Pinnacle Suite Question

[LGW59]

Hi all, primarily a Celebrity cruiser here, but their itineraries are getting boring.  I do love their suites that have butler service.  That said Holland America Pinnacle suites are looking very appealing to me right now.  I’m looking at a fantastic itinerary for 14 days from Rome to Ft Lauderdale in a Pinnacle suite.  I know no butler but anyone have experience to compare/share.  Especially if you have done both.  TIA!

[aliaschief]

The Concierge’s in the Neptune Lounge should meet all your needs. Nice experience.

[goldsmip115]

LGW59, there is no comparison.  HAL cannot compare to the suite experience on Celebrity.  The Pinnacle suite on HAL is simply more real estate and a better bottle of sparkling wine and free water and soda in the pantry.  Any Neptune or Pinnacle Suite on HAL gets breakfast in Club Orange or the Pinnacle restaurant depending on the ship. The Neptune lounge is nice and offers snacks and juice or coffee or tea.  Nothing that compares to Luminae and the Butler experience on Celebrity. No alcohol or internet access is included.  I find Celebrity to be a far superior experience and I have done both Pinnacle Suite and Penthouse Suite numerous times.

[ScoutDiver]

Celebrity charges a lot for all of those perks.  Its not an apple to apples comparison.   The space taken up by the Gym and Crows Nest on Koningsdam are likely to suites on something like the Celebrity Edge. 

[Torquer]

We have never been on Celebrity, but have been on another line that has butlers.  In my opinion, the HAL concierges are superior to butlers.  No they will not help you unpack (we never used that anyway) and you will get a different waiter for room service every time, instead of your personal butler.  But as far as handling arrangements, they are better.  For example, we have never had to go to the front desk for anything on HAL, even after many cruises; the concierges will handle all those things for you.  They will set up private appointments with the future cruise consultant and arrange a behind the scene ships tour, in addition to the more mundane things of dinner reservations and shore excursion booking.

 

Although the concierges handle both the Pinnacle and Neptune suite guests, in our observations they pay much more attention and give better service to the Pinnacle suite guests.

[FlyingCruiser2]

On 4/29/2022 at 7:18 PM, Torquer said:

We have never been on Celebrity, but have been on another line that has butlers.  In my opinion, the HAL concierges are superior to butlers.  No they will not help you unpack (we never used that anyway) and you will get a different waiter for room service every time, instead of your personal butler.  But as far as handling arrangements, they are better.  For example, we have never had to go to the front desk for anything on HAL, even after many cruises; the concierges will handle all those things for you.  They will set up private appointments with the future cruise consultant and arrange a behind the scene ships tour, in addition to the more mundane things of dinner reservations and shore excursion booking.

 

Although the concierges handle both the Pinnacle and Neptune suite guests, in our observations they pay much more attention and give better service to the Pinnacle suite guests.

Just off Eurodam last cruise before repo to Alaska and have to agree here about the better attention.  Also the 60 foot balcony with hot tub was amazing.  We got obviously (bordering on slightly embarrassing  cause we are low-maintainance guests) more attention at bars/restaurants and boarding.  Our primary reason for staying HAL is the lower capacity ships and the Pinnacle Suites.  

[CruisinNana]

6 hours ago, FlyingCruiser2 said:

Just off Eurodam last cruise before repo to Alaska and have to agree here about the better attention.  Also the 60 foot balcony with hot tub was amazing.  We got obviously (bordering on slightly embarrassing  cause we are low-maintainance guests) more attention at bars/restaurants and boarding.  Our primary reason for staying HAL is the lower capacity ships and the Pinnacle Suites.  

Were you first on ship and escorted to your suite?

[Torquer]

@FlyingCruiser2Since you have been in the Pinnacle Suite post-covid, can you tell us if the extra perks were the same as pre-covid.  For example, did you get free non-alcoholic drinks from the refrigerator in the suite?  How about a behind-the-scene ship tour?

 

In my prior post I didn't mention the extra attention from all the crew, and not just the concierges.  If there is a waiting line in the MDR, and the maitre d' sees us waiting he will often pull us out of line, ahead of other guests and escort us to our reserved table (often the best table in the dining room).  On most nights the restaurant manager or even the head chef will visit our table and ask how we like the food.  In our suite, we have had visits from the hotel director checking if there is anything he can do for us.  On one cruise, after we met the entertainment director on a private ship tour, every night in the theater he would ask us how we liked the show and tell us about the upcoming acts.  Overall the personal service for Pinnacle Suite guests is quite amazing.

[Brentt_M]

18 hours ago, FlyingCruiser2 said:

Just off Eurodam last cruise before repo to Alaska and have to agree here about the better attention.  Also the 60 foot balcony with hot tub was amazing.  We got obviously (bordering on slightly embarrassing  cause we are low-maintainance guests) more attention at bars/restaurants and boarding.  Our primary reason for staying HAL is the lower capacity ships and the Pinnacle Suites.  

Awesome to hear. I will be in a PS on the Eurodam in July for an Alaskan cruise and we are very looking forward to that balcony!

