had it every time we sat next to him. I enjoy the service and friendly staff at Luminae as much as the food, have never gone away hungry, it's just a very pleasant experience for us.

My DH is also a meat and potato man.  While luminae is ok, he is never really thrilled with anything at the restaurant-  We enjoy the experience of the sp restaurants, especially on the reflection and silhouette which have the Lawn Club Grill.  IMO the best sp restaurant of the celebrity fleet-.  When we sailed on the Edge, it was the first New Years that the ship sailed, you couldn't even order food from the MDR, because the access to the MDR kitchen was too far.  I have heard that has since been modified allowing for more choice.  They did have a grill type restaurant on an outdoor deck- but no protection from sun and wind and it wasn't a nice place to dine- we cancelled our reservation.  We also disliked the Eden experience, as it was much to silly for us and the food not to our liking. We liked the other sp restaurants.

[TeeRick]

Just the other day while contemplating our lock down, I said to my dw " I really miss Luminae".  That is the truth!

[C-Dragons]

11 hours ago, TommyD3 said:

Our experience is that you can order anything off that day's MDR menu that you want (on M and S class ships).

My comment was in reference to Luminae on the Edge.

[George C]

We love luminae in general our favorite restaurant, have cruised in sky , celebrity and royal suites, on summit and infinity. We normally eat most meals in luminae but do try a couple of meals in specialty, sushi was good for lunch and open when in port which is when luminae is closed. Always want a dinner in Tuscan grill, we also tried Le Petit Chef on last cruise which was a lot of fun. Service is by far the best in luminae, you can always check what is on the menu for luminae and then get a reservation if that doesn’t appeal to you.

[bigbenboys]

19 minutes ago, George C said:

We love luminae in general our favorite restaurant, have cruised in sky , celebrity and royal suites, on summit and infinity. We normally eat most meals in luminae but do try a couple of meals in specialty, sushi was good for lunch and open when in port which is when luminae is closed. Always want a dinner in Tuscan grill, we also tried Le Petit Chef on last cruise which was a lot of fun. Service is by far the best in luminae, you can always check what is on the menu for luminae and then get a reservation if that doesn’t appeal to you.

In the Retreat or MC you can look at all the menus for all the restaurants and all days of your cruise. This way you can plan your dinning ahead of time.

[Gracie115]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Just the other day while contemplating our lock down, I said to my dw " I really miss Luminae".  That is the truth!

 

 

Me too!🤨

[George C]

29 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

In the Retreat or MC you can look at all the menus for all the restaurants and all days of your cruise. This way you can plan your dinning ahead of time.

Concierge in micheals had them in ships without the retreat, we are scheduled to sail infinity again in February and hopefully they will have added retreat but I will miss Micheals. 

[Cruise a holic]

56 minutes ago, George C said:

Concierge in micheals had them in ships without the retreat, we are scheduled to sail infinity again in February and hopefully they will have added retreat but I will miss Micheals. 

Why would they close Michaels?  The retreat lounge was formerly know as Michaels

[Cruise a holic]

1 hour ago, bigbenboys said:

In the Retreat or MC you can look at all the menus for all the restaurants and all days of your cruise. This way you can plan your dinning ahead of time.

Only problem is that the dates and times you want might not be available, unless you are in a Penthouse or Royal Suite.

[George C]

21 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

Only problem is that the dates and times you want might not be available, unless you are in a Penthouse or Royal Suite.

Even in royal suite it is not always available, on Micheals I heard retreat made changes like removing bar , always loved micheals, I sure I will like the retreat when I get the chance to use it. 

[MarkWiltonM]

We consider ourselves foodies and frequently dine out on land. But I don't think any of Celebrity's specialty restaurants are worth a visit. We never had a decent meal at Tuscan Grille even though the menu sounds good. We mildly enjoyed Murano for a few years and then got bored with it. It has had the same, now rather tired, menu for years, but it's the best of the bunch. We had a surprisingly good dinner once at Qsine, but that has turned into the gimmicky Le Petit Chef, which I wouldn't go to even if it was available at no extra cost. On the Silhouette this past February/March, we had very slow service and ho-hum food at Murano, an all-but-inedible meal at the Lawn Club Grill and horrible service (even though the alfresco atmosphere is nice), and a fair-to-middling lunch at The Porch (also alfresco and good service because no one else was there!).  Can't speak to the quality of the food at Luminae because I don't book suites. It's not that the food is better in the main dining room or the buffet. But the quality of the food and service at the specialty restaurants is not high enough enough to motivate me to go there any more, even if there wasn't an additional fee.      

