Luminae

[ispendmoney]

What do you like or not like about Luminae dining vs. other main dining room or Specialty Dining?

[George C]

Quality of both food and service is way better than mdr and equal to some specialty, we sometimes do higher end suites that allow us to eat in specialty restaurants for free, even then we eat most of the meals in Luminae.

[lv2cruisgrl]

2 minutes ago, George C said:

Quality of both food and service is way better than mdr and equal to some specialty, we sometimes do higher end suites that allow us to eat in specialty restaurants for free, even then we eat most of the meals in Luminae.

Agree!!!

[Dolebludger]

We have never visited a MDR on an X cruise. But we did see long lines of people waiting to be seated in the MDR. We book suites and visit Luminae without the lines. I can’t comment on food or service comparisons, but staying out of lines and crowds is enough to sell me!

[chemmo]

We have always found service to be very good in Luminae.

 

You will find mixed reviews on the evening menu. Some love it and others (us included) don’t dislike it but find the menu a bit limited. On S and M class they will offer items off the MDR menu if you cannot see anything on the Luminae menu you like. Most people seem very happy with the breakfast selection and the lunch selection on sea days. 

 

If you do a search you will find lots of Luminae reviews. If I were you I would look for one with pictures as the menu is written ‘playfully’ and it can be hard to decide exactly what you are ordering. On our first few cruises I would ask the waiter to explain what some of the dishes were…

Another comment I would add is that vegetables in Luminae are often more of a garnish than a full portion so again if you want a side of greens or salad speak to your waiter.
 

I hope my comments do not sound too negative, I have simply described as we have found. We have had no bad meals in Luminae, we have simply been underwhelmed by the choices. One good strategy can be on boarding to ask to see menus for the week then go to Luminae on nights you fancy the offerings but if there is a night or two you are uninspired then book in a speciality.

 

Some time now since we dined in the MDR so I will not comment. We find the speciality restaurants on M class limited, much better on S class (especially Reflection and Silhouette). Cannot comment on Edge class as we haven’t cruised on her yet.

 

Sincere best wishes for a fantastic cruise…

 

 

[dcbiker97]

Love Luminae but agree that their menu can be somewhat limiting. Their food is prepared as you order and we’ve usually had great experience with the quality and taste.  Luminae on Edge class is the most limiting because you can’t order off the MDR menus like you can in the S and M class versions.  Best dish: Halibut with ginger sauce, bok choy and sticky rice! 

Edited December 28, 2021 by dcbiker97

[kwokpot]

4 minutes ago, dcbiker97 said:

Love Luminae but agree that their menu can be somewhat limiting. Their food is prepared as you order and we’ve usually had great experience with the quality and taste.  Luminae on Edge class is the most limiting because you can’t order off the MDR menus like you can in the S and M class versions.  Best dish: Halibut with ginger sauce, bok choy and sticky rice! 

Disembarked the Apex on 12/20 the first time being in Retreat Class. I will agree about the limited entree choices on Luminae. But one of the worst offences in Luminae is their offerings of Ribeye and NY Strip Steak. Basically what was served wasn't STEAK, it was a ROAST like Prime Rib. While on both occasions it MAY have been beef that was the Ribeye cut and/or Stribsteak cut what was done was the beef was roasted whole and then sliced and served like Prime Rib. Beef that is roasted and sliced tastes TOTALLY different than if the same cut of beef was sliced into individual steaks then seared on BOTH SIDES. When I was served the NY Strip Roast I immediately refused it and ordered something else. Whatsmore on both occasions they drown the sliced beef in this thick brown gravy. NOT the way to serve any quality roast when it should be a simple Au Jus. On the other hand the Filet Mignon was served as a Steak and it was excellent. 

[Northern Aurora]

I agree with many of the posts, but just want to comment that Luminae (and also Blu) feel to me like an actual restaurant.  The MDR feels like a banquet hall.

[George C]

I only had dinner in mdr on my first celebrity cruise roughly ten years ago , this was before Luminae existed, after a couple meals in mdr we had dinner in specialty the rest of the week , was not impressed at all.

[canderson]

Last month was our first sailing since Luminae has existed... bit of a hiatus from ocean cruising after a long history of X cruises..

 

On the few occasions on Connie when we couldn't get really wound up over a Luminae menu (only a couple of times in 15 nts), a MDR item would pop right out for us, the crusted pork chop and lamb in phyllo in particular.  We have no interest in sailing Edge class for several reasons, but the enhanced menu options on M and S class are certainly part of that decision.

 

The food service was always spot on, and wine service as well.  Russell runs a great venue.

 

Of course, the Connie's Luminae is only one example of many, so can't say what the experience is like elsewhere, but it was a legitimate "10" on the survey for our whole Luminae experience.  Would be happy to transplant the entire staff there to our next cruise on Reflection.

