Should you Book a Cruise on Carnival Luminosa?

Watch the ULTIMATE review on YouTube here

Carnival Cruises is one of the world’s largest cruise lines, with well over 20 ships in its fleet and more on order. Carnival Luminosa is one of the newest additions to their fleet, but was not built specifically for Carnival Cruises. Instead, she was launched for Costa Cruises as the Luminosa in 2009. She’s a Hybrid Spirit Class vessel - making her somewhat related to Carnival’s own Spirit Class ships.

Despite being one of the smaller ships in the Carnival fleet, the 92K GRT ship is capable of carrying over 2200 passengers and offers an array of accommodation options including Suites, Balcony, Oceanview and Interior staterooms - plus there are 23 accessible rooms across a variety of cabin types.

As part of her conversion, the ship entered dry dock in late 2022 where several Carnival features were added. These included the adults only Serenity area, the Punchliner Comedy Club, Bonsai Sushi and the Alchemy Bar to name only a few.

Carnival Cruises is known for its approach to fun, and it has a fleet of ships to match, with attractions ranging from waterslides to the very first roller-coaster at sea called Bolt. Luminosa however missed out on waterslides during her dry dock, and in a major point of difference from the Sydney based Carnival Splendor, does not at this stage offer any waterpark features. She does however have showered all over outer decks…

I went into this cruise with an open mind and looked at everything as objectively as I could muster, and this review is really about sharing what I see as the pros and cons of Luminosa and the Carnival experience that one can find onboard. Yes, some of the issues may seem like they’re not a big deal, but this is a cruise review so I’m going to cover pretty much everything I thought of while I was onboard. I’m going to get the more negative aspects out of the way first, but make sure you read through to see what I liked most.

LIDO MARKETPLACE

The Lido Marketplace is the buffet onboard Luminosa. The quirky seating banks aside, I found the space became easily congested. As one of the main dining venues onboard, I was surprised at just how cramped and poorly laid out it was. It took me a while to even realise where the food stations were. It’s a disjointed space, with a burrito bar and burger bar by the midship pool marking the entrance to the greater buffet area. Like many cruise ship buffets, it has both a port and starboard side, with various complimentary drink stations offering coffee, ice tea, and ice water throughout the day. Most of the food except for desserts and some bakery or salad items are served by crew members from behind counters, with different cuisines on offer at different times of the day and night. I found that the queues were at times lengthy, and because the walkways and general space is on the smaller side, it easily became crowded and it was common to have weave through people. To me, that is one of the worst cruise ship buffet layouts I have ever encountered.

MAIN POOL

Excluding the Cloud 9 Hydrotherapy Pool, there are only two pools onboard and one of those is dedicated to adults. That leaves one main pool to serve kids and families and without any other waterpark facilities onboard, the pool area can become overrun and crowded.

TURN DOWN

Several years ago before the pandemic, Carnival eliminated its twice daily housekeeping schedule and now room stewards service each room only once daily. I didn’t personally find this to be an issue, although I do enjoy a turndown service. We usually keep a tidy cabin so it really doesn’t offer very much in the way of practicality but having said that, it’s something that stood out after sailing with other cruise lines such as competitor, Royal Caribbean, which still offers a nightly turndown service. When you board the ship, your stateroom attendant will ask you when you’d prefer to have your cabin serviced, so if you’re a later sleeper, you can have your room refreshed in the evening instead.

BOARDING PASS

For a major cruise line, I was surprised to see that they didn’t offer a digital boarding pass. I had to bring a printed copy of our boarding pass with us, which is something that I didn’t have to do on Royal Caribbean. Like many other cruise lines, your Sail and Sign Card, which doubles as your room key, will be located at your stateroom door which on our cruise wasn’t accessible before 1:30 pm. That meant that we needed to supply our paper boarding pass to the waitstaff when ordering a drink, and it seemed like an antiquated process in modern times.

(NO) WASHY WASHY

If you’re familiar with cruising, you probably know of the washy-washy people. They tend to stand at the entrance to dining venues, particularly the buffet, and remind everyone that good hygiene is a virtue. There was no one onboard Luminosa doing this, and more disturbing, it was not as easy to locate hand sanitiser stations as I would have hoped. There were some in the buffet and around the ship, but nothing like the numbers I’ve seen recently on other cruise ships. There are also no hand wash stations at the entrance to the buffet and it would be nice to see these installed at a future dry dock as has been done with many ships of a similar age.

