Edge Luminae - Order Off of Main Dining Room Menu

[bigbenboys]

4 minutes ago, JFontaine said:

The children's menu is available in Luminae on the Edge - filet mignon,  pasta and tomato sauce,  etc.  I am a plain eater and have had no trouble in Luminae on the Edge ordering what I consider plain food - filet mignon,  baked potatoes (with notice), plain pasta, chicken and steamed rice, simple romaine or iceberg based salads, chocolate ice cream and chocolate cake. On a 19 day trip almost anything should be available to the Original Poster's husband with notice. Sometimes the trick is having a more experienced waiter,  or speaking directly with the chef or the restaurant manager. 

DH asked for the tomato soup off the children's menu at lunch on the Edge in Luminae. We were told children's menu not available at lunch time in Luminae. 

[JFontaine]

2 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

DH asked for the tomato soup off the children's menu at lunch on the Edge in Luminae. We were told children's menu not available at lunch time in Luminae. 

That's awful.   No reason why the ship isn't prepared at lunch. 

[WonderMan3]

3 hours ago, bigbenboys said:

When Edge 1st started sailing you did not have the additional everyday items at dinner. You know the French onion soup, escargot ect. The items were added to the Luminae menu in March 2019. Yes I mean the atmosphere being noisier, the colors louder. I think @RichYak summed it up better than I could. 

Like I said, I found Reflection's Luminae to have the same noisy atmosphere and unlike the other ships we actually had to wait (briefly) for a table at times on Edge and Reflection. It's because both are accommodating more suite guests.

[tfred]

Luminae is dining, not a diner.  They are preparing less items better.  Inventive is the word I would use. 
 

If you are in the “I only like what I like “ crowd then Luminae may not be for you. Enjoy the suite and Retreat and go eat in the MDRs as necessary. We always enjoyed the Luminae menu every night. 
 

You can always ask for sauce on the side, the everyday items or the kids menu at night. 

[cangelmd]

6 hours ago, JFontaine said:

The children's menu is available in Luminae on the Edge - filet mignon,  pasta and tomato sauce,  etc.  I am a plain eater and have had no trouble in Luminae on the Edge ordering what I consider plain food - filet mignon,  baked potatoes (with notice), plain pasta, chicken and steamed rice, simple romaine or iceberg based salads, chocolate ice cream and chocolate cake. On a 19 day trip almost anything should be available to the Original Poster's husband with notice. Sometimes the trick is having a more experienced waiter,  or speaking directly with the chef or the restaurant manager. 

Childrens menu should definitely be available with little to no notice - after all there could be children in a suite. The problem is getting it cooked in their galley because it is way too far from the MDR galley. That may be the part that needs notice, especially for baked potato or salad.

 I thought it was ironic that on E class, the choice in the MDR is 3x that of the supposedly more prestigious restaurant.

 

Anyone who has been on Edge or Apex this summer as the ship gets more full - is it difficult for suite guests to have an occasional dinner in an MDR? 

[cangelmd]

7 hours ago, GRBlizz said:

I am enjoying everyone's comments. We haven't sailed in a suite since Luminae was introduced, so not exactly sure what to expect on our upcoming TA. Looking at the menus on the app, DH thinks the menus might be a tad fancy for him. I think they look awesome!

Are you on E class or S class?

[Algebralovr]

I nearly always look at the menu the day before to decide where or what I’m eating.  If I don’t see what I care to eat on the menu, I ask to make a special request.  As long as it is something fairly simple (my go to is the 4 oz children’s filet and veggies), I’ve never been turned down.  

[Cap_D]

On 8/28/2022 at 8:15 AM, cangelmd said:

My DH swears that in the main part of Edge Luminae, the wall between the dining area and the service area/kitchen does not extend all the way to the ceiling, adding to the noise. I think the tables are closer together than on E class. He disagrees, but the room definitely seats more people.

On our last Edge cruise, Luminae was much more crowded and noisy than the MDR - we left Luminae to eat there.

Fully agree the wall doesn't extend to the ceiling and there are no attempts whatsoever to mitigate the noise generated by the diners.  Celebrity should add a few dividers and noise dampening tiles.  That said, Celebrity may want people to not dine in Luminae every night in order to lighten the load and the noise is one way to do so.  The single bathroom is odd, too.  

 

FWIW, Martin the maitre'd was fantastic and attentive, and the meals we ate in Luminae Edge were always superior in temp and prep compared to other food onboard.  

[Cap_D]

On 8/28/2022 at 7:16 PM, cangelmd said:

Personally, I find Luminae food to be a little short on veggies, and after 5-6 days, I start looking for things like Bibb lettuce or other plain green salads.

Fully agree.  The menu could be enhanced by 2-3 basic entree sized salads (not overly fussy) to which a protein could be added (e.g., steak, salmon, chicken).  Common feature on menus throughout the U.S, and would be appropriate to Luminae.  

[adolfo2]

11 hours ago, cangelmd said:

 

 I thought it was ironic that on E class, the choice in the MDR is 3x that of the supposedly more prestigious restaurant.

