Extra charge in Pinnacle for 2nd appetizer - Eurodam starts 10-30-22

[Crew News]

1 hour ago, SeanGuard said:

We were on the NS 10 days ago.  First time on HAL in decades, and we had HIA so we booked PG and Tamarind as our dining credits to get a feel for restaurants.  We also dropped into Rudi's on our 3rd night on the ship.

 

Would never do PG again unless it was in a package and that was our only choice.  Waited WAY TOO LONG between courses.  I did add an extra app and there was no charge.  I did do the lobster add-on ($10 for 5-oz) with the filet.  Big mistake.  HUGE.  One, it was barely 3 bites of lobster. Two, it was just ok.  Three, for $20 I could have had the 12-oz lobster tail that is served in Rudi's.  

 

Tamarind was great.  Had an extra app, no charge.  Added on a shrimp entree to my filet dinner ($10) and it was worth all 12 bites! 

 

Would book Tamarind and Rudi's over and over.

 

Not sure if you can do all of your "dining credits" in Tamarind or PG.  If we cruise HAL again, I will give it a try.

 

Rudi's, hands down.  If you book and pay hard cash for PG, don't, IMO.  It is $47 and for $2 more, you can get Rudi's with no upcharges and a number of free yummies in between courses.  And, the Rudi's 12-oz lobster is not to be believed, not in its huge size, but also the taste and presentation.  Wonderful!

Last year on NS, I waited 35 minutes after receiving my entree before my waiter reappeared in the PG dining area to ask about dessert.  Only 20 diners were there that evening.  I learned that despite the excellent food, the PG Maitre'd received many complaints about the poor service provided by his staff.  When I complained about the service, I was offered a free PG meal on another evening that I refused.  I was then given a free Rudi's meal. 

 

It must be noted that the NS dining managers and hosts rotate to other restaurants during their contract .  The PG service on my second week aboard was reported to be much better under new management.

 

It is my experience that HAL hires land-based restaurant managers for PG Maitre'd positions with most having no HAL or cruise ship experience.  Although several years ago, I recognized the PG Maitre'd as a former PG waiter that had served me two years earlier.  The PG service under his management was quick and when i thanked him, he told me that he knows how to stage PG food to ensure no delay. 

 

FWIW my slowest PG meal was two hours and 10 minutes as a solo.  Never had a slow Tamarind dinner service.

[Florida_gal_50]

5 hours ago, FOPMan said:

I just voted with my feet. I cancelled my $ reservation for Pinnacle and made one for Tamarind. The changes in the menu and the pricing policy made it an easy call.

Me too except for I haven’t made reservations yet.  I would rather go to caneletto and tamarind than the pinnacle.   This just cements it. 

[Florida_gal_50]

7 hours ago, SeanGuard said:

We were on the NS 10 days ago.  First time on HAL in decades, and we had HIA so we booked PG and Tamarind as our dining credits to get a feel for restaurants.  We also dropped into Rudi's on our 3rd night on the ship.

 

Would never do PG again unless it was in a package and that was our only choice.  Waited WAY TOO LONG between courses.  I did add an extra app and there was no charge.  I did do the lobster add-on ($10 for 5-oz) with the filet.  Big mistake.  HUGE.  One, it was barely 3 bites of lobster. Two, it was just ok.  Three, for $20 I could have had the 12-oz lobster tail that is served in Rudi's.  

 

Tamarind was great.  Had an extra app, no charge.  Added on a shrimp entree to my filet dinner ($10) and it was worth all 12 bites! 

 

Would book Tamarind and Rudi's over and over.

 

Not sure if you can do all of your "dining credits" in Tamarind or PG.  If we cruise HAL again, I will give it a try.

 

Rudi's, hands down.  If you book and pay hard cash for PG, don't, IMO.  It is $47 and for $2 more, you can get Rudi's with no upcharges and a number of free yummies in between courses.  And, the Rudi's 12-oz lobster is not to be believed, not in its huge size, but also the taste and presentation.  Wonderful!

The lobster is incredible at rudi’s.  So worth it.

[Mary229]

6 hours ago, FOPMan said:

I just voted with my feet. I cancelled my $ reservation for Pinnacle and made one for Tamarind. The changes in the menu and the pricing policy made it an easy call.

And that is how it is done.   If they mess that up, vote again

[Mary229]

5 hours ago, Crew News said:

8 hours ago, SeanGuard said:

Expand  

Last year on NS, I waited 35 minutes after receiving my entree before my waiter reappeared in the PG dining area to ask about dessert.  Only 20 diners were there that evening. 

