Have you had dinner in Pinnacle on HAL Ships? Compare to Cagney's?

[sail7seas]

If someone here has dined in both Pinnacle Grill on an HAL ship and Cagney's on NCL, I'd really appreciate if you would give your opinion comparison.

 

Thanks. :)

[kpms]

I found the Pinnacle was far better in the service aspect. We sailed on the Zuiderdam 4 years ago and both Breakway and Getaway. Cagneys was good but felt like a chain steak house restaurant where HAL Pinnacle it was the serving experience (table side ceaser salad) more refined and more opulent experience. Food wise they were on par with a slight advantage to Pinnacle for fresher tasking

[BBnn]

We have dined in the Pinnacle on the Eurodam and the Zaandam both were a delightful experience. A couple of times they were 'doubling' as a restaurant in Paris (can't remember the name now). Super food definitely special.

[rochelle_s]

In my opinion Le Bistro would be a better comparison to the Pinnacle, especially in terms of atmosphere and service..

 

 

Rochelle

[kelmac]

Just got off the Jewel and I must say, with the UDP every meal we had was superior to HAL's cuisine. The Pinnacle offers large cuts of beef, but it lacks any natural flavor (that's why they offer so many sauces). Le Bistro and Cagney's both offered a better meal. Service was equal and the table settings were better on HAL, but over all I preferred NCL. Celebrity still beats them both, but not by that much.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[Marion B]

Hi Sail,

I think Cagney's is at least as good as the Pinnacle, possibly better. According to dh, their steaks are superior to those in the Pinnacle.

(I posted late on your thread concerning NCL's announcements, so I think you probably missed my response - I did a mini review comparing NCL to HAL for you, if you care to search for it).

We are 4 star on HAL and will still return to them, but after our first NCL cruise in March, we have just booked another - this time in a suite.

Enjoy and ask away!

Marion

[travelnap]

If someone here has dined in both Pinnacle Grill on an HAL ship and Cagney's on NCL, I'd really appreciate if you would give your opinion comparison.

 

Thanks. :)

 

Sail, I think that you will find the service in the Pinnacle somewhat better than what you will find in Cagney's. Cagney also has good service, but I found the service in the Pinnacle to be more attentive. As another poster mentioned earlier the service and style of Lebistro would probably be more similar to the Pinnacle, as they do a great job there. Cagney's is more of a steakhouse type experience in my opinion than what the Pinnacle has been when I have dined there. Both Lebistro and Pinnacle seem like more of a fine dining experience to me, but that is just my opinion. I hope you enjoy your first solo trip since losing your husband last year.

 

Neil

[callmehalia]

Pinnacle is better, but Cagney's isn't bad. It's definitely down to the service - we noticed especially at breakfast and lunch, Cagney's staff can be a bit perfunctory.

[Frick_&_Frack]

I've also dined at both. My DH preferred the food in Cagneys (and LeBistro) much more than the Pinnacle. I'll admit I did as well (but, he was truly a steak-lover and was very "critical" of meat and cuts of it; me, well, not so much).

 

I agree that the level of service in LeBistro can far outshine Cagneys. I'll give the edge to the Pinnacle overall on that part. However, our experiences in Cagneys were, possibly, above average as we usually dined there almost every night of a cruise (with the exception of one or two visits each cruise to LeBistro). We had a rapport with the servers in Cagneys from having breakfast and lunch there, and that, I feel, impacted the level of service we received as they were always quite attentive to us and my DH's needs as respects dietary restrictions.

[watchdiva]

Dined at both and agree with previous posters...LeBistro service is outstanding and on par with Pinnacle. We prefer LeBistro..steaks are much better, service is much better and the lamb chops at LeBistro are of so good...

[newmexicoNita]

If someone here has dined in both Pinnacle Grill on an HAL ship and Cagney's on NCL, I'd really appreciate if you would give your opinion comparison.

 

Thanks. :)

 

I would rate them very similar in qualtiy, but on our HAL sailing our waiter had a phoney french accent that drove all 4 of us nuts, plus he was overly attentive. Some people may like this, we found him very annoying. So, my opinion, it probably varies with the wait staff but we slightly prefer Cagneys. I will add one thing, our last time at Cagney's was on the Dawn and we didn't find our wait person particularly good. That was the only time. We have had better service in Le Bistro I think. To us, Cagney's is simply a good steak house, Le Bistro offers atmosphere as well as top service and food.

Edited May 2, 2015 by newmexicoNita

[pizzalady1]

Quality might have changed over the years, but the steaks we had at the Pinnacle, in 2011 were wonderful. The steaks we had in Cagney's on four different ships were just OK, nothing special at all. We can get better steaks at chain restaurants here at home. The only way we will go back to Cagney's will be if we have OBC that needs to be spent (maybe not even then since my husband is intrigued by the key hole machine and that can really eat up OBC),

[sail7seas]

Thanks everyone for the comparison.

It'll be fun trying all new experiences on my upcoming cruise. After so many years and so many cruises on HAL, going to be 'interesting'. :D

 

[sail7seas]

Hi Sail,

I think Cagney's is at least as good as the Pinnacle, possibly better. According to dh, their steaks are superior to those in the Pinnacle.

