Pinnacle Grills.....Changes? ....New Menus?

[grazlaw]

then pinnacle grill is absolutely superb. dont change anything. it far exceeds the mediocore food served in the dining room and is well worth the price

[kruzkeen]

THe secret is to cut the size of the DR to one level. Convert the upper level into either 1 or 2 specialty restaurants with a lower cover charge (say $10) and then you're offering up to 5 different venues:

 

1) Lido casual dining

2) Standard DR

3) Pan-Asian reservations-only ($10)

4) Pan-European reservations-only ($10)

5) The Pinnacle reservations-only ($20)

 

It would require some extensive behind-the-scenes work to outfit more kitchens but would attract more cruisers, I believe.

 

This is certainly an innovative idea. But, how could all the passengers have a reserved table for fixed time standard dinners if there was only the lower level available for that?

[dakrewser]

This is certainly an innovative idea. But, how could all the passengers have a reserved table for fixed time standard dinners if there was only the lower level available for that?

 

Pre-reservation. Just as you are now able to pre-book the Pinnacle Grille before departure, you would book all your dinners before departure (harder for an extended cruise, of course, but could be done in two-week "chunks" perhaps). Deviations would be allowed, of course, and initially it might be confusing (just as the move to four seatings was), but computers could work it all out, I'm sure.

 

On our most recent cruise on HAL (Oosterdam last January) the DR was rarely more than 2/3rds full and never more than 3/4ers full so there is a lot of slack to play with...

[peaches from georgia]

Pre-reservation. Just as you are now able to pre-book the Pinnacle Grille before departure, you would book all your dinners before departure (harder for an extended cruise, of course, but could be done in two-week "chunks" perhaps). Deviations would be allowed, of course, and initially it might be confusing (just as the move to four seatings was), but computers could work it all out, I'm sure.

In other words, if one level of the dining room is eliminated and becomes an alternative restaurant, then traditional dining is also gone, as you would have to make a reservation when you wanted to eat in the dining room the same as any alternative venue and there would be no way to have an assigned table in the 'traditional' dining room as there would only be accomodations for 1/2 the pax.

 

I love having alternative restaurants to choose from, but no way would I sail a line where we had to decide before we departed what restaurant we wanted to reserve for each night of a cruise. To me, the appeal of alternative restaurants is to decide on a particular day what we felt like eating that night. I know a lot of people here make their Pinnacle reservations months ahead of time, but frankly I don't understand why.

 

The system you are describing is neither traditional nor personal choice, as I read what you are saying. Pax would have no assigned tables in the dining room as in trad. dining, yet would also have to commit to a particular restaurant for every night of their cruise long before they boarded, which is not what personal choice is all about. That sounds like the worst of all worlds.

[dakrewser]

No, it's not open seatring and it's not personal choice - but it does go some way towards assuring that you won't be left sitting alone at a table for 8. IUn practise, as many of us have noted, the DR is never full. It would be possible - if people were willing to do a modicum of planning - to insure that everyone who wanted traditional dining could have it - the same assigned table, for the same time each evening. But those who preferred more varied arrangements wouldn't be tieing up a table that someone else could use.

 

It would also still be possible to change your arrangements for an evening that very afternoon, still.

 

HAL hasn't even come close to exploiting the power of the ships' computers to make better, more efficient use of the dining space.

[sail7seas]

Ooops....

 

Can you just imagine the chaos if those computers crashed!!! :eek:

[dakrewser]

Ooops....

 

 

Can you just imagine the chaos if those computers crashed!!! :eek:

 

 

Not a big problem - the Maitre d' would continue to work with printed sheets, as they do today. The computer would mostly need to do one night's work the week before the cruise, so a delay of an hour or two wouldn't make a difference.

[Esme]

Not a big problem - the Maitre d' would continue to work with printed sheets, as they do today. The computer would mostly need to do one night's work the week before the cruise, so a delay of an hour or two wouldn't make a difference.

 

With the many times the computers crash on the ship, I just can't see this being done.

 

Actually I was talking on the phone last night with an HM and told him your ideas and he just laughed. :)

[Odd Ball]

Dakrewser,

Not matter what you claim, your idea is not much different from Princess and NCL.

