If You Could Get HAL to Change One Thing....

[RuthC]

why would you want fewer options in dining times? Since each level has its own galley,

I don't believe each level does have it's own galley. What makes you say so?

Now, as to why someone might want fewer dining times, I won't speak for Brian, but as for me...

When HAL went from 2 to 4 dining times they unintentionally(?) also messed with cocktail times and the ability to attend some of those cute little "filler" shows like Not So Newlywed Game and Liars Club. If you eat at the wrong time you can't go to these shows. For some dining times cocktail time is either too short at the beginning, or ends too soon at the end.

In the dining room itself the switch to four dining times was an attempt to smooth out the jam-up in the kitchen that short-staffing there brought about. If staffing levels in the dining room and kitchen were brought back up there would be no need to further sub-divide the early and late groups.

There are times when the dining room still has to be treated as one room (Baked Alaska parade, farewell song night). The upper level is held back waiting, and the lower level is enjoying the ending just when the entree is served.

It all just worked better when it was one dining room at once.

[Schplinky]

I don't believe each level does have it's own galley. What makes you say so?

 

 

I'm positive I read this in a guidebook review but of course, one reads so much when preparing to book that I cannot recall where. The review said that it was the presence of galleys on each level that allows the separate times.

 

What you report is interesting and I would not have thought that splitting up dining groups would reduce the need for staff. Does that also mean that the second of the two times in each groups gets food that feels "fatigued" or do they actually finish each seating's food separately, in your opinion.

 

My ideal would be to eat at seven but in order to do that, you would need to live in the buffet (which I will not do) or dine on an anytime line, which sort of exhausts me to think about because you would be meeting new tablemates at each meal.

[sail7seas]

We personally sat in the galley while dinner was being served to both levels. We had a private tour of the galley by the Exec Chef and he then invited us to remain in the galley while he served first seating. At that time, each seating used both the upper and lower levels. There is ONE Galley on all of the ships that handles upper and lower level. This is true of every ship in HAL's fleet. ( I exempt Prinsendam from that comment as I know very little about that ship,.)

 

Perhaps what is confusing you is that on some of the ships, Pinnacle Grill has it's own galley but on some of the ships it uses the main galley.

 

I don't care what any guide book days, ;) I've been there and sat and watched dinner being served to upper and lower dining room out of the one galley.

 

[RuthC]

Does that also mean that the second of the two times in each groups gets food that feels "fatigued" or do they actually finish each seating's food separately, in your opinion.

I have limited experience being in the second grouping. Usually I have the 8:00 sitting, but did have the 8:30 for the 10-day Noordam cruise. Can't say I noticed any difference in quality of food in the later group. I ate well! :D

I don't really know how the galley is set up, but I think that since they have to prepare for approximately half of the dining room's capacity at a time they can do it with less staff, and stretch out the time that any given person has to do his work.

[sail7seas]

We always have 8:00 seating and our food is freshly prepared and hot or cold as appropriate.

 

[Schplinky]

I yield to the greater experience of the regular posters, although if the hot food is arriving hot and the cold food is arriving cold, I'm still unclear as to how this staggered seating has affected quality. Luckily, we won't be able to sense the decline, since this will be our first HAL cruise. We will only be able to compare with RCL and Celebrity, both of which we enjoyed, although in different ways.

[bepsf]

There is ONE Galley on all of the ships that handles upper and lower level. This is true of every ship in HAL's fleet.

 

 

Sail--

Is this also true on the Vistas?

I have the feeling (tho I dont know for certain) that the kitchens are doubled on Vistas, as I don't beleive there are escalators between levels as there are on the S and R Class ships...

 

 

RuthC has my intention w/ dining times correct - my longterm gripe with the staggered times (which I mention to every Hotel Manager whenever I get the opportunity) is not with the quality of food, but that it's most annoying being on lower level where I enjoy my regular wake-view table on last formal night and just barely receiving (or not?) one's entree when the lights are dimmed for the Baked Alaska Parade. I seem to always find myself needing something and wondering why the waiters have all disappeared when the lights are lowered - leaving me groaning in my seat and my "fine dining experience" thusly interrupted. Last time on Noordam, I was so disgusted from not receiving my entree before the parade that I just got up from my place during the parade and went to the Lido for a nice big bowl of icecream.

