Luminae New Menus (with photos)

[tjunmin]

Our maître d' Franko in the Millennium informed us that they've been using a new set of menus for a number of sailings, but our sailing was the first in which they used the entire new set of 14 menus, as it was a longer itinerary. Out itinerary was 15-night long, so on the last night, they repeated the first menu.

 

Photos of the new menus can be found here [link].

You can compare them with the previous set of menus here [link], from a sailing on the Constellation earlier this year.

Photos of some of the new dishes can be found here [link].

 

The service at Luminae continues to be stellar. The staff offers great service and attends to guests' needs with care.

 

Celebrity seems to be trying to offer an unique dining experience with Luminae's new menu. They still offer classics such as the wonderful Chocolate Sphere [photo], and introduced interesting items, such as the Salmon Poke [photo], and great new options such as the "Char Siu" Lamb Chops [photo] and this one that I did not get the name [photo]. Some of the new dishes were intriguing, while others were bizarre [photo], but the major difference in my opinion was the reduction of the offerings in the lunch menus, which I found disappointing, as some of my favorites dishes are no longer available.

 

I've always been a strong supporter of Luminae, truly believing that they offer the best food on board. Unfortunately, the Luminae galley in the Millennium was disappointing at times. For instance, getting the steaks at the right temperature was a challenge in multiple occasions; I like my steaks medium rare, and they would usually be served medium well. The Canadian bacon in the Eggs Benedict [photo] was pathetically small and there was not enough hollandaise sauce; I got used to asking for additional hollandaise on the side, but that should not be necessary in a premium experience; compare it to this beautiful Eggs Benedict [photo] served at Luminae on the Constellation earlier this year. The food was way too oily; I'm fully aware that when eating out, the food will be rich, but for instance, the Seared Scallops [photo] were so full of oil that I could not eat them; the same applied to the breakfast Whole Wheat Wrap. When I asked for the breakfast wrap to be prepared with a bit less oil, it came with no oil at all, absolutely dry and slightly burned [photo]; the black&white approach without nuance was unsettling. The Chilled Lobster Salad [photo] desperately needed rescue; I saw a photo of the lobster salad served at Blu - posted by another cruiser on the same sailing - and it looked much better than this. I digress now, but I wonder if the problem is specific to the Millennium; for instance, the Tuna Tartar was fine on the Constellation [photo] but terribly tasting (poor fish quality) on the Millennium [photo]; another example was the Pappardelle with Braised Lamb which was fine on the Constellation [photo] but inedible on the Millennium [photo].

 

I hope this drop in food quality in Luminae in the Millennium will not become a trend in the Celebrity fleet. Having said that, please do not take my words too harshly. The staff works so hard at Luminae, and it pains me to see their efforts clouded by issues with the food.

Edited October 4, 2019 by tjunmin

[Swarzet34]

Thanks for sharing! We are sailing on Solstice in December and am looking forward to sampling the new menus

[H2OH!]

Wow! Thanks for sharing!! 

 

[gw2fll]

Thanks for sharing. Glad to see the artichoke soup is still on the menu.

[hcat]

Wow..fabulous job! Really appreciate this thread,  Hope it grows with more info about other ships, etc

 

We are long time BLU fans. The concept and menus there have always been great except for so many " birds" and change in tableside museli.   The Luminae menus and photos  previously posted have  never appealed to us as we like simple, clean  food. 

 

  We decided to change things up for a few cruises & finally booked a  suite on Constellation ( great intro prices for Tampa sailings).  We will be assigned to Luminae and hope the new menus work out and  that we are happy there.   I randomly clicked on one of the days and see more than one  item that will appeal to us.

 

Hopeful that over time execution will improve!

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Thanks for the new menus.  We are sailing on Equinox in November and I thought the menus on the app did not look too familiar.  Some of the descriptions of the dishes were odd but they look great in your photos.  I will miss the scallop and shrimp brochette at lunch.

[Champagne Cruiser]

Unfortunately we have never been big Luminae fans, but would like to sail Suites. DH ordered off the MDR menu most nights on our trans Atlantic last year. I don’t understand why they can’t include Everyday Favorites and in Luminae it should be grass beef: Filet Mignon,  Wild Caught Salmon, Organic Chicken, Organic vegetables etc. The quality of the actual ingredients should be better than the MDR.  That would put Luminae a cut above the main sailing experience. 

[vtcruising]

Thanks for the great pictures! The Edge had this new menu rolled out in late January for our cruise and the F&B guy said it would later be rolled out to the rest of the fleet (a quick glance looks like they are the same, but didn't look at every menu). The 3 Daniel Boulud items were added later. I missed some of my favorites, but had a couple of new ones.  These are the Edge menus from January:

 

Luminae Dinner.pdf

 

Luminae Desserts.pdf

 

Luminae Wine.pdf

 

Luminae Lunch.pdf

 

Luminae Breakfast.pdf

 

 

Edited October 4, 2019 by vtcruising

[Caribbean Chris]

I’m grateful to you for this detailed report. We’re sailing in suites on Silhouette in November with friends who are first time Celebrity cruisers (although they have decades of cruising on other high-end lines). It will be interesting to see what we find this time. Your menus and photos give me hope.

