Pinnacle - Four Star Mariners

[sail7seas]

I just booked our Pinnacle reservations for our upcoming Maasdam cruise :) and got to thinking........

 

It has not been a problem for us as we have always received a credit for the Four Star Mariner Discount but seeing HAL has not adjusted the site to initially charge what the proper amount should be, what would happen if Four Star Mariners (who are supposed to get 50% discount) booked their reservations for one person instead of two. Some people have complained here they have had to fight to get the credit due them or have left without ever getting the credit.

 

Assuming a couple (which, of course, is not always the case but for this example I am assuming that)..... If you make the reservation for one and prepay for that one person, they are going to reserve a table for two as there aren't tables for one in any of the Pinnacles that I have seen. We've been on all but two of the ships and in all the Pinnacles and two tops are the smallest.

 

Pay for one in advance and your payment covers the cost of two dinners.

 

Does that work?

[kazu]

Interesting idea Sail - it might work.

 

Last cruise, because I prebooked and there was a bit of confusion, I didn't get the discount, HOWEVER I dropped HAL a note saying I wish they could find a better way to apply the discount so it would be easier for all.

 

They apologized and did say they were working on it and they credited my credit card for the Le Cirque dinner where I didn't get the deduction:)

[sail7seas]

It should be an easy software adjustment to make. What could be their reason for over charging us for all those bookings?

 

[kazu]

It should be an easy software adjustment to make. What could be their reason for over charging us for all those bookings?

 

 

I don't think the intention is to overcharge - but, all they have to do is have a drop down box where you select 3 or 4* mariner and it is priced accordingly. Simple enough to check that at the PG - after all our key card has our mariner stars on it ;)

[sail7seas]

Exactly.

So why haven't they done it?

We have to log in, they have our Mariner Number and Confirmation Number entered into the reservation process or we couldn't get to the book dinner reservations page. We have been tracked all the way and they know how many stars the person is.

 

This is not a new error that just developed. It is something that has been left to continue despite multiple complaints and notices it is happening.

 

[RuthC]

There have been many posts to the effect that a poster couldn't get a Pinnacle reservation, and yet, when walking by, noticed how empty the room seemed. The explanation has always been that there are only so many passengers that can be accomodated each night.

I would take that into consideration when shorting my reservation.

What happens if you can't add the one additional person when you try? Yes, there may be room at the table, but is there availability in the kitchen?

Just a thought to consider.

As far as fixing the programming goes, I suspect it is just very low on the priority scale. As long as the problem can be fixed on board (and apparently it is for most of us), then there are other things for the programmers to work on.

It was always that way at my job. The little, easy, tasks got shunted aside to work on the big projects.

[sail7seas]

The only reason it occured to me was I selected date and time and was just about to click when I noticed I hadn't changed the 'default setting of 1' to booking for two.

 

I thought to myself, well,,,,,,,,, we should only be paying the price of one but my thinking to change it to two was exactly what you say Ruth. We've been told exactly the same thing. It isn't about how many chairs, it's about how many dinners they have to serve.

 

We have always been credited with the discount but some here (KK for one) says they have to struggle to get it.

 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Sail, I like you idea and may do that myself ;) I just need to confirm which night they are doing the Master Chef's Dinner and then make the reservations. But I think I may try this.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Yup -- we always have a problem getting our discounts!!

HAL needs to work on this.

[Kay240]

We pre-booked one Pinnacle reservation for two on the Nieuw Amsterdam in October, but could not make an additional reservation on board because they were "already booked until the end of the cruise". For our next cruise, I learned from my mistake and booked two reservations for two, each on the final nights of our B2B. We received 50% credit for one reservation (for 2) a few days after we boarded, but before we actually went to the Pinnacle. There was no credit for the second dinner, but since it was the last night, I thought it would be in the closing bill (adjusted through our CC), but it wasn't. I have written to HAL and am expecting a correction.

It seems to me, it would be much more cost effective for HAL to have the program changed, rather than paying for people to read and respond to the emails, answer phone calls about the errors, and make the actual corrections.

[Harry1954]

I just booked our Pinnacle reservations for our upcoming Maasdam cruise :) and got to thinking........

 

It has not been a problem for us as we have always received a credit for the Four Star Mariner Discount but seeing HAL has not adjusted the site to initially charge what the proper amount should be, what would happen if Four Star Mariners (who are supposed to get 50% discount) booked their reservations for one person instead of two. Some people have complained here they have had to fight to get the credit due them or have left without ever getting the credit.

 

Assuming a couple (which, of course, is not always the case but for this example I am assuming that)..... If you make the reservation for one and prepay for that one person, they are going to reserve a table for two as there aren't tables for one in any of the Pinnacles that I have seen. We've been on all but two of the ships and in all the Pinnacles and two tops are the smallest.

 

Pay for one in advance and your payment covers the cost of two dinners.

 

Does that work?

We had that problem .. but the PG manager worked it out for us ... along with NL concierge .. was not a simple matter tho' ... they need to resolve this one.

harry

[cmdchiefthom]

I've never even thought about the discount, and that was as a three star. I have know idea if I received the discount or not. I will be looking for it on my upcoming Zuiderdam cruise and actually will go over one hundred days with HAL on the second day of the cruise, so I wonder if I get the discount how much will it be 25% or 50%? Anyway, sail, thanks for brining it up!;)

[kakalina]

It's easier for us to just make up our calender ahead of time and walk into the PG on the first day and book our entire cruise. On a 30 day cruise we will eat there about 15 times + lunches. We've never had a problem doing it that way.