[Momma Rene]

1 hour ago, Northern Aurora said:

I agree with many of the posts, but just want to comment that Luminae (and also Blu) feel to me like an actual restaurant.  The MDR feels like a banquet hall.

Totally agree!  For some reason, we wanted to try the MDR for breakfast.  What a disappointment after Luminae.  We never went back .  We always book a site because of Luminae and Michael's Club.

[cangelmd]

Agree with the above posts - service is top notch, wine slightly better and sommeliers are some of the most knowledgeable aboard.

Breakfast is great and fun, but it takes awhile.

”limited” isn’t exactly the word I would use, although on long cruises or for those who cruise suites a ot, the menu is 14 days and it’s the same fleet wide, so I guess limited in that sense.

I would say it is in relentingly fancy and meat heavy, sometimes I order a Caesar or Bibb salad or just a baked potato.

They are also correct about the steak- they remembered the particulars better than I - excellent “prime rib”, but not truly steak, tastes great, just unexpected when you ordered steak.

i recommend looking up the menus online. Other than adding the Daniel Boulud selections, it hasn’t changed, it will tell you a lot.

Edited December 28, 2021 by cangelmd

[jelayne]

We have always found service in Luminae to be excellent, however we find the menu very limited particularly on the E class.  On 7N sailings Luminae has 5 entrees each evening.  1 of the 5 is vegan, 1 is pasta frequently with spices saugage or seafood, 1 fish, and the 2 remaining are either beef, chicken, lamb or hen .  No pork on the menu.  I cannot eat fish or seafood so if we are on a E class ship we go to one of the MDRs a couple of times and I also order from the kids menu occasionally 

As others have mentioned on S Class you can order off the MDR menu in Luminae

and on the M class you can order from the MDR and Blu menus in Luminae. 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Agree, the Luminae menu is limiting.  We've done more specialty restaurants so decided in October to spend a few nights in Luminae.  We always found something to enjoy, even though my DH ordered a double portion of an appetizer one night.  My main complaint was that the food was not hot, B,L&D included, and I sent it back several times.  It became a standing joke with our server. This was on Edge.

[jelayne]

10 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Agree, the Luminae menu is limiting.  We've done more specialty restaurants so decided in October to spend a few nights in Luminae.  We always found something to enjoy, even though my DH ordered a double portion of an appetizer one night.  My main complaint was that the food was not hot, B,L&D included, and I sent it back several times.  It became a standing joke with our server. This was on Edge.

I thought I was the only one who had to send food back because it wasn’t hot enough.  On the Eclipse a few years ago at lunch the first day I returned the soup 4 times, the final time the waiter brought it out he had gloves on.

[tfred]

this is a link to a representative Luminae menu - along with there venues.  I am sure it changes all the time.

https://www.celebritycruisespresscenter.com/press-kit/10/celebrity-edge-menus/

 

If you are a meat and potatoes or "normal food "person, you will probably be scratching your head here   Certainly adventuresome but not weird but YMMV

[DCPIV]

I rather enjoy both the food and service in Luminae. As mentioned, the waiters and sommeliers (or wine stewards) are excellent, and they have time to talk to you. The food sometimes feels like it's trying to hard to be fancy or different, and that can work well or be a disaster. One night there was a "rib eye" that was some sort of homogeneous, circular, formed abomination. Other nights had something bold that was excellent and fun. 

 

It's easy to find something on the menu that sounds delicious the first time you cruise in the Retreat. It's not bad the second time and can even be fun to revisit a favorite or tuck into something you passed on the first time. It gets a little tired after that, though. It's nice to have the option to look at and menu when on M and S class ships. 

 

The Luminae burger is quite magnificent. 

[TeeRick]

We have mostly sailed suites and have been in Luminae on many Celebrity ships.  We are totally spoiled by the experience and it is usually one of the highlights of our cruise.  

 

We were slightly disappointed with EDGE Luminae because it was very loud at dinner times,  but still overall excellent.  This was on a fairly early sailing so perhaps they put up some sound partitions since or improved acoustics on APEX.

 

Quick true story:  One cruise with 6 other family members on Connie, we ate in specialty restaurants and the MDR as they were not in suites like us.  One night we arranged with the Maître 'D to have them dine with us ($30 each) in Luminae.  They loved it!  So much that we did it again on another night.  They all commented that the meal, service and experience in Luminae was better than the specialties (Tuscan and Q'sine).  And the $30 pp price was a bargain compared to specialties.  

[Moby Jones]

We've always found Luniane to be very good. In my opinion Celebrity appear to place many of their best maitre d', waiters and sommeliers (wine stewards not to be confused with a true sommelier). 