 

It's the QUALITY not the QUANTITY of menu items! The more prestigious the restaurant... the smaller the menu, but it's done well.

Edited August 30, 2022 by adolfo2
clarity

[cangelmd]

1 hour ago, adolfo2 said:

It's the QUALITY not the QUANTITY of menu items! The more prestigious the restaurant... the smaller the menu, but it's done well.

Yes, that is exactly correct, BUT we shouldn’t compare Luminae to fine dining. 
The quality of food, presentation, wine and experience in Luminae was/should be superior to MDR, but it is still an MDR. The experience and service in Luminae on E class is notably inferior to the experience on S class, including Reflection, in my opinion - when the dining room is full (when suites are full) it is unacceptably noisy and the service can be spotty.

We’ve been on 4 cruises since restart, on 4 different ships, 2 E class, 2 S class, 2 in a suite and 1 IV and 1 balcony - one interesting thing that we noticed was the quality of the food was more similar across all the dining rooms than what we remembered pre-Covid with one notable exception and a few minor exceptions. I wonder if it’s a supply issue?

[bigbenboys]

19 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

Like I said, I found Reflection's Luminae to have the same noisy atmosphere and unlike the other ships we actually had to wait (briefly) for a table at times on Edge and Reflection. It's because both are accommodating more suite guests.

Reflection issue is that Celebrity moved the pool up one deck and added more suites. That is what has caused the issues in Luminae. Solstice has 66 suites and Reflection has 111 suites. That added about 90 more guests to Luminae. 

[Cap_D]

How does the Edge-class Luminae sound level and dining room comfort compare to NCL Haven, and the MDRs?  While on Edge, we did not dine in the MDRs.  However, our impression was visually that the MDR's offered more comfortable seating and sound dampening when compared to Luminae.  

Edited August 30, 2022 by Cap_D

[NCteacherlovescruising]

On 8/27/2022 at 8:57 AM, TeeRick said:

Not recently but a couple of years ago on Edge.  They did not allow the MDR menu in Luminae (on Edge and E-Class ships) for the reasons you mentioned.  There have been quite a few threads and posts about this.  When you sail maybe ask anyway.  You never know.  Or check the Luminae menu and the MDR menus sometime before dinner and you can decide what to do that night.  They also have added common every day selections in Luminae (off menu) but I think you need to ask your server what they are.  When we sailed they added a paper insert to the Luminae menu with these extra selections.

Can anyone tell me what these off menu common every day selections are?  I looked over their menus and they don’t look appealing to me.  Can we dine at Blue? 

[RichYak]

2 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

Can anyone tell me what these off menu common every day selections are?  I looked over their menus and they don’t look appealing to me.  Can we dine at Blue? 

Appetizers:

 

Caesar Salad

Shrimp Cocktail

French Onion Soup

Escargot

 

Entrees:

 

Broiled Salmon

Grilled Chicken Breast

Grilled NY Sirloin Steak

 

You can dine in Blu on a space available basis. See the Matre d'

[NCteacherlovescruising]

1 minute ago, RichYak said:

Appetizers:

 

Caesar Salad

Shrimp Cocktail

French Onion Soup

Escargot

 

Entrees:

 

Broiled Salmon

Grilled Chicken Breast

Grilled NY Sirloin Steak

 

You can dine in Blu on a space available basis. See the Matre d'

Thank you!  I can eat chicken or steak with a salad. 

[RichYak]

3 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

Thank you!  I can eat chicken or steak with a salad. 

I found the caesar salad to be a nice light appetizer and often shared an order of escargot with my wife as well. We enjoy dipping bread in the leftover sauce.

[canderson]

2 minutes ago, RichYak said:

We enjoy dipping bread in the leftover sauce.

C'mon, Rick.  Admit it.  That's WHY you order the escargot!

 

[RichYak]

14 minutes ago, canderson said:

C'mon, Rick.  Admit it.  That's WHY you order the escargot!

 

[SusieAV8R]

On 8/28/2022 at 10:13 AM, canderson said:

Depends upon the ship class.  On M class, Luminae is a much nicer space, and occasionally there's a real gem on the MDR menu.  Since they are happy to offer those items to Luminae guests, why not???

I agree.  I have often found the menu in Luminae on M-class underwhelming but found an interesting choice on the MDR menu.  We prefer to dine in Luminae due to the nicer/more intimate atmosphere.  

[stoshb]

Any comments about Luminae on Beyond?  Won't be there till early 2024 and this thread made me more anxious to go.

 

Service in Luminae is what gets me.  Just so good. Our waiter on a B2B this January on Equinox,Vinot, has convinced my wife that the only was to cruise is Suite class on Celebrity.

[stoshb]

Sorry this was a double post.  Should not type with lap top actually on my lap

Edited September 7, 2022 by stoshb
Wanted to delete a double post

[LXA350]

You can check the night before the MDR menu for the next day and if you see a dish / dshes you would like to have you can check with the maitre d if they could arange it for you the next day. This will depend on the maitre d, hence on one sailing this would be possible and on the next one not.