DINING ROOM HOURS

One of my favourite sea day past times is enjoying a dining room lunch. Where the buffet is great for a casual bite, the dining room is just a more relaxing experience. Unfortunately, that isn’t possible onboard Luminosa. Instead of offering breakfast and lunch on sea days, the main dining room onboard opens for Sea Day Brunch. This is an extended service that runs from 8am through to 12pm, with an admittedly large variety of food options including your usual breakfast staples and even burgers and salads. Though the menu is comprehensive for a brunch, it was a shame not to be able to enjoy an a la carte dining room lunch.

SHIP LAYOUT

At 90K gross tonnes, Luminosa is really in that size sweet spot, for me at least. She has three main elevator banks, forward, mid and aft, making it easy to get around. However, I found her top decks to be… strange. The layout was nothing like I had really seen before. There seemed to be alcoves that would end with a heavy unmarked door, that would either lead you inside again or onto an outer walkway. There were ramps and small staircases around the tops decks and it was just something unusual that I picked up on. In general though, I found her internal layout to be pretty easy to navigate and get the hang of. I also liked the added feature of the floor number being emblazoned on the carpet at the stairwell and elevators.

AESTHETICS

This is without a doubt the most subjective content matter contained in this review, but I struggled to get past some of the design choices onboard. The worst of the public spaces for me was the Lido Marketplace. Already feeling cramped, the dark ceiling and strange seating banks with odd plywood houses made the whole thing feel even smaller and more compact. Whilst some of the public spaces, especially the Alchemy Bar, Piano Bar, Galleria shops and main theatre were all actually quite warm, inviting and even charming, I couldn’t help but think some of the furniture looked like it had come straight out of a 90’s sitcom set.

The worst and most offensive design choices however, were seemingly reserved for my very own Cloud 9 balcony stateroom. With walnut veneer, yellow walls, red trims, a red vinyl lounge and burgundy carpet, I enjoyed an emotional journey that began with shock, grew to horror and finished solidly at absolute joy when I realised that whoever picked those finishes was clearly having a joke. For a stateroom type that’s linked to the concept of the relaxing Cloud 9 spa, I hope they address that colour scheme in a future update.

It’s really not all bad news though, and here are my favourite things about Luminosa and Carnival.

DINING

There are so many food outlets onboard. For a ship of her size, Luminosa has a fantastic array of included dining venues. I enjoyed the variety on offer, from the burger and burrito bars, to The Deli and the pizzeria, which is open daily until 3am for those of you seeking a late night snack. And it was good pizza, too. There was even a BBQ area open for lunch, and complimentary soft serve available till late every day. That’s in addition to the main dining room’s excellent brunch and dinner offering. And a special mention goes to the classic Bomb Alaska parade in the dining room on the final night of the cruise. The retro throwback really brought a smile to my face, and made me think of my early cruising days on ships like the Fair Princess, Pacific Sky and Pacific Sun.

On the specialty dining front, both Fahrenheit 555 and Sapori Cucina are the main options; plus there’s Bonsai Sushi, a high tea service, a seafood offering in the Lido Marketplace and deluxe pastries available for purchase from the Java Blue cafe.

Although I didn’t get to sample everything onboard Luminosa, what I did have, really was very good. The dining room in particular was a standout, with both dinners and brunches there being tasty and satisfying. The standout by far was Fahrenheit 555, with its multi course offering proving to be the best meal on the ship. At $65 per person, it’s reasonably priced for what is a really lovely dining experience and based on the number of other passengers in there, I’d say its popular for good reason.

Likewise, though I didn’t have a lot of them, the desserts I did try were once tasty, and actually tasted like the thing they were called. I’m so used to cruise ship buffet desserts in particular looking like all colours of the rainbow and really just tasting like generic sweetness, so that was another big positive.

SERENITY & SUNSET BAR

The adults only Serenity area is beautiful - it occupies the entire aft section of Deck 9 and is limited to adults aged 18 and over. There are two hot tubs, a pool, plus padded loungers and a bar, and it offers quick access to the Lido Marketplace. My main criticism of the area is that it’s just too popular. In particular, the lounger pods would be occupied by early morning and stay that way for the entire day. There’s also not much in the way of shade, except for the pods. On the plus side, the pool was open well into the late evening so if you missed out during the day, you did have the option of a late night dip. The Sunset Bar located just above Serenity is another top notch venue, with a modern, cool, clean design, it almost doesn’t match the rest of the ship but it was definitely a place I enjoyed.