Maybe I should just learn to book Pinnacle on last formal night, but I'd hate to miss seeing all my friends in the dining room all dressed up in their finery...

[Schplinky]

I found where the mention of galleys on each level was and Brian is correct that it was a Vista ship. In the CC review of Zuiderdam, the following passage is included. I thought I was imagining things. When you look at the deck plans for the Vista class, there is an equal amount of blank space behind the dining room on each level, which further supports the idea of twin galleys.

 

<<For main dining, the two-level Vista Dining Room features a lipstick-red decor with ebony-colored wood chairs with floral upholstery. Floor-to-ceiling windows line three sides of the room, and there are two grand staircases with a bandstand in between from where live music emanates during dinner. Food on Holland America remains as good as always; rarely inspired, but tasty. But a full galley on each level is sure to speed up service and help ensure that the food is hot when served. >>

[sail7seas]

You know, Brian........you now have me confused re: Vista and I have to say I'm not sure. I THINK there is one galley on Vistas, as well, but will let you know for sure. I'll post later today with the 'definitive' response.

 

As to not getting your entree before Baked Alaska.......I would not like that either.

 

I'm sure you have thought of it and probably tried, but how about speaking with your steward and his supervisor and telling them you really expect your entree to be served to you (your whole table) .....HOT and tasty......and the steward needs to plan his work around getting everyone's meal to them before he parades. This should be obvious to them and probably is to post but.......

 

Good luck.

[sail7seas]

We were posting at the same time, Schplinky......

 

I'll check with a friend on board for the 'on the spot' info.

As I wrote above, I'm thinking Brian may be correct.

 

I can speak definitely for Ryndam, Statendam, Maasdam and Veendam....ONE Galley. Same for Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Volendan and Zaandam.

 

Vistas.....I am now confused. ;)

 

 

[Sayyadina]

There are times when the dining room still has to be treated as one room (Baked Alaska parade, farewell song night). The upper level is held back waiting, and the lower level is enjoying the ending just when the entree is served.

 

When we were on the Maasdam this spring, we had the 8:30 time. They actually told us to come at 8:15, and the 8:00 people also came in at 8:15, so we were all in synch. Since it was my first time on HAL, I thought this was standard. Interesting.

[Sayyadina]

When we were on the Maasdam this spring, we had the 8:30 time. They actually told us to come at 8:15, and the 8:00 people also came in at 8:15, so we were all in synch. Since it was my first time on HAL, I thought this was standard. Interesting.

 

Sorry, I didn't make it clear this was for the last night, the parade night. :)

[crzr]

I have to agree with Brian and Jim from the first set of replies. More dining room stewards are absolutely essential to improving the dining experience to first-rate status. Those poor fellows wore their tails off due solely to Corporate desire to cut costs by cutting staff. It doesn't work well, and the product suffers for it.

 

But there is some hope here. After years of hearing me complain about their previous so-called "libraries", which were really holes-in-the-wall and not at all attractive, HAL has seriously upgraded their libraries in the SOE improvement program, and now have a truly impressive experience in their Explorations Cafe.:D So, maybe more comment cards on behalf of the dining room stewards will do the trick.

 

Meanwhile, I've found that a little bit of understanding from the passengers goes a long way to brightening the stewards' spirits and thereby preserving a good dining experience.

[Willsot]

Ban smoking, or perhaps try offering some nonsmoking itineraries.

[KAYEF]

.

 

And, I'd really like to see DARK chocolates on my pillow....

 

All the time I've been reading, I've been thinking DARK CHOCOLATE, but what a picky thing; THANKS for saying DARK CHOCOLATE. That would surely make our steward's work harder, though...............

who wants milk :( and

who wants DARK.............:p

 

Anyhow, who wants to waste calories on milk? Dark, I will walk to the next deck for!

