Luminae VS Speciality restautrants

[hbe30]

I was wondering how Luminaae stacks VS Celebriy's speciality restautrants. Any help would be apprciate, thanks 

[jelayne]

We prefer Luminae over the speciality restaurants.  On longer sailings on a S Class ship we may go to Murano or the Lawn Grill 1 night.

[Ken the cruiser]

When we book a sky suite, we always eat in the Luminae as we see no need to pay extra to eat in a specialty restaurant. If I remember correctly, as we haven't been in a suite since Jan 2019, Luminae also has a 14 day revolving menu whereas the specialty restaurants usually have the same menu. But, when we're not paying the extra to be in a suite, we'll usually dine a few times in a SR.

[wrk2cruise]

I agree with the above.  I find the service in Luminae better than the SR.   Quality of the food is similar.   I guess if you were to eat in the same SR every day service would be equal but the same menu becomes a problem.

[CruiseTimeAgain2]

My wife and I like Specialty Restaurants better. We have been getting the Specialty dining packages for each cruise. We may go to Luminae for breakfast some times. We normally sail on Reflection or Silhouette and they have Lawn Club Grill and the Porch which we really like

[cangelmd]

Check out the menus. Luminae menu is very different than most of the specialty restaurants, and that may or may not be a selling point for you.

My opinion is that the service and the setting (quieter space with more widely separated tables) is better, more pleasant than any of the specialties except Murano. The biggest negative to me is a First World problem - the menu at Luminae is a fixed 14 day rotation and when you’ve done a few weeks in a suite, it gets to be a bit much of “fancy food”, yet you feel like you are paying for it. On some ships you can order off the MDR menu, and I will do that often - mostly to get a simple salad, not Caesar. YMMV.

[George C]

I love Luminae but normally do at least one dinner in a specialty, even when we had a royal suite which gives you specialty restaurants for free we eat most meals in Luminae, service is definitely better in Luminae.

[chemmo]

All down to personal preference...We do not find the Luminae menu to be extensive in choice nor do we want to dine in the same restaurant every night.

 

We have no criticism of the service in Luminae but we do find the tables are closer than we would like, especially if you are longside the partition wall.

 

2 hours ago, CruiseTimeAgain2 said:

My wife and I like Specialty Restaurants better. We have been getting the Specialty dining packages for each cruise. We may go to Luminae for breakfast some times. We normally sail on Reflection or Silhouette and they have Lawn Club Grill and the Porch which we really like

 

 

Agree...A cruise with Murano’s, Tuscan, Lawn Grill, Porch and as a one visit LPC gives lots of options. We tend to book RS or PH so speciality restaurants are included.

 

 

We do have some breakfasts and an odd lunch in Luminae but certainly not every day (lunch only available sea days).

[Host Jazzbeau]

We really love Luminae.  If we can't find something on the evening's menu that appeals, you can also order anything from the MDR menu [the galleys are adjacent, so the waiter just has to move a few feet – literally – to get an MDR entree] – and with advance notice they can also make special requests like Filet Mignon.  The service is terrific, and because open dining spreads out the load we were always seated at one of the side tables with the table next to us kept vacant.  We also had the same waitress most nights, so we developed that rapport that people liked in the fixed-dining days.

[txtechmk]

We like Luminae also.  You can order from either their menu or the main dining room menu.  And I agree with above poster that they will make special requests.  The food is so good that we have no need to spend extra at a specialty restaurant.  However we were going to try the Lawn Club Grill on our next cruise........whenever that may be, as we have had to postpone, as many of you have also.

[zdad59]

On 3/3/2021 at 2:33 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

We really love Luminae.  If we can't find something on the evening's menu that appeals, you can also order anything from the MDR menu [the galleys are adjacent, so the waiter just has to move a few feet – literally – to get an MDR entree] – and with advance notice they can also make special requests like Filet Mignon.  The service is terrific, and because open dining spreads out the load we were always seated at one of the side tables with the table next to us kept vacant.  We also had the same waitress most nights, so we developed that rapport that people liked in the fixed-dining days.

