HAL STRATEGY BAIT AND SWITCH?

[afdds]

First time with cruising with HAL in July 2024.  I have a little bitter taste in my mouth with the details around the "HAVE IT ALL PLUS"   We booked over a year ago for our Anniversary, sailing to Alaska on the Koningsdam.  I waiting patiently for the dinning reservations to open so that I could make reservations on our Anniversary.  Mission accomplished or so I thought back in March.  I was checking on our account and finishing up our check-in  when I noticed something strange.  Our dinner reservation said "PinnacleGrill Dinner" 6:30pm.   When I called HAL, they stated we were getting our specialty dinner delivered to the main dinning room.  The terms and conditions of Have it all states the dinner is @ the restaurant.  So that is what I assumed.  No there wasn't a  drop down tab to have it delivered to the main dinning room.   Too late now to switch dates and get an early dinner reservations.  I stayed on the phone for 45 minutes while the representative talked to different people.  After going back and forth, he came back on the line and said it's moved to the Pinnacle Grill however I can not send you a confirmation email  or change the way the wording is on the booking.  Ok, do I just have blind faith that this is going to happen for our Anniversary?  He said to check as soon as we board.   Blind Faith it is.  Has anyone else been told it has to be served in the main dinning room?  Is this normally how the free specialty dinners get served.  I totally understand that they will be able to make over a hundred dollars by selling my time slot to another cruisers that doesn't have the free dinners.  Hope that Holland America will honor what their representative has told me, because I have my second cruise with them booked already for 2025.

[CruiserBruce]

Never heard of it before,  but I am wondering if it is because a group has taken the Pinnacle for the night.

[Haljo1935]

I have always had my PG dinners in the PG, never had them served in MDR whether part of HIA or not. 

Ugh if they have allowed a group to take over the PG.

[julia]

Never, ever, EVER heard of this before and so sorry that you are dealing with this.  Your dinner in PG is NOT "free" (your words), it's simply "included" in what you paid in the Have It All. Call again, keep on it... they will eventually get it right.

[afdds]

Never thought about that.  The representative was trying to tell me it was something I did.  He kept saying there was a pull down tab for either Main Dinning Room or Cabin delivery.  And for the longest time he was trying to switch my reservation to the Cabin instead of the Main Dining Room.  It took awhile for us to get on the same page that NO I wanted the actual restrauant, which is what I assumed I was receiving.  Of course, I can't check on this tab because I have already made the reservation.  I can however, go into our 2025 cruise once the reservations open and see if there is such a tab that exists.  I know there was no such tab on the first day they opened their books.

[POA1]

Can you redact any personal information and post scan of what you are talking about? We have an upcoming reservation with HIA and just had a cruise with HIA last month, so we have fresh paperwork. There's nothing that mentions delivering food from our specialty dining reservation.

[afdds]

3 minutes ago, julia said:

Never, ever, EVER heard of this before and so sorry that you are dealing with this.  Your dinner in PG is NOT "free" (your words), it's simply "included" in what you paid in the Have It All. Call again, keep on it... they will eventually get it right.

True, but I'm afraid I might get really upset if I lean in that direction instead of "free".

 But you are 100 % correct.  We have paid for it. LOL a year ago!   I will call again and ask for another confirmation.  I did check today online and it still states " Pinnacle Dinner @6:30 Main Dinning.  

[POA1]

Here's the T&C from the HIA specialty dining for our booking:

 

Specialty Dining is based on cruise duration and ship type. For 6- to 9-day cruises, guests will receive one night at Pinnacle Grill, Canaletto or Tamarind. For ships without Tamarind, guests will receive one night at Pinnacle Grill or Canaletto. For 10- to 20-day cruises, guests will receive two nights: one night at Pinnacle Grill and one night at Canaletto or Tamarind. For ships without Tamarind, guests will receive two nights: one night at Pinnacle Grill and one night at Canaletto. For 21+ day cruises (excluding Grand Voyages), guests will receive three nights: one night at Pinnacle Grill, one night at Tamarind and one night at Canaletto. For ships without Tamarind, guests will receive three nights: two nights at Pinnacle Grill and one night at Canaletto. Offer excludes Specialty Dining events in Pinnacle Grill such as Rudi’s Sel de Mer, A Taste of De Librije and Cellar Master Dinner. Reservations and dining times will be available to pre-reserve.