THE APP

Without a doubt, one of the best features onboard Carnival is the Hub App. With the highlight being the restaurant check-in system. Flexible anytime dining has been a mainstay for cruise lines for well over a decade now, but it’s not always well executed. It seems like everyone wants dinner at 7 or 7:30 and you know what happens there. Carnival have circumvented this issue by creating a digital check in system. All guests can use the system for the Sea Day Brunch, and guests that have selected anytime dining when booking their cruise can use the system for dinner. It’s as simple as opening the app, going into the dining section and indicating that you’re ready for a table. You can even add guests that aren’t in your reservation to your table request, and you can choose whether you’re happy to share with others or not. The request is processed, and once your table is ready, you’ll receive a notification with your table number telling you that it’s time to head to the restaurant. Your table will be held for 10 minutes. I hope more cruise lines initiate a system like this, it really took the stress out of anytime dining. At peak times it could take as long as 30 minutes to have your table allocated, but I’d much prefer to be enjoying myself in another venue than standing in a queue for that same period of time.

The app made it easy to see what was going on everyday and add those items to your daily planner. Plus you could use the app to place orders for food that would then be delivered to your location, whether that was in your stateroom or in a public venue. Though unlike Princess’ Medallion technology, it doesn’t have the ability to track you, so you do need to stay put while your food is delivered. Food pricing was also available in the app.

On the downside, on the last morning of the cruise, despite there still being a breakfast service in the main dining room, upon opening the app, you’re forced to log out. Even though you’re still onboard. That was a bit of sucker punch, almost like they were saying, “ok, time to get off now.”

INTERNET

The Internet is one of the fastest I’ve experienced. I opted for the premium internet plan and would easily achieve 30+ MBPS download speeds even in peak usage times. I was truly surprised that the service was that good. You can pre-purchase internet in your Cruise Planner online with a discount or when you’re onboard.

THE ROOM

Despite looking like the inside of a hotdog’s nightmare, the standard layout for the balcony room was definitely generous on space. The bathroom was large, with a long vanity area and a spacious shower, and the addition of a decently sized lounge provided another space to expand into. Compared to something like a standard Princess Cruises balcony room, Carnival Luminosa wins hands down when it comes to space. Plus, the regular colour scheme in the non Cloud 9 spa rooms is much more palatable - and in retrospect, I wish I had booked a standard balcony room.

MUSTER

With many cruise lines moving to a digital muster, and some returning to a more traditional emergency drill, Carnival had what I would call a Hybrid system. Instructional videos are played on stateroom tvs and the Hub App, and once onboard, guests can head directly to their muster station where a crew member will demonstrate the correct wearing of a life vest and run through some of the emergency procedure. I thought it was a good compromise, without requiring a ship wide drill at the one time, it still provided a great level of detail and instruction for passengers while being convenient.

THE VIEWS

The one thing that I always want to experience on any ship, is a sense of being on a ship and Luminosa does deliver on that front. With large windows located throughout the public spaces, an almost wraparound promenade deck and large open deck spaces up top, it was always easy to find some part of the ocean to enjoy for yourself. And to highlight the importance of accessible views on a ship, on the last night of our cruise we were sitting in a lounge at the Piano Bar enjoying a final martini, when we spotted dolphins outside and its those moments that help to make cruising something so much more special than other methods of travel so that’s why I always harp on about those sea views.

THE CREW

The crew, what can I saw about the crew except, wow. From the room stewards to the waiters and bartenders, and the officers. Everyone was just exceptional. Their hard work is what makes our cruise experience in most cases, and the people onboard Luminosa are some of the best I’ve experienced. So thank you to all of you who work so hard to make our holiday an experience we’ll enjoy and remember.

ENTERTAINMENT

There was always something going on throughout the day and night, from comedy shows in the Punchliner Comedy Club, to production shows, as well as bingo and themed trivia sessions. Plus there were various hosted games that made it easy to meet your fellow passengers and have some fun. There was even a Dr Seuss Parade that the kids absolutely loved. The highlight had to be the 80’s Rock and Glow Deck party, which was a spectacular and lively event that ended up continuing late into the night in the 2 level Altair night club. There was no shortage of things to do and experience onboard.

CONCLUSION

If you’re booked on a cruise on Luminosa, go in with an open mind like I did, and although I’m sure you’ll likewise find somethings you don’t care for, I think on the whole you’ll have a fantastic experience. There’s no doubt that Carnival is about casual and relaxed fun, and the people that go onboard are definitely of that mindset. If you’re looking for something quiet and calm, it won’t be the cruise experience for you, but if you’re looking for a relaxed, down to earth environment with solid dining options and a fantastic crew, then I think you just be onto a winner.