 

cmdchiefthom: When one reached a level you start receiving the benefits from the new level on the nextcruise. Congratulations on reaching 100 days.

[FoxyTerrier]

Exactly.

So why haven't they done it?

We have to log in, they have our Mariner Number and Confirmation Number entered into the reservation process or we couldn't get to the book dinner reservations page. We have been tracked all the way and they know how many stars the person is.

 

This is not a new error that just developed. It is something that has been left to continue despite multiple complaints and notices it is happening.

 

 

My guess is the number of mariner days is kept in a different database or system than the check in system. Also you and the other's in your party might have different mariner days and then subject to a lower or no discount. While it's doable it's probably more programming that you might think. (Example: DH and I are 3 star while my mom and son are 2 star and son's gf is 1 star. If I make a reservation for 5 it could get rather complicated as I don't think you have to list all of the names in your reservation)

 

For us it's never been an issue to get the discount applied to our account. One 5 minute stop at the Neptune is all it took.

[DizzyDallasDi]

As far as fixing the programming goes, I suspect it is just very low on the priority scale. As long as the problem can be fixed on board (and apparently it is for most of us), then there are other things for the programmers to work on.

It was always that way at my job. The little, easy, tasks got shunted aside to work on the big projects.

 

Yes, that's exactly how it works. I've been told countless times by our development team that if there's a workaround, the problem won't be fixed.

[kazu]

I've never even thought about the discount, and that was as a three star. I have know idea if I received the discount or not. I will be looking for it on my upcoming Zuiderdam cruise and actually will go over one hundred days with HAL on the second day of the cruise, so I wonder if I get the discount how much will it be 25% or 50%? Anyway, sail, thanks for brining it up!;)

 

If you are a 3* you get 25% off, 4* 50% off. Your stars always show on your key card;)

[erewhon]

Our Travel Agent kindly gifted us Dinner at the Pinnacle Grill during our cruise on the Volendam last month.

 

The last night of the cruise when we received the statement of our on-board account, we were surprised to read at the end of the statement an entry listed as "Loyalty Discount on PG Dinner" , of US$12.50 (We were then 3 star mariners).

This amount was paid to us in cash by the conceirge, along with a refund for missing a port and a reduction of port taxes.

[sail7seas]

All you had on your bill were credits? :eek:

 

Please, don't tell my DH. :D

 

They did right to credit you for Loyalty Discount. No matter who paid for the dinners, you were entitled to dine in Pinnacle for a reduced rate due to your Mariner status.

 

[erewhon]

All you had on your bill were credits? :eek:

 

Please, don't tell my DH. :D

 

They did right to credit you for Loyalty Discount. No matter who paid for the dinners, you were entitled to dine in Pinnacle for a reduced rate due to your Mariner status.

 

 

We don't buy photos, we drink very little alcohol, there was nothing in the ship's shop worth buying,...... I would not know what is available to purchase in the jewellry shops as the stench from smokers in the casino keeps us well away from that area.

 

We did buy flowers, the conceirge had a folder of photos of the floral arrangements available, the florist delivered the arrangement of a dozen Roses and Anigozhantos to our cabin.

[sail7seas]

We don't buy photos, we drink very little alcohol, there was nothing in the ship's shop worth buying,...... I would not know what is available to purchase in the jewellry shops as the stench from smokers in the casino keeps us well away from that area.

 

We did buy flowers, the conceirge had a folder of photos of the floral arrangements available, the florist delivered the arrangement of a dozen Roses and Anigozhantos to our cabin.

 

Your flowers sound lovely. The arrangements available to purchase while aboard are usually very nicely done.

 

Hope you enjoyed them. :)

 

[Typhoon1]

Interesting thought Sail.

[English_in_Spain]

I've never even thought about the discount, and that was as a three star. I have know idea if I received the discount or not. I will be looking for it on my upcoming Zuiderdam cruise and actually will go over one hundred days with HAL on the second day of the cruise, so I wonder if I get the discount how much will it be 25% or 50%? Anyway, sail, thanks for brining it up!;)

 

I don't understand. You are currently 3 star and get 25% discount. You say that you will go over 100 days on your next cruise so you will get 50%.

 

Surely you need 200 days for 4 star and 50% :confused:

 

[Aruba]

We had made advance reservations for 4 meals at PG and 2 meals at Tamarind for a Nieuw Amsterdam cruise this past December and, as previous posters indicated, were charged full price immediately even though I was (at that time) a 3-star mariner.

I was prepared to have to contact the front desk at some point during the cruise to obtain the discounts...but to my astonishment, ALL of the mariner discounts appeared on my on-board account on day 1 of the cruise! I never had to say a word. That was the first time I did not have to request an adjustment in person.

[Aruba]

PS - Now if HAL would only add Tamarind to the Vista-class ships! As much as I had loved PG every time I have gone (which is many), I like Tamarind even better.

[cruz chic]

PS - Now if HAL would only add Tamarind to the Vista-class ships! As much as I had loved PG every time I have gone (which is many), I like Tamarind even better.

I'm so with you on that. I LOVE the Tamarind.