[FlyingCruiser2]

14 hours ago, CruisinNana said:

Were you first on ship and escorted to your suite?

Good story. We went to the verifly checkin, and were directed right to security.  Then they told us to go up to mariner waiting room up an escalator.  At top of escalator someone asked how many stars?  I said we were in Pinnacle suite. She said “are you sure - are you in Neptune?  I gave her our cabin number and showed pass.  She completely freaked that we were not escorted the 50 feet and up the escalator and ran off to find out why, over my protest that it really wasn’t a big deal (we are likely the most low maintenance people they get).  Then two other supervisors came to apologize.  At boarding time they came and got us and took us onboard before anyone and the concierge came down to take us to our cabin.  BTW - we had been assigned the 4th boarding time(like 140), but showed up at 11 anyway. 

This was at Port Everglades, so at other embarkation ports “your mileage may vary”.

[FlyingCruiser2]

14 hours ago, Torquer said:

@FlyingCruiser2Since you have been in the Pinnacle Suite post-covid, can you tell us if the extra perks were the same as pre-covid.  For example, did you get free non-alcoholic drinks from the refrigerator in the suite?  How about a behind-the-scene ship tour?

 

 

They did not offer the behind scenes tour.  Not sure if there used to be an officer meet up thing, but there was nothing like that either. Beverages in fridge were complimentary. 
 

Totally agree about treatment by crew/staff. For example, we like to sit next to each other at dinner. The second time we went to any venue the table was already set that way.  Also there was one night we decided to do Pinnacle and the concierge said he couldn’t get us in.  I walked down there and the maitr’d said of course he could.  

[CruisinNana]

On 5/13/2022 at 10:49 AM, FlyingCruiser2 said:

Good story. We went to the verifly checkin, and were directed right to security.  Then they told us to go up to mariner waiting room up an escalator.  At top of escalator someone asked how many stars?  I said we were in Pinnacle suite. She said “are you sure - are you in Neptune?  I gave her our cabin number and showed pass.  She completely freaked that we were not escorted the 50 feet and up the escalator and ran off to find out why, over my protest that it really wasn’t a big deal (we are likely the most low maintenance people they get).  Then two other supervisors came to apologize.  At boarding time they came and got us and took us onboard before anyone and the concierge came down to take us to our cabin.  BTW - we had been assigned the 4th boarding time(like 140), but showed up at 11 anyway. 

This was at Port Everglades, so at other embarkation ports “your mileage may vary”.

Great story!  My husband’s favorite perk for our past Pinnacle Suite was the first on and escort to our cabin (Ft Lauderdale). Happy to hear that perk is still alive and well.  My favorite “perk” was the well equipped pantry which I used most mornings while my husband slept late.  We again look forward to this spacious, lovely cabin in November. 

[FlyingCruiser2]

9 minutes ago, CruisinNana said:

Great story!  My husband’s favorite perk for our past Pinnacle Suite was the first on and escort to our cabin (Ft Lauderdale). Happy to hear that perk is still alive and well.  My favorite “perk” was the well equipped pantry which I used most mornings while my husband slept late.  We again look forward to this spacious, lovely cabin in November. 

For your November trip - check my post about how to do Bluetooth through the multi-room system:  

 

 

 

[terrydtx]

On 4/29/2022 at 5:23 AM, goldsmip115 said:

LGW59, there is no comparison.  HAL cannot compare to the suite experience on Celebrity.  The Pinnacle suite on HAL is simply more real estate and a better bottle of sparkling wine and free water and soda in the pantry.  Any Neptune or Pinnacle Suite on HAL gets breakfast in Club Orange or the Pinnacle restaurant depending on the ship. The Neptune lounge is nice and offers snacks and juice or coffee or tea.  Nothing that compares to Luminae and the Butler experience on Celebrity. No alcohol or internet access is included.  I find Celebrity to be a far superior experience and I have done both Pinnacle Suite and Penthouse Suite numerous times.

I agree with your comments, we have done both and the HAL suites even with Club Orange do not come close to comparing with the Celebrity Retreat. The Butler, the Retreat Lounge with a full time bartender and the Luminae with a completely separate daily menu from the MDR are all benefits you do not get with any HAL Suite and worth the cost. We discovery the Retreat Suites experience last year on the Equinox and it sold us 100% on Celebrity going forward. We had sailed primarily with HAL since 2009 but after our upcoming Oosterdam cruise in August we are done with HAL and are booking the Retreat Suites for our Ocean cruises with only Celebrity.

[CruisinNana]

8 hours ago, FlyingCruiser2 said:

For your November trip - check my post about how to do Bluetooth through the multi-room system:  

Thank you,

 

 

[Catlover54]

Does anyone know if the Pinnacle Suite beddding arrangement on the Rotterdam can be converted from a king to two twins, (like the bed can be converted in Neptune suites)?

 

I have read that the sofa in the living area converts to a sofa bed, so potentially for two unrelated people, or people who do not "sleep" together , that would be another option if the answer is no.