Why is specialty dining on last night still so popular?

[ithaca gal]

Impossible to say. Anyone who is basing the determination on their own on-board experience is likely to be biased toward thinking that their own opinion is the norm and if you instead do a meta-analysis of all the feedback you can find online you'll find big pockets of negative comments and big pockets of positive comments, and no definitive consensus. It's almost as if people sitting next to each other were given completely different menus and served completely different meals.

 

This post may have been entered by voice recognition. Please excuse any typographical errors.

 

Not sure what you mean by impossible to say. There has never been a large number of comments here that say "Boy! I sure do like/love that last night dinner in the MDR!" but you will find plenty that say "We do not care for the menu in the MDR on the final night."

 

I will say that you are not going to have many people who will post "We skip the MDR on the final night because we don't want to face the servers we are going to stiff after taking great care of us during the cruise"!!!

[dfish]

I personally do not care much for the menu in the MDR on the last night. That is one reason why I book specialty dining. The other reason is that dinner in a specialty restaurant is a nice way to end the cruise. It has become cruise tradition for us.

[cruisemom42]

Opinions about food are very individual.

 

I'm not a big fan of steaks (Pinnacle's main offering) and I've not yet sailed on a HAL ship with Tamarind. I do tend to like "foodie" food rather than basic meat and veg, so perhaps this menu appeals more to my palate than to others'.

[sail7seas]

It’s certainly a matter of taste

but definitely not a favorite of most.

 

 

 

Taste in food is so subjective.

[sail7seas]

Opinions about food are very individual.

 

I'm not a big fan of steaks (Pinnacle's main offering) and I've not yet sailed on a HAL ship with Tamarind. I do tend to like "foodie" food rather than basic meat and veg, so perhaps this menu appeals more to my palate than to others'.

 

 

Canaletto............ :)

[bUU]

Not sure what you mean by impossible to say. There has never been a large number of comments here that say "Boy! I sure do like/love that last night dinner in the MDR!" but you will find plenty that say "We do not care for the menu in the MDR on the final night."

 

I will say that you are not going to have many people who will post "We skip the MDR on the final night because we don't want to face the servers we are going to stiff after taking great care of us during the cruise"!!!

First, I was confused: I thought the comments to which I were replying were regarding gala night meals. Sorry for my confusion.

 

Second, my reference to "feedback you can find online" extended *beyond* opinions posted on CC.

 

This post may have been entered by voice recognition. Please excuse any typographical errors.

[cbr663]

Where do you dine the last night of your HAL cruises? MDR or Alternative restaurants?

 

It varies depending on the ship and the availability of speciality restaurants. Used to be that we avoided the MDR at all times, however, on our last cruise on the K we thought new ship, let's try the MDR. We enjoyed the experience so much that we are planning on dining in the MDR again on our upcoming cruise on the NS.

 

In the past, we usually ordered room service on the last night for the simple reason that by the last night of the cruise we have grown tired of the the cruise. We are always happy to get on a ship and always happy to get off at cruise end.

[haladdict]

We started going to the specialty restaurants on the final evening, when they started food juggling. We had a waiter who had been with the fleet a long time and we saw that he hated it.

Since, we have always gone to Canaletto and timed it, to be finished for the one show of the evening at 9.30pm.

Sandra

[bUU]

I'm a bit puzzled by something else. We are on Nieuw Amsterdam. We've booked Tamarind for a couple of nights. We looked at the other two specialty restaurants, and the menus didn't impress us as much, but beyond that, it seemed to me that they were both located in sub-optimal areas of the ship, sub-optimal enough that I would think twice about booking them regardless of our menu preference. Pinnacle Grill is on Deck 2, so there's no chance of any really great views out the windows, right by the atrium and elevator lobby, so likely to be a busy part of the deck, as folks are going to and from the casino, the theater, and the MDR. Canaletto seems to be embedded within the Lido, so while there might be some decent views, it's still basically just a small distance from the pool. By comparison, Tamarind seems to be in what I would consider an ideal location for a fine restaurant.

