Pinnacle Grill is on life support

[Boytjie]

One might look at the Tamarind which is consistently booked, and rarely gets negative comments... other than speed of service (which is somewhat intentional for the experience). That would demonstrate that is not a HAL issue, but a concept issue. My guess is that overall people are not seeing value for money... That's the biggest issue for a restaurant.

 

I have had bad experiences at Tamarind - so-so food to not really good dim sum and very slow service (dim sum should not take almost 2 hours). I may still give it another chance in the future.

 

I have never had a bad experience in PG - and it has always been fully booked and just about every table seemed to be occupied.

[cancun cowgirl]

We were on the Nieuw Amsterdam Christmas cruise and we ate in the Pinnacle Grill twice. Both nights were incredible. The service, food and atmosphere were wonderful. We would have eaten there every night but there were no reservations available. I took my own bottle of wine and they gladly chilled it for me and did not charge the corkage fee. Our waiter was very good as was the rest of the Pinnacle Grill staff. We are from a family that has been raised on the finest of beef and our steaks both nights were very good. The main dining room was nasty!!! We ate two meals in the main dining room and that was two too many. We decided the pizza bar would have been a better choice than the main dining room. After talking with other passengers the main consensus was that the main dining room was in need of a change. So after reading all of the different posts it seems that dining options differ on each boat.

[crunchberry]

Just got off the ship today. Ate 2x at the Pinnacle - once on Christmas and once for New years eve - both times with over 10 people.

 

All of us have eaten at very expensive dining establishments.

 

All of us were EXTREMELY impressed by the staff and food that was served to us at the Pinnacle. The Filet Mignons are some of the best we have ever had. I had a lamb scewer and it was outstanding.

 

Only complaint I had was that the soups did not meet my expectations but everything else we ALL thought - was superb.

 

We did hear that the LeCirque dinner that they have (and charge 69$pp) is not worth it.

 

We also had wonderful meals at the Lido and at the Vista dining room.

[mechcc]

OP - very sorry you had a bad experience on the Eurodam in the PG. We ate there for breakfast 4 times in November and had okay service but also noted that one table next to us on the last morning never, ever received their order. And they were there before us. However, we ate there for dinner twice and had Anita as our server both times and we had very, very good service. So my feeling is that as the fleet grows and cost cutting methods are in place, the service declines. Yes there are some employees who really shine but more and more there are those that are overworked and undertrained. While we were more than totally pleased with our experiences in the PG, we were less than satisfied with our cabin steward. Very sorry that you didn't have the wonderful experience we did. And we won't do La Cirque again as we didn't feel it was worth the extra cost above the PG.

[natonboard]

Our first experience with the PG was on the Westerdam in March and it was to our satisfaction - all 10 of us. My PG meal on the Zuiderdam in July was very disappointing - as was the dining room for the entire week to tell the truth :(.

 

We are just returning from a Christmas cruise on Carnival where my expectations on fine dining were low. We were actually very pleasantly surprised and our Christmas dinner at the steak restaurant was first class. We are sailing on the Eurodam this coming March and are booking Le Cirque. We are looking forward to it but I don't think it should replace the PG - I think HAL should find the way to ensure the PG is consistent on every ship and for every passenger's experience.

[m steve]

then they better have LC quality food and choices. What they are serving now is no better than the standard PG meal for about 2X the price.

[Jade13]

If HAL is really smart they'll keep you happy, sail7seas...! With all the great advice and tips you provide potential cruisers on this site, they should be letting you cruise for free!!!:)

 

We went on the Solstice in August, because HAL wasn't in the Caribbean yet and we had to cruise in August while our kids went to Europe for a summer trip. Celebrity's most expensive restaurant was priced at $30 - if my memory serves me correctly. Each restaurant was priced differently. $10 - $20 - $30. Could HAL be looking to do the same thing...? Who knows..? Le Cirque would allow them to raise the price without a lot of push-back from people...

 

On Celebrity Solstice Class, Murano's is $35.00, Tuscan Grille is $30.00, Qsine (on Eclipse) is $30.00, and Bistro on 5 is $5.00 (lunch, no dinners). People were upset because all of the specialty restaurants were sold out on our cruise.

 

With that said, our food in Pinnacle was MUCH better than Tuscan Grille. In fact, my DH said that Tuscan was the worst food he had ever had and walked out after the 3rd course was served. He took one bite out of each course and that was enough. Tuscan's venue, including decor and view overlooking the wake with lighting was great, but we would never go back.

