Luminae Menu cutbacks?

[phoenix_dream]

7 hours ago, TeeRick said:

The food and beverage senior officer has come by our table in Luminae the past two nights.  Last night she had the ship’s executive chef with her too.  We discussed the “cutbacks” situation and the negative reaction in particular to the evening buffet.  Celebrity is well aware of the very negative feedback here on CC and other social media.  The reduced offerings in the evening buffet were implemented across the fleet to cut down on the high amount of food waste and associated cost.  I told her I understood but that it should have been communicated much more openly and not just implemented without warning.  In retrospect they know that.  Also she said Celebrity is listening and wanted me to communicate that to Cruise Critic.  They are looking at some  options to make the buffet have more selections in the evening.  Overall very good conversation.

I for one find your feedback encouraging.  I have found the officers on this ship very personable and listening to feedback, particularly this sailing. I don't think they are trolling the dining rooms to spread propaganda but seem genuinely interested in making sure we are having a great time. And glad they increased the halibut portions this sailing🙂

 

[TeeRick]

6 hours ago, RichYak said:

 

Then why did the discussion of cutbacks even come up? All I'm saying is that if senior officers come by my table and tell me something that, in my opinion, isn't true, I'm going to ask for a few minutes of their time during the cruise to discuss further. I'm not looking for a fight, I'd be very happy to be convinced that I'm wrong about this.

It came up because I brought it up.

[Oville]

2 hours ago, CruiseCrew123 said:

Sorry from the UK - what is Ripple ? 🙈

Rotgut

[TeeRick]

Tonight in Equinox Luminae.  I started with the crab cake and dw had the escargot (as usual).  Then we each had the roasted apple mixed green salad.  And we both had the Rigatoni Arrabbiata. No desert tonight.  Trying to be good.  We went to Hell 😈 (the town) today on Grand Cayman so we were making amends for that! All delicious and substantial portions.  The rigatoni was very spicy.  Settled on a nice Italian Chianti by the glass .

 

 

[TeeRick]

Finally checked out the OVC dinner selections tonight.  Very bare bones as others have described on other threads.  The day in Curaçao this week will be a 10:30 pm departure so I will see what the OVC looks like with that situation.  I’ll bet more food and selections that night.

Edited January 25, 2023 by TeeRick

[miched]

20 hours ago, CruiseCrew123 said:

Sorry from the UK - what is Ripple ? 🙈

It is in the same class as Mad Dog 20 20,  Bali Hai,  Boones Farm,  and Rocket.   Very cheap wine that was popular with the 15 to 25 year old crowd and winos.  Very sweet and fruity.   The girls liked it and the boys were more than happy to supply it.     
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[DaKahuna]

On 1/24/2023 at 11:20 AM, hcat said:

 They are interrupting  dining hours and using senior food staff to put out their excuses for buffet cutbacks.. like having the Cap take part in jewelry store previews! Sad!

 

 

 They are doing nothing more than the chef or host at any restaurant does -- stop by the table and make sure everything is going well.  Our experience in Luminae is that this happens quite often.  

On 1/24/2023 at 11:20 AM, hcat said:

All these smart f and people should be able to reduce quantities served whlle  serving high quality food beyond pork and beans , pasta, rice and bologna!

Must be an app for that!

 

 Some people, myself included, like pork and beans, pasta, rice and bologna and eat them occasionally and find nothing wrong with that.   I am glad that I am not a food and beverage manager that  is trying to please 2000-3000 guest from all over the world at breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day and night.   No matter what they do not everyone's preferences can be catered to.  

 

[DaKahuna]

On 1/24/2023 at 11:25 AM, Jim_Iain said:

I also enjoyed that.   Often deserts look different when they arrive than the description.   With the tray I always knew what I was about to receive.

 

 i cannot recall a tray of deserts except in Michael's Club during happy hour.  

 

 I do recall a desert card that had multiple trays being wheeled around in Luminae. 

