Is Luminae over-rated or under-rated?

[George C]

3 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

While Luminae is far superior to Blu and the MDR, it isn't perfect.  We enjoy dining in SP restaurants for most dinners on the S class or E class ships. And have taken the unlimited dining plan when the price is reasonable.  We  Enjoy Luminae for breakfast- and an occasional lunch.  The service is excellent- we like the idea that the tables are spaced far apart, not like in Blu which are much too close, and the MDR is like going to a catered wedding.  Another point, if you make a special order in luminae the night before, they will probably honor your request.

It would be nice to have Luminae open on port days for lunch, the outside retreat is open on those days.

[Midway7934]

My husband and I have been eating in Luminae (on Summit) for every vacation. The food is the best on the ship. The service is the best on the ship. If you have a particular food item you like, they will bring you more (including the lobster). If you want a particular food item and don’t see it on the menu, speak to the matre’d a day ahead and I am sure it can be worked out. My experience is the Summit. I have been fortunate enough to sail in suites (yes, I am one of those “Once you upgrade you’ll never go back.”), and Luminae is the star. The food is excellent and they aim to please.

[terrydtx]

9 minutes ago, Midway7934 said:

My husband and I have been eating in Luminae (on Summit) for every vacation. The food is the best on the ship. The service is the best on the ship. If you have a particular food item you like, they will bring you more (including the lobster). If you want a particular food item and don’t see it on the menu, speak to the matre’d a day ahead and I am sure it can be worked out. My experience is the Summit. I have been fortunate enough to sail in suites (yes, I am one of those “Once you upgrade you’ll never go back.”), and Luminae is the star. The food is excellent and they aim to please.

That has been our experience too and why we haven't moved on to more premium lines like Viking Ocean and Oceania. The Retreat and Luminae have kept us loyal Celebrity customers. We have 6 future cruises booked on Celebrity Suites in the next 2 years, with more planned. We canceled an Oceania cruise this year to switch to the Reflection in August. The only reason we still have a HAL cruise booked this year was to use up a FCC and we have a suite booked with very very few amenities compared to Celebrity.

Edited March 4, 2022 by terrydtx

[cangelmd]

I’m going to answer right now, but reserve the right to amend my answer in about 3 weeks after a suite on the Edge.

Pre-Covid, the service in Luminae was significantly better than MDR. The menu is good to excellent, but some people (including me) need a break at least once a week. Starters tend to be appetizers, the simple salads and the cream soups that used to be a staple of cruise ship menus aren’t on menu much in Luminae (remember the days when they puréed yesterday’s left over veggie, added stock and heated?, some of those soups were very good). That’s my biggest complaint about the menu, everything is “fancy”. Obviously other posters have listed all sorts of ways to get around that, and my best advice is try it and don’t feel bad about asking for an MDR menu or a plain steak.

post-Covid and E-class - post-Covid, the service has gone down a bit because the staffing doesn’t always seem to match the number and dining location of passengers. Our post-Covid Luminae cruise was in August 21, but I remember noticing that Luminae instead of getting less crowded as the week went on and people tried other dinner venues, it seemed to get more crowded.

I think the Edge may be very different, because the MDR is a very different experience, appealing Rona number of people.

[terrydtx]

I only have 2 complaints about Luminae. The Celebrity app for our August Reflection cruise shows the very same menu as we had last year on the Equinox, I wish Celebrity would change the menus more often. My other, the Reflection cruise on the app. still shows the same Chef Boulud Moroccan chicken which was the only bad entree I had on the Equinox, it was overcooked too dry and to me tasteless. I tried it on a night where the other items were not as appealing, that same night my wife ordered off the MDR menu and she said it wasn't good either. If I remember right, it was a veal dish and even the presentation didn't look appealing.

[neverlaysup]

My experience in Luminae from my last Apex cruise was that it was a few steps ahead of the other venues at dinner time. The selection is a bit limited but I got frisky a few nights and ordered outside of my comfort zone. The result was still a delicious dinner. My biggest disappointment was breakfast. The eggs were rock hard, hash browns were two fried grease patties and my OJ was 50% pulp and seeds. Lunch for me was always good, the Luminae burger was excellent but my DW would disagree on lunch as she only eats seafood. 
 

Is Luminae better than all the other “free” venues on the ship…..yes. That being said, it’s not perfect. 

[terrydtx]

2 minutes ago, neverlaysup said:

Lunch for me was always good, the Luminae burger was excellent but my DW would disagree on lunch as she only eats seafood. 

For lunch on embarkation day my wife ordered the Crispy Branzino fish and loved it, I remember having some fish dish everyday Luminae was open for lunch. I agree the Luminae burger was the best on the ship and I loved the Truffle fries too.

