Loved Luminae, Thank You Celebrity

[cruiseerf]

Hello All:

 

We did the transatlantic crossing in a variety of suites and our group was able to use Luminae on several occasions. While there were some nights where we thought the menu could be tweaked, overall we found the food to be excellent and very well prepared. Higher quality ingredients then the main dining room for sure. Or perhaps just better prepared?

 

What people are shocked at and don't like? When you dine in the main dining room, you have a myriad of options to choose from. In Luminae it is a much smaller menu. We found many main dining room dishes to be poor and really see the cost cutting on Celebrity here. One night the main dining room had Pork and beans! My Dad called them army rations ;)

 

Luminae says they serve 5 courses but it is really 3 courses. An Amuse is served before the meal and then your appetizer.....Which is double the size of an app in the main dining room. Then a sorbet, then your Main and then desert . The breads and pastries were unbelievable however we felt the desert cart needs to change a little more. Other then that, fabulous. We could also order from the Standard side of the main dining room menu and get Escargot or Onion Soup etc....anytime.

 

The Executive chef came out on several occasions to see how our meals were with this new concept restaurant. He explained that cooking specific meals (5 appetizer choices, 5 main choices) for 138 people, they could spend far more time perfecting the food as it was small batch cooking and not for 2500+ people every night. For us, this made the experience more like a restaurant and less like a cafeteria.

 

This make sense as when you go to your favourite restaurant for a meal it is fabulous. However when you rent out that restaurant for a party for 200 people, the food quality usually suffers.....Luminae is that favourite restaurant and it really became ours.

 

The environment and the quiet relaxing atmosphere was really excellent with none of the hustle and bustle of the main dining room. Fressie, who was the manager was Very on top of things and our Servers O'Neil, Martina and Myrko were excellent and within 2 days had our iced teas, decaf iced coffes and wines delivered within 10 minutes of us being seated! We never had to ask.

 

Favourite items. The hamburger was excellent with cheese and grilled onions......Lobster eggs benedict was real main lobster, sweet and delicious. The salad with snap peas was delicious as was the marinated Hamachi and the Chicken caesar salad had chicken that wasnt dry! Amen . The Brunch pastry tray was the finest pastries we have EVER had on a ship. A true sin.

 

Overall, this restaurant really added to our enjoyment and we had the feeling we actually got something for the extra fare we paid. We booked several more cruises onboard and look forward to trying Luminae when it has been operational for a longer period.

 

Wishing everyone a safe trip, I really appreciated this new Celebrity Innovative dining concept. IMHO.

 

Cheers all!

[vickykay]

Thanks for your review. Which ship were you on?

[Kevnzworld]

I would like to know if the lunch menu changes daily. The one that I saw was brunch, and though good I couldn't see ordering and eating that food more than a couple of times per cruise.

[cruiseerf]

The ship was the Silhouette.

 

We had the brunch menu with many days at sea. It changed every three days. I believe they are planning on introducing a lunch menu but on our cruise there was no "lunch menu".

 

There is a thread here I read a while ago that said Lunch will be coming etc. I cannot wait! Cheers!

[WNcruiser]

Thanks for the review and information on Luminae. I am glad the food and service were so good. Really looking forward to trying it on Reflection soon. I'm sure by November most of the kinks will be worked out.

[Gracie115]

We felt much the same way in Luminae on Eclipse...outstanding service, excellent food......Celebrity did this right......can't wait till our next chance to try it on Reflection:)

[excitedofharpenden]

Nice to read some positives after all of the huffing and puffing I've been reading about it here.

 

Phil

[upwarduk]

Cruiseerf,

Do you get the choice of 'Special Diets?'

The MDR menu has symbols for Lactose free, sugar free and vegetarian.

[dwhe]

...............We found many main dining room dishes to be poor and really see the cost cutting on Celebrity here. One night the main dining room had Pork and beans! My Dad called them army rations ;) .............

 

I'm quite concerned about that, it doesn't matter how much I paid or what type of cabin I'm in, I expect good food, not passable or acceptable but good.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Thanks for your review. We can't wait to try it in 4 months on Summit.

[thebutlerdidit]

Hello All:

 

 

 

Luminae says they serve 5 courses but it is really 3 courses. An Amuse is served before the meal and then your appetizer.....Which is double the size of an app in the main dining room. Then a sorbet, then your Main and then desert .

 

On the Summit, they were serving in this order: Amuse, Appetizer, Main, Amuse Dessert, Dessert.

[redjetz]

I'm quite concerned about that, it doesn't matter how much I paid or what type of cabin I'm in, I expect good food, not passable or acceptable but good.

gf

 

You can relax about that, the "pork and beans" are a nice roast pork with Tuscan style white beans, not the canned stuff. It's an attempt to be playful by calling it pork and beans.

[ECCruise]

gf

 

You can relax about that, the "pork and beans" are a nice roast pork with Tuscan style white beans, not the canned stuff. It's an attempt to be playful by calling it pork and beans.

 

Totally agree. We've had that dish several times, and to be totally honest, was much more appealing than the limited offerings we saw in Luminae on most nights. On our last trip, earlier this month, we perused the menu in Luminae every night and thought, in most cases, the MDR menu not only more extensive but, in many cases, more innovative.

