Gala Night Dining

[nimiq]

On 10/17/2021 at 12:45 PM, atexsix said:

This is what we're struggling with.  Do we book a Neptune on HAL?  Or sail at a lower category on an all inclusive line?  We're even considering a suite on Celebrity which seems to offer way more than HAL.  We've sailed Neptunes in the past, but they seem to be lacking now to justify the price when compared to similar lines.  Wasn't it the King's Room on the smaller ships we were able to dine in?  And what the heck happened to the fruit bowls?  It wasn't until we got home that it dawned on me. 

 

NCL's haven class has been highly recommended, but we're not sure their ships are for us.  The double deck wrap around lounge holds the largest appeal, but we're critical of the amusement park aspect to them, we're not there to be amused, we're there to relax. 

 

 

Yikes by reading a few of your comments and quotes  I certainly do not suggest you venture on any NCL ship unless you stay up in the HAVEN and never come out as those ship are really not for you. As for Celebrity it might work but they have also changed lots and have attracted a much younger and louder class of passengers with all the activities going. Personally I still think HAL offers the best relaxation cruise and they have still have kept a bit of the old style cursing.  
 

Thanks 

Sea ya 

Eric 

[Evilmuffin]

WRT Gala Night Dining, I’m a little confused.   Or can’t remember how it goes as I have not been on a cruise since 2016.  

 

On the HAL website, when I log into the “Already Booked” where you can purchase excursions, specialty dining, spa, etc, under special dining you can purchase “Pinnacle Gala Dining” for $142 for just one night that you can choose during a 10 day cruise.   When I printed my boarding pass, it says 2 Gala Attire Evenings.    So is this $142 Gala Dinner different from the Gala Attire evenings?   

 

I am also on B2B cruise and the second cruise is only 7 days.  On the manage my bookings for it, there is no option for Pinnacle Gala Dining.   I am still waiting to checkin for the second cruise so I don’t have the boarding pass to see what it says.

 

 

[Roz]

@The-Inside-Cabin, my last HAL cruise was a b2b Coastal and Alaska.  The menus you posted (thank you!) were nothing like what I experienced on gala nights.

[Cruise Suzy]

26 minutes ago, Evilmuffin said:

On the HAL website, when I log into the “Already Booked” where you can purchase excursions, specialty dining, spa, etc, under special dining you can purchase “Pinnacle Gala Dining” for $142 for just one night that you can choose during a 10 day cruise.   When I printed my boarding pass, it says 2 Gala Attire Evenings.    So is this $142 Gala Dinner different from the Gala Attire evenings?

Yes.

[Vict0riann]

21 minutes ago, Evilmuffin said:

WRT Gala Night Dining, I’m a little confused.   Or can’t remember how it goes as I have not been on a cruise since 2016.  

 

On the HAL website, when I log into the “Already Booked” where you can purchase excursions, specialty dining, spa, etc, under special dining you can purchase “Pinnacle Gala Dining” for $142 for just one night that you can choose during a 10 day cruise.   When I printed my boarding pass, it says 2 Gala Attire Evenings.    So is this $142 Gala Dinner different from the Gala Attire evenings?   

 

I am also on B2B cruise and the second cruise is only 7 days.  On the manage my bookings for it, there is no option for Pinnacle Gala Dining.   I am still waiting to checkin for the second cruise so I don’t have the boarding pass to see what it says.

 

 

The “Pinnacle Gala” is a dinner in the Pinnacle Grill on one evening per 10-day or over cruise that you have to pay extra for and has a set menu with wine pairings, if you want.  Gala nights are (usually sea day) dinners in the Main Dining Room.   We went to the Pinnacle Gala dinner on the first leg of our cruise.  I would not bother to pay $142 to have it again.  

[taxmantoo]

13 hours ago, atexsix said:

The thermal suite guests wanted Asian style and the salon area wanted some type of pop rock, strangely. 

This would have been a totally one off situation ... You can hardly extrapolate this to the entire fleet.  Every ship is different and every cruise is different.

[atexsix]

10 hours ago, nimiq said:

Yikes by reading a few of your comments and quotes  I certainly do not suggest you venture on any NCL ship unless you stay up in the HAVEN and never come out as those ship are really not for you. As for Celebrity it might work but they have also changed lots and have attracted a much younger and louder class of passengers with all the activities going. Personally I still think HAL offers the best relaxation cruise and they have still have kept a bit of the old style cursing.  
 

Thanks 

Sea ya 

Eric 

With the exception of luxury lines, I'm starting to think along these lines.  Celebrity back in the day was very similar to HAL, but imo they've gone off in another direction.  

 

I actually have heard of people staying in the Haven and never coming out, we wouldn't be able to do that of course.  If we wanted a private resort feel, there are plenty of land based vacations that can provide it, probably cheaper too.

[atexsix]

1 hour ago, taxmantoo said:

This would have been a totally one off situation ... You can hardly extrapolate this to the entire fleet.  Every ship is different and every cruise is different.

When did I say it was the entire fleet, we were discussing the fact that for many people, music is not playing in the thermal suite at all.  I then repeated what I was told by spa staff years ago on the Westerdam for conversational flavor.  

[Evilmuffin]

4 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

The “Pinnacle Gala” is a dinner in the Pinnacle Grill on one evening per 10-day or over cruise that you have to pay extra for and has a set menu with wine pairings, if you want.  Gala nights are (usually sea day) dinners in the Main Dining Room.   We went to the Pinnacle Gala dinner on the first leg of our cruise.  I would not bother to pay $142 to have it again.  

Thank you and also to Cruise Suzy for clarifying this for me.

 

@Roz   Now I’m gonna need three different outfits plus one more as I’m on the 7 day cruise right after and I’ve noticed that there are a couple of people that are also on both!!   🤣

[Roz]

@Evilmuffin, I can't remember what I've worn on a cruise let alone what someone else did.

