Specialty dining

[worldlady]

Hi All, Just wondering if the pinnacle grill has a variety of menus or if it never changes the whole week 

[waiting2retire]

Never changes. 

[VMax1700]

same old, same old.

[cbr663]

The Lunch menu is different from the evening menu.  But no, it doesn't change.  One of the weaknesses for us is the fact that the specialty dining menus haven't changed much in many, many years.

[FOPMan]

On non-Pinnacle ships, the Pinnacle may be “taken over” by one of specialty restaurants available on the Pinnacle ships for a night, featuring at least selections from that menu. There also may be a gsla or other specialty night.

 

These would appear when you make the reservation. They do not suddenly appear.

 

[oakridger]

1 minute ago, FOPMan said:

On non-Pinnacle ships, the Pinnacle may be “taken over” by one of specialty restaurants available on the Pinnacle ships for a night, featuring at least selections from that menu. There also may be a gsla or other specialty night.

 

These would appear when you make the reservation. They do not suddenly appear.

 

 

Unless something changed in the last month this is not correct.  As of last October, the Pop-Up Tamarind and Rudy's on non-Pinnacle ships ceased to exist.  I have read here on CC recently that there has been a Pop-Up Tamarind in the Canaletto Restaurant on one of the extended voyages (Westerdam in Japan???).  Someone with that info please advise.

 

~Nancy

[sciencewonk]

31 minutes ago, oakridger said:

 

Unless something changed in the last month this is not correct.  As of last October, the Pop-Up Tamarind and Rudy's on non-Pinnacle ships ceased to exist.  I have read here on CC recently that there has been a Pop-Up Tamarind in the Canaletto Restaurant on one of the extended voyages (Westerdam in Japan???).  Someone with that info please advise.

 

~Nancy

I heard the same thing about pop-ups but I ate in a Rudy's pop-up on Noordam last November, so I really don't know what's going on.

[oakridger]

1 minute ago, sciencewonk said:

I heard the same thing about pop-ups but I ate in a Rudy's pop-up on Noordam last November, so I really don't know what's going on.

 

Interesting.  My Pop-Up Rudy's was cancelled on the Nieuw Amsterdam for a reservation on October 8, 2022.  I spoke with the dining room manager and he said all non-Pinnacles were discontinued as of then.  I wonder if any ship has had them in 2023??  

 

~NAncy

[sciencewonk]

2 minutes ago, oakridger said:

 

Interesting.  My Pop-Up Rudy's was cancelled on the Nieuw Amsterdam for a reservation on October 8, 2022.  I spoke with the dining room manager and he said all non-Pinnacles were discontinued as of then.  I wonder if any ship has had them in 2023??  

 

~NAncy

I haven't seen a pop-up Rudy's listed on my November 2023 cruise, but it's still early.  Plus, the way things have been going recently, it's probably going to change two or three times before then.

[worldlady]

Also we have Have it all, it says we each have two specialty dinners , is this ea 2 dinners for 2 or is it a total of 2 dinners for 2?

[Cruise Suzy]

 

 

17 minutes ago, worldlady said:

Also we have Have it all, it says we each have two specialty dinners , is this ea 2 dinners for 2 or is it a total of 2 dinners for 2?

 

Check you receipt/confirmation. It will list how many complimentary dinners each guest has. It varies according to the length of the cruise. For a 6-9 day cruise, each guest receives 1 complimentary dine. For a 10-20 day cruise, each guest receives 2 complimentary dines. For a 21+ day cruise (except Grand Voyages), each guest receives 3 complimentary dines.

 

It sounds as if you booked a 10-20 day cruise for 2.

[terrydtx]

Same menus we had in 2019 on Noordam in Alaska, and they have gotten very boring.

[wgtncruiser]

On 5/5/2023 at 3:02 PM, worldlady said:

Also we have Have it all, it says we each have two specialty dinners , is this ea 2 dinners for 2 or is it a total of 2 dinners for 2?

Ours was 1 x dinner for two in Pinnacle and 1 x dinner for two in Canaletto. 

Edited May 7, 2023 by wgtncruiser

[terrydtx]

6 minutes ago, wgtncruiser said:

Ours was 1 x dinner for two in Pinnacle and 1 x dinner for two in Canaletto. 

We used our 1 HIA included SD to book Tamarind on the Koingsdam in November. We are so bored with both Pinnacle and Canaletto and Tamarind is only on 5 HAL ships. Our August 2024 Volendam cruise we have 2 SD HIA credits, one for Pinnacle and one Canaletto which we hope has changed their menus by then.