 

In Luminae for a few sailings on Eclipse and Reflection in recent years, we’ve had an inconsistent experience. The first year after it was introduced, Luminae delivered some very enjoyable meals and excellent service in a lovely setting.  But on later cruises down the road, we were disappointed by the lack of attention to detail. At a breakfast one morning, for example, the wait staff service was minimal and silver dollar pancakes arrived literally burned black on the bottom. At lunch, the Signature Burger was missing the bacon jam (waiter shrugged). These are small things, but then at a dinner one evening, the beef short ribs were a peculiar, large, rectangular slab of meat with a thick layer of untrimmed fat. Other passengers we chatted with even brought up the awful short ribs in later conversations.  (I was glad your short ribs photo looked normal and appetizing.) A lot of people were ordering from the main dining room menu.

 

We had great service and a more consistent experience on Edge in Blu back in January. With the big price jumps we’ve all seen for suites the past couple of years, I’m hoping to be convinced next month that it’s worth it to keep booking them sometimes.

 

Many thanks for posting.

[jj6961]

Thank you so much for posting.  The photos with the descriptions are so helpful.  This was quite an undertaking and much appreciated 

[reposado]

Great pics and thanks for your honest review Thomas!

 

I sail on Solstice late next month and wonder if it'll be the new or old menus?

Edited October 4, 2019 by reposado

[lovecruzin]

1 hour ago, reposado said:

Great pics and thanks for your honest review Thomas!

 

I sail on Solstice late next month and wonder if it'll be the new or old menus?

 

We cruised Solstice mid Sept. I believe it was the first or 2nd cruise with the new menus. 

We don't book suites often enough that I was tired of the old menus 😊 I found that often the description did not match what was served, (without looking at the menus) one that stands out was we ordered rack of lamb one night but it was a lamb loin.

 

 

 

 

[Plato123]

I don't see the lamb burger on the menu anymore.  Too bad as it was a favorite.  Great post, nevertheless, and we are hoping the food in Luminae on the Reflection is still as good as on past cruises.

[hulamoon]

I order it, but lobster with cabbage?

 

Lunch was one of the best parts of Luminae and when the quality first dropped it stayed wonderful. I loved the seafood skewers with rice.

 

I can’t believe I have sailed on Celebrity long enough to say, remember when it first launched? The warm bread, the standing ovations, the ginormous portions that they finally stopped embarrassing us with. The shock that anyone would suggest they wanted to order off another menu.

 

Every shift in quality and extra charges here and there make our calculations change. A suite was a great value. Less so now that the better food is trending again in specialty restaurants.

 

[Jim_Iain]

Thanks for posting.    I especially like the pictures as so many of their descriptions no way match what shows up on your table.  

 

I was just checking your menus against the menus for out Edge 10/21 cruise and they are matching up pretty close to what you posted.   One caveat is that as usual not all the menus have been loaded into the app at this time.   

[calicakes]

On 10/4/2019 at 4:14 AM, hcat said:

We are long time BLU fans. The concept and menus there have always been great except for so many " birds" and change in tableside museli.   The Luminae menus and photos  previously posted have  never appealed to us as we like simple, clean  food. 

 

  We decided to change things up for a few cruises & finally booked a  suite on Constellation ( great intro prices for Tampa sailings). 

When is your sailing?  I mentioned this on my live blog thread, however I'll repeat.  Our next cruise is also in a Suite( first time) out of Tampa on Connie Dec 23rd, 2020.   I'm not going to stress about the food for an entire year, but my wife has asked me a few times " Will there be something I can eat".  LOL.   Personally, I don't want her to eat a steak every single night, I want her to try new things, but at 58yrs old, I doubt that is going to happen. 

 

I can usually always find things I like, with some modifications.  I can't wait to hear what you think about it as compared to Blu.  We've only ever cruised in AQ on X.  We did take one cruise on NCL in a regular balcony room.  I was NOT impressed by the food in the MDR. 

[calicakes]

On 10/4/2019 at 5:14 AM, Champagne Cruiser said:

should be grass beef: Filet Mignon,  Wild Caught Salmon, Organic Chicken, Organic vegetables etc. The quality of the actual ingredients should be better than the MDR.

OMG, if there was EVER a statement that I 100% agree with, it would be this.  Once I started eating organic chicken/eggs, it has become super hard for me to go back to conventional.  Living in California, we have access to great farmer's markets with year round produce.  I tend to eat seasonally, meaning I won't buy fresh berries in December since they come from Chili and the quality isn't there.   It was be awesome of Luminae would offer what you suggested.  I'd probably only ever cruise in a Suite. 

[WonderMan3]

After just finishing cruising with MSC, oh how I am missing Luminae!!! The changes here don’t seem that drastic. The majority of the items appear to be the same but nice to see a little update at least. Too bad the Chef’s items don’t change each day. They made a big hullabaloo about this chef collaboration in a press release. To see it only amounted to 3 items is a bit anti-climactic.