 

What am I missing?

[LMaxwell]

Back in the day, I suppose some people would do specialty dining on the last night as a way of avoiding handing out cash tips (back when handing out tips in cash was SOP), but those days are gone. Perhaps the answer is the obvious (i.e., "last night, so let's make it extra special"), but if not I'm curious why last night specialty dining is still so popular.

 

Your original premise seems kind of odd to me. I'd guess people go to specialty dining because they like the food or want to experience the restaurant. I have no data to support it being more or less popular than any other night.

 

For an upcoming cruise I have booked a 4 night dining package and managed to find the menus and order for our cruise and one of the nights we booked specialty was for the final night simple because it is a weak MDR menu that evening (to us).

[bUU]

Your original premise seems kind of odd to me. I'd guess people go to specialty dining because they like the food or want to experience the restaurant. I have no data to support it being more or less popular than any other night.

I don't remember which thread (or forum, for that matter), but it was posited in another thread recently, and there seemed to be general consensus regarding the phenomenon. If that thread does come back up to the top of my subscriptions, and it was here on CC so that I'm allowed to do so, I'll try to remember to post a link here.

[LMaxwell]

I don't remember which thread (or forum, for that matter), but it was posited in another thread recently, and there seemed to be general consensus regarding the phenomenon. If that thread does come back up to the top of my subscriptions, and it was here on CC so that I'm allowed to do so, I'll try to remember to post a link here.

 

That would be interesting to read; I am data oriented by profession and love to see numbers.

[KroozNut]

We also like to start and end our cruise with a lovely meal.

 

We do as well, and for us MDR meals are almost always lovely.

[sail7seas]

I'm a bit puzzled by something else. We are on Nieuw Amsterdam. We've booked Tamarind for a couple of nights. We looked at the other two specialty restaurants, and the menus didn't impress us as much, but beyond that, it seemed to me that they were both located in sub-optimal areas of the ship, sub-optimal enough that I would think twice about booking them regardless of our menu preference. Pinnacle Grill is on Deck 2, so there's no chance of any really great views out the windows, right by the atrium and elevator lobby, so likely to be a busy part of the deck, as folks are going to and from the casino, the theater, and the MDR. Canaletto seems to be embedded within the Lido, so while there might be some decent views, it's still basically just a small distance from the pool. By comparison, Tamarind seems to be in what I would consider an ideal location for a fine restaurant.

 

What am I missing?

 

What views d o you think you can get at t night, in the dark out side Pinnacle's windows, especially at night when at sea?

 

I f you want views out PInnacle's windows, have breakfast or lunch there . Either when at sea or in p;ort.

[bUU]

What views d o you think you can get at t night, in the dark out side Pinnacle's windows, especially at night when at sea?

We'll be dining both nights with 7pm reservations; up in Alaska, there should be quite a lot to see. Sundown isn't until 10pm.

[sail7seas]

We'll be dining both nights with 7pm reservations; up in Alaska, there should be quite a lot to see. Sundown isn't until 10pm.

 

Been there, done h that and if you want views from Pinnacle. , I still suggest you go to Pinnacle for breakfast or lunch. Of course, you will do as you wish,.

[bUU]

Been there, done h that and if you want views from Pinnacle. , I still suggest you go to Pinnacle for breakfast or lunch. Of course, you will do as you wish,.

