J4NEC Posted March 6, 2019 #1 Share Posted March 6, 2019 Hi everyone. We are a family of four ( two older teens), going on our very first cruise on Koningsdam to Eastern Med on 29 July. Please forgive my ignorance but is it best to have dinner in the MDR on Gala nights, thought we might book Pinnacle Grill but don’t want to miss out on the festivities! Also, does anyone know what time they show outdoor movies ? Thanks xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenseasnomad Posted March 6, 2019 #2 Share Posted March 6, 2019 (edited) 15 minutes ago, J4NEC said: Hi everyone. We are a family of four ( two older teens), going on our very first cruise on Koningsdam to Eastern Med on 29 July. Please forgive my ignorance but is it best to have dinner in the MDR on Gala nights, thought we might book Pinnacle Grill but don’t want to miss out on the festivities! Also, does anyone know what time they show outdoor movies ? Thanks xx Movies are generally shown in the evenings, around 9-10 p.m. on our cruise. Check your daily planner for the specific time each day, as it can vary. MDR Gala Nights, IMO, aren't the pull-out-all-the-stops events that they once were. In those days, waiters placed white covers over the chairs, lighting was more subdued, live musicians played, and more passengers dressed up. The second Gala Night has usually offered the filet mignon and lobster tail. If you want to double check, simply visit the Front Desk as soon as you board. The ladies (and gents) who serve Guest Relations often have menus for the full cruise, and you can decide whether dining in the MDR is worth it to you. If not, head to the dining booking station (location varies from ship to ship on the first day) and make your reservations. Only you can decide if the MDR offers menu items you prefer over the PG's set menu on Gala Nights. You may also want to consider Tamarind. Edited March 6, 2019 by sevenseasnomad 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Crew News Posted March 6, 2019 #3 Share Posted March 6, 2019 (edited) 16 minutes ago, J4NEC said: Hi everyone. We are a family of four ( two older teens), going on our very first cruise on Koningsdam to Eastern Med on 29 July. Please forgive my ignorance but is it best to have dinner in the MDR on Gala nights, thought we might book Pinnacle Grill but don’t want to miss out on the festivities! Also, does anyone know what time they show outdoor movies ? Thanks xx The second Gala Night is surf 'n turf with shrimp cocktails appetizers so it is worth going to Gala Night. The first Gala Night is not as extravagant. Other than upscaled food, there are not other festivities. Most nights the poolside movies are 7:00 and 10:00 PM Edited March 6, 2019 by Crew News Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlsSalt Posted March 6, 2019 #4 Share Posted March 6, 2019 There are no real "festivities" on Gala Night, nor is it even universally formal - just an invitation to dress up a bit more formally for those who still enjoy this old sea travel tradition . We often dress up when we dine at the Pinnacle anyway. I wouldn't let Gala Night interfere with your choice one way or the other to dine at the Pinnacle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveOKC Posted March 6, 2019 #5 Share Posted March 6, 2019 We generally avoid booking the Pinnacle on Gala Nights as we like the food in the MDR those evenings. We like to save the Pinnacle for a late port night or the last night of the cruise as it gives us more time flexiblity (we normally have Early fixed dining). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kruizers Posted March 7, 2019 #6 Share Posted March 7, 2019 Not sure what festivities you thought HAL would have on Gala nights. But they don't exist. When we did dine in the dining room, formal (gala) nights -- we went to a specialty restaurant. Don't like warm water, very salty lobster tails and chewy filet. Your ship has the Tamarind restaurant -- way better than the Pinnacle Grill. JMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lido deck main Posted March 7, 2019 #7 Share Posted March 7, 2019 34 minutes ago, J4NEC said: Hi everyone. We are a family of four ( two older teens), going on our very first cruise on Koningsdam to Eastern Med on 29 July. Please forgive my ignorance but is it best to have dinner in the MDR on Gala nights, thought we might book Pinnacle Grill but don’t want to miss out on the festivities! Also, does anyone know what time they show outdoor movies ? Thanks xx Hi, personally as this is your first cruise and you have two teenagers I would do both Gala nights in the MDR. If you like Escarcots they serve that as an appetizers first Gala night only. It is special, a lot of people dress up, not over the top, would be a great night to take a family photo as all the photographers are out taking pictures. Have a great cruise. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted March 7, 2019 #8 Share Posted March 7, 2019 2 hours ago, Crew News said: The second Gala Night is surf 'n turf with shrimp cocktails appetizers so it is worth going to Gala Night. The first Gala Night is not as extravagant. Other than upscaled food, there are not other festivities. Most nights the poolside movies are 7:00 and 10:00 PM Not quite correct. The FINAL Gala night will have the lobster. Just in case you are on a cruise with more than two gala nights. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocketMan275 Posted March 7, 2019 #9 Share Posted March 7, 2019 18 hours ago, Crew News said: The second Gala Night is surf 'n turf with shrimp cocktails appetizers so it is worth going to Gala Night. The first Gala Night is not as extravagant. Other than upscaled food, there are not other festivities. Most nights the poolside movies are 7:00 and 10:00 PM I've seen those 'upscale' items served on the buffet as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianbear Posted March 7, 2019 #10 Share Posted March 7, 2019 We just got off the Koningsdam yesterday. We like dining in the MDR on gala nights. Just a heads up if you like escargot-our cruise and the one before it had no escargot. They said they were having trouble stocking it. You might like to book the first & last night at the specialty restaurants like Tamarind, Pinnacle or Canalleto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catl331 Posted March 7, 2019 #11 Share Posted March 7, 2019 (edited) 38 minutes ago, canadianbear said: You might like to book the first & last night at the specialty restaurants like Tamarind, Pinnacle or Canalleto. I would put Sel de Mer in as my second choice, after the Tamarind. It is pricey though, unless you are 4 or 5 star. Edited March 7, 2019 by catl331 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianbear Posted March 7, 2019 #12 Share Posted March 7, 2019 Wasn’t sure with teens if Sel de Mer would be something they’d like. Lots of choices! