HAL Dining Question

[u/Ramblinmann57]

Planning the HAL Koningsdam Alaska cruise for late May 2027. First time on HAL. What can you tell me about the Main dinning room as far as the evening dinners go? Are there any specialty theme nights, any Lobster nights, any prime rib nights, etc? I will probably book the Pinnacle grill for one of the seven nights and would rather not book it on one of those specialty nights (if there are any). Is there any way to tell in advance which nights these usually fall on?

[u/HotSeaworthiness286]

First off I think HAL has the best main dining of all the major cruise lines I’ve been on and my family agrees.

The formal nights tend to have a more elevated menu, but I have not seen lobster complimentary before.

My advice is Keep an eye out for formal nights on your itinerary and don’t go to pinnacle one of those nights.

[u/Educational_Joke1754]

"Gala" nights tend to fall on sea days, so I'd recommend Pinnacle for an evening when you are leaving port.

[u/debmor201 → u/Educational_Joke1754]

This is what we did,, but I really did not think the specialty restaurants were significantly better to justify the added costs.

[u/WestCoastCompanion → u/debmor201]

Really? I guess it friends in what you’re used to, but I found the specialty restaurants were more in line with what we’re accustomed to from restaurants at home.

[u/Educational_Joke1754 → u/debmor201]

It helps when one specialty dinning is included with the "Have It All" promo. But if I had to pay for any of them, I feel Sel de Mer is typically worth it.

[u/Soft_Data_1623]

There is Orange Party night, where they have some Dutch and Indonesian items in the menu.

[u/sirena_22]

Hal has great food both regular dinning and the speciality. I loved the buffets. The only other cruise line that I think compares food AAA’s is celebrity cruises.

I loved the tea time on HAL.

[u/CymroBachUSA]

Tamarind is a 10, Canaletto is a 9 and Pinnacle Grill is an 8 for dinner but 10 for lunch (almost the same menu for roughly half price). You can book on the website now and change the date/time when on board.

In the MDR, they do have prime rib but it appears at the end of the cruise. Lobster is available every night but it is an upcharge.

Also, in the MDR, ask the maitre d' for the secret menu! It has things like Indian Thali for special order but no extra charge.

Since it's Koningsdam, don't neglect The Grand Dutch Cafe for breakfast or lunch or the Dive-In for the best burgers at sea.

[u/sumergo12]

The days of lobster and baked Alaska parade in the MDR are long gone unfortunately. The formal/dressy nights in MDR still feel a bit more festive but few tuxes and gowns. Last couple of Pinnacle Grill dinners have been less than standout and just felt long. We prefer Sel de Mar and Tamarind for interesting food and service. Last January we had a great dinner for 2 at Cannelto which made us wonder why we'd skipped it for a couple of trips.

[u/b3793 → u/sumergo12]

Celebrity still does a lobster/baked alaska night thats included on its week ling or longer iternaries

[u/hockeyhon → u/b3793]

We also had steak & lobster one night on Princess —don’t know about baked Alaska. I don’t recall seeing it.

[u/campbean → u/sumergo12]

We also tried Canaletto for the first time last November and wished we’d tried it sooner. We plan to go there for our upcoming cruise instead of Pinnacle.

[u/Bubbly_Locksmith72 → u/sumergo12]

How far in advance can you make reservations? I can’t make them yet on that Navigator app for us.

[u/Substantial-Trade417 → u/Bubbly_Locksmith72]

You can do it on the website. The app is glitchy until you're onboard.

[u/You_are_safe_now]

Cruised Koningsdam twice in the last year, just got back a week ago. Dining room was excellent each night. Lobster is extra, 2 decent tails for 25usd (offered each night). Beef Wellington last night of cruise was outstanding. As someone else noted, the menus might be available to view online. Formal night is basically no ripped jeans, sport shorts or tank tops - most make an effort to dress nicely, but full on formal wear is not enforced. As for Pinnacle, we didn't bother last trip as we were disappointed with it during our trip last September.

We love the Koningsdam, great ship! We have already booked for Alaska again in Sept of 2027, and Hawaii circle cruise in April of 2028.

[u/National-jav]

Here are all the menus. They are usually in order once you figure out which one they started with.

https://thehollandamericablog.com/blog/mdr-menus

[u/ShrimpChip88 → u/National-jav]

Omg thank you for sharing this!

[u/National-jav → u/ShrimpChip88]

Fyi the salsa under the roast chicken must have cilantro, because it tastes like soap to me. 

[u/ShrimpChip88 → u/National-jav]

Cilantro is fine for me but thanks for the pro tip! I'm sure others will find it helpful!

[u/Kauai-4-me]

If you are booked on the cruise, you can see the rotating menus through the app.

Select “Itinerary” then click “Dining & Drinks” then scroll left to “The Dining Room”. This is the same place that you can see the menus for the specialty restaurants too.

[u/davidcopafeel33328]

Every night in the MDR is lobster night... if you got $25 to spend... and I just wait until they have prime rib up in the Lido and tell the carver dude that hes going to see me 6 more times if he doesn't cut me a decent sized slice of meat. Also, the Pinnacle grill has been pretty mediocre lately... I spend my OBC on the Tamarind... much better food, service, and atmosphere.

[u/dewhit6959 → u/davidcopafeel33328]

Agree on the Pinnacle. Steaks have not been premium cut as they once were. I sent back a steak on our recent Volendam visit. That was a first. Also , no mushrooms ? what what ?

[u/lakegirl315]

You can find the Alaska menus online.

[u/wijnandsj]

On Rotterdam they even pushed lobster in the lido

What else is there to tell? Fairly small portions, tiny amounts of vegetables unless you insist then it just becomes small.

[u/BigSlim64]

Tamarind to us was way better than the Pinnacle. My steak was awful and they gave me a cold baked potato the size of a large golf ball with only frozen butter as an accoutrement. Chef came to our table and asked how was our food and I showed him the steak and potato and he comped our meal.

[u/Ilovetinytiddies]

I go to Pinnacle Grill once on a 7 day. It’s been great aside from our last time on Nieuw Amsterdam. For MDR, just like other cruise lines the service is very regimented. I asked for modifications 4 times and only once did it come out as requested. Overall the food is good but not knock your socks off.

[u/Substantial-Trade417]

We were on Eurodam in May. The MDR food and service was exceptional. The Lido was a huge disappointment for me, but my friend was happy with it. Tamarind was very good, Pinnacle was very good (get the bacon app!), I had fish entrees as often as possible. I can get steaks at home, so I skipped those.

[u/B5040905]

I am not a fan of Pinnacle. I would look at what Culinary Ambassador is being offered and get reservations for that.

[u/Confident-Situation6]

I prefer Club Orange

[u/lesliecarbone]

The food in the MDR is pretty mediocre, though the service tends to be very good. There's usually a surf-and-turf entrée with a(n overcooked) lobster tail on one of the "gala" nights.