Recent Veendam Pinnacle Grill experiences?

Looking for recent experiences at PG on Veendam.

The last few reports I saw from earlier 2017 expressed disappointment in Veendam's PG, especially the manager. We will be on Veendam mid - October thru mid-December, celebrating a milestone anniversary and a big birthday and were planning to have some special dinners in PG, especially the one with the Renewal of Vows package.

But if PG is not living up to expectations, maybe we will do something else. Thanks for your input. m--

We are on in June to Bermuda and ate there first and last night (which I highly recommend- especially to avoid the circus the first night in the MDR).

We mostly did steak and dinner was uniformly good with a few things that were excellent. Much better than the main dining room. We had booked in advance and I did overhear some people getting turned away which could be some source of the discontent. It's a very small dining room and the Veendam has more cabins then Maasdam competing for tables.

Highlights were the filets- cooked to the right temperature and tender. Desserts were also good. The first night I think the hot pot got me pretty sick which is the only thing I would stay away from next time- I'm not afraid of spice but this was fairly over the top.

We skipped Le Cirque mostly because it was on a port night in Bermuda and we live not far from the real Le Cirque (which isn't as good as it used to be anyway). We heard from others that while good it wasn't as good as the regular PG and they missed not having the regular PG larger menu.

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We are on in June to Bermuda and ate there first and last night (which I highly recommend- especially to avoid the circus the first night in the MDR).

It seems the problems really started arising on the July 8 cruise we were on, when there was a change of Pinnacle Grill Manager. A few of us have reported negative experiences as of that cruise. The food was just "OK" by Pinnacle Grill standards, not the best not the worst, but the service from all three of wait staff, wine staff and Manager was just atrocious. When questioned about it, the Manager became very defensive and blamed everyone from the Manager before him to the poor Indonesian waitresses who obviously had received very little in the way of training or direction. When I pointed out to him that, as a manager, it was his job to manage this situation he simply stormed away.

It seems the problems really started arising on the July 8 cruise we were on, when there was a change of Pinnacle Grill Manager. A few of us have reported negative experiences as of that cruise. The food was just "OK" by Pinnacle Grill standards, not the best not the worst, but the service from all three of wait staff, wine staff and Manager was just atrocious. When questioned about it, the Manager became very defensive and blamed everyone from the Manager before him to the poor Indonesian waitresses who obviously had received very little in the way of training or direction. When I pointed out to him that, as a manager, it was his job to manage this situation he simply stormed away.

I thank you for sharing your experience as we also will be on the same upcoming cruise as OP and had planned a half a dozen PG dinners. Any other comments of recent dinning in the Veendam PG would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all.

Since the Explore 4 and other packages including a PG dinner we've seen them turn a lot of people away on the ship. On one cruise the Manager told us he had 900 promo dinners to fit in and basically was full for the entire cruise.

Since the Explore 4 and other packages including a PG dinner we've seen them turn a lot of people away on the ship. On one cruise the Manager told us he had 900 promo dinners to fit in and basically was full for the entire cruise.

 

We eat exclusively at PG and book and pay for all dinners well in advance. We always stop in after embarkation to verify our reservations and have been able to get our favorite table at 7:30 for the entire cruise. We did let the Manager know we were happy to eat a little later if they needed our table for early diners and he was very grateful. They knew we'd be in the Pinnacle Bar so came and got us when our table was ready.

Those are certainly valid comments and I agree they would apply to most HAL ships. However, the OP asked specifically about the Veendam and that is not the ship you were on ... there is no Pinnacle Bar on the Veendam.

We met a couple who had only very positive things to say about the Pinnacle Grill experience!

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We met a couple who had only very positive things to say about the Pinnacle Grill experience!

 

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Thanks, can you tell me if this was on Veendam, recently? m--

Yes, it was the second week of July from Boston to Bermuda and back. My wife and I were more than happy with the MDR, Lido and Dive Inn, but our new friends really loved the Pinnacle Grill.

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Yes, it was the second week of July from Boston to Bermuda and back. My wife and I were more than happy with the MDR, Lido and Dive Inn, but our new friends really loved the Pinnacle Grill.

 

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Very encouraging! Thanks for reporting back. m--

Yes, it was the second week of July from Boston to Bermuda and back. My wife and I were more than happy with the MDR, Lido and Dive Inn, but our new friends really loved the Pinnacle Grill.