Things have improved.   The PG on the NS turned my thinking around about specialty dining.   I never bought a specialty dinner, always a gift and wasn’t a fan.  That was a delightful experience for us.  So we went to the Tamarind the next evening- ditto.

[Iamthesea]

12 hours ago, FlorenceItaly said:

One of the reasons I purchased the HIA package for our cruise this weekend is to not be bothered with signing of receipts!  The receipts make no sense.

This is the sole reason that DH and I purchase drink packages on all cruises/cruise lines.  DH does not like having to sign/tip for every single drink.  The packages cost more than we would ever spend on drinks!  We don't drink enough alcohol to justify the cost, although we thought HAL's package at 50% off (including the Internet, Specialty, and the Shore Excursion credit) made a pretty good deal. 

[FlorenceItaly]

21 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

This is the sole reason that DH and I purchase drink packages on all cruises/cruise lines.  DH does not like having to sign/tip for every single drink.  The packages cost more than we would ever spend on drinks!  We don't drink enough alcohol to justify the cost, although we thought HAL's package at 50% off (including the Internet, Specialty, and the Shore Excursion credit) made a pretty good deal. 

This is the same deal we are on.  I recently added it to our reservation for this weekend.  It just makes sense as we do like our cocktails, especially dh.

[ChinaShrek]

Personally, I don't see a problem with this. I would rather continue getting free or cheap cruises and then they can add fees or surcharges when we are on the ship for what we actually use or buy. Charge me for each dinner or breakfast that I eat. I can skip meals to save money or eat on land. 

[cruisegirl06]

Thanks all for sharing - we had been planning on Pinnacle for our next trip, but  if this is happening it’s not worth it. We don’t have HIA and the idea of an upcharge to have a soup/salad along with an appetizer at a restaurant we would be paying nearly $50 for really rubs me the wrong way. 
 

Sorry, HAL…I’ll be eating in the MDR this night instead and spending $0 extra on my dinner…

 

As of now it’s just at Pinnacle, correct? We’d like to try some specialty restaurants if any are operating without silly surcharges, especially for those paying for the meal…

[Wakepatrol]

I’m just glad HAL isn’t up charging because some  passengers were gluttons and ordered one of everything .

[Florida_gal_50]

2 hours ago, Wakepatrol said:

I’m just glad HAL isn’t up charging because some  passengers were gluttons and ordered one of everything .

Really?  I’ve never seen that once at the pinnacle.  I was in the tamarind one night and this guy next to me was upset because he wanted two entrees and they would charge for that.  At that time the entrees were much bigger then they are now.  He ended up ordering every appetizer on the menu.  I wanted to stick around to see if he ate it all but I wasn’t motivated to do it.  I doubt if a lot of people do that.

[cruisemom42]

On 10/30/2022 at 9:51 PM, Crew News said:

Just confirmed thats the $7 for extra PG appetizers is now applied on my December cruise PG menu.   PG Menu 2022/2023

 

What I find disheartening is the dumbing down of the whole dining culture. A soup is NOT an appetizer. A salad is NOT an appetizer. If HAL wants to limit customers, then why not just say you can pick only one from column A (soup OR salad OR appetizer) and one from column B (entree) and one from column C (dessert)?  Why insult my intelligence?

 

Having said that, I also disagree with the premise that they should charge if you order more than one in their "souppatizalad" category.  What about that says "fine dining experience"??  

 

Compare the menu above with what I just experienced on Celebrity Constellation in their Italian/Steakhouse restaurant. It's $45 per person.  Just look at all the categories. No one is there telling you that you can only order one item from page 1 and one from page 2!  Heck you could have a soup, salad, appetizer, pasta and main if you so desire, and a flatbread pizza on the side (if you want to leave comatose).  And this isn't even their really super French/Continental dining restaurant, Murano.  

 

 

[Wakepatrol]

3 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Really?  I’ve never seen that once at the pinnacle.  I was in the tamarind one night and this guy next to me was upset because he wanted two entrees and they would charge for that.  At that time the entrees were much bigger then they are now.  He ended up ordering every appetizer on the menu.  I wanted to stick around to see if he ate it all but I wasn’t motivated to do it.  I doubt if a lot of people do that.

On a cruise ship? Nah will never happen

[Laminator]

I am a little confused here. I can not remember the last time I have been to a fine dining restaurant that included soup and salad with your meal. Living near Chicago there are quite a few choices. For years it has always been one or the other, soup or salad, with an upcharge if you wanted both. And to be honest other than Rudi's I would not consider any specialty restaurant on HAL fine dining. I would consider HAL's specialty restaurants an upgraded dining experience but fine dining not so much. I do remember, back in the day, soup, salad and dessert were included with your meal but that has not been the case in my area for years. Maybe decades. 

