Is Luminae over-rated or under-rated?

[aml3679]

Can this thread get back to the original topic?

 

not other lines

coffee maker or not

type of room

debating

 

Luminae

[Coates55]

Have done Luminae numerous times and frankly I think the menus are far too limited. Thank goodness on the M class ships you can still order from the main dining room menu. For a Suite level experience, the Luminae menus need to offer much more choice along the lines of Grills class on Cunard

[mfs2k]

5 hours ago, jelayne said:

We have always found the service excellent but the menu, for one who can eat no fish or seafood,  very disappointing. Our Beyond TA most evenings in Luminae I had the kids filet, which I could get in any dining room.

Best meal we had was Fine Cut with LeVoyage a very close 2nd.  Food was excellent at both but LV was very noisy in that small venue with mostly hard surfaces.  On the other hand we had a table in a quiet corner of FCS so no noise from the Grand Plaza.  Which restaurant did you enjoy the most? 

 

We had dinner in Le Voyage last night with 2 friends we met onboard. They sat us in the very quiet private dining room and it was amazing. The four of us shared all 8 appetizers and we chose 4 entrees. We created our own tasting menu. Had no idea everyone had left the restaurant by the time we left at 11pm. Service and food were outstanding. 
We also loved Eden (2x) and Fine Cut. Least fave was Rooftop Grill. Didn’t go to Raw on 5. 

[tomcruiser1234]

No no no. Not overrated 

[bigbenboys]

On 6/20/2022 at 2:28 PM, terrydtx said:

Denny, I can assure you that Luminae is the finest dining experience of any no specialty restaurant in our 20 cruises to date. After our first retreat experience last year on the Equinox, we felt the two dinners we did in Murano and Tuscan were a waste of our money as the service was nowhere near to what we had in Luminae and the food was good but IMO no better than Luminae. The night we went to Murano we had the Herb crusted rack of lamb, three nights later it was served in Luminae and it was much better prepared and tasting in Luminae. The first night fillet of beef was one of the best fillets outside of Ruth Chris Steak house I can remember. On the last night I had the seared duck breast and again it was delicious. The only bad dish I had was the Daniel Boulud Moroccan Chicken, would never order it again. Do not listen the whiners in the above posts the retreat is excellent, Luminae is a fine dining experience and worth every penny.

I agree with your post. Also, yes that Daniel Boulud Moroccan Chicken was just horrible.

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, bigbenboys said:

I agree with your post. Also, yes that Daniel Boulud Moroccan Chicken was just horrible.

I did try the Moroccan Chicken on the Reflection in August and it was worse that the same on the Equinox last year. This time I took one bite and ordered a different entree and had it removed.

 

Daniel Boulud needs to update this menu or remove his name from this terrible dish. Because of these two experiences I would never waste my money in one of his land restaurants.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

IMO, Service not overrated. Food overrated based on our last 2 sailings post Covid. One on Edge and one on Silhouette. Getting ready to try again on Reflection.

[George C]

We did two post Covid cruises Edge and Summit, service was good on both definitely prefer the smaller M class for Luminae, looking forward to beyond in a few weeks.

[floridatravelersforlife]

We also did two since last year. The Reflection during T week, last year was 10 for food quality, service, MDR alternatives and wait times.  This past August the Summit was 8,6,9,10.  We are on the Apex for T week in a couple weeks, and I think the ratings may suffer

[bdstickks0944]

Totally over rated 

[SusieAV8R]

On 11/3/2022 at 1:47 PM, CHEZMARYLOU said:

IMO, Service not overrated. Food overrated based on our last 2 sailings post Covid. One on Edge and one on Silhouette. Getting ready to try again on Reflection.

Agree.  Service has been outstanding on our 3 post-covid cruises. Menu is very overrated; was before Covid, too.  Thank goodness, post-covid, we can order from other menus!

On 11/3/2022 at 10:55 PM, bdstickks0944 said:

Totally over rated 

 

[George C]

On 11/3/2022 at 5:32 AM, mfs2k said:

We had dinner in Le Voyage last night with 2 friends we met onboard. They sat us in the very quiet private dining room and it was amazing. The four of us shared all 8 appetizers and we chose 4 entrees. We created our own tasting menu. Had no idea everyone had left the restaurant by the time we left at 11pm. Service and food were outstanding. 
We also loved Eden (2x) and Fine Cut. Least fave was Rooftop Grill. Didn’t go to Raw on 5. 