 

[afdds]

4 minutes ago, POA1 said:

Can you redact any personal information and post scan of what you are talking about? We have an upcoming reservation with HIA and just had a cruise with HIA last month, so we have fresh paperwork. There's nothing that mentions delivering food from our specialty dining reservation.

I will try tomorrow.  I'm on Mac right now and need to take pic with my phone. Thanks

[POA1]

2 minutes ago, afdds said:

did check today online and it still states " Pinnacle Dinner @6:30 Main Dinning.  

Can you screen shot it from the itinerary?

[POA1]

How to take a screenshot on your Mac. To take a screenshot, press and hold these three keys together: Shift, Command, and 3. If you see a thumbnail in the corner of your screen, click it to edit the screenshot. Or wait for the screenshot to save to your desktop.

 

 

Edited May 23 by POA1

[afdds]

2 minutes ago, POA1 said:

Here's the T&C from the HIA specialty dining for our booking:

 

Specialty Dining is based on cruise duration and ship type. For 6- to 9-day cruises, guests will receive one night at Pinnacle Grill, Canaletto or Tamarind. For ships without Tamarind, guests will receive one night at Pinnacle Grill or Canaletto. For 10- to 20-day cruises, guests will receive two nights: one night at Pinnacle Grill and one night at Canaletto or Tamarind. For ships without Tamarind, guests will receive two nights: one night at Pinnacle Grill and one night at Canaletto. For 21+ day cruises (excluding Grand Voyages), guests will receive three nights: one night at Pinnacle Grill, one night at Tamarind and one night at Canaletto. For ships without Tamarind, guests will receive three nights: two nights at Pinnacle Grill and one night at Canaletto. Offer excludes Specialty Dining events in Pinnacle Grill such as Rudi’s Sel de Mer, A Taste of De Librije and Cellar Master Dinner. Reservations and dining times will be available to pre-reserve.

 

Yep, I made sure before calling that I had this information handy.  I wanted to check and make sure since this was our first HAL cruise.  I know how RC works because we never eat in the main dining room and pay extra each night to eat at a specialty restrauant.  It's that word "at" in the second sentence that speaks volumes.

[KAKcruiser]

This doesn't make any sense and it sounds as if the person you were talking to is confused.  You should call ships services tomorrow and talk to someone else.

[TiogaCruiser]

That’s just crazy. How in the world would they get food from the PG kitchen to the MDR? Or would they make it in the MDR kitchen? My first thought was whether the HAL rep had full command of the English language, or was even familiar with the product- but the “@“ is troubling…

 

Please let us know what happens. 
 

(or does the MDR and PG share kitchen space on the Kingkongdam? Deck plans show them adjacent.)

Edited May 23 by TiogaCruiser

[afdds]

Ok , the representative had full command of the English language and he was really trying hard.  Anyway, here is a screen shot. The pic with the pictures is the one that hinted at a red flag.  The word Dinner added .  The other pic is when I hit edit to see if I could figure this out.  That’s when I saw “delivered to dinning room”.  

[afdds]

53 minutes ago, POA1 said:

How to take a screenshot on your Mac. To take a screenshot, press and hold these three keys together: Shift, Command, and 3. If you see a thumbnail in the corner of your screen, click it to edit the screenshot. Or wait for the screenshot to save to your desktop.

 

 

Thank you and I tried.  Have no clue why I have a Mac when I can’t figure anything out.  I was able to take pic and edit with my phone.  Posted further down

[afdds]

1 hour ago, POA1 said:

Can you redact any personal information and post scan of what you are talking about? We have an upcoming reservation with HIA and just had a cruise with HIA last month, so we have fresh paperwork. There's nothing that mentions delivering food from our specialty dining reservation.

 

1 hour ago, afdds said:

I will try tomorrow.  I'm on Mac right now and need to take pic with my phone. Thanks

Was able to post picture further down

[hamnabsma]

Interesting: I checked my Pinnacle Grill dinner reservations for my July 2024 Alaska Inside Passage cruise on the Zaandam and it also says "Location: Delivered to Dining Room."

 

Does anyone have a Pinnacle Grill reservation that says "Location: Pinnacle Grill"? 

[Haljo1935]

9 minutes ago, hamnabsma said:

Interesting: I checked my Pinnacle Grill dinner reservations for my July 2024 Alaska Inside Passage cruise on the Zaandam and it also says "Location: Delivered to Dining Room."

 

Does anyone have a Pinnacle Grill reservation that says "Location: Pinnacle Grill"? 

