Is Luminae over-rated or under-rated?

[39august]

Another vote for the octopus!

[mfs2k]

3 hours ago, chemmo said:

A very balanced approach giving you enough nights in Luminae to experience a range of their offerings and pick up on the general service level and ambiance…Also (I don’t know if this is part of your reasoning too) it is nice not to dine in the same venue every night, you will get a real flavour of the full ship’s dining options.

 

Sincere best wishes for a fantastic cruise…

Agreed. The other big influence in my reasoning was $900 in OBC and I thought specialty restaurants was a good place to spend some of it. 
Thank you for your well wishes. 

[capecodmercury]

On 3/4/2022 at 12:05 PM, Straughn said:

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.

 

I'm not familiar with dining in Luminae (we haven't been able to try the suite life yet), but this comment does kind of bring up something that I have noticed in looking at deck plans.  It's a given that Celebrity is adding far more suites to its ships, and they are filling a higher percentage of the suites than other classes.  The E Class has a far larger percentage of suites than the M or S classes.  Even the revolutionized ships seem to have rooms converted to suites.  

Yet, despite this, the size of Luminae doesn't seem to be growing proportionally.   Could this be why Luminae seems to be more crowded?  As for me, I'll gladly take a less crowded MDR.

[HMR74]

1 hour ago, capecodmercury said:

I'm not familiar with dining in Luminae (we haven't been able to try the suite life yet), but this comment does kind of bring up something that I have noticed in looking at deck plans.  It's a given that Celebrity is adding far more suites to its ships, and they are filling a higher percentage of the suites than other classes.  The E Class has a far larger percentage of suites than the M or S classes.  Even the revolutionized ships seem to have rooms converted to suites.  

Yet, despite this, the size of Luminae doesn't seem to be growing proportionally.   Could this be why Luminae seems to be more crowded?  As for me, I'll gladly take a less crowded MDR.

Luminae on Beyond is proportionately increased in sq footage to match the increased number of suites.A big difference is the upper deck forward and I think kitchen faciities right there.

As for noise, the windows, of which there are many are angled for the aerodynamics up front, however they wil also throw noise down into carpet to keep the noise from bouncing, vs previous luminaes had vertical windows or walls where the noise just bounced around.

 

This is better but it would have been even better if there was more space allocated to ii. That would require giving up 1 or 2 penthouse suites. No way, Jose.   Some of the suites added  are aqua suites where I beleive those the guests can go to Blu or Luminae, vs the normal Retreat guests can only dine in Blu if there is space.

[jagoffee]

4 hours ago, capecodmercury said:

I'm not familiar with dining in Luminae (we haven't been able to try the suite life yet), but this comment does kind of bring up something that I have noticed in looking at deck plans.  It's a given that Celebrity is adding far more suites to its ships, and they are filling a higher percentage of the suites than other classes.  The E Class has a far larger percentage of suites than the M or S classes.  Even the revolutionized ships seem to have rooms converted to suites.  

Yet, despite this, the size of Luminae doesn't seem to be growing proportionally.   Could this be why Luminae seems to be more crowded?  As for me, I'll gladly take a less crowded MDR.

The Luminae on the Apex is significantly larger than the Luminae on the S class.

[HMR74]

17 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

The Luminae on the Apex is significantly larger than the Luminae on the S class.

I am about 7 miles east of you  and I say u r correct, but its the sq footage PP/guest and Beyond is about the same as edge and Apex, the location and windows will make it look larger on Beyond. Might be too bright in there.

Like Blu, after 8:30 PM  it starts getting real quiet.

Edited June 10, 2022 by HMR74

[CruiseloverfromGA]

On 3/13/2022 at 10:04 AM, rM3panno said:

We had Alfred on our Thanksgiving 2021 Reflection sailing and truly hope he will be there for our April 18 TA. He was wonderful with our kids and everything he did was spot on.

 

As far as food in Luminae goes we have had a varied experience from ship to ship and meal to meal but as a main service venue I think it is hands down the best.

 

Some great items:

lobster roll

burger

most fish dishes 

almost every starter is great if you just don’t read the description.

eggs Benedict 

bread basket 

some misses:

biscuits and gravy (🤮I’ve tried twice but it’s dark dinner gravy with what I think may be a wine reduction…not good for breakfast)

many pasta dishes (not sure why they can’t execute, only exception was kids spaghetti bolognese)

Daniel Bolud’s Moroccan chicken tajine

 

one exceptional item that is hit or miss on availability is the cherry cheese danish at breakfast. We first had it on Luminae on Silhouette in 2016  and hadn’t had it again until  Reflection this past November. 
 