 

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That was the exact cruise we were on ... leaving Boston on July 8. Different folks had different experiences or different expectations.

You will have to try and make your own judgements.

Please do come back and let us all know what you thought of the experience.

That was the exact cruise we were on ... leaving Boston on July 8. Different folks had different experiences or different expectations.

You will have to try and make your own judgements.

Please do come back and let us all know what you thought of the experience.

You are right Louis, I will have to try it, and make my own judgement. I hesitate to pre-purchase the Renewal of Vows package at over $140 with it's PG dinner (supposedly a $70 value which we could get for half price... ). We don't have a lot of PG experience, so maybe our expectations won't be too high and we wouldn't be too disappointed. m--

It seems the problems really started arising on the July 8 cruise we were on, when there was a change of Pinnacle Grill Manager. A few of us have reported negative experiences as of that cruise. The food was just "OK" by Pinnacle Grill standards, not the best not the worst, but the service from all three of wait staff, wine staff and Manager was just atrocious. When questioned about it, the Manager became very defensive and blamed everyone from the Manager before him to the poor Indonesian waitresses who obviously had received very little in the way of training or direction. When I pointed out to him that, as a manager, it was his job to manage this situation he simply stormed away.

I wrote lengthy comments about being badly treated in PInnacle by the new Manager If the same inexperienced Manager is still tthere one can only hope someone grabbed hold of him and gavehim a few pointers how he could improve his performance. It is hard to think he came with any real experience from a quality restaurant before coming t o Veendam.'. Our meal was not good. It was totally unacceptable and I left my whole steak, though if any staff noticed, no one asked. IIt was not good. Prior to our cruise, we had hoped to dine in Pinnacle a few times. We never returned for another dinner which was very disappointinig for me,

I wrote lengthy comments about being badly treated in PInnacle by the new Manager If the same inexperienced Manager is still tthere one can only hope someone grabbed hold of him and gavehim a few pointers how he could improve his performance. It is hard to think he came with any real experience from a quality restaurant before coming t o Veendam.'. Our meal was not good. It was totally unacceptable and I left my whole steak, though if any staff noticed, no one asked. IIt was not good. Prior to our cruise, we had hoped to dine in Pinnacle a few times. We never returned for another dinner which was very disappointinig for me,

I'm sorry you had this bad experience, and this, along with other discouraging reports, is what has me reconsidering how to celebrate our milestone days. I've hoping to hear that there is a new PG manager and smooth sailing ahead.... hoping but maybe not convinced yet. m--

I was on the June 16th cruise Boston to Bermuda. The Pinnacle Manager on that cruise was a woman. We had breakfast there every morning and one dinner. I have dined in the Pinnacle many times and other than one other manager, she was my least favourite. She would let you wait at the door for several minutes while chatting with someone. She also didn't seem to have anything to do with her staff.

On the other hand, this was the first time in years that I really enjoyed the main dining room.

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We were on the May 20th Boston to Bermuda sailing on the Veendam and had lunch and Le Cirque in the Pinnacle. The PG Manager Simone was excellent and very personable in our opinion. We had such a nice relaxed time at lunch that we decided to do Le Cirque even though we'd done it on our Mexican Riviera cruise in Feb. We did overhear her tell other diners that her contract was up in a month.

There was a very strange staff vibe on that ship and we found the PG the friendliest place staff wise. I chalked it up to the Bermuda triangle. :o

We were on the May 20th Boston to Bermuda sailing on the Veendam and had lunch and Le Cirque in the Pinnacle. The PG Manager Simone was excellent and very personable in our opinion. We had such a nice relaxed time at lunch that we decided to do Le Cirque even though we'd done it on our Mexican Riviera cruise in Feb. We did overhear her tell other diners that her contract was up in a month.

There was a very strange staff vibe on that ship and we found the PG the friendliest place staff wise. I chalked it up to the Bermuda triangle. :o

Thanks for the input and glad to hear you had a good time!. I believe it was after Simone left that the poor experiences began. I don't know if that replacement manager is still there, I'm hoping not but my question is if I'm will to "bet" our big celebrations on this unknown.... right now I'm thinking we probably will, and make the best of it. The birthday comes before the anniversary, but I think we'll be "in" for both. m--

Thanks for the input and glad to hear you had a good time!. I believe it was after Simone left that the poor experiences began. I don't know if that replacement manager is still there, I'm hoping not but my question is if I'm will to "bet" our big celebrations on this unknown.... right now I'm thinking we probably will, and make the best of it. The birthday comes before the anniversary, but I think we'll be "in" for both. m--

I mean it's not a bad bet- at the very least is a vastly better meal than the main dining room even if the service could use some improvement with the new regime. Big difference with having the meal cooked to order vs prepped ahead on an assembly line.

