Luminae - service on embarkation day?

[Syd58]

Is Luminae open for dinner on embarkation day?

[jelayne]

Lunch and dinner. 
All dining rooms and specialty restaurants are open for dinner on embarkation night. 

[SerraG]

Yes, and lunch too.  

[Syd58]

Thank you!

[dleahy4444]

9 hours ago, jelayne said:

Lunch and dinner. 
All dining rooms and specialty restaurants are open for dinner on embarkation night. 

I understand that, based upon availability, you can have a non suite travel companion join you for dinner for a fee at Luminae.  Do you know if it the same for lunch or breakfast? Thank you 

[abbydancer2003]

2 hours ago, dleahy4444 said:

I understand that, based upon availability, you can have a non suite travel companion join you for dinner for a fee at Luminae.  Do you know if it the same for lunch or breakfast? Thank you 

Yes.  Lunch is 20.00 per person, and I've heard breakfast is 10.00

[dleahy4444]

10 hours ago, abbydancer2003 said:

Yes.  Lunch is 20.00 per person, and I've heard breakfast is 10.00

Thanks so much. 

[gfkcruiser]

15 hours ago, dleahy4444 said:

I understand that, based upon availability, you can have a non suite travel companion join you for dinner for a fee at Luminae.  Do you know if it the same for lunch or breakfast? Thank you 

Based on my recent experience on Beyond , would not pay anything to have a guest join me.   Enjoy a tastier meal with them in the MDR. 

[dleahy4444]

21 minutes ago, gfkcruiser said:

Based on my recent experience on Beyond , would not pay anything to have a guest join me.   Enjoy a tastier meal with them in the MDR. 

Good to know. Thank you. We are going to be on the Eclipse, hopefully that is better? 
to the OP, I’m sorry if I’m hijacking your thread. 

[markeb]

I'd argue Luminae lunch on embarkation day is one of the best perks of the Retreat! Sit down lunch with table service. No wrestling in the OVC...

[markeb]

2 hours ago, gfkcruiser said:

Based on my recent experience on Beyond , would not pay anything to have a guest join me.   Enjoy a tastier meal with them in the MDR. 

 

Can you elaborate on that? Your tastes are your tastes, but what specifically did you not enjoy in Luminae and what specifically in the MDR was tastier?

[Syd58]

2 hours ago, dleahy4444 said:
to the OP, I’m sorry if I’m hijacking your thread. 

No worries - I was done (had gotten my answer). Enjoying reading subsequent posts. 😃

[Syd58]

6 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

Can you elaborate on that? Your tastes are your tastes, but what specifically did you not enjoy in Luminae and what specifically in the MDR was tastier?

I’m interested in the answer to this too. We were recently on the Ascent, and tried all 4 MDRs. The food universally was just slightly above average, in our opinions. But we are harsh critics of food LOL. Didn’t have anything we thought was outstanding. We have a cruise coming up for which we’re in the Retreat, so we’re excited to try Luminae. 

[dleahy4444]

15 minutes ago, Syd58 said:

I’m interested in the answer to this too. We were recently on the Ascent, and tried all 4 MDRs. The food universally was just slightly above average, in our opinions. But we are harsh critics of food LOL. Didn’t have anything we thought was outstanding. We have a cruise coming up for which we’re in the Retreat, so we’re excited to try Luminae. 

Count me in as interested as well. On previous cruises I have found the food in Blu and Luminae more to my liking than MDR, especially on more recent cruises where there seems to be cutbacks in portion size, variety and quality.  I’m not a foodie, but my cabin mate is, hence the upgrade to suites on our upcoming Eclipse sailing, just so that we can eat at Luminae. However our third travel companion is not upgrading and we don’t want to exclude her, so I expect we will either be hosting her at Luminae for meals or joining her at the MDR. Anyone with recent experience at Luminae on Eclipse? 

[dleahy4444]

35 minutes ago, markeb said:

I'd argue Luminae lunch on embarkation day is one of the best perks of the Retreat! Sit down lunch with table service. No wrestling in the OVC...

I agree. Do you happen to know if we can have our non suite companion join us on embarkation day as well as long as we pay the fee and there is availability? 

[abbydancer2003]

1 minute ago, dleahy4444 said:

I agree. Do you happen to know if we can have our non suite companion join us on embarkation day as well as long as we pay the fee and there is availability? 

