Is Rudi's being retired on the Nieuw Amsterdam ?

[scubacruiserx2]

We have booked a B2B2B on the Nieuw Amsterdam to Alaska from Vancouver followed by a Vancouver to Ft. Lauderdale and a Ft. Lauderdale to Eastern Caribbean cruise later this month . We booked Rudi's for Alaska and wanted to book them for the other cruises and the Pinnacle Gala for the Panama leg . They are not shown as available at the HAL cruise activities . When we spoke to HAL they didn't know nor did their supervisors if it will become available any time soon . Has anyone else heard anything ?

[Ready2go11]

Not sure about NA, but Rudi’s was removed as a dining pop up option on the Noordam 6 day coastal from Oct 2 to Oct 8. We were able to book it on Zuiderdam Alaska embarking on Sept 22. 

[Florida_gal_50]

Maybe they are anticipating all they money they are going to make by charging for extra appetizers in the pinnacle so they are clearing the decks for that.  Maybe the money they are making doesn’t justify it?

[rkacruiser]

5 minutes ago, Ready2go11 said:

Not sure about NA, but Rudi’s was removed as a dining pop up option on the Noordam 6 day coastal from Oct 2 to Oct 8. We were able to book it on Zuiderdam Alaska embarking on Sept 22. 

 

I would not read too much into this unavailability of booking  pop-up on a short cruise.

 

If some Seattle "suit" makes a decision to eliminate Rudi's, it will be one more example of the incompetence of some of the senior executives in Seattle.  New President?  Yes?  Same old poor decisions?  I hope not.  

 

HAL has a winner with Rudi's either as a stand alone or as a pop-up.  To eliminate it?  Whomever would make such a decision must have gotten his/her MBA at the same prestigious Timbuctu University where I got my M. D. degree.  

[oakridger]

Hello fellow "Fire and Ice" cruiser (I borrowed that from you!)  @scubacruiserx2 I booked Rudy's on our cruise on Saturday October 8th when we are in San Diego.  I thought it was kind of strange to have the pop up on an embarkation day, but it's still showing in my itinerary, and I have paid for it.

 

~Nancy

 

 

[yerdua]

DH and I are booked on Zuiderdam for Nov 17 Panama cruise. I noticed a couple weeks ago that reservations for Rudis pop up had been eliminated. Then last week I thought to look at pinnacle availability for the original day of Rudis. Yup. Can now book pinnacle for that day. Also, pinnacle is available to book on what was originally pinnacle gala night. My guess... There are so many HIA customers that they need the extra time slots for regular pinnacle diners. I know this cruise is pretty full.

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by yerdua

[canadarocks]

52 minutes ago, yerdua said:

DH and I are booked on Zuiderdam for Nov 17 Panama cruise. I noticed a couple weeks ago that reservations for Rudis pop up had been eliminated. Then last week I thought to look at pinnacle availability for the original day of Rudis. Yup. Can now book pinnacle for that day. Also, pinnacle is available to book on what was originally pinnacle gala night. My guess... There are so many HIA customers that they need the extra time slots for regular pinnacle diners. I know this cruise is pretty full.

 

That makes total sense. We have three cruises booked and at this point there are no Pinnacle Gala nights on any of them. 

[scubacruiserx2]

14 hours ago, oakridger said:

Hello fellow "Fire and Ice" cruiser (I borrowed that from you!)  @scubacruiserx2 I booked Rudy's on our cruise on Saturday October 8th when we are in San Diego.  I thought it was kind of strange to have the pop up on an embarkation day, but it's still showing in my itinerary, and I have paid for it.

 

~Nancy

 

 

 

Agreed , we have never heard of Rudi's being on the first night of the cruise . You must know someone ☺️.

[copagal]

We are on the same Panama cruise embarking in San Diego. We were able to book Rudi's for the first night in San Diego and the Pinnacle Gala for one of the port days (Costa Rica).  Those options are no longer available on the website to book but they still show up on our itinerary as being reserved,

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, canadarocks said:

That makes total sense. We have three cruises booked and at this point there are no Pinnacle Gala nights on any of them. 

 

It doesn't make sense to us . We did the Pinnacle Gala on our Spring cruise through the Canal on the Nieuw Amsterdam in April this year . The Inside Cabin did a nice review on it recently on their cruise .

