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Pinnacle for non-steak lovers - Is it worth the $?


Joanandjoe

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I really did think that maybe there were two different dishes. I'm really not the typo police.

 

I did, too! I was surfing the thread hoping someone would describe what it was without my having to show my ignorance by asking! If there was an Italian dish that was new to me, I wanted to find out about it! So, from me, thank you for asking for the genuine clarification.

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My husband had the porterhouse steak and it was amazing.......but FAR too huge! We rarely eat beef and couldn't believe how delicious it was. I had planked halibut but could only eat about half of it.

However, (always having space for dessert) when we ordered the famous chocolate volcano cake, we were told, "We are all out and there won't be any for at least an hour."

Now, this was on a day when the Pinnacle had only perhaps twenty people dining....................!

We were disappointed in the service but the food was excellent (except for the dessert:) ).

It's well worth the extra cost.

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I'll order my Warm Grand Marnier Chocolate Volcano Cake when I am seated, just to be certain I get one. The Crème Brulée is my second choice. So far we have rez for Wed and Fri, and I can't wait!

 

Candy <-- has her menus all planned out for Zuidy #6

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I think it is worth every penny! Even if you're NOT a steak lover! Putting aside all of the other fabulous main dishes already mentioned, the other things that make my dining experience in the Pinnacle Grill so wonderful is first the ambiance, followed by the wonderful service. But, then I would have to make note of the fabulous appetizers, side dishes, and yes, the deserts! I have always enjoyed a wonderful meal in the Pinnacle, while having a memorable dining experience.

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Can you order a meal (and pay for it) from the Pinnacle Grill and have it delivered to your cabin?

Sorry, no. That's not possible.

 

There's an extensive Room Service menu, and you can order off the dining room menu for delivery to your cabin. If you wish to do that, you must order during Early Dining time for delivery at the time you wish.

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My wife is not a big meat eater, but I am. I thought the steaks at the Pinnacle were very good. She said the cedar planked halibut was a touch dry, but still tasty. We ate there twice on the Zuiderdam. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal, but my wife felt that the seafood in the main dining room was better.

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The winelist in the Pinnacle is different from the one in the Main Dining Room. It has better wine, and the wine steward in the Pinnacle actually knows something about wine, and can articulate it.

 

If you're into wine, you'll enjoy the Pinnacle!! (It is not free, however!)

 

Happy Sailing!!

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So is the lunch menu posted somewhere? I didn't see it at Candy's site.

I think I can talk my party into lunch since they don't want to do dinner. ;)

 

Don't have a full menu for you Akur. We had lunch in the Pinnacle on the Rotterdam in AUG. The wife had lobster cakes and I had black bean soup and a burger. It was very good

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So far, the consensus seems to be that it's worth a try, particularly on the first night or on sea days, even if we're not steak eaters and even though Joe is allergic to chocolate (so no volcano cake). The thread is interesting, so keep up the comments.

 

Thanks, Candy, for posting the menus. I assume that EC means Eastern Caribbean.

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I've only eaten once in the Pinnacle Grill (aboard the Statendam I believe) and that was by invitation. I have very mixed feelings about it. First of all, I didn't find the ambience or the service to be anything special. I ordered the Planked Halibut and it was overcooked and not particularly appetizing - in fact I only ate about one quarter of the serving. I had been looking forward to the vaunted Volcano Cake but, quite honestly, I have a better recipe here at home (I think it Wolfgang Puck's, but honestly don't remember right now).

 

Now - on the bright side: the appetizers were wonderful and I even ate my host's also since he didn't care to try them. The asparagus dish was wonderful and the after-dinner chocolates were so good that I surreptitiously (I hope) took the leftovers "home" with me and enjoyed them in my cabin while watching a movie on T.V.

 

To be perfectly honest, the couple seated next to me, who had also been invited to enjoy the Pinnacle Grill Experience by the same lovely couple who invited me, ordered the Filet Mignons and I have to say they looked wonderful and I was so sorry that I had not ordered that instead.