[rbelshaw]

8 hours ago, miched said:

It is in the same class as Mad Dog 20 20,  Bali Hai,  Boones Farm,  and Rocket.   Very cheap wine that was popular with the 15 to 25 year old crowd and winos.  Very sweet and fruity.   The girls liked it and the boys were more than happy to supply it.     
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Very true. You have brought back many happy memories, and a few not so happy ones.

[SusieAV8R]

2 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 i cannot recall a tray of deserts except in Michael's Club during happy hour.  

 

 I do recall a desert card that had multiple trays being wheeled around in Luminae. 

 

2 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 i cannot recall a tray of deserts except in Michael's Club during happy hour.  

 

 I do recall a desert card that had multiple trays being wheeled around in Luminae. 

 

3 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 i cannot recall a tray of deserts except in Michael's Club during happy hour.  

 

 I do recall a desert card that had multiple trays being wheeled around in Luminae. 

I don't ever recall that either; only in Olympia or Murano, specialty restaurants.

[Jim_Iain]

53 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 i cannot recall a tray of deserts except in Michael's Club during happy hour.  

 

 I do recall a desert card that had multiple trays being wheeled around in Luminae. 

 

I'm just showing my age.   The desert trays were long before Luminae and Blu and in the MDR. Each night the Waiter would bring a Large Silver Tray to the table with a Sample of each Desert on the menu so guests could  see what was on offer before ordering  their deserts.  

[DaKahuna]

1 minute ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I'm just showing my age.   The desert trays were long before Luminae and Blu and in the MDR. Each night the Waiter would bring a Large Silver Tray to the table with a Sample of each Desert on the menu so guests could  see what was on offer before ordering  their deserts.  

 

 That makes sense.  You started cruising long before I did.  

 But I remember them rolling a desert card with trays with the deserts on them and selecting what we wanted.  Have not seen that in a few years.

 

[JFontaine]

The Luminae dessert cart was mostly candy, and it was only on formal nights. 

[Lillibet16]

On 1/24/2023 at 9:11 AM, terrydtx said:

How was the Luminae wines by the glass selection?

My husband was very happy with options though he had the sommelier choose for him every night just letting him know he wanted Pinot Noir. 

[TeeRick]

Options by the glass, bottle and half bottle on the Celebrity app under Luminae menu on our current cruise.  

[cruzzzinma]

On 1/20/2023 at 11:17 PM, terrydtx said:

I hope the French Onion soup is still available, last year when were not too hungry for dinner we had bowls of the FOS delivered to our cabin. It is by far the best FOS on any cruise line.

Had it last night on the Beyond and it was delicious.

[Oceangoer2]

On 1/24/2023 at 7:51 AM, TeeRick said:

Last night in Luminae my dw and I both ordered the halibut.  It was a substantial portion and delicious.  We also ordered the ribeye to split so we each had a surf and turf.  The ribeye was excellent.  No up charge for ordering an extra dinner.  They also gave us an anniversary cake by surprise as they somehow knew we missed our anniversary cruise last year due to the C virus.  They all came and sang to us.  What a great evening in Luminae!

 

We were surprised also last Nov.....we had our anniversary dinner in Murano and the next night they knew they had missed it.  Gathered around and sang in HARMONY!  Very practiced group...this was in Equinox Luminae.  BTW...dinners look delicious!

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, Lillibet16 said:

My husband was very happy with options though he had the sommelier choose for him every night just letting him know he wanted Pinot Noir. 

 

 I told the Luminae sommelier on our December 2021 Reflection B2B that I liked reds and that if at all possible to avoid serving the same wine twice.  Only twice in 14-days did I have a wine that I had tasted before - and those two times were by request.  

 

[terrydtx]

11 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I told the Luminae sommelier on our December 2021 Reflection B2B that I liked reds and that if at all possible to avoid serving the same wine twice.  Only twice in 14-days did I have a wine that I had tasted before - and those two times were by request.  