Well I think you missed the point of my question: I was asking if there was some advantage to the placement of the Pinnacle Grill that I didn't understand, given that it seemed to me to be placed in an inferior location as compared to Tamarind. It's okay if you don't know the answer; I just thought I would ask in case you or someone else did know.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I'm a bit puzzled by something else. We are on Nieuw Amsterdam. We've booked Tamarind for a couple of nights. We looked at the other two specialty restaurants, and the menus didn't impress us as much, but beyond that, it seemed to me that they were both located in sub-optimal areas of the ship, sub-optimal enough that I would think twice about booking them regardless of our menu preference. Pinnacle Grill is on Deck 2, so there's no chance of any really great views out the windows, right by the atrium and elevator lobby, so likely to be a busy part of the deck, as folks are going to and from the casino, the theater, and the MDR. Canaletto seems to be embedded within the Lido, so while there might be some decent views, it's still basically just a small distance from the pool. By comparison, Tamarind seems to be in what I would consider an ideal location for a fine restaurant.

 

What am I missing?

 

I haven't found the deck 2 location of Pinnacle to be a problem. We've never been bothered by hallway traffic. And there are nice big windows if you're lucky enough to be seated near them. Considering that HAL is usually out of the port by dinner time, you'd have a view of the ocean from whatever deck the restaurant is on.

 

Yes, Canaletto is embedded within the Lido, and that area is used during the day for Lido seating. But it is separated, and the proximity of the pool isn't really an issue, as there are doors between the pool area and the Lido. Nobody walks through Canaletto in a dripping bathing suit at dinner time, if that's your concern about the pool.

[bUU]

I haven't found the deck 2 location of Pinnacle to be a problem. We've never been bothered by hallway traffic. And there are nice big windows if you're lucky enough to be seated near them. Considering that HAL is usually out of the port by dinner time, you'd have a view of the ocean from whatever deck the restaurant is on.

 

Yes, Canaletto is embedded within the Lido, and that area is used during the day for Lido seating. But it is separated, and the proximity of the pool isn't really an issue, as there are doors between the pool area and the Lido. Nobody walks through Canaletto in a dripping bathing suit at dinner time, if that's your concern about the pool.

Thanks. I'm considering adding one more specialty restaurant reservation so that's good to know.

[sail7seas]

I did not miss the point of your question. did you miss my point ? :)

[bUU]

I did not miss the point of your question. did you miss my point ? :)

Not at all, but it really didn't have anything to do with what I was curious about, i.e., why the top-level specialty restaurant for dinner seems to be in an inferior location as compared to the second-level specialty restaurant for dinner, so I had no follow-up questions or comments to offer you.

[DaveOKC]

Not at all, but it really didn't have anything to do with what I was curious about, i.e., why the top-level specialty restaurant for dinner seems to be in an inferior location as compared to the second-level specialty restaurant for dinner, so I had no follow-up questions or comments to offer you.

 

In response to your question - it varies by ship. On some of the older HAL ships for example, the Pinnacle Grill was added on and they had a limited amount of options to choose from.

[3rdGenCunarder]

In response to your question - it varies by ship. On some of the older HAL ships for example, the Pinnacle Grill was added on and they had a limited amount of options to choose from.

 

Isn't that also true of Canaletto? I thought the first iterations of it were carved out of existing Lido space because there was nowhere else to use. And then it became the "traditional" place for Canaletto.

 

You're right that options are limited--a dining space needs access to a kitchen. A kitchen can't be added just anywhere, as it needs ventillation (and probably other "mechanicals"). So the Pinnacle is usually near the MDR kitchen.

[AncientWanderer]

We like to book a specialty restaurant on the last night because the last night in the MDR is kind of hectic -- people rushed and casually dressed as they are packing up to go home. (Boo-hoo.) A nice quiet dinner kind of extends the vacation. BUT...sometimes, admittedly, we are so full by the last night that the special dinner seems like overkill. Daunting work, but someone's gotta do it!

[sail7seas]

Not at all, but it really didn't have anything to do with what I was curious about, i.e., why the top-level specialty restaurant for dinner seems to be in an inferior location as compared to the second-level specialty restaurant for dinner, so I had no follow-up questions or comments to offer you.

 

 

In your opinion, of course,. :) I clearly do not agree .

Edited April 13, 2018 by sail7seas