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Pinnacle Grill Questions

motravelerken

By motravelerken,
in Holland America Line

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motravelerken

motravelerken

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We have a party of 8 sailing out of Vancouver on Sunday, July 16th on the Nieuw Amsterdam Northbound Alaska Cruise. We have the Have it All package so we get our 15 drinks per day and we made a reservation at the Pinnacle Grill for our one free specialty dining included with the HIA package. Here are my questions about our Pinnacle Grill evening. What is the dress code in the Pinnacle Grill? Can we wear dress slacks and collared shirts like we will be most nights in the MDR? Will we have to pay extra for anything or is it truly "free". I notice you have to pay extra for steaks in the MDR on most evenings. Will we get to eat steak for "free"? Will we get charged an 18% gratuity charge or will this be covered also? I am assuming we will be able to use our drink package in Pinnacle; cannot imagine why we wouldn't. Just trying to prepare as much as possible for those "hidden" costs that I am not seeing right now and it is our first trip with HAL. 

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cruisemom42 Great Review Rare

cruisemom42

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There are a few upcharge items on the Pinnacle Grill menu (including lobster). Most of the steaks (perhaps all of them, I can't recall) are included.

 

Your HIA "free" meal includes the gratuity.

 

However, note that you can only order 3 courses: 1 starter (soup or salad or appetizer), 1 entree, and 1 dessert. If you order more than 1 starter, there is an extra charge of $7-8, and more for an extra entree. I assume the 18% would be charged on those extras.

 

Drinks package can be used.

 

Dress requirement is no different than in the MDR.

 

 

 

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AV8rix

AV8rix

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One of my favorite PG meals is ALL appetizers -- and they never charge extra because I'm not getting a "main".  Anyway, I have either the lobster bisque or the forest mushroom soup (both GREAT), then the bacon, then the steak tartare (for the main).  Trust me, that steak tartare is big enough to make a sizeable hamburger.  Anyway, with the wonderful breads and a dessert -- it's a BIG meal.

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robotpony

robotpony

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I crave the Pinnacle wedge salad w/blue-cheese dressing and get it every time. Luckily I have a smaller appetite, and that plus a strip, and dessert is way more than enough for me. My partner usually also gets the upcharge lobster Mac, which we take back to the room every time (to snack on later with left over steak).

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Haljo1935 "Live from...." Rare

Haljo1935

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Our guilty pleasure is the candied bacon 🥓 . That with a wedge salad w/1000 Island dressing, rib eye, grilled onions & green beans - yummy! Other than the bacon, less than half of it gets eaten, but so good.

We've recently begun asking for smaller portions and still can't finish it all.

DH has the full lobster tail w/half my steak, soup and, of course, the bacon🥓 .

Charged the $7 for extra starter every time, which I think is nuts, but will pay to have the bacon.

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electro Great Review Rare

electro

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19 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

There are a few upcharge items on the Pinnacle Grill menu (including lobster). Most of the steaks (perhaps all of them, I can't recall) are included.

 

Your HIA "free" meal includes the gratuity.

 

However, note that you can only order 3 courses: 1 starter (soup or salad or appetizer), 1 entree, and 1 dessert. If you order more than 1 starter, there is an extra charge of $7-8, and more for an extra entree. I assume the 18% would be charged on those extras.

 

Drinks package can be used.

 

Dress requirement is no different than in the MDR.

 

 

 

We were also told that there was a limit of 2 sides per person.

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Haljo1935 "Live from...." Rare

Haljo1935

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22 minutes ago, electro said:

We were also told that there was a limit of 2 sides per person.

As of May 6 (last month) on Eurodam, there was still no charge for extra sides.

They brought us sides we didn't order in addition to the ones we did order - they barely fit on the table, we could have easily fed all the tables in our line of sight, not kidding. When they came to clear the table, it was like a comedy show - they just kept removing dishes, felt like we were sitting at the "clown car" of dining room tables. 🙄🤭

We always order a couple items that are not on the menu: grilled onions, green beans, broccoli and are not charged for those.

1 hour ago, swin26 said:

Will we be charged for an extra appetizer (the bacon) if we only only order 1 dessert to share.  We typically share the baked Alaska, as it is too big for eat individually. 

Additionally, when we're celebrating a special event they bring the yummy special chocolate cake in addition to regular dessert and don't charge extra. Seems to just be the extra starter. 🤔

You could ask about a trade off of dessert for the starter. If you do, kindly update as I'm very curious.

Edited by Haljo1935
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TiogaCruiser "Live from...." Rare

TiogaCruiser

Posted
Posted (edited)
5 hours ago, swin26 said:

Will we be charged for an extra appetizer (the bacon) if we only only order 1 dessert to share.  We typically share the baked Alaska, as it is too big for eat individually. 

Which brings up: no mention of an extra charge for a second dessert.😇

 

 

And that just makes me believe all the more that the extra charge for an “additional” “starter” isn’t so much about the cost of food, nor food waste, but instead about abolishing the additional courses, (appetizer, soup and salad) which should be served separately. Offering ONE included decreases workload on the servers, and lets the tables turn faster. (Pax throughput) (Allowing more people to be served their HIA meal, or one they bought, 

Edited by TiogaCruiser
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cruisemom42 Great Review Rare

cruisemom42

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7 hours ago, swin26 said:

Will we be charged for an extra appetizer (the bacon) if we only only order 1 dessert to share.  We typically share the baked Alaska, as it is too big for eat individually. 

 

Experiences may vary by ship. I ate in Pinnacle Grill twice for dinner on Westerdam in April. The first time I just enjoyed the dessert. The second time, because I'm not really a dessert person and nothing really appealed to me, I asked if I could just have two starters and no dessert -- the answer was no, not without the extra $7 upcharge. 🤷‍♀️

 

I didn't argue it. I just ordered the cheese plate (which was okay but nothing special.)

 

I will say the staff in all of the specialty dining venues seemed to be on orders to stick closely to "rules" on that cruise. Even in Canaletto I was told I could only order one starter when I'm certain others have been told that they could....

 

 

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Haljo1935 "Live from...." Rare

Haljo1935

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10 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Experiences may vary by ship. I ate in Pinnacle Grill twice for dinner on Westerdam in April. The first time I just enjoyed the dessert. The second time, because I'm not really a dessert person and nothing really appealed to me, I asked if I could just have two starters and no dessert -- the answer was no, not without the extra $7 upcharge. 🤷‍♀️...

 

 

I say answer is always no if one doesn't ask, so I ask and if obliged, I'm happy; if not, I just move on knowing they're simply following policy.

But I will still ask and hope enough asking and posting will lead to a policy change and revert back to no charge. Especially given that it doesn't apply in MDR.

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

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18 hours ago, swin26 said:

Will we be charged for an extra appetizer (the bacon) if we only only order 1 dessert to share.  We typically share the baked Alaska, as it is too big for eat individually. 

 

If the ship is enforcing the charge for the extra appetizer, then yes, you will be charged for it.  YMMV depending on the ship and your waiter 😉 

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Florida_gal_50

Florida_gal_50

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1 hour ago, Haljo1935 said:

Please have candied bacon for me - I will send you the $8.26 - look at me, even covering the 18% 😆 

You can have my share of that too.  It’s hard to ruin bacon 🥓 but coating it is sugar is the way to ruin it for me.

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Haljo1935 "Live from...." Rare

Haljo1935

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23 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

You can have my share of that too.  It’s hard to ruin bacon 🥓 but coating it is sugar is the way to ruin it for me.

Oh but the maple syrup it's marienated in then grilled with counter balances the sugar, lol

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