Are You a Specialty Restaurant Hold Out?

[mamaofami]

Senior moment....what is the charge for three star mariners for Pinnacle?

[sail7seas]

Add another to the "Not part of the 30% list"...... it's getting to be a long list.

 

Early morning, we have coffee and a few nibbles from Neptune.

We dress when we're ready and go to Pinnacle for breakfast.

 

Lunch is either in Lido, Taco Station or once in a great while Pinnacle.

 

Dinner is MDR, Tamarind or Pinnacle. Never Lido. We never even walk through there before our dinner.

 

We NEVER go to late night buffet and NEVER go to Tea.

We might once in a 14 day cruise have a snack from room service if we are watching a movie or hanging around our suite.

 

Never do we have multiple meals. I don't even have more than two courses at dinner.

 

If I have soup, I don't have salad and the most I have is a dish of ice cream for dessert a few times during the cruise.

 

HAL is not over spending on food for me. :D

That is Not to say I don't eat just fine and have more than enough to satisfy almost anyone.... Well, anyone except that 30%. :eek:

 

[sail7seas]

Senior moment....what is the charge for three star mariners for Pinnacle?

 

 

Carol,

 

It is 25% off $25 = $18.75

 

 

[innlady1]

Not that I watch what others are eating, but I've never noticed anyone gourging themselves on a cruise. Civility seems the order of the day.

I wonder for which cruise line BruceMuzz works?

[Cruising-along]

Us too. Heck, I have enough problems dealing with what I eat for my three meals a day.... "a mile a meal, no mile no meal". If I were eating that many meals I'd never be off the promenade deck:D

 

Add us to the growing list. Plus nobody I know eats that way :eek: We walk a few miles around the promenade deck each day and like you, we'd never get off the deck if we ate the way Mr. Muzz portrays.

 

We eat 3 meals a day, have gone to the afternoon tea only one time, never gone to the late night buffet, don't go to the chocolate extravaganza any more.

 

Ocasionally we might order room service cheese and crackers mid-afternoon. Or grab one cookie walking through the Lido. I can't see where the 8 meals/day could be possible, much less as common as portrayed.

[mamaofami]

Thanks Judy. Wondering if meals there add to your mariner status?

[innlady1]

I don't know about anyone else, but I know that DH and I don't eat as much as we used to be able to do. i.e., if we go out for lunch, we aren't all that hungry at dinner time so opt for something small.

The only time we ever eat three meals a day is on the ship, including dessert. Certainly not 8. :eek:

[sail7seas]

Thanks Judy. Wondering if meals there add to your mariner status?

 

Yes, Carol.

 

All spending in alternative restaurants are factored for Mariner Bonus Days. :)

 

[metairiegal]

We never eat in the speciality restaurants. Too much food available that we have already paid for.

[Typhoon1]

We dined when the specialty restaurant was first introduced after the Zuiderdam launched and continue to dine at least once during a cruise.

 

An excellent dining experience.

[igraf]

I share your concern. What is it saying about the MDR when one has to pay extra to get a great meal?

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

 

I think everyone should boycott them as it appears the main dining has suffered, not only at HAL but across all the main cruise lines.

 

That said I ate at one once and it was excellent. But if people don't stop supporting them, traditional dining is dead.

[Hawaiidan]

Frankly, I enjoy the specialty restaurants but am only willing to pay a small ($25max?) additional fee. Is the Le' Cirque experience worth $39 per person? Well some say it is minimal compared to the cost at actually dining at Le'Cirque, but let us not forget the charge is IN ADDITION to the cruise fare which already includes meals, so it is not $39 per person, it is an additional $39 per person. The only time I was disappointed in a specialty restaurant was when we sailed Princess to Alaska on the Sapphire and the specialty restaurant overwhelmed us with quantity but not quality (no evidence of the "chef's hand" in any of the food). Most nights my husband and I love to eat in MDR at a large table and make new friends. But at least once each cruise we do like an intimate table for 2 in the Pinnacle (this year on his bithday!)

 

I totaly agree with the cost... but it is a business. And Holland is in the business of making money..its not a charity and the 3rd law of life is no free lunch

.

I also totaly agree with those who feel the main dining room has suffered in both food and ambiance of the tradtitional. It is in the companies own selfish best interest to encourage people to pay extra and offer as many places as possible to do so.