[vtcruising]

30 minutes ago, calicakes said:

When is your sailing?  I mentioned this on my live blog thread, however I'll repeat.  Our next cruise is also in a Suite( first time) out of Tampa on Connie Dec 23rd, 2020.   I'm not going to stress about the food for an entire year, but my wife has asked me a few times " Will there be something I can eat".  LOL.   Personally, I don't want her to eat a steak every single night, I want her to try new things, but at 58yrs old, I doubt that is going to happen. 

 

I can usually always find things I like, with some modifications.  I can't wait to hear what you think about it as compared to Blu.  We've only ever cruised in AQ on X.  We did take one cruise on NCL in a regular balcony room.  I was NOT impressed by the food in the MDR. 

We have been in AQ for 5 cruises and Luminae for 5-6 cruises. I would definitely choose Luminae - step up in food quality, service, presentation. We ordered a couple of favorite dishes from the MDR in there and realized that Luminae’s food has so much more flavor and quality ingredients.  We never looked back and now stick to the Luminae menu. The descriptions don’t do them justice. If you like an appetizer, make it an entree. Some of the appetizers, salads and soups are enough for a great dinner. Work with them to modify the dishes to get what you want. Hope it all works out!

[Jim_Iain]

3 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

After just finishing cruising with MSC, oh how I am missing Luminae!!! The changes here don’t seem that drastic. The majority of the items appear to be the same but nice to see a little update at least. Too bad the Chef’s items don’t change each day. They made a big hullabaloo about this chef collaboration in a press release. To see it only amounted to 3 items is a bit anti-climactic.

Have to agree with you Adam.    I looked through the menu's and was surprised on how many were the same as the last 5+ years.   I was also disappointed that the Special Chef Boulud Signature items were limited to 1  Appetizer, entree and desert and are the same every day.    I have tried them and kida like some other experience probably one and done.    We did his Chef's dinner last cruise and again will probably be again one and done.  

[WorcesterPear]

Thank you so much for sharing the revised Luminae menu and the wine list . 

 

I am a little concerned to see that there only appears to be one by the glass option- a rose wine- which comes within the Classic Package limit on the Luminae wine list; whereas I understand that there are several on offer on the Blu wine list. Oh well, Rose it will be then! 

[vtcruising]

10 minutes ago, WorcesterPear said:

Thank you so much for sharing the revised Luminae menu and the wine list . 

 

I am a little concerned to see that there only appears to be one by the glass option- a rose wine- which comes within the Classic Package limit on the Luminae wine list; whereas I understand that there are several on offer on the Blu wine list. Oh well, Rose it will be then! 

The wine list isn’t exact.  The stock changes. Most people in suites have the 4 perks including the Premium Pkg, so they are probably listing  more Premium wines. If you have the Classic pkg, the wine stewards will work with you to get something you like stocked there. I have found the Luminae wine stewards some of the best onboard. 🙂

Edited October 5, 2019 by vtcruising

[groryjm]

24 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

The wine list isn’t exact.  The stock changes. Most people in suites have the 4 perks including the Premium Pkg, so they are probably listing  more Premium wines. If you have the Classic pkg, the wine stewards will work with you to get something you like stocked there. I have found the Luminae wine stewards some of the best onboard. 🙂

Also on Silhouette the signature cocktails list is removed.😲

 

Edited October 5, 2019 by groryjm

[WorcesterPear]

We always cruise in suites on Celebrity and if we have Royal suites we have the included  premium package,  but otherwise , coming from the U.K., we don’t often get the 4 perks including the Premium Package offered as a matter of routine, but our offers do frequently include the Classic instead for Sky and Celebrity suites. 

 

My concern is that on our July Infinity Cruise the Luminae wine list included several options within the Classic limits, which meant I could order from a listed choice of several wines without feeling like a pauper for not having the dizzy heights of the Premium package! On our forthcoming Edge TA  I don’t really want to throw myself like Cinderella on the tender mercies of the Luminae sommelier to find me something which I can afford- I just think that at the very least the same greater number of published options for the Classic Package by the glass shown as in the Blu wine list should be published and clearly available for Luminae . I shall await the arrival of the Luminae wine list with due humility for having my humble Classic Package! 

[vtcruising]

9 minutes ago, WorcesterPear said:

We always cruise in suites on Celebrity and if we have Royal suites we have the included  premium package,  but otherwise , coming from the U.K., we don’t often get the 4 perks including the Premium Package offered as a matter of routine, but our offers do frequently include the Classic instead for Sky and Celebrity suites. 

 

My concern is that on our July Infinity Cruise the Luminae wine list included several options within the Classic limits, which meant I could order from a listed choice of several wines without feeling like a pauper for not having the dizzy heights of the Premium package! On our forthcoming Edge TA  I don’t really want to throw myself like Cinderella on the tender mercies of the Luminae sommelier to find me something which I can afford- I just think that at the very least the same greater number of published options for the Classic Package by the glass shown as in the Blu wine list should be published and clearly available for Luminae . I shall await the arrival of the Luminae wine list with due humility for having my humble Classic Package! 

We have traveled with people with the Classic pkg and they don’t blink an eye - they just asked what type of wine they liked and they got it for them within the pkg. 🙂