[Wj420]

Luminae may have a limited menu but it is hands above the quality of the food on the mdr. The quality of the ingredients is superior as is the food prep, presentation but most importantly the taste. A menu may sound good but the delivery in the mdr can be very disappointing. The mdr has declined in the last five years. for those who are able to enjoy a suite luminae makes a huge difference. For those who care about cuisine then luminae will make you stay with celebrity.

[judyfssw]

In Luminae, do they ask if you would like to be seated by yourself or with others? Since I'm with my spouse usually 24/7, it's nice to be seated with others.

[Chicogirl]

In Luminae, do they ask if you would like to be seated by yourself or with others? Since I'm with my spouse usually 24/7, it's nice to be seated with others.

 

 

Oh, not me. This will be the first trip without kids in laws or anyone else. My husband and I have not been on a trip by ourselves sense our honeymoon. I want to be at a table for two. I just want it to be us for romantic dinners. It's one of the reasons I booked a Royal suite. Can't wait to try the new SR. On the Solstice.

[Wj420]

luminae isn't designed for sharing, unless you meet people and arrange it.

[suite dreams]

Tables are set up similar to Blu. 2 tops and 4 tops. Maybe a couple larger. But they are close enough to the other tables that you can easily speak to your neighbors if you wish.

[hypercafe]

For us its not just about the food. A big plus is the small size. I find the MDR to be noisy with lots of stuff going on.

 

Sent from my XT1032 using Forums mobile app

[BrendaJ]

We were in Luminae last week on Summit and the food and service were excellent. If you sit where there is a row of tables for two, you can easily choose to speak with your neighbours on either side. The hostess generally asked us where we wished to sit, and if we saw someone that looked interesting, we'd sit beside them and say hello. If they were interested in conversing, they'd chat with us. If they briefly said hello and nothing else, we'd leave them alone. Worked great for us and pretty much everyone was very friendly and cheerful. We had some very enjoyable meals. It's very similar to Blu in layout, but I thought the food was much better, although the selection is limited, and if you're not adventurous, you might be better off ordering from the left side of the main dining room menu. We thought the food was great - the ingredients were inventive and well presented.

 

I'm hoping to book another suite soon to experience it again.

[Gracie115]

In Luminae, do they ask if you would like to be seated by yourself or with others? Since I'm with my spouse usually 24/7, it's nice to be seated with others.

 

You would be seated by yourself. BUT....just off Eclipse and we were seated by ourselves but most nights we had great conversations with people next to us....it is similar to Blu, BUT the tables are slightly farther apart, which gives you more privacy if you want it, but close enough to enjoy chat with others if you want. As much as we love Blu, the food in Luminae is better and the service was superb. Enjoy!!:)

[wwcruisers]

You would be seated by yourself. BUT....just off Eclipse and we were seated by ourselves but most nights we had great conversations with people next to us....it is similar to Blu, BUT the tables are slightly farther apart, which gives you more privacy if you want it, but close enough to enjoy chat with others if you want. As much as we love Blu, the food in Luminae is better and the service was superb. Enjoy!!:)

 

Sounds also like the 2&4-tops in Select Dining. On our Eclipse Holiday cruise, we asked for the same waitstaff, every night. I have sodium issues, and it was nice to have a waiter who knew what I could and could not eat. We usually went to dinner at about the same time each evening -- and, we started chatting with several couples who were usually seated nearby. By the end of the cruise, we were all asking to be seated near each other. If was almost like being in traditional dining -- with great table-mates! :cool: We will get to try Luminae on our upcoming Summit cruise -- hope to have a similar experience, there! :)

Edited May 15, 2015 by wwcruisers

[Gracie115]

Sounds also like the 2&4-tops in Select Dining. On our Eclipse Holiday cruise, we asked for the same waitstaff, every night. I have sodium issues, and it was nice to have a waiter who knew what I could and could not eat. We usually went to dinner at about the same time each evening -- and, we started chatting with several couples who were usually seated nearby. By the end of the cruise, we were all asking to be seated near each other. If was almost like being in traditional dining -- with great table-mates! :cool: We will get to try Luminae on our upcoming Summit cruise -- hope to have a similar experience, there! :)

 

It was very much like traditional dining....we had same wait staff for every night of the cruise... X certainly has done things right with Luminae!!:)

[2travel4life]

So glad to read all the positives! We will be on the Silhouette in August and are very much looking forward to eating in Luminae. Last summer we were on the Constellation ( suite) and spent a majority of the meals at one of the specialty restaurants since the size and atmosphere of the mdr didn't appeal to us.

Thank you again and keep the positives coming!

[missm]

On our recent TA on Eclipse, we enjoyed the brunch (10-1) offerings in Luminae. They had a nice variety of egg dishes, starches like french toast and pancakes, and also a nice selection of lunch-type dishes like hamburgers with truffle fries (to die for), caesar salads, lobster rolls, etc. This was preceded by the most elegant and amazing French pastries and followed by a dessert cart with more pastry goodies. We were happy campers.

 

Dinner, on the other hand, was hit-or-miss. Some nights, like the formal ones were great, while other nights we had a hard time finding something on the menu we found appealing. Often we would ask to see the dinner menu at brunch and decide on where we wanted to eat that evening based on what was being offered. There were 4 appetizers and 4 main selections, so unless you are an omnivore, your choices are limited.

 

Service was wonderful and the wait staff was lovely. We had the same table every night and the same wait staff. The only thing we didn't like was having to make a reservation every single night. We had hoped that we could eat whenever it suited our schedule, but that wasn't how it was handled on the Eclipse.