 

I think you will also see the size of the main dining room reduced and dine as you wish become the norm.

In this way there will be long delays for the regular dining which will force passengers into the pay extra mode as they get frustrated.

 

But hey, you going to see more and more of that whith Holland America now planning to build 2600-2800 passenger ships and retire the little 800 to 1400 ones. And many of Holland Americas older traditional passengers are...well.. dying off. The New Holland America passenger is going to be trained to accept the new model as the norm.:(

 

Now, I have been several times to various pay extra venues, with the compliments of the company( to entice me or reward me). I didnt have to pay.

 

While it was reasonably good and better than the other options I found it an extremely poor value for the money and in reality very costly. The real cost being more than twice the price you paid. But that is the hidden profit they rely on

 

The asthetic value of having paid for dinner at one place and then paying to dine the same night at another seemed, well stupid. I would never do that at home..nor would you, so why is it ok on a vacation.:o

 

( would you, for example, zip into Mc Donalds and order a Big Mac meal and pay, leave it on the counter and drive over to Burger King and sit down and pay for a Whopper meal... You'd call that pretty dumb... Me too):rolleyes:

 

Because of this I now seek cruises /lines that are more or less all inclusive in all venues and find it no more costly that non inclusive cruises.

[mamaofami]

I'm planning to eat in Pinnacle several times on my upcoming 14 day cruise. DH was disappointed in the menu choices and long waits in the MDR. I think the quality of meat is superior and eating there more than once will give me a chance to try some other foods I never get to order. I try to eat a no sodium diet and find the MDR never gets it right.

[innlady1]

I'm planning to eat in Pinnacle several times on my upcoming 14 day cruise. DH was disappointed in the menu choices and long waits in the MDR. I think the quality of meat is superior and eating there more than once will give me a chance to try some other foods I never get to order. I try to eat a no sodium diet and find the MDR never gets it right.

 

I'd like to get the menus for the 14 days in advance so that I can plan when to eat in the MDR and when in the Pinnacle. Once or twice in the Pinnacle during a cruise just isn't enough.

[vicocala]

A few years ago I was working for a mass market line that decided to start tracking where each passenger ate throughout the day. We were quite surprised to discover that 30% of the passengers ate breakfast twice every morning. Most had a mid-morning snack after that. Then there was early lunch in the buffet and and a later lunch in the dining room.

Then ice cream in mid afternoon, followed by tea time with sandwiches. Over 40% had early dinner in the buffet, followed by regular dinner in the dining room.

After the show there was the late evening snack in the buffet, or something from room service later on.

On my current ship, the dining room staff every evening has a betting pool on how many main courses the more ravenous diners will consume in one sitting. There are always 3 or 4 tables of very serious consumers who will eat the full menu, plus anywhere from 30 to 40 main courses - all consumed by only 6 people. It is quite amazing to watch.

 

You are correct. On ships, a tip is generally not required. But if you eat in a NY City Restaurant and leave less than a 20% tip, there is a very good chance the waiter and manager will follow you onto the street for some serious discussion on your tipping habits.

 

For all the major mass market lines, the wait staff receives about 30% of the daily service charge. Depending on the line, that comes to somewhere between $2.75 and $4.00 per day.

The better mass market lines are charging each passenger around $12 to $15 per day for food, no matter how many meals you eat that day.

So looking at the highs and lows, you could be paying a low of $14.75 per day up to a high of $19.00 per day for all the food and service you receive.

The only exceptions would be Thompson, NCL and Carnival, who spend far less money on the food they serve you.

 

If you decide to eat one of those meals in an extra charge restaurant that has a $25 cover charge, that means your total charge for food AND service for that day - regardless of the number of meals you consumed - could be as low as $39.75 or as high as $44.00.

 

We all have our own ideas on what is good quality and what is expensive, but I cannot think of too many places on planet earth where one can have unlimited dining for 24 hours, free room service, and dinner in a nice restaurant, for a maximum $44.00 and no additional charges.

 

If that many people eat that much food, I am very surprised. Especially with so many people off the ship on port days. If it is correct, no wonder all these ships have sewage problems!