[George C]

Love lobster roll normally on first day lunch menu, wish they had it everyday.

Wife had the branzino .

Edited March 4, 2022 by George C

[micruiser2002]

41 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

And have taken the unlimited dining plan when the price is reasonable.

Does Celebrity  offer a "Unlimited" dining plan like RCL?  I have 3 cruises booked this year and the only dining packages are based on dinners for # nights, not Unlimited.

[neverlaysup]

6 minutes ago, micruiser2002 said:

Does Celebrity  offer a "Unlimited" dining plan like RCL?  I have 3 cruises booked this year and the only dining packages are based on dinners for # nights, not Unlimited.

They don’t sell an unlimited plan to the masses. The only way to have unlimited included is to book a RS or higher. 

Edited March 4, 2022 by neverlaysup

[neverlaysup]

9 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

For lunch on embarkation day my wife ordered the Crispy Branzino fish and loved it, I remember having some fish dish everyday Luminae was open for lunch. I agree the Luminae burger was the best on the ship and I loved the Truffle fries too.

A number of the fish dishes have pork in the sauce as well. My DW was caught off guard one night even though she clearly mentioned being a pescatarian and no land animals whatsoever. Her stomach was in revolt for a couple of days. 

[bigbenboys]

We have only sailed on Edge once in a sky suite. Not a fan, but someone on this thread said I must limit my expectations of Luminae when it come to Edge class. I like that statement. I just need to face facts. If I'm going to book a suite on Edge class then I will need a specialty restaurant package or a hight end suite.

For us the limited menu in Luminae is a big issue. I asked at lunch on Edge for the tomato soup off the  children's menu. I was told Luminae does not have a children's lunch menu. 

Luminae on the M class and S class ships Luminae feels like fine dining. Luminae on the Edge seem more like a very nice Bistro, cold and load at times. So I would say E class Luminae over rated and M and S class under rated.

Edited March 4, 2022 by bigbenboys
added info

[swjumbo]

Not a fan of Luminae on the Silhouette.

Love Tuscan x

[George C]

6 minutes ago, swjumbo said:

Not a fan of Luminae on the Silhouette.

Love Tuscan x

We did Tuscan a couple of times last week food and service was excellent, unfortunately the summit doesn’t have the fantastic view of Silhouette.

[tabby50894]

Just off the Apex and we found the menu at Luminae to be very limited and after the first 2 nights ate in the MDRs. It may be that the service was so good because the passenger capacity was at 50%, but our experience was that the service was great, menu was excellent, wine service exceptional - didn’t miss Luminae. With the Celebrity app, you can check out the menus at each venue and decide where to eat. 

[JFontaine]

I was on Edge last week in a Villa (again).  There was no ordering off the MDR menu. We didn't care for the menu, the crowd or the noise at dinner, and ate a couple of nights in a MDR (empty, choice of all four MDR menus) and three nights in the steakhouse (expensive,  since my family were in Sky Suites).  Luminae for breakfast was OK. The filet off the children's menu in Luminae was fine. 

[Purplsmurf]

This is a very interesting discussion for me. We will be sailing in our first Suite May ‘23 for our 30th anniversary. It will be on Reflection, which hasn’t been revolutionized yet, so no actual retreat area. Now I read some of these not so great opinions on Luminae. Another concern I have is being gluten free. It’s so nice in the MDR to know what I can and can’t eat just looking at the menu. It doesn’t look like luminae offers this on their menu. I don’t want to order the night before since it might not be what I actually want the next day. Starting to think that for $12k for a 10 nt cruise in a SS on an unrevolutionized ship, maybe we should book a different cabin. Ugh! Decisions decisions…..

[kwokpot]

The best advice about dining in Luminae is to ask questions and talk to your server or Luminae host about your dining concerns. They can then inform you of what is and isn't available to serve you  If you don't ask questions,then the car servers will the is no you're just fine with the selections in Luminae and they won't make any suggestions of alternative choices. I have made many posts about this very topic. 

 

As an aside anyone that will be sailing on the Reflection shortly and dining in Luminae MUST request to be in Alfred's section. We are on our last day on the Reflection and I can honestly say of the 92 cruises we have taken Alfred stands to be among the top cruiseship employee we have ever encountered. He is engaging, informative, alert, and everything one can wish and hope for in a cruiseship employee without being overbearing. Our experience in Luminae on the Reflection has be vastly superior to our experience on the Apex.