(I posted late on your thread concerning NCL's announcements, so I think you probably missed my response - I did a mini review comparing NCL to HAL for you, if you care to search for it).

We are 4 star on HAL and will still return to them, but after our first NCL cruise in March, we have just booked another - this time in a suite.

Enjoy and ask away!

Marion

 

Marion, I'm sorry but I did miss your post. Thank you for the comparison. I'm going to try and find it. I would really like to read it.

 

[Aquahound]

If someone here has dined in both Pinnacle Grill on an HAL ship and Cagney's on NCL, I'd really appreciate if you would give your opinion comparison.

 

Thanks. :)

 

I've dined in both more than once and all in all, I think Pinnacle is better. In fact, Cagney's is my least favorite restaurant on NCL.

 

I recommend Le Bistro. Try their lamb chops. :)

[sun~]

I have eaten in the Pinnacle and in Cagney's many, many times.

 

The current Pinnacle menu is on par with Cagney's. However, the last two HAL cruises the food hasn't been very good in the Pinnacle (since the menu change and new suppliers), the thing I don't like in Cagney's is the small serving side dishes they put on the table. Just put the veggies on my plate!

 

Le Bistro is nicer than the Pinnacle. It is always quite nice. It is toss up between the Tamarind and Le Bistro as our favourite specialty restaurants at sea.

 

Service in the Pinnacle can be dismal at times, we have only had one bad server in Le Bistro.

 

Sail, try on the restaurants on NCL! It is really nice to have such a variety.

[sail7seas]

I have eaten in the Pinnacle and in Cagney's many, many times.

 

The current Pinnacle menu is on par with Cagney's. However, the last two HAL cruises the food hasn't been very good in the Pinnacle (since the menu change and new suppliers), the thing I don't like in Cagney's is the small serving side dishes they put on the table. Just put the veggies on my plate!

 

Le Bistro is nicer than the Pinnacle. It is always quite nice. It is toss up between the Tamarind and Le Bistro as our favourite specialty restaurants at sea.

 

Service in the Pinnacle can be dismal at times, we have only had one bad server in Le Bistro.

 

Sail, try on the restaurants on NCL! It is really nice to have such a variety.

 

Thanks. :)

 

My friends and I plan to eat in the various restaurants every night. I doubt we'll get to MDR.

 

Seeing they are in the really big suite and I'm in Penthouse, do we have to make reservations prior to boarding or can we wait and ask concierge to make bookings for us?

 

[sail7seas]

I've dined in both more than once and all in all, I think Pinnacle is better. In fact, Cagney's is my least favorite restaurant on NCL.

 

I recommend Le Bistro. Try their lamb chops. :)

 

I really want to try Le Bistro. Sounds very nice. :)

 

[Granny DI]

We've dined in the Pinnacle on the Oosterdam and the Ryndam and Cagneys on the Epic and Breakaway. There is no comparison...Cagneys is superior. The waiter never came back for our dessert order in the Pinnacle on the Ryndam. We finally left after waiting for 30 minutes. The worst service EVER. Save your money. The food was nothing special. We preferred the food in the MDR to the Pinnacle. NCL knows how to do suites and specialty restaurants!

[sail7seas]

We've dined in the Pinnacle on the Oosterdam and the Ryndam and Cagneys on the Epic and Breakaway. There is no comparison...Cagneys is superior. The waiter never came back for our dessert order in the Pinnacle on the Ryndam. We finally left after waiting for 30 minutes. The worst service EVER. Save your money. The food was nothing special. We preferred the food in the MDR to the Pinnacle. NCL knows how to do suites and specialty restaurants!

 

I've dined in Pinnacles probably 75 or more times and have sailed all HAL ships (most multiple times) but for Prinsendam. Out of all those evenings in Pinnacle, I'd say we were disappointed with either the service or the meal (or both) maybe 5 times in all. We very much enjoyed many Pinnacle dinners in particular on Maasdam, Eurodam, Noordam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Oosterdam and Westerdam. It really won't be fair for me to compare just one or maybe two dinners in Cagney's to all those but it is inevitable I probably will. :o

 

Do you think we should make reservations before we board for those restaurants we want to try or is it okay to wait and have concierge make the bookings?

 

 

[NYteacher]

To answer your question about the need for rebooking: prior to my recent experience aboard the Breakaway in April I would have said to simply let your concierge take care of you. However, even in a suite, they are simply now "overwhelmed" with reservations thanks to the ultimate dining package/UDP.

 

We didn't book any dinners ahead of our cruise, but made reservations for a couple of nights and just winged it the rest. We were on the Breakaway, which has a dedicated suite restaurant for all three meals, so we figured we could always go to that restaurant. Most of the other ships only have suite dining in Cagney's for breakfast and lunch. Twice, we simply asked the concierge "what's available?" and ate where they had room. We had lovely meals in Tepanyaki and Moderno that way.

 

In sum, if you definitely want a specific restaurant at a specific time, book ahead. If you are willing to take Hobson's choice there is no absolute need.

[rochelle_s]

You should be aware the Teppanyaki has very limited seating and it fills up fast. It might be a good idea to at least try and book that one in advance.

 

 

Rochelle

[sail7seas]

Thanks NY Teacher and Rochelle. Appreciate your help. :)

 

I will pre-book a few nights,,,, at least.