We really like building a rapport with our servers too.    Haven't done a suite yet, but will on Apex in April '22.   We did have access to Blu last cruise and really enjoyed it there.  Like you same servers each night.  Only issue on Apex will be that Luminae cannot order from MDR as the kitchens are on opposite ends of the ship.    Apex also has 4 different MDRs.     If we do end up bouncing from restaurant to restaurant each night, the question then becomes what's the right way to tip?   Leave something each night as we'll never see the same server?     That inability to build a relationship with our servers may well have us in Luminae each night, as that's a big thing for our gang.

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 minutes ago, zdad59 said:

If we do end up bouncing from restaurant to restaurant each night, the question then becomes what's the right way to tip?

That's why Celebrity is moving to 'always included' – so tips are handled centrally.  We've always done it this way, because we want to include the important people in the galley and other behind the scenes places who also work so hard to make our cruise enjoyable.

[Schmoe38]

One more vote for Luminae...on M Class and S Class ships. When it comes to Edge, please give yourself an opportunity to experience Fine Cut Steakhouse as well as the best kept secret on board...Le Grand Bistro.

 

The dining experience in Luminae on the M Class and S Class ships is much more enjoyable to us, due mainly to the room layout. It is more intimate than the Luminae layout on Edge, which is more open concept. The crowd noise was more noticeable on Edge and the lack of adequate bathroom facilities within Luminae was a definite design flaw. Food and service are wonderful in Luminae on Edge and on the M Class and S Class ships. We now view Luminae as our main dining option as well as our Specialty Restaurant option. We have had previous opportunities to dine in all Specialty Restaurants. With the exception of Murano, we have found that many of the Specialty Restaurants on the M Class and S Class ships are becoming repetitive, and the dining experience is, just simply, not the same. 

 

Fine Cut Steakhouse and Le Grand Bistro on Edge offer a varied menu that is, indeed, a nice complement to Luminae’s menu. Fine Cut can be a bit noisy depending on your reserved time due to the proximity to the Martini Bar. When we were on Edge, we dined earlier, so there was no real noise distraction.

 

Le Grand Bistro (lunch) was $20 per person and was quiet early in the cruise. Later on, finding a seat was more difficult. People who walked away because they didn’t want to pay a cover charge, soon realized they had made a mistake and scurried to make up for lost time.

 

On the whole, Luminae is a wonderful dining experience. Keep your options open to Specialty dining. It’s not for everyone, but if you don’t try, you’ll never know whether or not it is for you.

 

Randy 

 

 

[TeeRick]

13 hours ago, Schmoe38 said:

One more vote for Luminae...on M Class and S Class ships. When it comes to Edge, please give yourself an opportunity to experience Fine Cut Steakhouse as well as the best kept secret on board...Le Grand Bistro.

 

The dining experience in Luminae on the M Class and S Class ships is much more enjoyable to us, due mainly to the room layout. It is more intimate than the Luminae layout on Edge, which is more open concept. The crowd noise was more noticeable on Edge and the lack of adequate bathroom facilities within Luminae was a definite design flaw. Food and service are wonderful in Luminae on Edge and on the M Class and S Class ships. We now view Luminae as our main dining option as well as our Specialty Restaurant option. We have had previous opportunities to dine in all Specialty Restaurants. With the exception of Murano, we have found that many of the Specialty Restaurants on the M Class and S Class ships are becoming repetitive, and the dining experience is, just simply, not the same. 

 

Fine Cut Steakhouse and Le Grand Bistro on Edge offer a varied menu that is, indeed, a nice complement to Luminae’s menu. Fine Cut can be a bit noisy depending on your reserved time due to the proximity to the Martini Bar. When we were on Edge, we dined earlier, so there was no real noise distraction.

 

Le Grand Bistro (lunch) was $20 per person and was quiet early in the cruise. Later on, finding a seat was more difficult. People who walked away because they didn’t want to pay a cover charge, soon realized they had made a mistake and scurried to make up for lost time.

 

On the whole, Luminae is a wonderful dining experience. Keep your options open to Specialty dining. It’s not for everyone, but if you don’t try, you’ll never know whether or not it is for you.

 

Randy 

 

 

Randy I totally agree with your comments.  Luminae on Edge was a less enjoyable experience for us compared to M-Class and S-Class ships.  For the exact reasons you stated.  Also we had a table at the outer railing in Fine Cut Steakhouse and asked to be moved because of the noise from the Martini Bar right below us.  When the bartenders did a show, rude people rushed to the rail on either side of our table to watch it.  Very annoying.