Agree only celebrity specialty restaurant that I didn’t care for was raw on 5 on edge , always liked sushi on 5 .

[sbcs5390]

I don't think I've weighed in. After 30+ cruises and six of them on Celebrity (Zenith, Galaxy, and four on Millennium in the last year), I took a splash and decided to try the Retreat. I did a B2B on the Solstice, one week in a Sky Suite and one week in a Royal Suite. 

 

Initially, Luminae seemed alright and things were enjoyable. But there were oddities - every soup was lukewarm. We were planning to dine in Murano three times the second week - as we had had enough of Tuscan and Le Petit Chef on the Millennium. As the first week came to a close, we realized nothing on the Day 7 menu appealed to us, so we thought, why not, let's go to Murano then too. I had enjoyed Murano on Silhouette and was hoping my Mom would enjoy it here.

 

It's a good thing we made that decision because the Day 6 meal in Murano was an absolute dumpster fire. This was lobster night. We had asked for the scallops appetizer as an entree. It was like scallop roulette as about half of the scallops were wildly undercooked. We figured, well, the lobster is coming. My mom's lobster was served to her on her plate with the digestive tract of the lobster still present. Not a little bit of it, or this or that, but all of it. It was plainly obvious and anyone who plated that lobster should have been embarrassed to send it out to a table at what is supposed to be a top experience on a premium cruise line. Mine did not have this. We waited and waited. We looked around. We dine later, after the peak is gone, but not excessively late. The wait staff had seemingly disappeared. Finally the assistant waitress appeared and asked how we were enjoying our meals. We related the issue and she said that the maitre d Bruno had come out to another table and explained that this was normal. We cook our own lobster regularly and this is not normal. And of course, I had the same animal on my plate and it did not have those bits still present. She asked if my mom would like something else, but at this point her appetite was gone as she had sat there looking at it for probably 10 minutes. She said she'd make sure to let the waiter and maitre d know and that "honestly, the main dining room lobster is a better choice". Bruno never came by our table. He had a habit of not being visible in the dining room much anyway. 

 

On another night, our waiter bemoaned that his colleagues in the MDR were "already back in their cabins" but "here in Luminae we have to work late every night." One odd evening, we seemingly were the last diners despite having arrived at around 7:30. The next night when he saw as at the door he said "Oh you came earlier tonight?". It was actually around 8:00 but there were more people around that night still dining. We didn't really need this kind of micromanaging of our dining schedule from our waiter and wish he'd thought of how that kind of commentary would make us second guess and feel like we had to get there well before so we wouldn't be holding them up. 

 

The night before the fateful lobster dinner, while my mom had stepped out to the ladies room, I had asked the assistant waitress if they could do something for my Mom's birthday the next night. We had a great conversation about her mom back home and she assured me they would do something special tomorrow.

 

After the lobster disaster was removed, dessert menus came, we ordered and the desserts were put down in front of us with no acknowledgement of my Mom's birthday. It really bummed me out. Again, this left plenty of time for Bruno or  anyone who wanted to come by to discuss the disgusting lobster experience, but no one did. 

 

The good news was the next night, we had a fabulous meal in Murano. Service there was, in its worst moment, leaps and bounds better than Luminae's best. Soups were served hot, you could see the steam coming off the soup from tables across the dining room. So, we changed our plan and for the next 8 days, we never again set foot in Luminae. We had every dinner in Murano, except for one night when the butler served us in the suite. Ljupcho (pronounced Up-Cho) was our phenomenal waiter for 6 of the 7 nights we dined there. Maybe the only thing better about Luminae was the sommelier compared to the one in Murano. 