[Cruise a holic]

13 hours ago, MarkWiltonM said:

We consider ourselves foodies and frequently dine out on land. But I don't think any of Celebrity's specialty restaurants are worth a visit. We never had a decent meal at Tuscan Grille even though the menu sounds good. We mildly enjoyed Murano for a few years and then got bored with it. It has had the same, now rather tired, menu for years, but it's the best of the bunch. We had a surprisingly good dinner once at Qsine, but that has turned into the gimmicky Le Petit Chef, which I wouldn't go to even if it was available at no extra cost. On the Silhouette this past February/March, we had very slow service and ho-hum food at Murano, an all-but-inedible meal at the Lawn Club Grill and horrible service (even though the alfresco atmosphere is nice), and a fair-to-middling lunch at The Porch (also alfresco and good service because no one else was there!).  Can't speak to the quality of the food at Luminae because I don't book suites. It's not that the food is better in the main dining room or the buffet. But the quality of the food and service at the specialty restaurants is not high enough enough to motivate me to go there any more, even if there wasn't an additional fee.      

Our experience was different.  We found the food in Luminae repetitive as we have sailed on so many ships, multiple times.  We ask our waiters in the specialty restaurants to adjust our selection also.  For example, I like broiled lobster tails and steak for dinner- I get it.  In the Tuscan grill, some of the selections were hit and miss- but I enjoy the fresh pasta and fish.  We really like the Lawn club grill, our favorite and dine their typically twice during a one week sailing- lots of great choices.

 

We typically have lunch and breakfast in Luminae.

[Sticks5315]

On 5/23/2020 at 6:22 PM, Spellykins said:

 

Sticks5315, would you recall whether the wine pairings are additional cost to the Chef's Table dinner? I'm interested in booking it for my solo TA next May and wanted to know if the listed price includes the wine pairings or if I should budget extra for that. Thanks from this newbie!

I believe the  Chef Bolud dinner they charge something like $65 for wine pairings. The Verve Cliquot champagne dinner the wine/champagne was included I believe.

[pumpkin 11]

On 5/25/2020 at 9:22 AM, TeeRick said:

Just the other day while contemplating our lock down, I said to my dw " I really miss Luminae".  That is the truth!

We've said similar words in our house recently 😁

 

As to which is better, I'd say food wise it's about even to specalties but service in Luminae is better. 

 

 

[Covepointcruiser]

We enjoyed the Specialties when included in our RS.   We went to the Porch for the seafood tower(our selections) and the lovely white Sangria.   We also loved the Lawn Grill,  even though it can be cold while you are sailing.   We would often just go there for the salad and a single flatbread pizza.   At Tuscan you can also pick and choose what you want so you don’t spend hours dining and  you don’t have to leave feeling stuffed.

Murano is usually a long drawn out affair with the staff pushing too much food.   We would often just want an appetizer and a simple lobster without sauce.  Eating at the Specialties give you more options.   Never had a problem with service in any.

[NutsAboutGolf]

13 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Murano is usually a long drawn out affair with the staff pushing too much food.

 

From specialty to the MDR, they love to accommodate you, as long as you're polite and say something along the lines "We have plans later, can you please bring out each item as soon as possible?  It's okay to bring things out of order" they should be able to accommodate.

[TeeRick]

I like this thread.  It reminds me of the debates and comments on actual cruise topics from the good old days.

[C-Dragons]

50 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

I like this thread.  It reminds me of the debates and comments on actual cruise topics from the good old days.

Rick, you’re tempting the fates... 😉 😁

[Cruise a holic]

On 6/8/2020 at 8:10 PM, Covepointcruiser said:

We enjoyed the Specialties when included in our RS.   We went to the Porch for the seafood tower(our selections) and the lovely white Sangria.   We also loved the Lawn Grill,  even though it can be cold while you are sailing.   We would often just go there for the salad and a single flatbread pizza.   At Tuscan you can also pick and choose what you want so you don’t spend hours dining and  you don’t have to leave feeling stuffed.

Murano is usually a long drawn out affair with the staff pushing too much food.   We would often just want an appetizer and a simple lobster without sauce.  Eating at the Specialties give you more options.   Never had a problem with service in any.

We really enjoy the lawn club grill!  We go there multiple times during our Caribbean cruise

if we are in a royal suite or we have the unlimited dining package great for

dinner or if opened for lunch   Luminae cannot 

compare!

Edited June 12, 2020 by Cruise a holic