[dakrewser]

Hey guys, it's an idea, not a plan. If I knew you were all going to be so picky, I wouldn't have mentioned it. Like all initial ideas (what we might call "blue sky") it needs to be fleshed out and fully baked. But that's not my job....:rolleyes:

 

Esme: HAL has to do something about all the empty chairs in the dining room - it's wasting time and money. Either better incentives (i.e., the food) to bring people in or shrink the size. If I were the HM's boss, I be wondering why he wasn't proposing a solution rather than trying to laugh off others....

[kruzkeen]

On our most recent cruise on HAL (Oosterdam last January) the DR was rarely more than 2/3rds full and never more than 3/4ers full so there is a lot of slack to play with...

 

Dave:

 

Were you on Main Seating? I always go for the first Main Seating (7:45 or 8:00) Upper Level and 1/2 hour later the Lower Level (8:15 or 8:30) is very sparse. I suspect that those who have table reservations at these times have gone to the Lido as it is too late for them.

 

On a thread last month, I suggested that the lower level remain fixed, reserved table sitting and the upper level go to a sort of NCL FreeStyle seating. There seems to be no support for this with HAL CC regulars.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=205678&page=2&pp=25

 

Thanks for some new thoughts.

Ken

[dakrewser]

Were you on Main Seating? I always go for the first Main Seating (7:45 or 8:00) Upper Level and 1/2 hour later the Lower Level (8:15 or 8:30) is very sparse. I suspect that those who have table reservations at these times have gone to the Lido as it is too late for them.

 

On a thread last month, I suggested that the lower level remain fixed, reserved table sitting and the upper level go to a sort of NCL FreeStyle seating. There seems to be no support for this with HAL CC regulars.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=205678&page=2&pp=25

 

We were at the 8:00 seating...

 

That's a similar idea to mine - without the reservations. THe Lido is, of course, always open seating. Maybe a "better" open seating venue, two reservation-only ones and the lower DR would work best. Someone with better knowledge of restaurant dynamics than I would need to study it...

[gizmo]

No thanks.

 

The last thing I want in a cruise is to wait in line to eat. I am not into pay as you go, and would not like to see it turn into multiple restaraunts with an additional charge.

 

I have nothing against open seating. It is nice, but only when there are enough tables to accommodate everyone and you can immediatly get a table.

 

Calling and making reservations every day would be a pain in the butt.

 

if you prefer a different dining arrangement, there is always Princess, NCL and an upscale line (I can't remember which one, but it has open seating).

 

On all of my cruises, I would consider the dining room as being full I never saw "all these empty chairs". I have had late seating on all my cruises.

[JoyAnn]

I've always had latest seating, dining room was always full.

 

 

No thanks.

 

The last thing I want in a cruise is to wait in line to eat. I am not into pay as you go, and would not like to see it turn into multiple restaraunts with an additional charge.

 

I have nothing against open seating. It is nice, but only when there are enough tables to accommodate everyone and you can immediatly get a table.

 

Calling and making reservations every day would be a pain in the butt.

 

 

if you prefer a different dining arrangement, there is always Princess, NCL and an upscale line (I can't remember which one, but it has open seating).

 

On all of my cruises, I would consider the dining room as being full I never saw "all these empty chairs". I have had late seating on all my cruises.

[kruzkeen]

No thanks.

 

 

The last thing I want in a cruise is to wait in line to eat. I am not into pay as you go, and would not like to see it turn into multiple restaraunts with an additional charge.

 

I have nothing against open seating. It is nice, but only when there are enough tables to accommodate everyone and you can immediatly get a table.

 

Calling and making reservations every day would be a pain in the butt.

 

if you prefer a different dining arrangement, there is always Princess, NCL and an upscale line (I can't remember which one, but it has open seating).

 

On all of my cruises, I would consider the dining room as being full I never saw "all these empty chairs". I have had late seating on all my cruises.

 

For a number of reasons I prefer HAL to other cruise lines and am happy if I can get the Upper Main Seating. I have only been on 2 NCL cruises so my experience with FreeChoice is limited.

 

Having said that: there was never a line up for a table with NCL's FreeChoice dinning if we were willing to share. It would be a table for 6 or 8. It was just like having lunch in a HAL Dinning Room, you made conversation with different people at every meal. I seem to remember people sitting waiting for a private table.

 

I never have taken much notice if there were empty tables on a HAL ship until a 10 day Mexican cruise last fall. It could be that on a 7 day cruise there might be more passengers who have no problem with eating dinner at 8:30. Perhaps on a longer cruise there are more retired folks who want to eat at the early sittings.