 

We got the same service from the Luminae sommelier on the Equinox in 2021 for the wines by the glass with the PDP and were surprised by some very good non-menu wines offered to us.  However, on the Reflection last year, I asked the first night for the Luminae sommelier and was told he was only available if we wanted to order wines by the bottle. We could only order wines by the glass that were on the Luminae menu. 

Edited January 26, 2023 by terrydtx

[George C]

14 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I told the Luminae sommelier on our December 2021 Reflection B2B that I liked reds and that if at all possible to avoid serving the same wine twice.  Only twice in 14-days did I have a wine that I had tasted before - and those two times were by request.  

 

We normally order decoy Cabernet at Luminae,  on one visit they were out , so sommelier brought something else which I didn’t like , they he brought us Caymus Cabernet 😁😁😁😁

[DaKahuna]

3 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We got the same service from the Luminae sommelier on the Equinox in 2021 for the wines by the glass with the PDP and were surprised by some very good non-menu wines offered to us.  However, on the Reflection last year, I asked the first night for the Luminae sommelier and was told he was only available if we wanted to order wines by the bottle. We could only order wines by the glass that were on the Luminae menu. 

 

 You and I have exchanged a number of post about your Reflection experience compared to mine and they have been night and day.   The December 2021 Reflection sailing we had was the third or fourth sailing of Reflection after restart.   The only issue we had at all that cruise was Celebrity messed up our reservation and did not give us the full suite benefits.  A call to our TA, a quick visit to the Retreat Host, and to the iLounge and we had everything fixed in short order. 

 

Shiraz was our Sommelier and was outstanding.    

[terrydtx]

43 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 You and I have exchanged a number of post about your Reflection experience compared to mine and they have been night and day.   The December 2021 Reflection sailing we had was the third or fourth sailing of Reflection after restart.   The only issue we had at all that cruise was Celebrity messed up our reservation and did not give us the full suite benefits.  A call to our TA, a quick visit to the Retreat Host, and to the iLounge and we had everything fixed in short order. 

 

Shiraz was our Sommelier and was outstanding.    

Between your Dec 2021 and our August 2022 cruise, the Reflection's Luminae must have changed and was a totally different experience. It was nothing like our 2021 Equinox experience either. I can't say who the Reflection Luminae sommelier was since we never got to meet him/her.

Edited January 26, 2023 by terrydtx

[Jim_Iain]

I would have to agree with some of the assessments of "Sommeliers" in Luminae.    Maybe being Californian Iain knows his wines.    Due to staffing some of the "Sommeliers" had little to no knowledge of wines.    One evening a very sweet (personality) sommelier recommended a California wine that would be considered a "Jug" wine.  When we both chuckled she looked at us strange.  

 

I do have to say the Sommelier on Solstice last last month was very knowledgeable but would still question whether she was certified.

[cangelmd]

On 1/20/2023 at 7:11 PM, seatrial said:

I haven't dined in Luminae since 2016. I am on Beyond 3/5. I'm looking forward to trying it again. One thing I've noticed about the menu is a lack of salads in the Appetizer selections for the dinner menus. Maybe predinner salads just aren't in vogue these days.

To me, that’s been an issue in Luminae since always - pre-Covid. 
I get around it by OVC salad for lunch almost every day, where I can control the type of greens and the amount of dressing. I try to order any green salad they offer in Luminae, with an occasional Caesar. On an S-class, I check the MDR menu every night, looking for the Bibb lettuce salad, it’s a fav. The struggle is real, and kind of annoying at those prices. I like Caesar well enough, but they put way too much dress8ng usually

[CHEZMARYLOU]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

We got the same service from the Luminae sommelier on the Equinox in 2021 for the wines by the glass with the PDP and were surprised by some very good non-menu wines offered to us.  However, on the Reflection last year, I asked the first night for the Luminae sommelier and was told he was only available if we wanted to order wines by the bottle. We could only order wines by the glass that were on the Luminae menu. 

I would be having a serious conversation with the Maitre d and work up the chain if I was ever told this. We were on Reflection for New Year's and had no problem ordering from the sommelier, even at lunch.