[cruisemom42]

27 minutes ago, Laminator said:

I am a little confused here. I can not remember the last time I have been to a fine dining restaurant that included soup and salad with your meal. Living near Chicago there are quite a few choices. For years it has always been one or the other, soup or salad, with an upcharge if you wanted both. And to be honest other than Rudi's I would not consider any specialty restaurant on HAL fine dining. I would consider HAL's specialty restaurants an upgraded dining experience but fine dining not so much. I do remember, back in the day, soup, salad and dessert were included with your meal but that has not been the case in my area for years. Maybe decades. 

 

Why would you compare it with land-based dining?  Dining at sea is very different.

 

-- On a ship you don't "decide" to dine out, you have no choice.

-- On land, except in a few cases, you don't sit with anyone other than your own party.

-- On land, you are presented with a bill at the end of every meal.

-- On a ship there is a tradition of long, multi-course meals.

 

Even just looking at the introduction of specialty dining, you should compare Pinnacle with other restaurants aboard cruise lines, hence my post about Celebrity's Tuscan Grille.

[SilvertoGold]

I am beginning to wonder why HAL isn't adding new upcharges to Tamarind, Canaletto and Sel, too.   Either that or increase the pricing of all or some of the specialty restaurants.  An upcharge for more than one "appetizer" certainly looks strange.

[Wakepatrol]

I wonder if all these scrumptious, succulent appetizers that I read about on here will suddenly become meh because they’re $7

[rkacruiser]

On 11/1/2022 at 1:21 AM, Crew News said:

It must be noted that the NS dining managers and hosts rotate to other restaurants during their contract .  The PG service on my second week aboard was reported to be much better under new management.

 

I have become aware that the Maitre d' for the Lido Restaurant and the MDR did rotate from cruise to cruise, but not aware that such extended to the PG.  That's a negative, I think.  The Stewards need consistent management and directions to provide the quality of experience that PG guests expect.  Maybe that is why my PG experiences have varied so much.  

[Anne614]

More than one appetizer there will be a surcharge. So I have to decide whether I want an appetizer, a soup or a salad or pay a surcharge.  I would prefer they just increase the price of the meal.  

[VMax1700]

9 hours ago, Anne614 said:

More than one appetizer there will be a surcharge. So I have to decide whether I want an appetizer, a soup or a salad or pay a surcharge.  I would prefer they just increase the price of the meal.  

For the offered menu,  quality of the food and the lacklustre service and general ambience, they should be reducing the price, not increasing it.  For perspective, I can visit two local Michelin starred restaurants and have a seven course tasting menu for €125.  

[DaveOKC]

13 hours ago, Anne614 said:

More than one appetizer there will be a surcharge. So I have to decide whether I want an appetizer, a soup or a salad or pay a surcharge.  I would prefer they just increase the price of the meal.  

As I recall they already did that earlier this year!  Also added the 18% service fee,

 

[Iamthesea]

Not sure if this has already been mentioned, but just read from kaza's review, Land & Sea - Live from Barcelona & the Oosterdam Transatlantic - November 5th, 2022, that the candied bacon appetizer will be an extra $7 starting next week.  Could be a rumor, I guess. 

 

Good thing that it's not one of my favorites on the ship.  I can make a good candied bacon at home.  Certainly not going to pay for it.

😐

Edited November 7, 2022 by Iamthesea

[boze9999]

21 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

Not sure if this has already been mentioned, but just read from kaza's review, Land & Sea - Live from Barcelona & the Oosterdam Transatlantic - November 5th, 2022, that the candied bacon appetizer will be an extra $7 starting next week.  Could be a rumor, I guess. 

 

Good thing that it's not one of my favorites on the ship.  I can make a good candied bacon at home.  Certainly not going to pay for it.

😐

For clarification,  HAL will allow you ONE pre-dinner selection (salad, soup, bacon, etc) and any additional ones will be an additional $7 plus 18% charge per additional item.

[Roz]

On river cruises, dinner typically consists of a starter (appetizer or salad), soup, entree, and dessert.  I think only allowing 1 choice among appetizer, salad, and soup is not an upscale experience. 

[TiogaCruiser]

2 hours ago, boze9999 said:

For clarification,  HAL will allow you ONE pre-dinner selection (salad, soup, bacon, etc) and any additional ones will be an additional $7 plus 18% charge per additional item.

But the context of the indicated post was that the bacon was becoming an upcharged item on its own.