Overall, we love Luminae and the staff. This past trip we had several tables express their displeasure at us dining there with a 6 and 3 year old. Mind you this started on our first entry into Luminae. Our sons are very well behaved and caused no disturbances but it was off putting to say the least. We are usually in a Signature Suite or Royal Suite so we take full advantage of the specialty dining which the Reflection has in spades.

 

As far as food goes though my motto is to each their own. It is too subjective but there is one guarantee, you will be able to find something in one of the many venues that you will like.

 

 

I've cruised over Thanksgiving several times, but this is first on Celebrity and first in a suite.  Do they serve traditional turkey and sides on Thanksgiving?

[HMR74]

31 minutes ago, CruiseloverfromGA said:

I've cruised over Thanksgiving several times, but this is first on Celebrity and first in a suite.  Do they serve traditional turkey and sides on Thanksgiving?

yes, but also have other things.

 

If you miss it the first day, you get a second chance that Friday as its repurposed into turkey casseroles etc.  which were actually pretty good 🙂

Edited June 10, 2022 by HMR74

[txtechmk]

We just got off the Apex on Tuesday and I wanted to share our experience in the Luminae.  We had an excellent waiter, Melvin.  My husband does not eat seafood/fish.  Several evenings both of us were having a little bit of a hard time finding something that appealed to us to order.  We didn't want to eat the same 2-3 things all cruise.  Melvin made wonderful suggestions:  my husband loves pasta, and ordered the children's spaghetti and Melvin had it spiced up for him and it turned out great!!  One evening he "found" me a sea bass, which was not on the menu, but he knew I loved fish.  He came to know what we liked and what we didn't like, and made wonderful suggestions, and changed our sides to our liking, etc.  We tipped him well at the end!  It was the best Luminae experience we have ever had!  If you get a good waiter, it makes all the difference!

[TeeRick]

18 hours ago, capecodmercury said:

I'm not familiar with dining in Luminae (we haven't been able to try the suite life yet), but this comment does kind of bring up something that I have noticed in looking at deck plans.  It's a given that Celebrity is adding far more suites to its ships, and they are filling a higher percentage of the suites than other classes.  The E Class has a far larger percentage of suites than the M or S classes.  Even the revolutionized ships seem to have rooms converted to suites.  

Yet, despite this, the size of Luminae doesn't seem to be growing proportionally.   Could this be why Luminae seems to be more crowded?  As for me, I'll gladly take a less crowded MDR.

Also consider in your calculation that the upper level (RS and above) suites get unlimited specialty dining.  So that detracts a bit from Luminae occupancy.  I think the % of upper suites is higher on E-Class.  The thing to look at really is the number of sky suites on each class of ship.  That is what mostly affects Luminae crowding.

[HMR74]

7 minutes ago, txtechmk said:

We just got off the Apex on Tuesday and I wanted to share our experience in the Luminae.  We had an excellent waiter, Melvin.  My husband does not eat seafood/fish.  Several evenings both of us were having a little bit of a hard time finding something that appealed to us to order.  We didn't want to eat the same 2-3 things all cruise.  Melvin made wonderful suggestions:  my husband loves pasta, and ordered the children's spaghetti and Melvin had it spiced up for him and it turned out great!!  One evening he "found" me a sea bass, which was not on the menu, but he knew I loved fish.  He came to know what we liked and what we didn't like, and made wonderful suggestions, and changed our sides to our liking, etc.  We tipped him well at the end!  It was the best Luminae experience we have ever had!  If you get a good waiter, it makes all the difference!

do not ever underestimate the value of being nice to staff and treating them well. After the 2nd night the staff figured out what I liked to drink. that night they brought all three to the table as we sat down, and with a smile. I had to stand up and give them a high five and the same for the bread basket. Same for after dinner coffee.

It makes all the difference in how much more enjoyable the cruise is, having a good rapport with the staff. 

[HMR74]

5 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Also consider in your calculation that the upper level (RS and above) suites get unlimited specialty dining.  So that detracts a bit from Luminae occupancy.  I think the % of upper suites is higher on E-Class.  The thing to look at really is the number of sky suites on each class of ship.  That is what mostly affects Luminae crowding.

