Luminae - service on embarkation day?

[bigbenboys]

4 hours ago, dleahy4444 said:

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? 

My problem with Luminae on the E Class ships is that you are limited to Luminae menu and the Classic menu. Other class ships as in your case Eclipse you can order off Luminae and the MDR menu. This just gives us more choices.

We were on the Eclipse last Sept. We were in a CS and my MIL was in a non suite cabin. Luminae maitre d said to show up when we open for dinner and there would not be a problem have guests in Luminae.

[jamscckmc]

Thanks! The earliest boarding time available was 12 for Edge leaving Sydney so hoping for later boarding day lunch.

[markeb]

16 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

My problem with Luminae on the E Class ships is that you are limited to Luminae menu and the Classic menu. Other class ships as in your case Eclipse you can order off Luminae and the MDR menu. This just gives us more choices.

We were on the Eclipse last Sept. We were in a CS and my MIL was in a non suite cabin. Luminae maitre d said to show up when we open for dinner and there would not be a problem have guests in Luminae.

 

So you've just perfectly summed up the marketing quandary (almost failure) of Luminae on the E Class. The E Class was for all intents and purposes built around the Retreat. Luminae was designed to be the dining for the Retreat. There really is no true alternative. Their whole approach, market segmentation, targeting, etc., is for a Retreat guest who absolutely wants the menu offered in Luminae. There's no reason to have access to the MDR menu because that's not the guest their targeting. But the menu is somewhat adventuresome, and it's every night. Arguably there are plenty of choices for the guests they're targeting. But the actual guest isn't the guest on the storyboard. I'm not either, but I do like the Luminae menu. I can get steak, for instance, anywhere, and usually better. But sometimes you just want something to eat that's a little nice but not trying too hard. They didn't build that into the Luminae experience.

 

 

[markeb]

11 minutes ago, jamscckmc said:

Thanks! The earliest boarding time available was 12 for Edge leaving Sydney so hoping for later boarding day lunch.

 

Boarding times don't apply to the Retreat. Unless something's radically different in Sydney, you can show up pretty much as soon as the previous guests clear, and they'll board you as soon as the ship is cleared for boarding, in most places that's been around 11:00, so you're good to show up at 10:30.

[Covepointcruiser]

26 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

My problem with Luminae on the E Class ships is that you are limited to Luminae menu and the Classic menu. Other class ships as in your case Eclipse you can order off Luminae and the MDR menu. This just gives us more choices.

We were on the Eclipse last Sept. We were in a CS and my MIL was in a non suite cabin. Luminae maitre d said to show up when we open for dinner and there would not be a problem have guests in Luminae.

Am I understanding you were allowed to have guests in Luminae for no extra charge??

We were always charged for guests so I will now send an email to the CEO and complain.

[dleahy4444]

46 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

My problem with Luminae on the E Class ships is that you are limited to Luminae menu and the Classic menu. Other class ships as in your case Eclipse you can order off Luminae and the MDR menu. This just gives us more choices.

We were on the Eclipse last Sept. We were in a CS and my MIL was in a non suite cabin. Luminae maitre d said to show up when we open for dinner and there would not be a problem have guests in Luminae.

Thanks for the info. I don’t think we will be having every meal with the non suite guest, but I’m glad we can pay for her to join us occasionally. I will definitely talk to the maitre d as soon as we board and ask him for suggestions as to what time would be best. 

[dleahy4444]

23 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Am I understanding you were allowed to have guests in Luminae for no extra charge??

We were always charged for guests so I will now send an email to the CEO and complain.

There is a charge of $30 for dinner. 

[bigbenboys]

23 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Am I understanding you were allowed to have guests in Luminae for no extra charge??

We were always charged for guests so I will now send an email to the CEO and complain.

No, I paid $30 each for dinner. 

[Baynanno1]

On 3/14/2024 at 6:58 AM, gfkcruiser said:

  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.  

 

Recently we had no problem on Eclipse, but the first night on Solstice my Grilled Fish came in small pieces, floating in a creamy "soup" or sauce. Not at all like it read on the menu.

 

Subsequently, we asked our waiter for a full description of how each meal was actually plated and more often than not, he arranged for a sauce to come in a jug, rather than drown the food.