Edited March 4, 2022 by kwokpot

[kwokpot]

6 minutes ago, Purplsmurf said:

This is a very interesting discussion for me. We will be sailing in our first Suite May ‘23 for our 30th anniversary. It will be on Reflection, which hasn’t been revolutionized yet, so no actual retreat area. Now I read some of these not so great opinions on Luminae. Another concern I have is being gluten free. It’s so nice in the MDR to know what I can and can’t eat just looking at the menu. It doesn’t look like luminae offers this on their menu. I don’t want to order the night before since it might not be what I actually want the next day. Starting to think that for $12k for a 10 nt cruise in a SS on an unrevolutionized ship, maybe we should book a different cabin. Ugh! Decisions decisions…..

The Reflection is in immaculate condition. Luminae is a beautiful, up-to-date restaurant that looks like it just emerged from drydock.

[JFontaine]

Future new to Luminae cruisers should separate the E class reviews from all other ships. All other ships offer MDR menus and Luminae is usually quieter and calm. A much different experience.  

[TrulyBlonde]

We have only dined in Luminae in S and M class ships. We really enjoy it for breakfast, but typically do not dine there for dinner and prefer the specialties.

We tend to eat quite healthy, and most items are over sauced and not a lot of vegetable dishes available along with just wanting a large, fresh salad.

We have never dined in the main dining room because we only do suites. We are not picky eaters, but just healthy eaters. That huge burger at lunch in Luminae is a bit too much.

We do like our healthy wine, though. 😉

[bjahil47]

18 minutes ago, Purplsmurf said:

This is a very interesting discussion for me. We will be sailing in our first Suite May ‘23 for our 30th anniversary. It will be on Reflection, which hasn’t been revolutionized yet, so no actual retreat area. Now I read some of these not so great opinions on Luminae. Another concern I have is being gluten free. It’s so nice in the MDR to know what I can and can’t eat just looking at the menu. It doesn’t look like luminae offers this on their menu. I don’t want to order the night before since it might not be what I actually want the next day. Starting to think that for $12k for a 10 nt cruise in a SS on an unrevolutionized ship, maybe we should book a different cabin. Ugh! Decisions decisions…..

I have to eat gluten free and I hate the fact that menu options in Luminae are not noted with allergens.  It’s a pain to ask the waiter all the time plus half the time they have to go check.  And anytime I have looked at the next days menu and asked for it to be made gluten free it never was.  It was lamb.  Since we are on the S ships I order off MDR a lot.  My husband loves the food in Luminae.  I will not in in Tuscan.  Ate there once and the waiter insisted the dessert was gluten free.  As soon as I put it in my mouth I knew it wasn’t.  

[Straughn]

I tend to agree with an earlier poster who said that Luminae on the E class ships is a different experience than on S class ships. (I have never been in Luminae on M class ships, so can’t comment.) I love, love, love Luminae  on Equinox and Silhouette. The two section room design has the intimate feel of a fine restaurant and the service is top notch. Luminae on E class ships has more the feel of a medium size nice restaurant dining room. On Edge, in January, it was so busy that it was hard to be served by the same waiter each evening, unless you wanted to wait until there was an opening in his station. On the S class ships, it was easy to make that request and have it honored. 
 

I agree with those who say that the menu is somewhat limiting. Again, on Edge, not having the same server each night, who gets to know your  likes and dislikes, makes it harder to have a rapport and get suggestions. The service was fine, but the ambiance to me, was not as nice as the S class ships offer.

 

I am in a suite on Apex next month. If the experience mirrors Edge,  I may rethink booking a suite. I had a nice Sunset Veranda on an Edge cruise, and loved the four dining room concept.

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by Straughn

[Purplsmurf]

1 hour ago, kwokpot said:

The Reflection is in immaculate condition. Luminae is a beautiful, up-to-date restaurant that looks like it just emerged from drydock.

We just sailed on Reflection in December for the first time. Funny that 3 of our next 4 cruises are also on Reflection. Not by choice, but due to itineraries and times we can travel. It is a nice ship, but wondering if it’s worth so much $$ to sail in Retreat since it hasn’t been updated. Glad we have some time to decide 

[terrydtx]

16 minutes ago, Purplsmurf said:

We just sailed on Reflection in December for the first time. Funny that 3 of our next 4 cruises are also on Reflection. Not by choice, but due to itineraries and times we can travel. It is a nice ship, but wondering if it’s worth so much $$ to sail in Retreat since it hasn’t been updated. Glad we have some time to decide 

We are on the Reflection in August in a sky Suite, when we booked in January my TA got us somehow, a great deal which is now $1400pp lower than the current SS cost and only $800pp more than current Aqua Class cabins. For us having Luminae, $800 OBC, Premium drinks, Premium Streaming Wi-Fi, and the Suites only Michael's lounge is worth the extra cost and easy to justify.  We canceled an Oceania Baltic cruise over the same days in August in a Penthouse (non-suite) Verandah, to switch to the Reflection Retreat suite and saved $1600pp in cost.