Assuming availability, probably.  That's up to the restaurant manager. We've done it once.

[gfkcruiser]

1 hour ago, markeb said:

 

Can you elaborate on that? Your tastes are your tastes, but what specifically did you not enjoy in Luminae and what specifically in the MDR was tastier?

Was on the beyond.  Did retreat on 2nd leg of B2B so got to experience MDR and the Luminae.  Have been on many Celebrity sailings and usually found food in MDR good or very good.  Was looking forward to an incredible dining experience and were we disappointed.  After 2 lunches, gave up on that.  Dinner was a very unexciting experience.   Sure you could order the classics from the MDR if nothing sounded good but what is the point of that.   Sauces were added to food that didn’t need it - added a sauce to the lobster and must not have read the menu close enough.   We had a 3 dinner dining package so enjoyed most of those and added a Raw on 5.   Asked some other retreat passengers about their experience in luminae.   4 couples all had our same opinion and one couple ate dinners in the ocean view.  We could have eaten in Blu but those menus were not appealing.   Maybe other ships have better chefs for the retreat.  Not all selections were bad.  Hamburger was good and the marinated chicken sandwich at the retreat bar was good.  Perhaps our expectations were too high or not expecting the extra touch added to dishes.  Pigs foot carpaccio anyone?  Waiter said no one ordered it. 
We did like everything else about the Retreat experience.  

[markeb]

4 minutes ago, gfkcruiser said:

Pigs foot carpaccio anyone?  Waiter said no one ordered it. 

 

That's actually delicious. I've ordered it. Hence my question.

 

Luminae tries to be an upscale adventurous menu. The sauce on the lobster sounds interesting to me; I'd much rather have the choron sauce that butter, although I don't get excited about lobster in general. Much of what they serve in Luminae is French inspired and that means sauces. And I find the variety exciting. It's fine that you don't. It's a challenge with the entire Luminae concept. Upscale dining for their upscale Retreat experience, but sometimes you just want something simple prepared and served well. That's something they don't do as well.

 

 

[gfkcruiser]

Just now, markeb said:

 

That's actually delicious. I've ordered it. Hence my question.

 

Luminae tries to be an upscale adventurous menu. The sauce on the lobster sounds interesting to me; I'd much rather have the choron sauce that butter, although I don't get excited about lobster in general. Much of what they serve in Luminae is French inspired and that means sauces. And I find the variety exciting. It's fine that you don't. It's a challenge with the entire Luminae concept. Upscale dining for their upscale Retreat experience, but sometimes you just want something simple prepared and served well. That's something they don't do as well.

 

 

Appreciate your comments and do agree. 

[jamscckmc]

Hi, two questions. What are Luminae hours for lunch on embarkation day? Is Luminae’s menu available on the app?

[markeb]

7 minutes ago, jamscckmc said:

Hi, two questions. What are Luminae hours for lunch on embarkation day? Is Luminae’s menu available on the app?

 

Hours may vary by ship, but generally 11:30-1:30.

 

Yes. The menu is available in the app. It'll be under "main dining" for most ships, and under "suites" for the Edge class ships I've looked at. If your sailing is well in the future, look at the current sailing of your ship.

Edited March 13 by markeb

[jamscckmc]

Thanks, do you know if 1:30 is the last seating time or it everyone out time?😉

[markeb]

12 minutes ago, jamscckmc said:

Thanks, do you know if 1:30 is the last seating time or it everyone out time?😉

 

That I don't know. We've always been there 11:30-12:00.

[abbydancer2003]

1 hour ago, jamscckmc said:

Thanks, do you know if 1:30 is the last seating time or it everyone out time?😉

Last seating.  And sometimes it's 11:30 - 1:00 and sometimes 12:00-1:30.  I've also seen different hours, based on things like short port stops, etc.

 

But usually it's 1.5 hours for lunch, but on embarkation day they sometimes go later.

[DaKahuna]

 

1 hour ago, jamscckmc said:

Hi, two questions. What are Luminae hours for lunch on embarkation day? Is Luminae’s menu available on the app?

 

Hours on embarkation day are generally 1130-1330.

 

Yes, the menu is available on the app but as mentioned earlier, it's generally  more accurate on current sailings or those withing a week or two of departure. 

 

 

1 hour ago, jamscckmc said:

Thanks, do you know if 1:30 is the last seating time or it everyone out time?😉

 

It is the last seating time.