[C-Dragons]

23 hours ago, zdad59 said:

We really like building a rapport with our servers too.    Haven't done a suite yet, but will on Apex in April '22.   We did have access to Blu last cruise and really enjoyed it there.  Like you same servers each night.  Only issue on Apex will be that Luminae cannot order from MDR as the kitchens are on opposite ends of the ship.    Apex also has 4 different MDRs.     If we do end up bouncing from restaurant to restaurant each night, the question then becomes what's the right way to tip?   Leave something each night as we'll never see the same server?     That inability to build a relationship with our servers may well have us in Luminae each night, as that's a big thing for our gang.

One improvement X has made on Apex is to make the galley larger in Luminae. This may allow them the ability to offer more menu choices.

[jalves]

Our experience is only on a single Celebrity cruise but we found Luminae to be better than the specialty restaurants we tried.  Next time we cruise Celebrity we might try the specialty restaurants again just to see if it was a fluke.  

[hbe30]

On 3/4/2021 at 3:26 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

That's why Celebrity is moving to 'always included' – so tips are handled centrally.  We've always done it this way, because we want to include the important people in the galley and other behind the scenes places who also work so hard to make our cruise enjoyable.

Thanks for the info. I was wondering if the tips are included when dining in a specialyi dining restaurant? When I go to purchase the 3 dinner package they are charging 20%.

[keesar]

57 minutes ago, hbe30 said:

Thanks for the info. I was wondering if the tips are included when dining in a specialyi dining restaurant? When I go to purchase the 3 dinner package they are charging 20%.

When I have booked specialty restaurants on the ship, the gratuity has been  included in the pricing.  The amount is listed on the check that you sign.   We always add more as the service has been exceptional.

[NCHPcruiser]

We prefer Luminae to all of the Specialty restaurants (including Murano) on the S & M class ships.  Having only sailed on the Edge once on a 7 day cruise, we only tried Eden, which we did not like at all.  In the future we will definitely try Fine Cuts and Le Grand Bistro.   Usually on shorter cruises we stick with Luminae.  It’s on longer cruises when we need a change of venue every few nights that we go to the specialties.  

[LGW59]

1 hour ago, NCHPcruiser said:

We prefer Luminae to all of the Specialty restaurants (including Murano) on the S & M class ships.  Having only sailed on the Edge once on a 7 day cruise, we only tried Eden, which we did not like at all.  In the future we will definitely try Fine Cuts and Le Grand Bistro.   Usually on shorter cruises we stick with Luminae.  It’s on longer cruises when we need a change of venue every few nights that we go to the specialties.  

Love Luminae and Eden.  Le Petit Chef is cute if you have children, but it ends there, IMO, food is mediocre.  Also enjoy Garden Grill very much, again IMO, Fine Cut is nice, but if only going there for steak, while very nice for a change of scenery, can get the same or better in Luminae.  

[cangelmd]

We thought Eden was one of the few times we had a meal that approached a land based restaurant, but it is a very foodie place and not to everyone's taste.

The best steak I've ever had on Celeb was in Le Petit Chef. Incidentally, it was embarkation day on a 15 night cruise, which may have played a part. One of the worst meals I had was at the Lawn Club on that same cruise. It was the first night that they were able yo open because of extreme weather, and the entire senior command staff came for dinner. It was a disaster.

[cheeseheads4ever]

I was wondering and didn’t see where anyone asked but does anyone have any sample menus from Luminae from past cruises or can they tell me where to find any online?

[groryjm]

2 hours ago, cheeseheads4ever said:

I was wondering and didn’t see where anyone asked but does anyone have any sample menus from Luminae from past cruises or can they tell me where to find any online?

This is the 14 day cycle

 

luminaemenus.pdf

Edited March 7, 2021 by groryjm

[LGW59]

2 hours ago, cheeseheads4ever said:

I was wondering and didn’t see where anyone asked but does anyone have any sample menus from Luminae from past cruises or can they tell me where to find any online?

Keep in mind, the menus change on a regular basis each day of the cruise.  groryjm provided a great sample, but in 2022, while I am sure will be similar, there will be changes.  That said, IMO Luminae is awesome!!

[cheeseheads4ever]

Thanks you all so much!