Who remembers when the Pinnacle Grill had..

[sail7seas]

 

<snip>

 

 

 

New passengers used to ask about the two main restaurants. Maitr'd Try Wyono used to explain, "In the old days we had two classes. Now we have no class at all!"

 

I cruised 13 voyages in the old ROTTERDAM... 316 days. Always in Odyssey and always at table No. 45. Six or seven at the round table and always a Second Officer on formal nights. My first dinner with Second Officer Arjan van der Loo.... now Captain van der Loo. Captain Schoonderbeek was a Second and Captain Pieter Bos was Chief Officer. Regular captain was Captain Jacob Dijk. BUT Captain Jack,,, you didn't mention the fabulous Captain Jack who was the first HAL Captain with whom we sailed. Ultimately we sailed a great many times with him.

 

Good old days!

 

 

 

Oh my......... Tri. One of the all time great Maitre d's. We sailed with him last on Oosterdam with Captain Draper. Some great stories. :)

 

You sure jiggled my 'memories'...... Arjan van der Loo, Previously Captain on Maasdam with whom we sailed a number of times; Captain Bos is such a fine gentleman we finally met after hoping to for some time and Captain Schoonderbeek with whom we sailed his very first cruise (Maassdam) as newly promoted Captain. :) Captain Jacob Dijk carted us around Europe on Rotterdam. A wonderful ship and Captain. :)

 

Such memories. Indeed, those were the days of wonderful cruising on HAL ships. So are today but in a quite different way.

 

How lucky are we to experience both styles of HAL cruising. :)

 

Edited March 8, 2016 by sail7seas

[SilvertoGold]

We enjoyed Tri! Glad to see his name come up. I can imagine him saying something like that!

[sail7seas]

We enjoyed Tri! Glad to see his name come up. I can imagine him saying something like that!

 

Tri, Wawan, Yerko, Henrique, Gildus.........

 

Some of the all time great HAL Maitre D's. Such style, such charm, so able..... Sigh.

 

[sambamama]

I remember the first time I went to the Pinnacle and seeing the cart of meat. That was when I realized what I had been missing, and that it was worth paying for. And I loved the 3 salts and the flavored butters! I have to say I have never had a bad meal in the Pinnacle. I had one where the service was awful (we complained and got a free dinner later that week), but the food was still delicious. And I love seeing the decor of the Pinnacle in the different ships I have sailed on!

[sambamama]

I forgot-the thing I miss the most is the vanilla dessert souffle with the Grand Marnier sauce! Although once or twice I have asked and the chef has made it specially for me.

[Toad]

Am I wrong or was it free when it first started? I thought the first few times we went there was no charge?

[sail7seas]

There was no additional charge for Marco Polo or Odyssey.

 

Pinnacle always had a charge except for first night. There was a while when it was free first night and also was a benefit for AmEx Platinum holders. Times have changed. :)

[SilvertoGold]

Tri, Wawan, Yerko, Henrique, Gildus.........

 

Some of the all time great HAL Maitre D's. Such style, such charm, so able..... Sigh.

 

 

I understand!

 

Most of the new, younger DRMs are great.

 

We have gotten to know quite a few and are happy that the Indonesian waiters are making their way up to AssistDRMs and then to the top spot.

 

There is a nice blend of older and younger ones DRMs now. I really enjoyed seeing one of our waiters from a long cruise make it up to AssistDRM: I had told my DH that we was on his way up and there he was!

[TiogaCruiser]

HAL did put the old 3-section salt dishes to use. I have found them holding my ice cream dessert on more than one occasion. Personally, I find eating ice cream off them a little difficult, since the dessert slides around. But it works well enough.

 

I had forgotten about the different butters. Thanks for that reminder.

 

Those aren what the cream burles were served in, are they?

[RuthC]

Those aren what the cream burles were served in, are they?