Very true. But also now with the OBC its easy to grab a meal r two at secialty

[Whinenowine]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Also consider in your calculation that the upper level (RS and above) suites get unlimited specialty dining.  So that detracts a bit from Luminae occupancy.  I think the % of upper suites is higher on E-Class.  The thing to look at really is the number of sky suites on each class of ship.  That is what mostly affects Luminae crowding.

 

I think this is exactly right.  But having said this, we were on the Edge back in April and the Retreat was 100% full.  We ate about half our meals at Luminae and only once had to wait in line for longer than 1-2minutes.  We always managed to get a window seat, too.  So I think despite the higher number of suites on E-class ships, X seems to have it's act together.

[TeeRick]

16 hours ago, Whinenowine said:

 

I think this is exactly right.  But having said this, we were on the Edge back in April and the Retreat was 100% full.  We ate about half our meals at Luminae and only once had to wait in line for longer than 1-2minutes.  We always managed to get a window seat, too.  So I think despite the higher number of suites on E-class ships, X seems to have it's act together.

Yes I think so.  But the increased capacity and space in Luminae on E-Class comes with more noise and a less relaxing experience than on the other ships.

[Whinenowine]

20 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Yes I think so.  But the increased capacity and space in Luminae on E-Class comes with more noise and a less relaxing experience than on the other ships.

Correct on the noise, but that wasn't an issue for us.  Those massive floor-to-ceiling windows and the stunning views more than made up for that.  Took us to our happy place.

[cangelmd]

24 minutes ago, Whinenowine said:

Correct on the noise, but that wasn't an issue for us.  Those massive floor-to-ceiling windows and the stunning views more than made up for that.  Took us to our happy place.

If you are some of the lucky few who come at the right time to get one of those tables looking out at those views. Once you strike it lucky and get that table you are fixed for the cruise. Those of us at a 2 top in line with the service door get entertained by the clashing dishes being thrown into carriers and the ever escalating conversations in nasal voices of fellow passengers trying to be heard over the noise - and we never, never get a different table.

Our experience on Equinox when they were short handed was so bad that we absconded to an MDR one evening - a much more pleasant experience, service was about the same because Luminae staff was so overwhelmed, and the food wasn’t that different.

We have an Apex suite cruise coming up in the fall, if Luminae isn’t a lot better, we won’t spend the money for it on E class, despite the fact that we otherwise very much enjoyed the Retreat.

And how early do you have to go to dinner to get a good table????!!!!

[Gracie115]

19 minutes ago, cangelmd said:

If you are some of the lucky few who come at the right time to get one of those tables looking out at those views. Once you strike it lucky and get that table you are fixed for the cruise. Those of us at a 2 top in line with the service door get entertained by the clashing dishes being thrown into carriers and the ever escalating conversations in nasal voices of fellow passengers trying to be heard over the noise - and we never, never get a different table.

Our experience on Equinox when they were short handed was so bad that we absconded to an MDR one evening - a much more pleasant experience, service was about the same because Luminae staff was so overwhelmed, and the food wasn’t that different.

We have an Apex suite cruise coming up in the fall, if Luminae isn’t a lot better, we won’t spend the money for it on E class, despite the fact that we otherwise very much enjoyed the Retreat.

And how early do you have to go to dinner to get a good table????!!!!

 

We've never been "assigned" to a specific table in Luminae, and in fact have moved around the room depending on what was available when we arrived.  The only time we found it noisy at all was when there was a large group on the back side of the room who were very rowdy.  Other than that it has always been a wonderful experience.  We haven't bothered with any specialty restaurants for our last cople of X cruises because Luminae was so good.  They were pre Covid...   I sure hope we don't experience what you are describing on the Apex in October. 

[Fred321]

In my opinion way overrated. We have taken two Celebrity cruises one 10day and one 15 dayTA. Both on the Constellation. Long time HAL cruisers trying something different. Both times in a sky suite. For the most part we enjoyed the ship, the room and the service but not Luminae. Small venue which was crowded every evening because Celebrity seems to try and fill every suite.

So, even though the ship was less than half full trying to find a quiet table with some space in Luminae was impossible. Food also was just meh. We tried every combination of time to try and find a relaxing experience but nothing worked. Only pleasant experience was breakfast.

We finally gave up and used most of our obc's to eat in the specialty restaurants or order room service. (Sushi on 5 was very good. Tuscan grill was horrible even using Celebrity's money.) We also went to the main dining room where we could get a quiet table and meals which were not described as fancy as Luminae but tasted a lot better. If there is a next time on Celeb. we decided we would simply go to the main dining room and skip Luminae altogether.