[Florida_gal_50]

14 minutes ago, Roz said:

@Evilmuffin, I can't remember what I've worn on a cruise let alone what someone else did.

So true. Years ago I used to worry that people would remember what I wore to work and that I'd just worn it the week before.  Unless its an outlandish outfit (I don't own anything like that) I couldn't tell you what they wore yesterday.  Same for a cruise.

[retired dude]

love to see what is in the frig at the home of the folks on this thread that complain about the food on the ships...

[taxmantoo]

31 minutes ago, retired dude said:

love to see what is in the frig at the home of the folks on this thread that complain about the food on the ships...

Totally agree.  One poster commented on several posts about how the MDR food had gone downhill, the recipes were uninspired,  Pinnacle Grill was not so good anymore, gala nights were a joke yadayadayada and then complained in a subsequent post that there was no fried chicken in the Lido LOL 😏

Edited October 19, 2021 by taxmantoo

[Evilmuffin]

@Roz   @Florida_gal_50      Actually only once someone has mentioned something.   I wore the same outfit two years in a row for Christmas parties.   And it was a Catholic Priest that actually came up and mentioned it.   LOL. 

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, Evilmuffin said:

Actually only once someone has mentioned something.   I wore the same outfit two years in a row for Christmas parties.   And it was a Catholic Priest that actually came up and mentioned it.   LOL. 

My reply would have been that I got so many complements on the outfit, and so many requests I wear it again, that I did.

[RuthC]

2 hours ago, retired dude said:

love to see what is in the frig at the home of the folks on this thread that complain about the food on the ships...

The fair comparison is not to what's in my fridge at home, but to what's served in the restaurants at home, where I am also paying for the dinner. 

[rkacruiser]

23 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

 

 

The MDR usually has a better menu on Gala nights than normal nights, while the Pinnacle has the same menu every night.    If you forgo the MDR on gala nights then you miss the upgraded MDR menu.   

 

Here are a couple of MDR menus from gala nights on my 2020 cruise.    This was my idea of special.  I hope you love it!

26-Jan-MDR-Gala.pdf 512.56 kB · 33 downloads 8-Feb-MDR-Gala.pdf 518.29 kB · 27 downloads

 

On what ship did you experience these menus?  

[rkacruiser]

22 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

That was from the world cruise.

 

I should have read further into the thread than I did before I just posted my question.

 

These are very atypical Gala Dinner Menus during shorter pre-Covid cruises.  

 

It is a fact.  The daily food budget for world cruises exceeds the same budget for the shorter cruises.  That explains the differences in the cuisine offered on cruises of different types.  

[rkacruiser]

23 hours ago, atexsix said:

The thermal suite guests wanted Asian style and the salon area wanted some type of pop rock, strangely. 

 

Thanks for your reply.  I prefer "soothing types of music" in such situations.  Maybe, since I found that the music selection options didn't work and that there was no music piped into the areas, that may be the best "middle ground" that HAL could create.  If so, I understand.  But, another potential amenity that could add to one's cruise experience is gone.  

[Florida_gal_50]

4 hours ago, retired dude said:

love to see what is in the frig at the home of the folks on this thread that complain about the food on the ships...

If I was getting a free cruise it might be different.  I don’t think it’s too much to ask to have some decent food to go with the hefty price.

[taxmantoo]

12 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

If I was getting a free cruise it might be different.  I don’t think it’s too much to ask to have some decent food to go with the hefty price.

Seems that, based on the comments in this post, most people's idea of decent is different.  Care to share what your idea of decent is?

[Mosaic]

I will give you mine.....Outback Steakhouse has good quality food.  Great salads and very good filet.  Soups are also very good, etc.  And almost always MUCH better than the MDR.  We used like to go to the MDR often. Not once a cruise anymore.....

 

In fact, I have been embarrassed to eat what I was served a few times. No I did not send it back or complain.  Other's foods looked just as bad.

 

And yes way to often the Pinnacle grill is no better than Outback.

Come look in our fridge.  There is not much in there, we eat out most every night. This last week included high end Italian, Outback, Firebirds, local Samari, a winery and an Elks Club (not the best food).

[Evilmuffin]

If it’s not fish (or basically anything from the sea), and I don’t have to cook it… I’m good.  🙂

[kazu]

5 hours ago, Mosaic said:

I will give you mine.....Outback Steakhouse has good quality food.  Great salads and very good filet.  Soups are also very good, etc.  And almost always MUCH better than the MDR. 

 

See? This is why food is so subjective and dependent on when you go and the experience.  I used to like the Outback (am talking about the one in FLL)

 

the last time we went there was the LAST.  Horrible service and the steak wasn’t fit for my dogs.  Seriously.  Horrible.  The MDR wouldn’t have to do much to have beat that experience 😉 

We haven’t returned and found much better places to eat than that.  

that doesn’t mean yours isn’t good nor that your experiences weren’t.  It’s just that ours wasn’t 😉 

 

Just like our MDR experiences have been very good and yours hasn’t (we sailed the smaller & Vista ships B.C. (Before Covid) - Prinsendam a lot & Rotterdam along with Westerdam).

 

[AV8rix]

Y'know, I have ALWAYS booked fixed late-seating in the past because I have generally been pleased with MDR offerings and went there for  the majority of dinnertime meals.

 

But I have been reading various folks' comments on MDR offerings post-covid.  So for my upcoming voyages on Koningsdam and Rotterdam I surprised my PCC by telling him to just leave me on "open".  Since these are Pinnacle-class ships and there are more options,  I anticipate eating most evening meals in the alternate venues.

 

 

Edited October 20, 2021 by AV8rix