 

My experience with empty tables: we were two couples who had booked seperately and were assigned different tables for 8:30. We embarked early as we all live close to San Diego and after a quick lunch went to the Queens Room to have our table changed. We were #27, we waited over an hour. That was no problem as we were catching up on the news. There was a sign saying that Early Sitting was full. Many people had letters saying they were diabetic or had other medical problems. All went away disappointed.

 

The best we could do was a table together for 8:30 on the first night. We were wait listed and the second night we were given a table by the rail on the upper level for 8:00. We could look down on the lower level and see many tables were empty or only partially full.

 

On day after having had an early, light lunch, I went up to the Lido at 6:00 to have a shrimp cocktail to tide me over until 8:00. The place was jammed. I suspect that these were people who did not want to eat at 8:30.

 

I think Dave's ideas are interesting, but I doubt if HAL would consider them for a second.

[Italian Nancy]

It's been almost 2 yrs since our last sailing on the Zuiderdam, so I am so hoping that the menu has not changed.. what we remember to be the "best", crab cakes, porterhouse steaks that covered more than my dh's plate, my wonderful petite fillet mignon, the decadent scalloped potatoes and volcano chocolate cake..
pleasssssssssssssseeee don't change the menu before we sail Sept 10th

[sail7seas]

[quote name='Italian Nancy']It's been almost 2 yrs since our last sailing on the Zuiderdam, so I am so hoping that the menu has not changed.. what we remember to be the "best", crab cakes, porterhouse steaks that covered more than my dh's plate, my wonderful petite fillet mignon, the decadent scalloped potatoes and volcano chocolate cake..
pleasssssssssssssseeee don't change the menu before we sail Sept 10th[/QUOTE]

[b][font=Comic Sans MS]Don't worry. Your chances of having that exact menu again are better than excellent. :)[/font][/b]
[b][font=Comic Sans MS][/font][/b]

[cruisecrasy]

[quote name='dakrewser']Hey guys, it's an [i]idea[/i], not a plan. If I knew you were all going to be so picky, I wouldn't have mentioned it. Like all initial ideas (what we might call "blue sky") it needs to be fleshed out and fully baked. But that's not my job....:rolleyes:

Esme: HAL has to do something about all the empty chairs in the dining room - it's wasting time and money. Either better incentives (i.e., the food) to bring people in or shrink the size. If I were the HM's boss, I be wondering why he wasn't proposing a solution rather than trying to laugh off others....[/QUOTE]
Like the way u think...and express yourself - logical, creative & rational without being 'snarky' - my compliments! - Gee - refreshing!

[sail7seas]

[b][font=Comic Sans MS]On most of our cruises, I have not seen an abundance of empty chairs each evening. Sure, sometimes there may be some here or there but perhaps it is because of our dining hour (8:00). By that time, most people have managed to get back from their excursions, had a chance to rest, shower and dress and even have their pre-dinner cocktai and make their way to the dining room. Maybe those with 5:45 dinner are seeing lots of empty seats????[/font][/b]

[b][font=Comic Sans MS]Pinnacle does not hold that many people and often there are more empty seats in there than in the dining room. [/font][/b]
[b][font=Comic Sans MS][/font][/b]
[b][font=Comic Sans MS]Lido??? I don't know but I imagine it could vary widely from night to night.[/font][/b]

[dakrewser]

[quote name='cruisecrasy']Like the way u think...and express yourself - logical, creative & rational without being 'snarky' - my compliments! - Gee - refreshing![/QUOTE]

And you are a scholar and a gentleperson... :rolleyes:

Thanks!

[cruisecrasy]

U are most deserving so 'sayeth this gentlewoman' and as so many 'nasty' things are said, thought I wld try to improve things in my small way. As my dear ol' Da wld have said 'even give the devil his due..' haha!! Look forward to reading more of your posts. Happy cruisin'!

[kruzmeister]

I so agree. The dining room on the Westerdam was much too bright--except for formal night, which was perfect.

[travellgirl]

We are considering cruising on HAL in the spring. We normally sail Celebrity and love the specialty restaurant, usually eating there 2 or 3 times during a cruise. Can you eat in the Pinnacle more than once per cruise? Does anyone have a copy of the menu or do you know of anywhere I can find it? Thanks.

[sail7seas]

[B]Presuming you can get reservations, you are free to eat in Pinnacle every night, if you wish.[/B]

[TidePrideGA]

Here's the menu

[url]http://home.g-net.net/~cbrock/ZuiderdamMenuEastCarib.html#Pinnacle[/url]