Luminae Menu cutbacks?

[phoenix_dream]

17 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I'm just showing my age.   The desert trays were long before Luminae and Blu and in the MDR. Each night the Waiter would bring a Large Silver Tray to the table with a Sample of each Desert on the menu so guests could  see what was on offer before ordering  their deserts.  

Exactly! I am going back many years with my comment, when all there was was the MDR. Not even specialty restaurants. I started sailing X in 1993.

[sptrout]

1 minute ago, phoenix_dream said:

Exactly! I am going back many years with my comment, when all there was was the MDR. Not even specialty restaurants. I started sailing X in 1993.

I am showing my age too LOL. We started with Celebrity 01/95 for our Honeymoon. I do not remember the dessert cart, but there are a lot of things that I do not remember about that cruise.....ah never mind.

 

But, we did get invited to the Captains Table one evening. No idea why, we were the poor folks at the table. I am shy, my wife is not, we both wish we were elsewhere......ah never mind.

[cruise47]

18 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I'm just showing my age.   The desert trays were long before Luminae and Blu and in the MDR. Each night the Waiter would bring a Large Silver Tray to the table with a Sample of each Desert on the menu so guests could  see what was on offer before ordering  their deserts.  

I also can remember this in the MDR.

[jelayne]

6 hours ago, cruzzzinma said:

Had it last night on the Beyond and it was delicious.

From Room Service or in the dining room?

[TeeRick]

6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I would have to agree with some of the assessments of "Sommeliers" in Luminae.    Maybe being Californian Iain knows his wines.    Due to staffing some of the "Sommeliers" had little to no knowledge of wines.    One evening a very sweet (personality) sommelier recommended a California wine that would be considered a "Jug" wine.  When we both chuckled she looked at us strange.  

 

I do have to say the Sommelier on Solstice last last month was very knowledgeable but would still question whether she was certified.

I’m not sure if any of them are truly trained sommeliers.  But the gent in Luminae on Equinox this week has been at least knowledgeable enough for our needs.

[TeeRick]

6 hours ago, cangelmd said:

To me, that’s been an issue in Luminae since always - pre-Covid. 
I get around it by OVC salad for lunch almost every day, where I can control the type of greens and the amount of dressing. I try to order any green salad they offer in Luminae, with an occasional Caesar. On an S-class, I check the MDR menu every night, looking for the Bibb lettuce salad, it’s a fav. The struggle is real, and kind of annoying at those prices. I like Caesar well enough, but they put way too much dress8ng usually

I agree but will just order the Caesar from the MDR menu.  Or I ask them to make me a mixed green salad and tell them what I want in it and the dressing.  It has not been a problem.

[Jim_Iain]

6 hours ago, cangelmd said:

To me, that’s been an issue in Luminae since always - pre-Covid. 
I get around it by OVC salad for lunch almost every day, where I can control the type of greens and the amount of dressing. I try to order any green salad they offer in Luminae, with an occasional Caesar. On an S-class, I check the MDR menu every night, looking for the Bibb lettuce salad, it’s a fav. The struggle is real, and kind of annoying at those prices. I like Caesar well enough, but they put way too much dress8ng usually

Ask for the dressing on the side -  they will gladly comply with your request.  

 

I've also found that if you just ask for what you want for a salad whether on the menu or MDR menu they will try to get it for you.  

[SusieAV8R]

10 hours ago, cangelmd said:

To me, that’s been an issue in Luminae since always - pre-Covid. 
I get around it by OVC salad for lunch almost every day, where I can control the type of greens and the amount of dressing. I try to order any green salad they offer in Luminae, with an occasional Caesar. On an S-class, I check the MDR menu every night, looking for the Bibb lettuce salad, it’s a fav. The struggle is real, and kind of annoying at those prices. I like Caesar well enough, but they put way too much dress8ng usually

I really like my dinner salads (and the Caesars are a hit-or-miss) and if possible want them with my meal in Luminae.  I tell my wonderful waiter what I want in my salad, with the dressing on the side.  That's precisely what I have been served for our 6 post-covid cruises.  (Maybe I am just crankier than you all?  🙂.  )

[cangelmd]

10 hours ago, SusieAV8R said:

I really like my dinner salads (and the Caesars are a hit-or-miss) and if possible want them with my meal in Luminae.  I tell my wonderful waiter what I want in my salad, with the dressing on the side.  That's precisely what I have been served for our 6 post-covid cruises.  (Maybe I am just crankier than you all?  🙂.  )

 

15 hours ago, TeeRick said:

I’m not sure if any of them are truly trained sommeliers.  But the gent in Luminae on Equinox this week has been at least knowledgeable enough for our needs.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, I know they will try to accommodate and I may well ask on our coming up cruise - we aren’t very demanding and like trying new things, so I’ve worked around.