I never saw the Crème Brule served, so can't say for certain, but I highly doubt it. The dishes would not be at all suitable, with the three small sections and the low sides. It would be difficult to fire the top if the Brule were in them.

[T8NCruise]

Honestly, I experiences it three times back in the "good old days" and decided that it wasn't worth the uncharge to me. I know everyone here raves about the Pinnacle Grill, but I don't. I'll happily give up my spot to someone else. It wasn't worth it then, and it's not worth it now to me and certainly not worth an additional charge for lobster.

 

My history with HAL is much briefer than many here, but I agree with you. I have tried the Pinnacle Grill dinner at least once on every HAL ship I've been on (since 2006) and only one ship, Ryndam Alaska 2009, got it completely right. Oosterdam Alaska 2014 comes in second. Otherwise, we found the main dining room to be better, both food and service. The Pinnacle Grill actually does lunch best. I know you and I are in the minority opinion, though:)

 

We agree, we find the dinners not wonderful and enjoy the lunches.

[taxmantoo]

I never saw the Crème Brule served, so can't say for certain, but I highly doubt it. The dishes would not be at all suitable, with the three small sections and the low sides. It would be difficult to fire the top if the Brule were in them.

 

Here's what the crème brulée looked like ...

[3rdGenCunarder]

Ooh, that looks good. On Oosterdam in Feb, I got a regular round dish of creme brulee, just one flavor.

[RuthC]

Here's what the crème brulée looked like ...

That's right, I remember seeing them once.

Higher sides than the salt dishes (but perhaps not by much).

[OceanTraveller4ever]

The posts here are incredible on how some have sailed for so long, with such great experiences...humbling.

 

My biggest loss at the PG is not having the Stirling Beef anymore, That quality beef was the best available.

The replacement RR is not anywhere close. The filet is acceptable, but the other cuts are hit and miss,

 

Tsk tsk tsk, HAL.

[Cqis]

I've only done the Pinnacle twice. The first I wasn't impressed. The second was my birthday, with a couple we met on the cruise. We were not that impressed with the food, but we had a ball. The staff was great. Like most eating, the food is better with good company.

[RetiredMustang]

I remember the Odyssey restaurant. Primarily, I remember it not so much for the food as for the fact that it came up in the library trivia quiz once ... on a ship that had an Odyssey restaurant. The question was along the lines of "what was the name of the sailor who was in the battle of Troy and which has a HAL restaurant named in his honor?"

Of course, we wrote "Odysseus". This was before they printed the answers on the sheets and actually collected the responses and graded them. We missed the prize (OK, a coffee cup or key chain, so no big deal) because they marked our answer as incorrect -- the answer sheet the CD staff member acting as the librarian (back when the CD staff was more than a couple of people) clearly listed the correct answer as "Ulysses" and so "Odysseus" was incorrect. My comments about differences between Greek and Latin were ignored, and that the similarity between "Odyssey" and "Odysseus" might be subtle clues were seemingly beyond her comprehension; the answer sheet said "Ulysses" so that was it. We of course had a huge laugh, followed by a huge drink in the bar ... :D (It was even more ironic if you consider my sig line quotation.)

I remember the colored salts, and the amuse bouche (French literally for "amuse the mouth", but which I choose to call "annoying pretentious bait on toast"). We remember when the Pinnacle had fine steaks in a refined setting, with eastern European service staff. The current Indonesian staff are also quite fine, but we celebrate the ending of the yuppie salts. They still have the annoying amuse bouche (on Oosterdam last month, it was raw hamburger with soy sauce ... just stop!)

Because of the very high pretention level, we quit Pinnacle for a few years. Now, as five star and sometimes with an Explore 4 promotion we have free nights. We have enjoyed them more, now that they have stopped many of the pretentions. A good steak house does not need that -- the food speaks for itself and does not need gimmicks. IMAO/YMMV.