[shandryl]

I believe you!! LOL I have seen it myself. When there were trays people had even more food!! :eek: Lots of waste too!! :mad: I have seen people load up their plates like there was a food shortage!! :rolleyes:Then the toilets stop working and Sh*T really hits the fan. (just saying) LOL The two are connected!!

 

 

 

A few years ago I was working for a mass market line that decided to start tracking where each passenger ate throughout the day. We were quite surprised to discover that 30% of the passengers ate breakfast twice every morning. Most had a mid-morning snack after that. Then there was early lunch in the buffet and and a later lunch in the dining room.

Then ice cream in mid afternoon, followed by tea time with sandwiches. Over 40% had early dinner in the buffet, followed by regular dinner in the dining room.

After the show there was the late evenuing snack in the buffet, or something from room service later on.

On my current ship, the dining room staff every evening has a betting pool on how many main courses the more ravenous diners will consume in one sitting. There are always 3 or 4 tables of very serious consumers who will eat the full menu, plus anywhere from 30 to 40 main courses - all consumed by only 6 people. It is quite amazing to watch.

 

You are correct. On ships, a tip is generally not required. But if you eat in a NY City Restaurant and leave less than a 20% tip, there is a very good chance the waiter and manager will follow you onto the street for some serious discussion on your tipping habits.

 

For all the major mass market lines, the wait staff receives about 30% of the daily service charge. Depending on the line, that comes to somewhere between $2.75 and $4.00 per day.

The better mass market lines are charging each passenger around $12 to $15 per day for food, no matter how many meals you eat that day.

So looking at the highs and lows, you could be paying a low of $14.75 per day up to a high of $19.00 per day for all the food and service you receive.

The only exceptions would be Thompson, NCL and Carnival, who spend far less money on the food they serve you.

 

If you decide to eat one of those meals in an extra charge restaurant that has a $25 cover charge, that means your total charge for food AND service for that day - regardless of the number of meals you consumed - could be as low as $39.75 or as high as $44.00.

 

We all have our own ideas on what is good quality and what is expensive, but I cannot think of too many places on planet earth where one can have unlimited dining for 24 hours, free room service, and dinner in a nice restaurant, for a maximum $44.00 and no additional charges.

[cruz chic]

I believe you!! LOL I have seen it myself. When there were trays people had even more food!! :eek: Lots of waste too!! :mad: I have seen people load up their plates like there was a food shortage!! :rolleyes:Then the toilets stop working and Sh*T really hits the fan. (just saying) LOL The two are connected!!

I hate it when people order a ton of food tthen only eat bits and pieces of it. If I take it I'm going to eat it unless it's gross. That said, I highly doubt if that is why toilets plug since it seems to be isolated to certain ships.

[Taxguy77]

We enjoy the specialty restaurants and use them often. We eat breakfast every morning at the Pinnacle and on a seven day trip, will eat dinner there at least two times. On our upcoming Nieuw Amsterdam cruise in January, we have two dinner reservations each at the Pinnacle and the Tamarind.

 

My wife is not a fan of the Lido, so we don't go there often. I do go down for pizza a few nights later on in the evening.

On our past two cruises, the MDR service was very slow and we had to ask repeatedly for things like coffee refills before they brought it. On our last cruise in May, the waiter never came back with our dessert for the Master Chef's International dinner. We have always had great service in the Pinnacle and the Tamarind.

I can't answer the question if it was a mistake by adding the specialty restaurants as threy have always been there since we began cruising with HAL.

 

That's one way of getting customers for the extra cost places! :rolleyes:

[geoherb]

We tried the Pinnacle Grill on our first HAL cruise on the Maasdam in 2004. We did not do it again on our second HAL cruise on the Westerdam in 2009. But next month we're signed up to do the special Le Cirque menu on our third HAL cruise, also on the Westerdam. It's something new for us to try. I like that it's scheduled for the night the ship leaves port late.

 

Our experience on Princess has been similar. We've tried most of the specialty restaurants at least once. We've also done the chef's table several times and the Ultimate Balcony Dinner. Unfortunately, Princess discontinued my favorite specialty restaurant meal--brunch at Sabatini's.