This is concerning - we book PG dinners (and lunch) to eat IN the PG. Curious to know if this is also happening w/lunch reservations 🤷‍♀️

Perhaps it's another recent change intended to increase revenue and was not "announced." This would possibly allow incremental PG sales by allowing dining companions to order separately; currently everyone who goes together in the PG is charged. Hmmm?

[Lido deck main]

1 hour ago, afdds said:

First time with cruising with HAL in July 2024.  I have a little bitter taste in my mouth with the details around the "HAVE IT ALL PLUS"   We booked over a year ago for our Anniversary, sailing to Alaska on the Koningsdam.  I waiting patiently for the dinning reservations to open so that I could make reservations on our Anniversary.  Mission accomplished or so I thought back in March.  I was checking on our account and finishing up our check-in  when I noticed something strange.  Our dinner reservation said "PinnacleGrill Dinner" 6:30pm.   When I called HAL, they stated we were getting our specialty dinner delivered to the main dinning room.  The terms and conditions of Have it all states the dinner is @ the restaurant.  So that is what I assumed.  No there wasn't a  drop down tab to have it delivered to the main dinning room.   Too late now to switch dates and get an early dinner reservations.  I stayed on the phone for 45 minutes while the representative talked to different people.  After going back and forth, he came back on the line and said it's moved to the Pinnacle Grill however I can not send you a confirmation email  or change the way the wording is on the booking.  Ok, do I just have blind faith that this is going to happen for our Anniversary?  He said to check as soon as we board.   Blind Faith it is.  Has anyone else been told it has to be served in the main dinning room?  Is this normally how the free specialty dinners get served.  I totally understand that they will be able to make over a hundred dollars by selling my time slot to another cruisers that doesn't have the free dinners.  Hope that Holland America will honor what their representative has told me, because I have my second cruise with them booked already for 2025.

Just call ship services tomorrow 1-800-541-1576 they will be able to fix it,

[julia]

12 minutes ago, hamnabsma said:

Interesting: I checked my Pinnacle Grill dinner reservations for my July 2024 Alaska Inside Passage cruise on the Zaandam and it also says "Location: Delivered to Dining Room."

 

Does anyone have a Pinnacle Grill reservation that says "Location: Pinnacle Grill"? 

I've made dozens of Pinnacle Grill reservations in the past 20 years, and NEVER had to check the location.  Pinnacle Grill (lunch or dinner) is ALWAYS in the Pinnacle Grill restaurant.  Pinnacle Grill also serves breakfast to the highest suite and President Club guests.  This makes no sense, and again, I'm sorry that the OP is dealing with this silly #%$@!.  Shame on HAL!

[afdds]

18 minutes ago, hamnabsma said:

Interesting: I checked my Pinnacle Grill dinner reservations for my July 2024 Alaska Inside Passage cruise on the Zaandam and it also says "Location: Delivered to Dining Room."

 

Does anyone have a Pinnacle Grill reservation that says "Location: Pinnacle Grill"? 

I had the representative look and he confirmed, two pull down tabs, one for Main Dining and the other for cabin delivery.  I had no interest in  arguing with him that there wasn’t any pull down tab. 

[afdds]

7 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

This is concerning - we book PG dinners (and lunch) to eat IN the PG. Curious to know if this is also happening w/lunch reservations 🤷‍♀️

Perhaps it's another recent change intended to increase revenue and was not "announced." This would possibly allow incremental PG sales by allowing dining companions to order separately; currently everyone who goes together in the PG is charged. Hmmm?

I’m not sure what is going on but something is.  Another red flag was he wanted me to go on trust and could not send a confirmation of the change he said he made.  

[julia]

@afdds

One thing is for certain... when calling HAL reps, they are frequently misinformed.  It's very sad. It's very frustrating. Do NOT fret... this will get cleared up and you WILL dine in the actual restaurant. 

[hamnabsma]

3 minutes ago, afdds said:

I had the representative look and he confirmed, two pull down tabs, one for Main Dining and the other for cabin delivery.  I had no interest in  arguing with him that there wasn’t any pull down tab. 

Agree, there is no pull down tab to select delivery to dining room or cabin at all when making a Pinnacle Grill reservation.

 

I wonder if it's just a system note, kind of like with the Beverage Package purchase. The location for the Beverage Package is "Delivered to Stateroom" but obviously the beverages aren't delivered to the stateroom.