Luminae or Steakhouse

[PTC DAWG]

I suppose I’m just different, I don’t like eating in the same place day after day..I like to try them all...

[OUBaylor1]

26 minutes ago, W283386 said:

I am the original poster.  Thanks for replies.  We are on the Summit in a Sky Suite. 

We always stay in a suite.  Over the years, we have dined in every specialty restuarant.  In my opinion, the food in Luminae surpasses the food in any specialty restaurant.  We did enjoy, however, Fine Cut on the Edge.

[bigbenboys]

I'll just let Luminae food speak for itself.

[4774Papa]

16 hours ago, W283386 said:

Booked cruise for April 2022 and first time in a suite.  Does it make any sense booking a specialty restaurant when we have access to Luminae and possibly Blu? 

We have only done a suite once, on Millennium.  We loved Luminae and didn't dine anywhere else.

[Miaminice]

3 hours ago, W283386 said:

I am the original poster.  Thanks for replies.  We are on the Summit in a Sky Suite. 

Then there’s another factor to consider... the choice of specialty restaurants on Summit is very limited.

 

Le Petit Chef is just not our thing... for us a restaurant is about a culinary experience and / or socializing. Not about watching people constantly filming.

 

Tuscan Grille has lost its appeal to us after a few let downs. And from a European point of view it’s neither steak house nor Italian.

 

Whatever you do, enjoy your cruise!

 

 

Edited January 18, 2021 by Miaminice

[dkjretired]

1 hour ago, Miaminice said:

Then there’s another factor to consider... the choice of specialty restaurants on Summit is very limited.

 

Le Petit Chef is just not our thing... for us a restaurant is about a culinary experience and / or socializing. Not about watching people constantly filming.

 

Tuscan Grille has lost its appeal to us after a few let downs. And from a European point of view it’s neither steak house nor Italian.

 

Whatever you do, enjoy your cruise!

 

 

Our  last cruise was on Summit in Royal suite thus free Specilty dining and  we didn’t do any restaurants other than Luminae and the Buffet. 

[garyl62]

5 hours ago, W283386 said:

I am the original poster.  Thanks for replies.  We are on the Summit in a Sky Suite. 

We've had sky suites on the Summit a few times and have done specialty dining the first couple trips, but as others of said, with the limited options on a M class ship we really don't see any reason to pay the extra any more.  If Tuscan had the aft view like the S class ship offers we may be drawn to it, but now the only reason we'd not go to Luminae is for a change of scenery.  When we feel like that we've gone to the MDR on occasion, just done a casual bite in the Cafe', or more often had room service and dinner on the balcony.

[dkjretired]

Still think one of LLPs big mistakes was removing all the Murano type restaurants out of the M class ships and replacing them with Tuscan. 

[Lastdance]

I love Luminae because one of my favorite meals is Chateaubriand.  Instead of ordering it in Murano, I can ask the chef to prepare it for me in Luminae, as long as, I request it in advance.  The only time I do not eat there is when friends want to do a specialty restaurant, so that we can all eat together, or if I am on a long cruise. The one time I ate in Tuscan...well, that was the last time.  I also agree with dkjretired above about his comment regarding Tuscan.

Edited January 18, 2021 by Lastdance

[El Crucero]

49 minutes ago, dkjretired said:

Still think one of LLPs big mistakes was removing all the Murano type restaurants out of the M class ships and replacing them with Tuscan. 

In my opinion her biggest culinary mistake was making Le Petit Chef a prominent specialty restaurant.  On every cruise we've been on since then, the staff has been begging guests outside the buffet to go to L.P.Chef

[LGW59]

25 minutes ago, El Crucero said:

In my opinion her biggest culinary mistake was making Le Petit Chef a prominent specialty restaurant.  On every cruise we've been on since then, the staff has been begging guests outside the buffet to go to L.P.Chef

Not that I have been, but IMO, Le Petit Chef is very silly, have seen enough of Celebrities and CCers videos to know that I have zero interest.  I know many folks really like it, all good, it is what I think it means to have something that appeals to a diverse group of cruisers.  I will admit though, it is clever.

[Host Jazzbeau]

It replaced Qsine, which IMHO was a better venue.  But Qsine was getting more and more poor reviews here, especially as the novelty wore off.  But both Le Petit Chef and Eden seem more focused on entertainment than the food – and while I'm not as radical a gourmand as Inspector Montalbano [no talking while he eats!] I do want my onboard dinners to be culinary highpoints.

[ECCruise]

Qsine was variable.  With over a dozen choices of largely tapas, they could vary the menu going forward, which would keep it fresh.

 

LPC is as vanilla a menu as you could possibly concoct. Soup/Lobster/Filet.  Or Salad/Cheese Ravioli/Steak Frites on different occasions.

 

$55 per and boring.

[Big_G]

9 hours ago, W283386 said:

I am the original poster.  Thanks for replies.  We are on the Summit in a Sky Suite. 

 

Luminae on Summit is awesome but we like to break it up a little. We usually book at least one specialty on a 7 day.

[El Crucero]

2 hours ago, LGW59 said:

I know many folks really like it, all good, it is what I think it means to have something that appeals to a diverse group of cruisers. 