The quality of food is a step up from the MDR and service significantly better due to a larger ratio of staff to passengers. I've never witnessed the lines outside Luminae that I have seen frequently at the MDR. 

One advantage Luminae staff have over the specialty dining restaurant staff is that they can quickly learn your preferences to help give you a better experience. What I would say is that the menu descriptions in Luminae don't always give a very good description of what is to come, so make sure you speak to your waiter if you're unsure about what will arrive on your plate. Generally speaking the staff will go out of their way to help you get maximum enjoyment from your experience. Having a quick look at the menus before hand in the Retreat will help you decide on what nights you might want to dine in a specialty restaurant if there's nothing that takes your fancy. Finally, we have found that IF YOU GIVE THEM SUFFICIENT NOTICE they will even go off menu and cook a dish you request. Though this is not guaranteed and will vary ship to ship. 

We much prefer Lumina to Tuscan which has always been disappointing. Have a great cruise whichever option you choose. :) 

[wrk2cruise]

I agree with most of what's posted here.  The only complaint I have is they have reduced the number of assistant waiters to probably 3.   We find that this can lead to empty plates not being removed in a timely fashion (pet peeve) or other tasks that the assistant generally handles having to be done by the waiter like refilling water glasses.  I have consistently mentioned this on my surveys but I guess it falls on deaf ears.

 

We recently did 2 B2B sailings in MDR and immediately noticed the difference when having properly staffed assistant waiters.

Edited December 29, 2021 by wrk2cruise

[canderson]

32 minutes ago, Moby Jones said:

 Finally, we have found that IF YOU GIVE THEM SUFFICIENT NOTICE they will even go off menu and cook a dish you request. Though this is not guaranteed and will vary ship to ship. 

Indeed.  We were discussing with Russell (Luminae maitre d on Connie) the change of Ocean Liners to Qsine/Petite on M class, and how much qwe missed availability of the old specialty restaurant Goat Cheese Souffle on M class.  

 

What appears at our table the next night?  Goat Cheese Souffle.  

[molemaui]

Love Luminea generally for the food and great service. Also like showing up when I want and not waiting for a table. (Have done this on full (pre COVID) and not so full (post COVID) ships. In a crowded, understaffed venue, I never talk to the waiter because I feel I'm keeping someone else from getting taken care of. That has not been the case in Luminea. We have generally had the same waiter for the duration. of the cruise and really appreciate them getting to know what our preferences are. Much more personalized service. 

 

Only complaint is we are taking our third Edge cruise next month. Our last one was October, 2021. Checking the menus with my Celebrity app, they are identical! Would love some rotation or changes but that is really not a first world problem. At least with the app, I can better preplan when and if I want to do speciality restaurants. It's all good!!

 

ADDITION OR CORRECTION-just checked Luminea menu from link in earlier posting and while I see a lot of similarities, I also see some new items. Wonder if this is a "generic" menu or whether the app is correct. Or perhaps, my sailings coincide with the same offerings? We'll see. 

Edited December 29, 2021 by molemaui
addition or correction

[TeeRick]

44 minutes ago, canderson said:

Indeed.  We were discussing with Russell (Luminae maitre d on Connie) the change of Ocean Liners to Qsine/Petite on M class, and how much qwe missed availability of the old specialty restaurant Goat Cheese Souffle on M class.  

 

What appears at our table the next night?  Goat Cheese Souffle.  

Next time sailing I will have a casual conversation with the Luminae maitre d one night about how I miss the stuffed baked real Maine Lobster that I used to get in the M-Class restaurants like Ocean Liners.  See what happens!😀

[Treasure Hunter]

We are on the Equinox in a Celebrity suite on January 9 ( we did put in upgrade offers, but nothing yet). The more I look at the Luminae menu, the more I am turned off by it. The last Celebrity cruise we were on was on the Reflection in a Sky suite travelling with friends who were in a balcony cabin. So we mostly ate in the MDR ( which was very good) or a Specialty. I think we ate in Luminae on boarding day and once when they ate for the second time in Murano. Can you order off the MDR menu in Luminae? Do they have any tried and trues like Princess club class? Is there a Lawn Grill ( my favorite on the Reflection)? What's in the Retreat food wise that's normal? Thanks a lot. Hope we sail.

[canderson]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Next time sailing I will have a casual conversation with the Luminae maitre d one night about how I miss the stuffed baked real Maine Lobster that I used to get in the M-Class restaurants like Ocean Liners.  See what happens!😀

IF they have Maine lobster aboard, and IF they can turn up the recipe, don't be at all surprised if it appears on your table if you're sailing on Connie.  These folks definitely aim to please.  I know that they had to contact one of the S class ships' Murano restaurants to get the recipe for the Goat Cheese Souffle (where it's evidently still being served).