[Aussiemick]

Nieuw Amsterdam Nov 28 - Dec 5

 

My friend and I ate at the Pinnacle Grill 5 nights in a row, including the Le Cirque dinner night.

Except for the Le Cirque night, all was good; the service, atmosphere, and food.

 

Too bad you had a bad experience.

 

We dined in the Pinnacle on the Amsterdam last month and it was fantastic. Many of the staff on the rest of the ship were on "paid vacation" prior to the ship going into drydock at the end of the cruise but the staff in the Pinnacle did everything but chew the food for us.

[ASIWISH]

OP - very sorry you had a bad experience on the Eurodam in the PG. We ate there for breakfast 4 times in November and had okay service but also noted that one table next to us on the last morning never, ever received their order. And they were there before us. However, we ate there for dinner twice and had Anita as our server both times and we had very, very good service. So my feeling is that as the fleet grows and cost cutting methods are in place, the service declines. Yes there are some employees who really shine but more and more there are those that are overworked and undertrained. While we were more than totally pleased with our experiences in the PG, we were less than satisfied with our cabin steward. Very sorry that you didn't have the wonderful experience we did. And we won't do La Cirque again as we didn't feel it was worth the extra cost above the PG.

Thanks, Maggie! But, I assure you everything else on our cruise was ABSOLUTELY PERFECT! We love HAL!

[sail7seas]

Personally I think a table of 20 is way too many (on land or sea) to have a very good experience. It is way too many people at one table to be handled at one time. That was probably the problem.

 

 

I agree it is not a fair assessment of fine restaurant if dining with a group of 20. The restaurant probably should not even take the booking as most cannot do it well without having a private room and dedicated servers for just them. Pinnacle cannot do that. Their mistake taking your booking and yours for not being totally realisitic IMO.

 

[sail7seas]

Of course, Everyone CAN and Should post whatever it is they want here and it is stimulating and valuable for us to learn of everyone's experience of various ships etc

 

But the title of this thread is what 'hung me up'. Not that OP was dissatisified with Pinnacle but the title seems to say "All Pinnacles On All HAL Ships" are on Life Support" predicated on one meal in one Pinnacle. That's a rather broad sweep to dismiss them all as unworthy.

 

[ASIWISH]

Of course, Everyone CAN and Should post whatever it is they want here and it is stimulating and valuable for us to learn of everyone's experience of various ships etc

 

But the title of this thread is what 'hung me up'. Not that OP was dissatisified with Pinnacle but the title seems to say "All Pinnacles On All HAL Ships" are on Life Support" predicated on one meal in one Pinnacle. That's a rather broad sweep to dismiss them all as unworthy.

 

 

Again, I understand your point, Sail7seas... but to be clear, my opinion is based on nine visits on three cruises... as I stated below. Not "one meal in one Pinnacle". I am also in the Restaurant business, so I do feel I know a great deal about restaurant operations.

 

This is good dialogue, though...

[sail7seas]

Thanks for the correction....

 

I "finally" get it. :)

[esimon]

We did the Pinnacle on Eurodam -- 10/10 = bad service and they never did get my steak right -- was very disapointed Will try again 1/6 on Noordam and let you know. :(

[SwissMyst]

Of course, Everyone CAN and Should post whatever it is they want here and it is stimulating and valuable for us to learn of everyone's experience of various ships etc

 

But the title of this thread is what 'hung me up'. Not that OP was dissatisified with Pinnacle but the title seems to say "All Pinnacles On All HAL Ships" are on Life Support" predicated on one meal in one Pinnacle. That's a rather broad sweep to dismiss them all as unworthy.

 

 

If one PG is bad or even at worst inconsistent, it is ultimately poor marketing for the rest of them. In that way the OP was correct: when only general PGcomplaints are registered all PGs are tainted for prospective customers, which underscores the need to identify both date and ship when making PG reports. (Zero star PG - June 18, 2010 - Zuiderdam :()

[sail7seas]

No, I don't see it that way.

 

I see one complaint by one person of one Pinnacle as just that.

I read it, I take into consideration if I know anything about the poster, I remember it and keep it in mind.

 

It does not negate the reports by others of great experiences in other Pinnacles and even of the same Pinnacle at another table/another time.

 

I do get it that OP is referring to a number of disappointing Pinnacle meals he and his family experienced.

 

HAL's comment sheets at the end of cruise go to '9' and not '10' as they know there is always a snafu of one sort or another somewhere on one ship or another and they know that as in most things in life, there is room for improvement.