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I mean it's not a bad bet- at the very least is a vastly better meal than the main dining room even if the service could use some improvement with the new regime. Big difference with having the meal cooked to order vs prepped ahead on an assembly line.

 

 

 

 

 

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Most usually I would agree with you Pinnacle dinner would surpass MDR but NOT in this case. We enjoyed Veendam's MDR but we found nothing to enjoy about our evening at Pinnadcle. I certainly cannot count but am sure I have at least 75-100 or maybe even more. Pinnacle dinners on so many off the ships. NONE came close to being as bad as this edxpeience on Vendam Nothing was good ab out it,,,,,,, including gthe food.

Sail7Seas - what was the name of the Pinnacle Manager when you had the terrible experience?

Sail7Seas - what was the name of the Pinnacle Manager when you had the terrible experience?

Sorry I do not remember his name and I never received the after cruise summary "who's ab oard" so c annot check. Having such l\ngthy experience in Pinnalces on so many of the ships, My expectation was quite realisitc as was my friend's. She and her DH dined with me and my DH many times in PinnG on anumber of ships........... We both know what we should expect and that was not what we got.

We were on the June10th Boston/Bermuda cruise. Our Pinnacle dinner was not a pleasant experience. I agree with much that has been posted...indifferent manager, serving staff made basic serving errors. The entire staff acted/carried on as though we were imposing on their chatting/socializing with each other. I wrote a scathing report on the HAL survey.

There was a thread in either late June/early July about the Pinnacle on the Veendam.

We were on the June10th Boston/Bermuda cruise. Our Pinnacle dinner was not a pleasant experience. I agree with much that has been posted...indifferent manager, serving staff made basic serving errors. The entire staff acted/carried on as though we were imposing on their chatting/socializing with each other. I wrote a scathing report on the HAL survey.

 

There was a thread in either late June/early July about the Pinnacle on the Veendam.

roses313- I agree 100% with you on your comment "The entire staff acted/carried on as though we were imposing on their chatting/socializing with each other."

We experienced the same thing on our May 20th cruise....to the point where a guy vacuuming the staircase said Hi to us and we laughed to ourselves and said he must be new her and not got the memo.....other gems included us wondering if the crew was going to mutiny against the officers which were not to be seen- we assumed they were hiding.....The Pinnacle and Simone/staff was the only place that we were actually treated like we were guests and not schmucks intruding on the staffs party.

There seemed to be such a disconnect between what the Captain thought how his ship was running and how it actually was that I didn't or couldn't even begin to summarize it on a the end of cruise survey. Hence I chalked it up to the Bermuda Triangle.

My only guesses after having experienced are.........that ship is the end of the line for staff and they know it..........or Viking has poached all the good staff and this is a training ship--god help HAL....but even then I just don't know. So many things were good about that cruise- the itinerary, the ship was in good shape, the cabin attendants great...but holy cow any staff that had to deal with the guests in public areas nope no way....they huddled together and talked amongst themselves...and not an officer to be seen....except to expedite our immigration departure in San Diego....lots of officers there.

roses313-

My only guesses after having experienced are.........that ship is the end of the line for staff and they know it..........or Viking has poached all the good staff and this is a training ship--god help HAL....but even then I just don't know. So many things were good about that cruise- the itinerary, the ship was in good shape, the cabin attendants great...but holy cow any staff that had to deal with the guests in public areas nope no way....they huddled together and talked amongst themselves...and not an officer to be seen....except to expedite our immigration departure in San Diego....lots of officers there.

Expedite immigration in San Diego? We talking about the same ship?

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Expedite immigration in San Diego? We talking about the same ship?

 

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I saw every officer on the Veendam helping Immigration process us to get us off the ship. Getting past immigration was the fastest part of the process. Physically getting off the ship was a whole different matter that had nothing to do with Immigration. In any event were in our car at 915am and we dragged our feet.