According to my travel agent, who participates on a weekly conference call with Celebrity management, L.P.Chef suffers from poor attendance, not a lot of people like it, and it is in trouble as a future venue (although apparently all the Edge class are including it.)  In my opinion, with the limited menu, it is a one trick pony for entertainment.  Once is enough.

 

Since Celebrity didn't change the decor to any extent when converting Qsine to L.P.Chef, I think they should offer the two cuisines on alternating nights to facilitate attendance.  We loved Qsine and always attended at least once on each cruise.  That's what my agent is lobbying for.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

4 hours ago, dkjretired said:

Still think one of LLPs big mistakes was removing all the Murano type restaurants out of the M class ships and replacing them with Tuscan. 

 

I second the motion!  I've been to Tuscan three times, on different ships, all times a disappointment.  Three times and out as far as I'm concerned.

[Host Jazzbeau]

40 minutes ago, El Crucero said:

According to my travel agent, who participates on a weekly conference call with Celebrity management, L.P.Chef suffers from poor attendance, not a lot of people like it, and it is in trouble as a future venue (although apparently all the Edge class are including it.)  In my opinion, with the limited menu, it is a one trick pony for entertainment.  Once is enough.

 

Since Celebrity didn't change the decor to any extent when converting Qsine to L.P.Chef, I think they should offer the two cuisines on alternating nights to facilitate attendance.  We loved Qsine and always attended at least once on each cruise.  That's what my agent is lobbying for.

 

I think that Qsine must have cost them more for the food – having its small galley ready to prepare so many different dishes.  But if I am correct, they are paying a royalty for the LPC technology so that cuts profits too.

 

We really enjoyed our CC roll call group visits to Qsine.  In a large group, the upscale-tapas approach is dynamite!

[simon stingray]

12 hours ago, dkjretired said:

Still think one of LLPs big mistakes was removing all the Murano type restaurants out of the M class ships and replacing them with Tuscan. 

Absolutely agree with this. Dinner at Ocean Liners & SS United States were the best dining experiences we ever had at sea.

[Miaminice]

13 hours ago, dkjretired said:

Still think one of LLPs big mistakes was removing all the Murano type restaurants out of the M class ships and replacing them with Tuscan. 

 

100 % agree! 
The Murano style restaurants are/were classic and nice fine dining.

Tuscan is just mainstream. Why pay extra for it.

And I would add the switch from Qsine to LPC was another mistake.
Qsine was good food, nice entertainment and great for socializing/sharing.
LPC - even if one wants to try it - is a been there/done that thing.

Edited January 19, 2021 by Miaminice

[ChucktownSteve]

When I tried Tuscan, I was unimpressed.  The steak was not cooked to proper temperature and the cut was a bit tough. Yeah I understand I could have asked for a re-fire but by that time my DW would have been done and waiting for me to finish plus we would have missed the show.  I was one and done.

 

However I really enjoyed Silk Harvest.  I would have eaten there regularly had they been on the other ships I sailed.  Not impressed with Sushi on Five ala carte. They used to do sushi included in the buffet until they tried charging for it on Five.

 

Besides with Blu being enjoyable, I didn't see the need for the up charge.

Edited January 19, 2021 by ChucktownSteve

[TeeRick]

LPC was a one and done for us.  A gimmick with mediocre food at best.  We did enjoy Qsine though and went several times.  

[cangelmd]

We usually eat at least once or twice in a specialty restaurant and may even have one meal ashore, in the buffet or room service.

Luminae has excellent food and service - Murano is usually slightly better, more traditional service than even Luminae, Eden HAD the best food on the ship, closest to a land based on-trend fine dining establishment (I’ve got real concerns about what it will be .Ike after the restart). - the problem with all of these for me is one, you can only eat so much heavy “fancy” food and Luminae still has the 14 day rotating menu, so if you have sailed a few times the Luminae menu can be repetitive.

To me, first time in a suite, one week cruise, I would visit the Retreat at boarding, ask the concierge for Luminae menus and the rotation schedule, then pick one day and visit the specialty that sounds most intriguing.

Personal preference, but to me the steaks are all very similar (prefrozen), the best we had was in La Petit Chef and Eden, the worst in Fine Cut. We have not tried the upcharge steaks in Tuscan or Fine Cut.

[Cruise a holic]

[sdnich]

Our next two cruises are on the M class and we just upgraded both rooms to sky suites for a few reasons but #1  we love Luminae  and love the lounge and look forward to spending some quiet time on the retreat deck.That being said we will probably have a lunch at Tuscan Grille and I do love a few things at sushi on five for lunch!!

[bigbenboys]

On 1/18/2021 at 2:11 PM, Lastdance said:

I love Luminae because one of my favorite meals is Chateaubriand.  Instead of ordering it in Murano, I can ask the chef to prepare it for me in Luminae, as long as, I request it in advance.  The only time I do not eat there is when friends want to do a specialty restaurant, so that we can all eat together, or if I am on a long cruise. The one time I ate in Tuscan...well, that was the last time.  I also agree with dkjretired above about his comment regarding Tuscan.

Thanks for the tip about Chateaubriand in Luminae. I have requested items in the past. I just did not think about requesting Chateaubriand. I watched the video on youtube of Le Petit Chef, that was good enough for me.