[kazu]

On 5/5/2023 at 9:01 PM, oakridger said:

 

Interesting.  My Pop-Up Rudy's was cancelled on the Nieuw Amsterdam for a reservation on October 8, 2022.  I spoke with the dining room manager and he said all non-Pinnacles were discontinued as of then.  I wonder if any ship has had them in 2023??  

 

~NAncy

 

We have 2 special dinners on our October cruise - one is being held in the Pinnacle Grill and the other in the Canaletto 

 

[oakridger]

Thanks @kazu.  Neither of those were offered on my cruises last fall on Nieuw Amsterdam and Rotterdam.  It's good to see some more options, but the one I particularly miss is the Rudy's Pop Up. 

 

My next cruise is on Zuiderdam next May so by then maybe there will be some of those options.

 

~Nancy 

[kazu]

5 hours ago, oakridger said:

Thanks @kazu.  Neither of those were offered on my cruises last fall on Nieuw Amsterdam and Rotterdam.  It's good to see some more options, but the one I particularly miss is the Rudy's Pop Up. 

 

My next cruise is on Zuiderdam next May so by then maybe there will be some of those options.

 

~Nancy 

 

They weren’t offered on our cruise in November on hte Oosterdam nor in  December on the KOningsdam.  This is a 15 day transatlantic.

 

ans oops I said the other was being held in the Canaletto - error - it’s being held in the Tamarain 

[CaliforniaAC]

On 5/5/2023 at 6:21 PM, Cruise Suzy said:

 

 

 

Check you receipt/confirmation. It will list how many complimentary dinners each guest has. It varies according to the length of the cruise. For a 6-9 day cruise, each guest receives 1 complimentary dine. For a 10-20 day cruise, each guest receives 2 complimentary dines. For a 21+ day cruise (except Grand Voyages), each guest receives 3 complimentary dines.

 

It sounds as if you booked a 10-20 day cruise for 2.

Hi Suzy,

Also, if you have two complimentary dines, only one will be the high end specialty, and the other at Canalettos. , th HIA doesn't include the 18.5% service surcharge. At least we did . We were on the Volendam the month of April.

[Cruise Suzy]

47 minutes ago, CaliforniaAC said:

th HIA doesn't include the 18.5% service surcharge.

Yes it does

[ExpatBride]

11 minutes ago, Cruise Suzy said:

Yes it does

I second this. I booked a sailing with the HIA within the past 2 weeks and got the answer straight from the horse's mouth and in writing that the 18% service charge is included. The only additional service charge would be 18% on the difference if we go above the $11 limit on drinks... and obviously the daily "gratuities" charge.

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by ExpatBride

[cruisemom42]

In answer to the above question, the Westerdam was offering a rotation on its Asia cruises in which the Canaletto space would offer the Canaletto menu for two weeks, then the Tamarind menu for two weeks. The Tamarind menu was a bit more limited than what is offered in the regular version, just FYI.

 

I recall reading somewhere that this was only going to be done throughout the Asia season though....

 

Also, the HIA does cover the service charge -- at least it did for me with 3 included dinners on Westerdam.

[oakridger]

Yes I second that the service charge is covered in HIA, and it's included in the final price when you purchase just a beverage package or specialty dinner. 

 

~Nancy 

[honeyb2]

Quick question....we have a 12 day Panama Canal cruise booked with HIA. We made a reservation for Pinnacle Grill then got the bad news that we can't have 2 PG nights. The only restaurant offered online for our 2nd night is Tamarind. My husband would eat there but I don't eat any kind of asian food and don't want to sit there watching him eat. What can we do about this situation? TIA

[Cruise Suzy]

57 minutes ago, honeyb2 said:

Quick question....we have a 12 day Panama Canal cruise booked with HIA. We made a reservation for Pinnacle Grill then got the bad news that we can't have 2 PG nights. The only restaurant offered online for our 2nd night is Tamarind. My husband would eat there but I don't eat any kind of asian food and don't want to sit there watching him eat. What can we do about this situation? TIA

 

There are several Non-Asian foods on the menu. You can view a sample menu on the reservation page or here https://rogerjett-photography.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Tamarind-2023.pdf  You can even order the tenderloin without the wasabi and soy

 

 

[Banditswife]

On 5/5/2023 at 6:19 PM, oakridger said:

 

Unless something changed in the last month this is not correct.  As of last October, the Pop-Up Tamarind and Rudy's on non-Pinnacle ships ceased to exist.  I have read here on CC recently that there has been a Pop-Up Tamarind in the Canaletto Restaurant on one of the extended voyages (Westerdam in Japan???).  Someone with that info please advise.

 

~Nancy

Oh darn, we're booked on a couple of longish Zaandam cruises & I was hoping for a Tamarind pop up.  I wouldn't care if it was Canaletto or Pinnacle.  We have the HIA, so a variety on a longer cruise would be nice.