dining on 7 night NE/Canada cruise- many ?s

[laumicmah]

First time HAL cruiser here! Thanks in advance for any help!!

 

1) Can you tell me what nights will be gala? Specifically when lobster might be served.

 

2) Also, are the specialty venues tough to get reservations for once on the ship? And would we have to make them day 1 on the ship? Any we should make before we cruise? Cruise is in July.

 

3) Any not to miss nights in the MDR? Can I find the MDR menus online somewhere?

 

 

4) And why does Rudi's say it's one night only?

 

5) Also, we got a free dinner in Pinnacle through booking early via a certain online website (not sure I can name, not directly through HAL). E-mail states that they will place a card in our cabin with our reservation date and time. Any idea what day they might book us? And how easy is it to add 2 more guests? 

Edited March 7, 2020 by laumicmah

[3rdGenCunarder]

A lot of the answers depend on things beyond your control.

 

1) Gala nights depend on the itinerary. If you have a sea day that is not the last night, that's very likely to be a gala night. I wouldn't obsess about "lobster night." You will be in New England and Canada where you can get great lobster ashore, much better than the pre-frozen lobster tail served on the ship. 

 

2) Availability of specialty restaurants varies depending on recent promos. Some promos include a pinnacle dinner, and when a lot of people have that promo, it can be difficult to get the day and time of your choice. If you don't want to book specialty restaurants in advance, definitely do it on day 1.

 

3) Menus vary by itinerary. HAL doesn't post any. There is a regular poster here who might have menus from a Canada cruise. Maybe someone will post a link.

 

4) Are you asking about Rudi's Sel de Mer? That's a pop-up meal that takes over the Pinnacle for one night. Only the two new (and largest) ships have a permanent Sel de Mer restaurant.

 

5) Check the reservation card right away when you board. They often book the freebies on the first night, and if you don't check, you could miss your Pinnacle meal. If you don't like the time/day, go and see if they'll change it for you. Check the "when and where" (daily program) for the location where you can make/change reservations. You'll need to do that anyway, if you want to change your reservation to two more people.

 

[AJSkarbo]

You can also go to the Pinnacle at boarding and ask for the day/time of your reservation. My last cruise on Eurodam we had dinner in the Pinnacle as a booking perk but did not have a card in our room. We stopped by and they wrote it down for us and asked if we wanted to change it.

[catl331]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

3) Menus vary by itinerary. HAL doesn't post any. There is a regular poster here who might have menus from a Canada cruise. Maybe someone will post a link.

I presume you mean CrewNews (rogerjett-photography.com)? He doesn't have any NE/CA MDR menus posted, just Caribbean ones.

Edited March 7, 2020 by catl331

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, catl331 said:

I presume you mean CrewNews (rogerjett-photography.com)? He doesn't have any NE/CA MDR menus posted, just Caribbean ones.

 

Yes, I did. I couldn't remember which cruises he had on his site. 

 

[laumicmah]

Thank you all. I will book the Italian place now for the last night as it is my birthday. And will book the one night at Rudi's. And will go with whatever night they book our Pinnacle but try to add our 2 DDs to the resie when we get on the ship. 

 

Another question...how do I find, on HAL site, what dining time I chose? I don't see it and cannot remember. Either traditional early or the anytime (if HAL has that).

 

[Crew News]

10 hours ago, laumicmah said:

First time HAL cruiser here! Thanks in advance for any help!!

 

1) Can you tell me what nights will be gala? Specifically when lobster might be served.

 

Lobster night will always be on the second Gala Night of a 7-day cruise.  Gala nights are usually on sea days or early-departure port days.  They are not on the first or last nights or subsequent nights.  The first and second Gala Night menus are the same throughout the HAL fleet.

 

Here are menus for the first and second Gala Nights (Disregard the Club Orange Header):

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/NS-A-MDR-Day-03-Gala-Night.pdf

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/NS-A-MDR-Day-05-Gala-Night.pdf

Edited March 8, 2020 by Crew News

[laumicmah]

So this cruise is:

 

Sat- embark

Sun- port

Mon- port 

Tue- port

Wed- port- booked Rudi's 

Thur- seaday- ASSUME THIS IS GALA

Fri- port- booked Italian place

Sat- disembark

 

I assume 2nd gala (and lobster) is that Thur- seaday near the end. And maybe Mon is 1st Gala, or Tue. I hope Sat or Sun or even Mon will be the night they assign us the steakhouse. I'd like Sat/embark day. But DH would rather not beause we will have to be sure to get luggage in time to dress nice. 

Edited March 8, 2020 by laumicmah

[*Miss G*]

16 hours ago, laumicmah said:

Another question...how do I find, on HAL site, what dining time I chose? I don't see it and cannot remember. Either traditional early or the anytime (if HAL has that).

 

It will be on your booking confirmation.  First page.

[laumicmah]

1 minute ago, *Miss G* said:

 

It will be on your booking confirmation.  First page.

Booked through online travel company. They sent me confirmation and it's not on it. I probably need to call them to ask.

[*Miss G*]

7 minutes ago, laumicmah said:

Booked through online travel company. They sent me confirmation and it's not on it. I probably need to call them to ask.

 

Ah. Well if you can’t get through it will be printed on your ship card when you board.

[0106]

Italian place would not be my choice for a birthday dinner.  It is connected to Lido and nothing special.

[catl331]

3 hours ago, laumicmah said:

Booked through online travel company. They sent me confirmation and it's not on it. I probably need to call them to ask.

Once you get within 50 days and can get your edocs it will show on the first page (boarding pass).  It will say either Open Seating or Early or Main. 

[laumicmah]

18 hours ago, 0106 said:

Italian place would not be my choice for a birthday dinner.  It is connected to Lido and nothing special.

Yeah, I know. I wanted the Rudi's thing but that is another night. We'd prefer to do the steakhouse earlier in the trip too. Last 2 cruises we did it at the end and were feeling too gross by the end to really enjoy it. Too gross from eating so much all week and trying to drink our moneys worth of the drink package, LOL. This time our drink package was another free perk for booking early with the online travel company we used. So we won't feel hard pressed to use it full tilt. I suppose we could switch once we get on board and have our Pinnacle date/time.