[Clarabella_Baby]

I've only been on one other HAL cruise and I ate at the Pinnacle dinning room for one of the nights. The service was wonderful and the food was amazing. I accidentally spilled my red wine on the table cloth and I swear I've never seen 4 men move so fast as the staff at that restaurant did to change out our linens and get us back to our meal. It was a sight to behold. Very impressive. ;)

 

I'm booked at the Pinnacle for the Le Cirque evening for my upcoming cruise and I'm very excited to experience it. As I'll probably never have the opportunity to dine in the 'real' Le Cirque.

 

So I guess I support the 'extra pay' dinning rooms. Although I'm sure I'll also eat lots and lots at the MDR too. Although not 'lots' as per BruceMuzz's stats above. Wholly Smokes people!!!

 

Also I read quite a bit in this thread about about tea in the afternoon? What's that about? I'd love to do high tea at sea!!! Excuse my newbiness.:confused:

[Opinions]

I have cruised for over 40 years and have never eaten in a extra charge ship restaurant and probably never will...In my opinion they have resulted in lowering the quality of the meals in the MDR...Obviously many do not feel that way or they just don't care.

[innlady1]

I've only been on one other HAL cruise and I ate at the Pinnacle dinning room for one of the nights. The service was wonderful and the food was amazing. I accidentally spilled my red wine on the table cloth and I swear I've never seen 4 men move so fast as the staff at that restaurant did to change out our linens and get us back to our meal. It was a sight to behold. Very impressive. ;)

 

I'm booked at the Pinnacle for the Le Cirque evening for my upcoming cruise and I'm very excited to experience it. As I'll probably never have the opportunity to dine in the 'real' Le Cirque.

 

So I guess I support the 'extra pay' dinning rooms. Although I'm sure I'll also eat lots and lots at the MDR too. Although not 'lots' as per BruceMuzz's stats above. Wholly Smokes people!!!

 

Also I read quite a bit in this thread about about tea in the afternoon? What's that about? I'd love to do high tea at sea!!! Excuse my newbiness.:confused:

 

I usually try to go to at least one tea per cruise. The High Tea or the Indonesian Tea. I did the High Tea on the Maasdam in January and the Indonesion on the Veendam in May. Amazing. I think it's one of the "not to miss" things!

Since we have early Fixed, I try to coordinate it on the evening we're going to Pinnacle which would be about 6:30.

[RuthC]

Also I read quite a bit in this thread about about tea in the afternoon? What's that about? I'd love to do high tea at sea!!! Excuse my newbiness.:confused:

No worry about being new. We're all new at cruising, cruising HAL, and on CC at some time.

 

HAL has afternoon, or low, tea every day. It's usually held in the dining room about 3:00 PM. Double check in the daily program for exact time/location, especially which level of the dining room.

You will find small sandwiches, pastries, and scones, along with a selection of teas.

 

Once a cruise there will be an Indonesian Tea where you will find Indonesian treats, as well as Indonesian coffees and teas. It is very nice.

You will also find a Royal Dutch tea once during the cruise. You may find savories along with the usual dessert-type treats.

[ellieanne]

Not that I watch what others are eating, but I've never noticed anyone gourging themselves on a cruise. Civility seems the order of the day.

I wonder for which cruise line BruceMuzz works?

 

I haven't seen anyone gorge themselves, but I can't say it's always been civil. I have seen far too many passengers pick through the cut fruit salads in the Lido to get only the stuff they like. I have seen people pull out ALL the strawberries. I have also seen passengers touching every piece of smoked salmon before they find one they like, and the same with bread and rolls. I have also witnessed passengers fill their plates with far more chips and toppings from the taco bar than any three people could eat comfortably.

 

I always like the Code Red Days at the beginning of the cruise, because people are not allowed to serve themselves or pick out just the "good stuff."

[innlady1]

I haven't seen anyone gorge themselves, but I can't say it's always been civil. I have seen far too many passengers pick through the cut fruit salads in the Lido to get only the stuff they like. I have seen people pull out ALL the strawberries. I have also seen passengers touching every piece of smoked salmon before they find one they like, and the same with bread and rolls. I have also witnessed passengers fill their plates with far more chips and toppings from the taco bar than any three people could eat comfortably.

 

I always like the Code Red Days at the beginning of the cruise, because people are not allowed to serve themselves or pick out just the "good stuff."

 

For those very reasons, I almost wish every day was Code Orange day!