 

Before I left, I read posts here talking about how Luminae was going to be earth-shattering and thought I might not even go to the specialties for dinner when in the RS. I am sure the Retreat staff probably thought that we were just enjoying the RS amenity of free specialty dining, but I was disappointed that no one was perceptive enough to follow up with us - when the top management of Luminae knew of the issue we had - or to pick up on our obvious disappearance from Luminae. Perhaps we should have spoken up to make someone aware (although we discussed with several other staff, did not address head on with the Suite Manager or Concierge) - but we were happy in Murano. The fact of the matter is that the assistant waitress would probably be "blamed" for this since she handled our complaint, but she was really the best one of the whole team the rest of the time - other than obviously forgetting the birthday item. We also knew that once the excellent host at the front desk Nelly left the first week to go home,  the best part of Luminae was going with her. A part of me was curious to see if anyone would be proactive about it or not as well. I read several posts on here about Luminae maitre d's coming to check on upper suite guests when they were in specialty dining. Again, we almost always ate later so there would not have been much going on in Luminae at that point. 

 

I guess maybe it's just the Solstice and the Luminae management there - and certainly I'd give it a try again. I would probably think twice about booking a Sky Suite as a result - to me, Luminae is no draw and so I'd rather have a "regular" aft veranda and a specialty dining package. Maybe on a ship with the Retreat Sundeck that was otherwise sailing at capacity, I'd feel differently. The RS experience was absolutely lovely, from having the bar area and dining table to the best butler on the ship and all of my laundry beautifully handled. I'd rather cruise less often and have the RS than more often in the SS. On this particular cruise the difference was not great between the two, which I know may have been an anomaly. I wish for sure that I'd done two weeks in the RS, but I wanted to try both products and have been spoiled with a lot of time in corner FVs on Millennium. I was afraid the RS balcony would be too shaded for my liking. Just wanted to offer my thoughts on how my Luminae experience will shape my future bookings. 

 

[mfs2k]

8 hours ago, sbcs5390 said:

I don't think I've weighed in. After 30+ cruises and six of them on Celebrity (Zenith, Galaxy, and four on Millennium in the last year), I took a splash and decided to try the Retreat. I did a B2B on the Solstice, one week in a Sky Suite and one week in a Royal Suite. 

 

Initially, Luminae seemed alright and things were enjoyable. But there were oddities - every soup was lukewarm. We were planning to dine in Murano three times the second week - as we had had enough of Tuscan and Le Petit Chef on the Millennium. As the first week came to a close, we realized nothing on the Day 7 menu appealed to us, so we thought, why not, let's go to Murano then too. I had enjoyed Murano on Silhouette and was hoping my Mom would enjoy it here.

 

It's a good thing we made that decision because the Day 6 meal in Murano was an absolute dumpster fire. This was lobster night. We had asked for the scallops appetizer as an entree. It was like scallop roulette as about half of the scallops were wildly undercooked. We figured, well, the lobster is coming. My mom's lobster was served to her on her plate with the digestive tract of the lobster still present. Not a little bit of it, or this or that, but all of it. It was plainly obvious and anyone who plated that lobster should have been embarrassed to send it out to a table at what is supposed to be a top experience on a premium cruise line. Mine did not have this. We waited and waited. We looked around. We dine later, after the peak is gone, but not excessively late. The wait staff had seemingly disappeared. Finally the assistant waitress appeared and asked how we were enjoying our meals. We related the issue and she said that the maitre d Bruno had come out to another table and explained that this was normal. We cook our own lobster regularly and this is not normal. And of course, I had the same animal on my plate and it did not have those bits still present. She asked if my mom would like something else, but at this point her appetite was gone as she had sat there looking at it for probably 10 minutes. She said she'd make sure to let the waiter and maitre d know and that "honestly, the main dining room lobster is a better choice". Bruno never came by our table. He had a habit of not being visible in the dining room much anyway. 

 

On another night, our waiter bemoaned that his colleagues in the MDR were "already back in their cabins" but "here in Luminae we have to work late every night." One odd evening, we seemingly were the last diners despite having arrived at around 7:30. The next night when he saw as at the door he said "Oh you came earlier tonight?". It was actually around 8:00 but there were more people around that night still dining. We didn't really need this kind of micromanaging of our dining schedule from our waiter and wish he'd thought of how that kind of commentary would make us second guess and feel like we had to get there well before so we wouldn't be holding them up. 

 

The night before the fateful lobster dinner, while my mom had stepped out to the ladies room, I had asked the assistant waitress if they could do something for my Mom's birthday the next night. We had a great conversation about her mom back home and she assured me they would do something special tomorrow.