[KAYEF]

We LOVE HAL:) and made the mistake of trying a couple of other lines:mad:

and

we learned that HAL's disembarkation is the WORST.........slowest.......

most difficult to locate one's own luggage of all.

Have to say, we LOVE those salt and pepper grinders in the Lido and often wonder why they aren't in the dining rooms as well. The pepper, especially, is delicious................all those colors...............yum!

As I said on another thread

BREAD PUDDING FOR BREAKFAST...................yes! I agree.

After all, it has bread, milk, eggs and it's SO GOOD; what a way to start the day that would be. Plus, you wouldn't have to go without it on "port days" when you miss lunch.

Sad to say, there is a definite lack of service in the dining rooms since the cutbacks and it must make it really difficult for the servers; they catch all the "flack" and it's surely not THEIR fault. There just aren't enough bodies to do all the work.:cool:

We had the free capaccinos on Veendam in December but she's gone in for her "makeover" so when we sail on her in August, they will be gone. Bring back that cozy corner and a fresh cup and those tiny biscotti....

all free.;)

I'm hoping they've fixed the plumbing problems on her; going without a toilet quite often wasn't fun and NO, we didn't flush wrong things down. We know how to use plumbing on ships; we're frequent cruisers........her system just was BAD and the men working on our deck were quite frustrated.

Anyhow, we LOVE HAL...............if you want to know how wonderful the line is, try another!! We did and we learned!

[Steamboatin]

HAL is our favorite cruise line.

 

However, we have enjoyed and utilized Carnival's military cruise rates more often than we have sailed on HAL.

 

Thus, wish HAL would implement Carnival's military cruise rate policy. After all they are owned by Carnival.

[gizmo]

Here is another vote to go back to 2 dining times. ;)

[Copper10-8]

we learned that HAL's disembarkation is the WORST.........slowest.......

most difficult to locate one's own luggage of all.

 

Can you enlighten us as to what the other lines you've tried do that improves disembarking and being able to locate your lugagge inside the terminal faster? Just being curious;)

[LAFFNVEGAS]

All the time I've been reading, I've been thinking DARK CHOCOLATE, but what a picky thing; THANKS for saying DARK CHOCOLATE. That would surely make our steward's work harder, though...............

who wants milk :( and

who wants DARK.............:p

 

Anyhow, who wants to waste calories on milk? Dark, I will walk to the next deck for!

 

I could not agree more but there are just far fewer people that like dark chocolate over milk chocolate. But if they had a chocolate exchange booth I would gladly go where it was on the ship for dark chocolate. When we were on the Maasdam, in the evening when the Champagne Strings would perform they had a tray of chocolate and it was Dark Chocolate:p Can you guess where I was almost every night.:D

[Schplinky]

I think the ease of lovating luggage and disembarking is much more a factor of the port than the line. In Miami, RCL has luggage caroussels for the various colours while in Puerto Rico and Fort Lauderdale, it is one of those warehouse situations where you're looking through rows of bags for your own. Same line but different processes because of the port facilities.

[MBeamTX]

Mmmmmm, those little dark chocolate heart-shaped candies in the Neptune Lounge! Can't wait til November.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Mmmmmm, those little dark chocolate heart-shaped candies in the Neptune Lounge! Can't wait til November.

 

I forgot about them because they did not have them in the Neptune on the Ryndam:( But I can usually count on them being there on the Oosterdam:)

[sail7seas]

The Neptune Lounge nibbles on Ryndam were the worst we have seen on any ship. No variety about them either. The same things that we disliked on day one were still showing up on day 13. Same old unappealing things. :(

 

 

[bepsf]

The Neptune Lounge nibbles on Ryndam were the worst we have seen on any ship. No variety about them either. The same things that we disliked on day one were still showing up on day 13. Same old unappealing things. :(

 

 

 

Wow! How bad were they?

Were they the same types of nibblies found on other ships or were these something completely different? (maybe someone else swooped in with their kids and all their non-suite friends and devoured all the good stuff:eek: )