 

https://www.theinsidecabin.com/pinnacle-gala-post-21/

[scubacruiserx2]

10 minutes ago, copagal said:

We are on the same Panama cruise embarking in San Diego. We were able to book Rudi's for the first night in San Diego and the Pinnacle Gala for one of the port days (Costa Rica).  Those options are no longer available on the website to book but they still show up on our itinerary as being reserved,

 

Thanks for the heads up . We just booked both of those days for the Pinnacle Grill at 7 PM . It showed lots of times available . When we booked the Gala last time it only showed 1 time available as the dinner last about 3 hours .

[canadarocks]

17 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

It doesn't make sense to us . We did the Pinnacle Gala on our Spring cruise through the Canal on the Nieuw Amsterdam in April this year . The Inside Cabin did a nice review on it recently on their cruise .

 

https://www.theinsidecabin.com/pinnacle-gala-post-21/

I meant it makes sense that they might need the Pinnacle Grill to accommodate all the free HIA dinners. 

[yerdua]

34 minutes ago, copagal said:

We are on the same Panama cruise embarking in San Diego. We were able to book Rudi's for the first night in San Diego and the Pinnacle Gala for one of the port days (Costa Rica).  Those options are no longer available on the website to book but they still show up on our itinerary as being reserved,

Per the website, Pinnacle grill is available to book dinner every day of the cruise. Its not even displaying Rudis or the pinnacle gala. This is for the zuiderdam embarking Nov 17 from San diego. Are you possibly on the NA embarking in Oct? Rudis was originally scheduled for nov 22 on the zuiderdam. Pinnacle gala originally scheduled for Nov 28. 

[KroozNut]

I see on HAL's site that Rudi's is only featured on Pinnacle Class (Koningsdam/NS/Rotterdam). Am I missing something here? Is it typically offered as a 'pop-up' on other ships, and if so, when do we know when it will be available for a particular sailing... only after boarding?

[janmcn]

FYI: Rudi’s Pop Up does not offer a full menu like the full restaurant has. I was disappointed with what was offered so did not book it. Not sure if it’s always the same preset menu or not. Perhaps someone can answer that.

[scubacruiserx2]

We booked both the Rudi's and the Pinnacle Gala when we were on our cruise to San Diego via the Panama Canal in April on the Nieuw Amsterdam .

 The menu for Rudi's was a full menu on day #7 when we were suppose to be in Corinto , Nicaragua . See post # 76 on our review for photos .  

 

 

 

Our Pinnacle Gala Dinner was also a full menu on day # 18 in Cabo . See post # 178 .

 

 

 

[Florida_gal_50]

3 hours ago, janmcn said:

FYI: Rudi’s Pop Up does not offer a full menu like the full restaurant has. I was disappointed with what was offered so did not book it. Not sure if it’s always the same preset menu or not. Perhaps someone can answer that.

It’s been my experience that it has been the same limited menu for a while.  That said I have not done the pop in since the start up.  While I feel it is good it’s just not the same as the stand alone.  Even that one took a while to grow on me.  It’s my favourite now. 

[rkacruiser]

The pop-ups that I have experienced have had a reduced menu of selections than the stand alone on Nieuw Statendam.  But, the items offered that, I suspect, are the most ordered are on the menu.  What amazes me is the excellent consistency of the food and its preparation and presentation as well as the service from one ship to another.  

 

7 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

we have never heard of Rudi's being on the first night of the cruise

 

Dining at Rudi's on the evening of sailing is something that I would not consider doing.  The stress, chaos, and getting settled on those initial hours could prevent a guest from really being able to appreciate the dining experience that will be presented.

 

I have dined at the PG the first night and I did enjoy it.  But, Rudi's is a "step above" the PG dining experience.  

 

[oakridger]

@rkacruiser, I agree that normally I wouldn't book it on my embarkation day but in this case, I'm continuing on from the previous cruise so will already be settled in.  I just hope the Rudy's staff is settled in as well.

 

Something sounds fishy because @yerdua reported above that now the Pinnacle is showing accepting reservations for the same night!! It's showing the same under "Manage my Booking"!