[moneeman]

On 6/9/2022 at 7:43 AM, mfs2k said:

How does the price on Regent compare to a Sky suite on Celebrity ?

I looked at this closely when examining options for a Mediterranean Cruise this summer.  I put values (sometimes subjective, but reasonable estimates) on all the amenities on both sides, and netted the total amenity value vs. the total cost.  Bottom line:  the 7-day Regent Cruise was around $2,000 higher per person than the 9-day Celebrity cruise in a Sky Suite.  Regent is a higher level of luxury (i.e., business class airfare), and for us that was the cost to get it.  YMMV.  We stuck with Celebrity because we loved our Sky Suite Alaska cruise in 2019.

[terrydtx]

27 minutes ago, moneeman said:

I looked at this closely when examining options for a Mediterranean Cruise this summer.  I put values (sometimes subjective, but reasonable estimates) on all the amenities on both sides, and netted the total amenity value vs. the total cost.  Bottom line:  the 7-day Regent Cruise was around $2,000 higher per person than the 9-day Celebrity cruise in a Sky Suite.  Regent is a higher level of luxury (i.e., business class airfare), and for us that was the cost to get it.  YMMV.  We stuck with Celebrity because we loved our Sky Suite Alaska cruise in 2019.

We did the same for our Reflection cruise in a Sky Suite this August but compared it to Oceania, our second favorite cruise line. Oceania had a 10 day Italy cruise and a Concierge level Veranda  A1 cabin (not a suite) for the 10 days was $1500pp higher than our all included Sky Suite for 12 days on the Reflection. The Reflection SS included a $400pp OBC, Premium drinks and all gratuities plus premium Wi-Fi. and of source s Butler.  The O cruise had WiFi included but the PDP was extra. So with all we got with our SS for 12 days, we were about $2000pp less than the 10 day  Oceania cruise. When we booked the Reflection we got a GREAT deal as the cost in January was $1400pp less than the same cabin today. We also are flying RT business class with the savings we got.

 

We love Oceania as I will say their food is far superior to Celebrity even compared to Luminae, which we also love. But for every future cruise booked with Celebrity in the Retreat we compared to A1 cabins on Oceania, Celebrity was considerably lower in price and usually 2 or more longer. Since we started sailing exclusively in the Retreat, I am afraid we will not be on Oceania again. I have said many times that the Celebrity Retreat product is what keeps us a loyal customer and not needing to go to more premium lines like Oceania and Viking Ocean.

Edited June 11, 2022 by terrydtx

[C-Dragons]

7 hours ago, cangelmd said:

If you are some of the lucky few who come at the right time to get one of those tables looking out at those views. Once you strike it lucky and get that table you are fixed for the cruise. Those of us at a 2 top in line with the service door get entertained by the clashing dishes being thrown into carriers and the ever escalating conversations in nasal voices of fellow passengers trying to be heard over the noise - and we never, never get a different table.

Our experience on Equinox when they were short handed was so bad that we absconded to an MDR one evening - a much more pleasant experience, service was about the same because Luminae staff was so overwhelmed, and the food wasn’t that different.

We have an Apex suite cruise coming up in the fall, if Luminae isn’t a lot better, we won’t spend the money for it on E class, despite the fact that we otherwise very much enjoyed the Retreat.

And how early do you have to go to dinner to get a good table????!!!!

We don’t understand the fascination with those tables with a view and after our first Edge cruise have always declined the offer to sit there. Hopefully we’ve made a few people happy. 😉
How early do you have to arrive to get a good table? That depends on how early you want to eat. 😁

[Gracie115]

14 hours ago, C-Dragons said:

We don’t understand the fascination with those tables with a view and after our first Edge cruise have always declined the offer to sit there. Hopefully we’ve made a few people happy. 😉
How early do you have to arrive to get a good table? That depends on how early you want to eat. 😁

 

I agree, while a table with a "view" is nice it's not important for us either.  We enjoy the interaction with our table mates AND the staff there, wouldn't spend much time looking through the window at all. So we've hopefully made a few people happy too who like them.🙂

[terrydtx]

7 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

 

I agree, while a table with a "view" is nice it's not important for us either.  We enjoy the interaction with our table mates AND the staff there, wouldn't spend much time looking through the window at all. So we've hopefully made a few people happy too who like them.🙂

I agree too, however the new Luminae location on the Beyond and Ascent up forward on deck 16 will offer huge floor to ceiling panoramic views from most tables. We can't wait to sail on the Beyond or Ascent in the Retreat. The S and M class lower deck Luminae locations offer small window views often obscured by the salt spray while cruising. The Edge and Apex have a little better view with larger windows on Deck 12 portside.

