Holland Restaurants

[jakzak10]

We are thinking of trying HAL for the 1st time. Our last cruise was on the Celebrity Summit and we sailed in Aqua Class, which allowed us to eat in the specialty restaurant BLU for breakfast and dinner. Was curious if HAL has different restaurants for different stateroom levels or if everyone eats in the main dining room unless they want to go to a specialty restaurant.

 

Thanks

 

Alan

[3rdGenCunarder]

Everyone gets the same dining options, main dining room or buffet. There are upcharge specialty restaurants, which vary from ship to ship. I believe all have Pinnacle (steaks) and Canaletto (Italian). Larger/newer ships have additional venues.

 

The separate meal venue for Neptune Suites and Pinnacle Suites is breakfast in the Pinnacle. Same menu as MDR, but smaller quieter venue. These suites also have access to the Neptune lounge, but that is snacks not full meals.

[catl331]

edit: 3rdGen gave better answer!

[Krazy Kruizers]

If you stay in a Neptune Suite or a Pinnacle Suite, you can have breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill. It has the same breakfast times and same menu as the main dining room.

There is no place BLu for any cabin category to have dinner without paying an extra fee.

The last number of years we have been disappointed in the food in the dining room so we have dinner in the Pinnacle Grill. And if we are on a ship that has the Tamarind restaurant, we alternate between them. There is also the Canaletto -- not to our liking.

(Food is subjective and you may like the dining room food -- many people do.)

[RJ2002]

I will throw in a recommendation for the MDR. On our most recent cruise (May 2017) on the Amsterdam, we had an improved experience in the MDR as compared to prior HAL cruises (our most recent prior cruise was November 2015).

 

We thought the food was appetizing and seemed to be more flavorful than in the past. The cuts of meat were more tender and the seafood offerings were very good. Aside from one evening (2nd Gala Night), all the food was the proper temperature. On that Gala Night, our food was just lukewarm, but the dining room was packed. All the other nights, the dining room was only about 1/2 full. We were in open seating, and dined around 7:45pm each night.

[OlsSalt]

We use the Neptune Lounge for both breakfast and lunch items. Yes, they are snacks but also very adequate small plate items that work for limited calorie meals. Quite nice. You can eat in the Lounge or bring the items back to your cabin and enjoy them on your very spacious verandah.