 

Jim, we generally find 2-3 senior “sommeliers” who are quite knowledgeable and a few junior people who are fairly knowledgeable and then other juniors who are truly learning. I like to go to the Wines of the World event, not because they pour great wines ( I think a lot of times it’s ok wines they don’t have enough remaining to put out into the dining rooms), but because I can talk to most of the wine stewards in one place and meet some of the more experienced and learn about some wines that are available on board.

[NewWestwardbound]

I agree. I really enjoy talking with the sommeliers and with only one exception I have found them enthusiastic and helpful. They are not all experts but just having someone to discuss wine choice with is a real bonus for me. 

[terrydtx]

17 minutes ago, NewWestwardbound said:

I agree. I really enjoy talking with the sommeliers and with only one exception I have found them enthusiastic and helpful. They are not all experts but just having someone to discuss wine choice with is a real bonus for me. 

They are of no use when they are invisible for the entire cruise.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

On 1/26/2023 at 6:00 AM, TeeRick said:

Options by the glass, bottle and half bottle on the Celebrity app under Luminae menu on our current cruise.  

our experience has been that the wines may be shown on the APP but are not always available with "supply chain issues" mentioned as the reason. We're on EDGE end of Feb so we'll see what they actually have onboard

[DaKahuna]

16 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

They are of no use when they are invisible for the entire cruise.

 

 I agree with that statement.  Fortunately, I have not found that to be the case when we have sailed in Aqua or Suites on S-class ships.  We've only done one Edge sailing and that was in a suite and I do not even remember any issues or anything extraordinary about the sommelier from that cruise.  

 

I am hopeful that we will have a good sommelier in Luminae on our upcoming Millennium cruise.  

 

 

[NewWestwardbound]

3 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I agree with that statement.  Fortunately, I have not found that to be the case when we have sailed in Aqua or Suites on S-class ships.  We've only done one Edge sailing and that was in a suite and I do not even remember any issues or anything extraordinary about the sommelier from that cruise.  

 

I am hopeful that we will have a good sommelier in Luminae on our upcoming Millennium cruise.  

 

 

Likewise. No issues in Luminae or specialist restaurants on Silhouette. 

[TeeRick]

4 hours ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

our experience has been that the wines may be shown on the APP but are not always available with "supply chain issues" mentioned as the reason. We're on EDGE end of Feb so we'll see what they actually have onboard

At least on our current cruise the app has been accurate.  And other wines have been suggested as well.  I have not heard the term supply chain issue this week.  Maybe things are improving somewhat?  Or have we just been lucky?

[markeb]

The "sommelier", intentionally in quotes, thing is and remains interesting. We've had a couple of really good ones on Celebrity. The best was in Blu on our first cruise. I believe she was Ukranian and very good. Our most recent on Equinox was efficient...

 

Interestingly, I did the wines of the world tasting in August (SWMBO didn't want to try an hour speed tasting...). One of the sommeliers pouring was from India as I recall, had his pin in the European system, and had worked in London and a somm. He was NOT in Luminae. I hope he was working one of the specialties. I still have the name of an Indian restaurant in London that I hadn't heard of that he suggested! He's the first somm on X that I'm sure had trained and tested. They don't wear pins, and probably aren't allowed to.

[RichYak]

2 hours ago, TeeRick said:

I have not heard the term supply chain issue this week.  Maybe things are improving somewhat?  Or have we just been lucky?

I would think the jig is up on that claim.

[cangelmd]

2 hours ago, markeb said:

The "sommelier", intentionally in quotes, thing is and remains interesting. We've had a couple of really good ones on Celebrity. The best was in Blu on our first cruise. I believe she was Ukranian and very good. Our most recent on Equinox was efficient...

 

Interestingly, I did the wines of the world tasting in August (SWMBO didn't want to try an hour speed tasting...). One of the sommeliers pouring was from India as I recall, had his pin in the European system, and had worked in London and a somm. He was NOT in Luminae. I hope he was working one of the specialties. I still have the name of an Indian restaurant in London that I hadn't heard of that he suggested! He's the first somm on X that I'm sure had trained and tested. They don't wear pins, and probably aren't allowed to.

I think, but don’t know that there’s a hierarchy with the specialty restaurants being at the top. They are really running in the regular dining rooms, even Luminae.

[Covepointcruiser]

39 minutes ago, RichYak said:

I would think the jig is up on that claim.

Have you been shopping lately?    There are still many supply issues so no, that jig is not up!

[Oville]

6 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Have you been shopping lately?    There are still many supply issues so no, that jig is not up!

Like eggs for example.

[TeeRick]

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

I would think the jig is up on that claim.

I guess it depends on where you are in the world and what you are trying to obtain.

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Have you been shopping lately?    There are still many supply issues so no, that jig is not up!

 

1 hour ago, Oville said:

Like eggs for example.

 

16 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

I guess it depends on where you are in the world and what you are trying to obtain.

Eggs?  I replied to TeeRick's comment about wine selection.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

 

 

Eggs?  I replied to TeeRick's comment about wine selection.

And TeeRick replied to my comment about wine and supply chain issues.