Edited June 12, 2022 by terrydtx

[Cookie002]

Hi there . I wanted to put my two cents in regarding Luminae and celebrity, and Oceania.

 

We just finished an amazing cruise on the Beyond, and did the retreat level on a sky suite at the aft of the ship.

 

Luminae was gorgeous, tons of window seats, and the service the times we were in there (only three times on a nine day cruise) was amazing! Loved that. Food however was not amazing. It was good. But we only ate there three times, so, you know, did we give it a fair shake? Maybe not.

 

Why did we only eat there three times? Because the meals we had elsewhere were fan freaking tastic! And we decided to explore many venues to really get an idea of the offerings of this ship. And I will tell you, in my opinion, do not book retreat level on the Beyond for the food. There are many reasons to book retreat, but food and good pool lounger locations/social gathering areas are NOT a reason.

 

Raw on five was amazing! The ocean view cafe was fabulous, along with service. The spa cafe bites located in the solarium was wonderful. The Cyprus main dining room with the Greek specialty dishes was amazing. Blu was fantastic. But the very best was Eden. OMG, some of the best food I have had, land or sea. The only bad meal we had was at fine cut, but that was mostly because of service (and less then Keg quality ribeye)

 

This was my first time sailing celebrity. I have sailed oceania before, and we have an oceania booked  for fall of 2023. But I am going to tell you, celebrity food on the beyond across the board, whether in the cafe, or specialty restaurant, or small venue, beats oceania HANDS DOWN. The food is perfectly cooked, the menus and dishes are varied, and the quality is amazing. If we could find a comparable itinerary in sept 2023 on celebrity, I would be changing cruises. 
 

we have booked the Panama cruise in 2024 on the beyond. 

[terrydtx]

4 minutes ago, Cookie002 said:

Hi there . I wanted to put my two cents in regarding Luminae and celebrity, and Oceania.

 

We just finished an amazing cruise on the Beyond, and did the retreat level on a sky suite at the aft of the ship.

 

Luminae was gorgeous, tons of window seats, and the service the times we were in there (only three times on a nine day cruise) was amazing! Loved that. Food however was not amazing. It was good. But we only ate there three times, so, you know, did we give it a fair shake? Maybe not.

 

Why did we only eat there three times? Because the meals we had elsewhere were fan freaking tastic! And we decided to explore many venues to really get an idea of the offerings of this ship. And I will tell you, in my opinion, do not book retreat level on the Beyond for the food. There are many reasons to book retreat, but food and good pool lounger locations/social gathering areas are NOT a reason.

 

Raw on five was amazing! The ocean view cafe was fabulous, along with service. The spa cafe bites located in the solarium was wonderful. The Cyprus main dining room with the Greek specialty dishes was amazing. Blu was fantastic. But the very best was Eden. OMG, some of the best food I have had, land or sea. The only bad meal we had was at fine cut, but that was mostly because of service (and less then Keg quality ribeye)

 

This was my first time sailing celebrity. I have sailed oceania before, and we have an oceania booked  for fall of 2023. But I am going to tell you, celebrity food on the beyond across the board, whether in the cafe, or specialty restaurant, or small venue, beats oceania HANDS DOWN. The food is perfectly cooked, the menus and dishes are varied, and the quality is amazing. If we could find a comparable itinerary in sept 2023 on celebrity, I would be changing cruises. 
 

we have booked the Panama cruise in 2024 on the beyond. 

Thank you for your review. We have sailed Oceania, in A1 Concierge class cabins and after our first Sky Suite Retreat cruise with Celebrity we canceled all future Oceania cruises, and we are saving thousands. We canceled our Marina cruise in August and replaced it with the Reflection Italy and Croatia cruise that saved us $1400pp in cost. We saved enough that we can fly business class for our future Celebrity cruises. We will be on the Apex next year and the Edge in 2024 for B2B New Zealand/Australia cruise. Next year we will also be introducing our 11 year old Granddaughter to the Retreat and cruising on the Equinox.