Dave

[3rdGenCunarder]

[quote name='RetiredMustang']I remember the Odyssey restaurant. Primarily, I remember it not so much for the food as for the fact that it came up in the library trivia quiz once ... on a ship that had an Odyssey restaurant. The question was along the lines of "what was the name of the sailor who was in the battle of Troy and which has a HAL restaurant named in his honor?"

Of course, we wrote "Odysseus". This was before they printed the answers on the sheets and actually collected the responses and graded them. We missed the prize (OK, a coffee cup or key chain, so no big deal) because they marked our answer as incorrect -- the answer sheet the CD staff member acting as the librarian (back when the CD staff was more than a couple of people) clearly listed the correct answer as "Ulysses" and so "Odysseus" was incorrect. My comments about differences between Greek and Latin were ignored, and that the similarity between "Odyssey" and "Odysseus" might be subtle clues were seemingly beyond her comprehension; the answer sheet said "Ulysses" so that was it. We of course had a huge laugh, followed by a huge drink in the bar ... :D (It was even more ironic if you consider my sig line quotation.)

I remember the colored salts, and the amuse bouche (French literally for "amuse the mouth", but which I choose to call "annoying pretentious bait on toast"). We remember when the Pinnacle had fine steaks in a refined setting, with eastern European service staff. The current Indonesian staff are also quite fine, but we celebrate the ending of the yuppie salts. They still have the annoying amuse bouche (on Oosterdam last month, it was raw hamburger with soy sauce ... just stop!)

Because of the very high pretention level, we quit Pinnacle for a few years. Now, as five star and sometimes with an Explore 4 promotion we have free nights. We have enjoyed them more, now that they have stopped many of the pretentions. A good steak house does not need that -- the food speaks for itself and does not need gimmicks. IMAO/YMMV.

Dave[/quote]

I agree that Pinnacle is pretentiouis. But as long as they have that great Colorado lamb, I'll keep going.

The night we ate at Pinnacle on Oosterdam, the amuse bouche was OK. Whatever it was, it was cooked. On Veendam last fall, it was sushi, which definitely fits my idea of "annoying pretentious bait on toast."

I didn't recall an amuse bouche in the MDR on previous cruises, but on the first Gala night we had "mushroom cappuccino." It was good mushroom soup, but served in a cappuccino cup with a tiny spoon. They didn't have an amuse bouche on the second Gala night. I wonder if that was because of the Noro. With all the precautions going on and the extra work for waiters, maybe they decided it wasn't worth the trouble to have that course.

[RedneckBob]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3]Back to the original OP.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3]I find this thread quite funny. When I looked at the subject matter "Who remembers when the PG had..." made me think that this was way back 30 to 40 years ago; not 13 years; appears the PG started in 2003. I'm surprised with so many changes HAL did not change the name of the restaurant.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[galensgrl]

[quote name='RetiredMustang']I remember the Odyssey restaurant. Primarily, I remember it not so much for the food as for the fact that it came up in the library trivia quiz once ... on a ship that had an Odyssey restaurant. The question was along the lines of "what was the name of the sailor who was in the battle of Troy and which has a HAL restaurant named in his honor?"

Of course, we wrote "Odysseus". This was before they printed the answers on the sheets and actually collected the responses and graded them. We missed the prize (OK, a coffee cup or key chain, so no big deal) because they marked our answer as incorrect -- the answer sheet the CD staff member acting as the librarian (back when the CD staff was more than a couple of people) clearly listed the correct answer as "Ulysses" and so "Odysseus" was incorrect. My comments about differences between Greek and Latin were ignored, and that the similarity between "Odyssey" and "Odysseus" might be subtle clues were seemingly beyond her comprehension; the answer sheet said "Ulysses" so that was it. We of course had a huge laugh, followed by a huge drink in the bar ... :D (It was even more ironic if you consider my sig line quotation.)