 

Hmmmmm.....I'll be watching this!!!

 

~Nancy

[scubacruiserx2]

On 9/3/2022 at 8:51 PM, oakridger said:

@rkacruiser, I agree that normally I wouldn't book it on my embarkation day but in this case, I'm continuing on from the previous cruise so will already be settled in.  I just hope the Rudy's staff is settled in as well.

 

Something sounds fishy because @yerdua reported above that now the Pinnacle is showing accepting reservations for the same night!! It's showing the same under "Manage my Booking"!

 

Hmmmmm.....I'll be watching this!!!

 

~Nancy

 

We received this E-mail from HAL today .

 

Tue, Sep 6 at 3:12 PM

 

Hi Pat,

 

I believe the ship should be reaching out upon embarkation, but from what we were told anyone booked with Rudi’s Sel de Mer will have the same reservations but in the Pinnacle Grill. This only applies for ship that have Rudi’s as a pop-up night, so the Nieuw Statendam, Rotterdam, and Koningsdam are unaffected by this because its an actual restaurant.

 

Kind regards,

 

Ship Services Coordinator

800.541.1576

————————

450 Third Avenue West, Seattle, WA 98119

Hollandamerica.com

 

 We also received another E-mail that said :

 

Pinnacle Gala and Rudi’s Sel de Mer have both been paused indefinitely.

 

Edited September 6, 2022 by scubacruiserx2

[oaktreerb]

Loved Rudy’s Sel de Mer on the Koningsdam in March so we tried it as a “pop up” on the Nieuw Amsterdam in August.  No comparison.  The serving crew on the Nieuw Amsterdam could not meet the standards of the dedicated crew on the Koningsdam.  It took us over two hours to finish the meal on the NA.  The Dover Sole was not deboned properly and the special dessert that I had loved on the K was not on the menu.  I don’t think it is possible to recreate the Sel de Mer experience as a “pop up”.

[scubacruiserx2]

This thread is about the future of Rudi's and the Pinnacle Gala on the Nieuw Amsterdam ( And other ships ) that have a pop up restaurants . It does not deal with which is better a pop up vs stand alone but rather if the option of these choices will remain available across the fleet and not only on the Pinnacle Class .

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, oaktreerb said:

I don’t think it is possible to recreate the Sel de Mer experience as a “pop up”.

 

I strongly disagree with your thinking!  Every "pop-up" that I have experienced has been the equal to the stand alone restaurant.  It was the equal in every aspect of the dining experience.  

 

What I have not understood, since this "pop-up" takes place in the Pinnacle Grill when the dining experience ranges, in my opinion from quality/worth my time/money to why in the heck did I choose to book this.  

 

I am sorry to say this, but, is this another example of a HAL where the "Signature of Excellence" slogan means little?  

 

Takes too much of what:  training, staff expertise, cost of provisions to continue to offer the "pop-ups"?  

 

 

[oaktreerb]

53 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

This thread is about the future of Rudi's and the Pinnacle Gala on the Nieuw Amsterdam ( And other ships ) that have a pop up restaurants . It does not deal with which is better a pop up vs stand alone but rather if the option of these choices will remain available across the fleet and not only on the Pinnacle Class .

I don’t think the option for Rudy’s Sel de Mer will remain as a pop up.  Other “pop up’s” may take its place.

Edited September 6, 2022 by oaktreerb

[Florida_gal_50]

3 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

We received this E-mail from HAL today .

 

Tue, Sep 6 at 3:12 PM

 

Hi Pat,

 

I believe the ship should be reaching out upon embarkation, but from what we were told anyone booked with Rudi’s Sel de Mer will have the same reservations but in the Pinnacle Grill. This only applies for ship that have Rudi’s as a pop-up night, so the Nieuw Statendam, Rotterdam, and Koningsdam are unaffected by this because its an actual restaurant.

 

Kind regards,

 

Ship Services Coordinator

800.541.1576

————————

450 Third Avenue West, Seattle, WA 98119

Hollandamerica.com

 

 We also received another E-mail that said :

 

Pinnacle Gala and Rudi’s Sel de Mer have both been paused indefinitely.

 

Right hand meet left hand.  Wasn’t the pinnacle always used for the pop up? I don’t understand that comment.