 

Would I try The Pinnacle Grill again? Yes, without a doubt. I'm still open-minded about the experience but I still think that the ambience and the service leaves an awful lot to be desired. Our waiter, who apparently didn't notice that we were short of bread or ice-water, spent an awful lot of time examining his fingernails and yawning with boredom. Other than that - the food (with the exception of the Planked Halibut) looked delicious and I will definitely try something else next time.:)

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The winelist in the Pinnacle is different from the one in the Main Dining Room. It has better wine, and the wine steward in the Pinnacle actually knows something about wine, and can articulate it.

 

If you're into wine, you'll enjoy the Pinnacle!! (It is not free, however!)

 

Happy Sailing!!

 

Nope, sorry, there aren't too many people out there more into wine than my wife and I, and this is another area where the Pinnacle let us down. The wine steward there PRETENDED to know what he was talking about, but to someone who knows wine it was obvious his knowledge was only tip-sheet deep. Our wine steward in the main dining room actually knew more about wine and wine/food pairings than the Pinnacle guy did.

 

And you can order wines off the Pinnacle list in the main dining room with no problem. We did that several evenings in order to try more varied selections (the Pinnacle list offers several excellent or at least unusual selections from Oregon and Washington).

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We've eaten twice in the Pinnacle - once on the Zuiderdam and the second time on the Prinsendam. We thoroughloy enjoyed our experiences there - DH had the filet mignon, while I had the lamb. I thought it was just a "Steak Place", and I'm not a big beef eater, so was happy to see that there were more than just steaks on the menu. The lamb was done perfectly according to my request, while DH was very pleased with his filet. Of course, the crowning glory for me was the Chocolate Volcano Cake ... mmmmm, I can almost taste it now. Will we go back? Absolutely!

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

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Nope, sorry, there aren't too many people out there more into wine than my wife and I, and this is another area where the Pinnacle let us down. The wine steward there PRETENDED to know what he was talking about, but to someone who knows wine it was obvious his knowledge was only tip-sheet deep. Our wine steward in the main dining room actually knew more about wine and wine/food pairings than the Pinnacle guy did.

 

And you can order wines off the Pinnacle list in the main dining room with no problem. We did that several evenings in order to try more varied selections (the Pinnacle list offers several excellent or at least unusual selections from Oregon and Washington).

 

That's a good tip -- that wines from the Pinnacle list are available in the Main Dining Room. How does that work? Did you pre-order, or did you ask the steward to bring that list to you in the Dining Room? Inquiring minds want to know!

 

As far as the personnel, we obviously had different experiences. My steward in the Pinnacle was a very knowledgable female -- yours was a male. My experience in the main room with the steward was that he was more of a "wine fetcher" than a sommelier, but we were on different cruises at different times.

 

Happy cruising!

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On the Westerdam the wine steward in the Pinnacle Grill recommended appropriate wine to go with the food I ordered. In the main dining room the wine steward was untrained and even asked me which bottle of wine I would like for the next night without offering up a menu. I ordered a wine package (which I might not do again) and it seemed to shock the wine steward that I wanted to know what food I would be having before I could choose a bottle of wine.

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Please don't take offense to this (it's not meant to be insulting), but MOST people who order the wine packages are not very knowledgable about wine. They would most likely not put much thought into pairing their wine to their meal, beyond thinking red goes with meat and white with chicken or fish. Clearly you put more thought than that into it, but the wine steward has probably learned over and over again that his wine package guests don't have a clue.

 

As for ordering from the Pinnacle menu in the main dining room, we generally did it through the earlier-in-the-day pre-ordering, but one night we didn't have a chance to pre-order and the wine steward brought me both lists without my even having to ask. You can also order Pinnacle wines through room service--the Neptune Lounge had one of their lists and was happy to help with that.

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We have tried the Pinnacle on four different HAL ships and have been disappointed on every occasion. On every occasion we have found the service to be painfully slow and disjointed, the food very average and the whole experience overhyped. I suspect most other cruisers have found similar experiences, since the dining area is usually less than half full at any given time.

 

This opinion is not our own - we recently sailed with a group of friends and it was unanimous.

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  • 2 months later...

has anyone reconsiderd their views on this subject? If we're not steak or chocolate eaters, service is slow, and only the steaks are exceptional (with the side dishes generally viewed as awful), how is the PG worth $20?

 

Before the fiasco thread, we figured we'd try the PG just for a change. Now we've even less sure than before.

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