I remember the colored salts, and the amuse bouche (French literally for "amuse the mouth", but which I choose to call "annoying pretentious bait on toast"). We remember when the Pinnacle had fine steaks in a refined setting, with eastern European service staff. The current Indonesian staff are also quite fine, but we celebrate the ending of the yuppie salts. They still have the annoying amuse bouche (on Oosterdam last month, it was raw hamburger with soy sauce ... just stop!)

Because of the very high pretention level, we quit Pinnacle for a few years. Now, as five star and sometimes with an Explore 4 promotion we have free nights. We have enjoyed them more, now that they have stopped many of the pretentions. A good steak house does not need that -- the food speaks for itself and does not need gimmicks. IMAO/YMMV.

Dave[/quote]

DH and I took our first HAL cruise last year on the Veendam, and we enjoyed a few meals in the Pinnacle Grill. Nice beef and lamb, fantastic fish. We did get served an amuse bouche at dinner. The one that stands out in my mind was a tiny glass that contained a pinkish savory gelee with liver mousse on top. To that I say NO. Liver mousse is just a no, as is a savory "jello." If it looks like a dessert and tastes like liver :eek: that is just wrong in my mind. I believe any other amuse bouche I tried was okay, they don't stand out in my memory. Other than that we loved the food and nice atmosphere, didn't find it too pretentious for us regular folk. We enjoyed a lunch in the Pinnacle Grill as well. It was a nice change of pace from the Lido and the Dive In, but we enjoyed those venues as well.

[sail7seas]

[quote name='RedneckBob'][FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3]Back to the original OP.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3]I find this thread quite funny. When I looked at the subject matter "Who remembers when the PG had..." made me think that this was way back 30 to 40 years ago; not 13 years; appears the PG started in 2003. I'm surprised with so many changes HAL did not change the name of the restaurant.[/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE]

[B] We had five cruises on Zuiderdam (the first HAL ship to have Pinnacle Grill) during her Inaugural Year and we dined there multiple times each of those cruises. As to "Who Remembers?"..... I remember. :)

Speak of Funny Things.. :rolleyes: HAL actually did change the name of the restaurant just before the ship was launched. When we first dined in Pinnacle, there was a large round name tiled on the entry floor that read "Pinnacle at Odyssey". That was to have been the name but it seems it was changed after the tile floor had been set.


[/B] Edited March 11, 2016 by sail7seas

[RedneckBob]

[quote name='sail7seas'][B] We had five cruises on Zuiderdam (the first HAL ship to have Pinnacle Grill) during her Inaugural Year and we dined there multiple times each of those cruises. As to "Who Remembers?"..... I remember. :)

Speak of Funny Things.. :rolleyes: HAL actually did change the name of the restaurant just before the ship was launched. When we first dined in Pinnacle, there was a large round name tiled on the entry floor that read "Pinnacle at Odyssey". That was to have been the name but it seems it was changed after the tile floor had been set.


[/B][/QUOTE]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="3"]I forgot that the actual Maiden Trip was Dec 14, 2002, not in 2003; because I attended the christening in Ft Lauderdale on that date. I remember touring the ship and noticing how nice that steak house was.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[sail7seas]

[B]:) I Remember. :)

[/B]

[InTheWASide]

[quote name='TiogaCruiser']Those aren what the cream burles were served in, are they?[/QUOTE]

The salts were served in there. (top left of this picture)

[IMG]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8328/8081919865_5f491b460c.jpg[/IMG]

[Willem Ruys]

[quote name='Topsham']Do I remember? WOW!!!!! Too right!

I was at the FIRST dinner! Must have been 1996 or 1997 on board the old ROTTERDAM. A group of us were invited to take part in a 'trial'.. held in the little Grand Voyage Room. This was to become on the brand new ROTTERDAM in Marco Polo. Fantastic! Yes, the style was basically Italian.

[B]The PINNACLE RESTAURANTS onboard the R Class ships were originally the ODYSSEY in the ROTTERDAM and AMSTERDAM; the MARCO POLO in the VOLENDAM and ZAANDAM[/B] Edited March 12, 2016 by Willem Ruys