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMSDingy Posted March 25, 2019 #13 Share Posted March 25, 2019 (edited) On 3/7/2019 at 1:36 PM, canadianbear said: We just got off the Koningsdam yesterday. We like dining in the MDR on gala nights. Just a heads up if you like escargot-our cruise and the one before it had no escargot. They said they were having trouble stocking it. You might like to book the first & last night at the specialty restaurants like Tamarind, Pinnacle or Canalleto. Did you dine in the MDR? One of the posts above commented that the surf n turf was nothing to write home about. We're booked in the Tamarind for our second gala night but we can change it for another night if the MDR menu is decent. Edited March 25, 2019 by HMSDingy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianbear Posted March 25, 2019 #14 Share Posted March 25, 2019 23 minutes ago, HMSDingy said: Did you dine in the MDR? One of the posts above commented that the surf n turf was nothing to write home about. We're booked in the Tamarind for our second gala night but we can change it for another night if the MDR menu is decent. We didn’t do the MDR night (1st gala night) when they didn’t have escargot. We did the 2nd gala night and all 4 of us had the surf & turf. We found it excellent. We book Tamarind ahead of time for the first night as always find the MDR a zoo as we have any time dining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esimon Posted March 26, 2019 #15 Share Posted March 26, 2019 On 3/6/2019 at 7:09 PM, Krazy Kruizers said: Not sure what festivities you thought HAL would have on Gala nights. But they don't exist. When we did dine in the dining room, formal (gala) nights -- we went to a specialty restaurant. Don't like warm water, very salty lobster tails and chewy filet. Your ship has the Tamarind restaurant -- way better than the Pinnacle Grill. JMO wow my husband was just talking about snooty people -- lol - how do you stand the food on these ships. LOL Love gala nights and enjoy all parts of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowesha Posted March 26, 2019 #16 Share Posted March 26, 2019 I love the escargot! Which night is the escargot? That is the only thing I look forward to on Gala night! BTW I do like to dress up for them, call me old fashioned! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianbear Posted March 26, 2019 #17 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Just now, Snowesha said: I love the escargot! Which night is the escargot? That is the only thing I look forward to on Gala night! BTW I do like to dress up for them, call me old fashioned! It’s usually the 2nd gala night. Would be interested to know if anyone has had escargot recently on a HAL ship. We really love the way HAL does it (Celebrity offered it every night but nowhere near as good as HAL’s). We will be on the NA next month so I hope it’s back in stock! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMSDingy Posted March 26, 2019 #18 Share Posted March 26, 2019 18 hours ago, canadianbear said: We didn’t do the MDR night (1st gala night) when they didn’t have escargot. We did the 2nd gala night and all 4 of us had the surf & turf. We found it excellent. We book Tamarind ahead of time for the first night as always find the MDR a zoo as we have any time dining. Speaking of anytime dining, are they flexible with the hours. We normally like to dine at 7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianbear Posted March 26, 2019 #19 Share Posted March 26, 2019 1 hour ago, HMSDingy said: Speaking of anytime dining, are they flexible with the hours. We normally like to dine at 7. They encourage after 7:30. However, if you go before and it’s super busy they give you a pager so you can go have a drink while waiting. If you’re willing to sit with others it’s usually not too long of wait (except the first night we’ve found, hence we pre-book a specialty restaurant). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted March 26, 2019 #20 Share Posted March 26, 2019 16 hours ago, canadianbear said: It’s usually the 2nd gala night. Would be interested to know if anyone has had escargot recently on a HAL ship. We really love the way HAL does it (Celebrity offered it every night but nowhere near as good as HAL’s). We will be on the NA next month so I hope it’s back in stock! I’ve never NOT had escargots on a HAL ship on that Gala night. I’ll certainly report on board but I do expect to have them again 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianbear Posted March 26, 2019 #21 Share Posted March 26, 2019 1 minute ago, kazu said: I’ve never NOT had escargots on a HAL ship on that Gala night. I’ll certainly report on board but I do expect to have them again 😉 I’m sure they’ll get stock, just not sure when. We were quite disappointed as we really enjoy escargot-love that garlic too!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMSDingy Posted March 27, 2019 #22 Share Posted March 27, 2019 5 hours ago, canadianbear said: They encourage after 7:30. However, if you go before and it’s super busy they give you a pager so you can go have a drink while waiting. If you’re willing to sit with others it’s usually not too long of wait (except the first night we’ve found, hence we pre-book a specialty restaurant). Then I guess the best thing would be to book a specialty restaurant for the first night & avoid the mayhem. BTW British Columbia is beautiful as is the rest our our country! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianbear Posted March 27, 2019 #23 Share Posted March 27, 2019 20 minutes ago, HMSDingy said: Then I guess the best thing would be to book a specialty restaurant for the first night & avoid the mayhem. BTW British Columbia is beautiful as is the rest our our country! When you board the ship you can also try to make reservations in the MDR but usually it’s either very early or 7:45. We found going around 7:30 was very easy to get in. Born and and raised in BC & still love it! Great Alaska cruises from here 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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