How do the “pop-up” restaurants work?

[Shalandara]

I’ve come across the fact that there are sometimes “pop-up” restaurant events on some ships/sailings.  And the most recent news posting regarding the fresh fish options talks about a pop-up option.  How many pop-up types are there?

 

But how does that work?  If the event happens I take it that it happens in one of the speciality restaurants.  But does that mean that the regular menu for that restaurant is unavailable that night?  What if someone booked in advance and it turns into a pop up but they didn’t want that.  How much time in advance is there for knowing about it? That day? When you embark?

 

These are the questions begging to be answered keeping me awake at nights.  (Ok, not really, but once my mind started down this path I knew I needed to get the answers and I have faith that you all will come through with all the deets and then some.)

 

Elizabeth  

[oakridger]

The previous pop-up restaurants ended in October 2022.  If the new Matsumoto pop ups are the same, the restaurant (Pinnacle Grill) will be dedicated to the pop-up menu that evening and the other menu will not be available.  As of right now, except on some "Grand Cruises" and special holiday meals this one is the only one being advertised.  It was always available ahead of the cruise for reservations on the specific date.

 

Now you can sleep well tonight!! 😁

 

~Nancy 

[kazu]

Just to add, IF there is a pop up, then the regular specialty restaurant dining is blocked for that evening.

 

So no worries about being bumped or disappointed.

 

Pop ups are more $$$ than the regular specialty dining most times.

[POA1]

If I were a betting man, I'd peg Morimoto to be in Tamarind. If you have been to any of Morimoto's restaurants, Tamarind is a natural fit.

[oakridger]

5 minutes ago, POA1 said:

If I were a betting man, I'd peg Morimoto to be in Tamarind. If you have been to any of Morimoto's restaurants, Tamarind is a natural fit.

 

I agree, except on the ships without a Tamarind, then Pinnacle Grill will likely be the venue.

 

And, yes, it's Morimoto! (Not Matsumoto)  🫢

 

~Nancy

Edited September 22, 2023 by oakridger

[Shalandara]

44 minutes ago, oakridger said:

Now you can sleep well tonight!! 😁

 

~Nancy

 

@oakridger Yes, I can. TY  😄

 

37 minutes ago, kazu said:

Just to add, IF there is a pop up, then the regular specialty restaurant dining is blocked for that evening.

 

So no worries about being bumped or disappointed.

 

Pop ups are more $$$ than the regular specialty dining most times.

 

@kazuI just booked one of the specialty restaurants for the Nov 1 Spanish Farewell -- but before this announcement.  Thus part of my questioning.

 

10 minutes ago, oakridger said:

 

I agree, except on the ships without a Tamarind, then Pinnacle Grill will likely be the venue.

 

And, yes, it's Morimoto! (Not Matsumoto)  🫢

 

~Nancy

 

Will be on the Oosterdam -- so no Tamarind.  But yours and @POA1's logic seems to fit with what I was thinking might be the case. 

 

Off to sleep the sleep of angels.  (or not....)

 

[Nymich]

I remember Pinnacle changing to Le Cirque on a few cruises ww were on years ago.

[FlaMariner]

13 hours ago, Shalandara said:

But how does that work?  If the event happens I take it that it happens in one of the speciality restaurants.  But does that mean that the regular menu for that restaurant is unavailable that night?

 

On our upcoming Westerdam sailing, Tamarind "pop up" is available to book for two evenings in the Canaletto area.  

 

When you make reservations for that night, you know you are booking Tamarind.  So no confusing.

 

 

[sailawayward]

On our upcoming Southern Caribbean sailing on the Rotterdam, we are currently unable to schedule any dinner reservations at Tamarind for one of the dates during the cruise.  For now, there is no special event dinner currently being offered in its place. We still have 146 days til departure, so who knows.

[POA1]

4 minutes ago, sailawayward said:

On our upcoming Southern Caribbean sailing on the Rotterdam, we are currently unable to schedule any dinner reservations at Tamarind for one of the dates during the cruise.  For now, there is no special event dinner currently being offered in its place. We still have 146 days til departure, so who knows.

When that happens, it can be a sold out restaurant (unlikely), a group event (also not likely), or a pop up.

 

In the past, you didn't know about pop up dates until you boarded. Darn you, internet for ruining surprises!

 

FWIW, Le Cirque was one of the best pop ups. We dined at the original Le Cirque and Le Cirque 2000. The Pinnacle Grill version wasn't quite the same, but it cost less than the appetizers at the NYC locations.

[LouChamp]

On 9/21/2023 at 9:09 PM, POA1 said:

If I were a betting man, I'd peg Morimoto to be in Tamarind. If you have been to any of Morimoto's restaurants, Tamarind is a natural fit.

Aloha. Yes Tamarind would be perfect. We have been to Morimoto in Hawaii and it was excellent.  Love Tamarind as well so your suggestion seems perfect.

[robotpony]

On 9/21/2023 at 6:09 PM, POA1 said:

If I were a betting man, I'd peg Morimoto to be in Tamarind. If you have been to any of Morimoto's restaurants, Tamarind is a natural fit.

 

I can confirm this; Tamarind/Nami staff told us this explicitly when we were on the NS a few weeks ago. Menus will change significantly, and the current plan was to shut down Nami (adding rolls to the Tamarind replacement menu).

[Hlitner]

On 9/22/2023 at 9:54 AM, FlaMariner said:

 

On our upcoming Westerdam sailing, Tamarind "pop up" is available to book for two evenings in the Canaletto area.  

 

When you make reservations for that night, you know you are booking Tamarind.  So no confusing.

 

 

When we were on the Westy (for 6 weeks), our pre-cruise bookings in Canaletto did not give us any hint that there would be Tarimind pop-ups.  Once aboard, we heard the rumor (from another passenger) and later stopped at Canaletto, talked to the hostess to get the schedule, and changed our reservations so we had 2 nights in Canaletto and 2 nights in Tarimind.  We thought the Taramind effort was very good, although the menu was a truncated version of what you get in the real Taramind.

 

On our cruise, they alternated between Tarimind and Canaltto on a weekly basis.  At the time we were led to believe that all the Canaletto pop-ups were because our itinerary was in Asia (Japan, Korea and Taiwan).

 

Hank

[POA1]

We have a 9 day Southern coming up in late March / early April on the Rotterdam. On one of the nights, there are no Tamarind reservations to be had one of the nights. Every other restaurant is open for the rest of the voyage. My spider senses tell me that it's going to be an Iron Chef night.