[Blondie62o]

We just got back from the Rotterdam Holiday Cruise and also had a rather disappointing meal at the Pinnacle Grill. The service was not nearly as professional as in the Main Dining room and to be honest, aside from the different cuts of beef (ex: Porterhouse), you could get everything they had on the PG menu in the Main Dining Room. The beef was overcooked and tough, but the lamb was deliciously cooked. But as I said, I had lamb in the Main Dining Room that was as equally delicious. We received a free meal there as part of our booking, so we weren't too distressed by it but some of our fellow passengers who had paid the extra charges were very upset with the quality and selection of food. We had originally planned to attend a second dinner at PG but canceled the second reservation because we were so disappointed. We also found the room (which had no windows) to be rather cramped. Hopefully things will turn around for the PG or HAL will need to find something else to do with that space.

[sail7seas]

Four ships in the fleet, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Volendam and Zaandam, had specialty restaurants built at new build in the ship yard but they were converted to Pinnacle Grills years later. Many complain about those restaurants being interior space with no windows.

 

When they were Marco Polo and Odyssey Restaurants, they served upscale Italian, no extra charge fabulous dinners. The food was very, very good in those restaurants as we the service.

 

[sevenseasnomad]

On our 1st cruise with HAL in 2008, we tried the PG. DH enjoyed it very much; I was less than satisfied.

 

On our recent Zuiderdam cruise, we ate there two nights of the cruise. We even requested the waitress who served us the first night for the second night, since she gave such impeccable service. We tipped her well both times.

 

We enjoyed the experience and would recommend it to others. Everything was prepared as ordered. Our son, who joined us for dinner the second night, was more interested in meeting his friends at 9 (our reservation that night was for 8:30). He left a third of the way through the meal, and we've never seen so many chefs appear at a table before. All of them wanted to know if the meal thus far had been to his satisfaction etc. They sent an entire meal to his cabin for him to enjoy later, and when we looked at the bill noticed the charges for his dinner had been removed!

 

We never requested that the bill be adjusted. In fact, we were more than prepared to pay. According to the front desk via the PG maitre d', our son did not enjoy the "full benefit of our restaurant" so they refused to charge us. We are completely happy with both the PG staff, our experiences, and the food. We will make reservations for our upcoming cruises in July and December 2011.

 

I can say we are more than satisfied

[SwissMyst]

Here is an additional consideration since there are many reports of getting a credits to dine at the Pinnacle -- are these gifts from travel agents or the like? In that case, who is really paying the extra $20 per person to support the PG's as premium dining venues.

 

Or do those complimentary "gifts" get deducted from the overall Pinnacle budget and only the passengers actually paying the extra $20 directly have to carry the whole operation?

[sail7seas]

Mabe one of the TA's who post here will tell us if they are charged $20 for a gift if their guest is a four star Mariner. If the TA knows their customer would only be paying $10 for Pinnacle, should they only pay $10 if they provide a gift of Pinnacle?

 

[whogo]

I can not believe that so many people would send so many steaks back. I know how I like my steak, I order it with a red, warm center. If it is a bit undercooked I eat it. If it is a lot overcooked I eat it. I would go without before I would make my table mates wait for a second steak to be cooked for me. On occasion I will ask my waiter if he thinks my steak has a red, warm center. Even if he agrees that it does not, I will not let him replace it.

 

How fussy can you be? Are you just playing the big shot fancy diner who wants to show off that he knows how a steak ought to be cooked? As for a tough steak, geez, it's cattle muscle, sometimes it's tender, sometimes it isn't. Too tough? Eat ground beef or get a better set of dentures.

[doncarlos]

it is alive and well !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SwissMyst]

.........

 

How fussy can you be? Are you just playing the big shot fancy diner who wants to show off that he knows how a steak ought to be cooked? As for a tough steak, geez, it's cattle muscle, sometimes it's tender, sometimes it isn't. Too tough? Eat ground beef or get a better set of dentures.

 

PG consistency perhaps would be improved if they served only USDA prime and not this variable proprietary "Silver Label" something.

[ROZO'SBEAU]

"How fussy can you be?"

I can understand not wanting to make a scene and not sending stuff back. However, I usually go to the PG with just the DW. We are both foodies. When you order the steak, the waiter is always careful to ask you how you would like it. If they cannot or will not deliver it the way I indicated, I guess keeping my mouth shut is not an option.

If you have been to the PG and ordered a steak, you should know they typically ask you to cut into the steak just after they serve it and ask you if it's done properly. They do that for a reason...quality control and also to please the customer. They want to know and I appreciate them asking.

I generally like the PG but as I said on an earlier post, there are occasional problems. Those should not occur as often as has been indicated on here.