 

After the lobster disaster was removed, dessert menus came, we ordered and the desserts were put down in front of us with no acknowledgement of my Mom's birthday. It really bummed me out. Again, this left plenty of time for Bruno or  anyone who wanted to come by to discuss the disgusting lobster experience, but no one did. 

 

The good news was the next night, we had a fabulous meal in Murano. Service there was, in its worst moment, leaps and bounds better than Luminae's best. Soups were served hot, you could see the steam coming off the soup from tables across the dining room. So, we changed our plan and for the next 8 days, we never again set foot in Luminae. We had every dinner in Murano, except for one night when the butler served us in the suite. Ljupcho (pronounced Up-Cho) was our phenomenal waiter for 6 of the 7 nights we dined there. Maybe the only thing better about Luminae was the sommelier compared to the one in Murano. 

 

Before I left, I read posts here talking about how Luminae was going to be earth-shattering and thought I might not even go to the specialties for dinner when in the RS. I am sure the Retreat staff probably thought that we were just enjoying the RS amenity of free specialty dining, but I was disappointed that no one was perceptive enough to follow up with us - when the top management of Luminae knew of the issue we had - or to pick up on our obvious disappearance from Luminae. Perhaps we should have spoken up to make someone aware (although we discussed with several other staff, did not address head on with the Suite Manager or Concierge) - but we were happy in Murano. The fact of the matter is that the assistant waitress would probably be "blamed" for this since she handled our complaint, but she was really the best one of the whole team the rest of the time - other than obviously forgetting the birthday item. We also knew that once the excellent host at the front desk Nelly left the first week to go home,  the best part of Luminae was going with her. A part of me was curious to see if anyone would be proactive about it or not as well. I read several posts on here about Luminae maitre d's coming to check on upper suite guests when they were in specialty dining. Again, we almost always ate later so there would not have been much going on in Luminae at that point. 

 

I guess maybe it's just the Solstice and the Luminae management there - and certainly I'd give it a try again. I would probably think twice about booking a Sky Suite as a result - to me, Luminae is no draw and so I'd rather have a "regular" aft veranda and a specialty dining package. Maybe on a ship with the Retreat Sundeck that was otherwise sailing at capacity, I'd feel differently. The RS experience was absolutely lovely, from having the bar area and dining table to the best butler on the ship and all of my laundry beautifully handled. I'd rather cruise less often and have the RS than more often in the SS. On this particular cruise the difference was not great between the two, which I know may have been an anomaly. I wish for sure that I'd done two weeks in the RS, but I wanted to try both products and have been spoiled with a lot of time in corner FVs on Millennium. I was afraid the RS balcony would be too shaded for my liking. Just wanted to offer my thoughts on how my Luminae experience will shape my future bookings. 

 

So…. I count your vote as Underrated.

Thank you for Playing 

[Pinboy]

9 hours ago, sbcs5390 said:

Bruno never came by our table. He had a habit of not being visible in the dining room much anyway. 

Guaranteed Bruno would have visited your table on the last night of the cruise for a good-bye hug and a handshake( $$ ).

 

9 hours ago, sbcs5390 said:

The next night when he saw as at the door he said "Oh you came earlier tonight?". We didn't really need this kind of micromanaging of our dining schedule from our waiter 

IMO--- I think he was just being a little " humorous " --- perhaps at that point you were a bit " sensitive" due to previous experiences?

 

9 hours ago, sbcs5390 said:

 I had asked the assistant waitress if they could do something for my Mom's birthday

She was not the right person to ask --- You should have "asked" for Bruno, and, 5 minutes later when he didn't show up, " told " her to get Bruno immediately.

 

9 hours ago, sbcs5390 said:

 Perhaps we should have spoken up to make someone aware (although we discussed with several other staff, did not address head on with the Suite Manager or Concierge) 

Discussing with other Staff means nothing--- As mentioned above only complain to someone that can help you. 

The most " important " on the ship to complain to is the Hotel Manager-- 

He/She will always be "in a meeting" if you ask for them at GR, but, will be made aware of your complaint.

( Not speaking from personal experience-- but, overheard while waiting for change at GR counter )