LeCirque and Pinnacle - Rotterdam

[KirkNC]

We just returned yesterday from our 19 day Baltic/Fjord cruise aboard the Rotterdam. I will be write a full review once I get caught up but wanted to make some comments on LC and Pinnacle. I should preface my comments by saying that in the past we have been neutral on Pinnacle, in the past it had been good but nothing great. First we loved the layout of Pinnacle on Rotterdam, it was smaller and more intimate than any other Pinnacle we had seen in the past. Most of the tables are in small little alcoves, very nice. Our first meal was La Cirque, I was surprised that the Rotterdam was still using the old LC menu versus the more diverse one that some have outlined here on CC. That was not a big deal for us as the three of us were fine with the options. I thought the meal was very good, I enjoyed the lobster salad a lot, very tasty and nicely presented. The soup was good but I thought it was the weak point of the meal. We got all three entrées, my DW the halibut, my DD the steak and I got the lamb. All entrées were excellent, especially the halibut, I hate that will drop off in the new menu as it was really really good ;). The coup de grace was the creme brulee which was out of this world, the best I have ever eaten (I must say we had spent 4 days in Paris pre-cruise and the LC still had better creme brulee). The service was quick, courteous and efficient, the entire meal took less than 1 1/2 hours. very nice.

We had also booked the regular Pinnacle for two nights after LC. Again the meal was great with great service and food. My DD tried lobster bisque, Caesar salad and the lobster macaroni which was great, rich but great (I wish they would make this a side dish). My DW enjoyed the beef skewers and I had a fillet, all was outstanding. Again the service was very nice, quick but not too quick. The entire meal was less than 1 1/2 hours. We had such a great meal that we booked a second Pinnacle visit for later in the cruise where the great experience was repeated (this time it was skewers for DW and fillets for both me and DD).

I give a lot of the credit for our experience to the Pinnacle manager. He was very active in overseeing the meal and service. He would check in a couple of times in the meal and was not afraid to fill a coffee cup or remove a plate if it was time for that. I also give him credit for how engaged the service staff was. In the past, we had seen Pinnacle meals drag on for too long, often more than two hours.

So cudos to the Rotterdam, three wonderful meals!

Kirk

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for the report.

We were just on the Amsterdam -- the Pinnacle Grill is also located in the same area as on the Rotterdam -- these ships were along with the Zaandam and Volendam were built with them and they were originally called Odyssey and Marco Polo.

We always enjoy our dinners there.

[OneNewTexan]

I posted this back on May 14th after our return from the Nieuw Amsterdam. We do not recommend the Le Cirque dinner.

Here is the posting from May 14th:
"We just returned from the Nieuw Amsterdam on Thursday. We ate in the PG on three nights and ate at the Le Cirque one night. The PG was wonderful, but the Le Cirque was a disappointment. We would never do it again. Overpriced and overhyped. The food is much better on the regular PG menu. The Le Cirque lobster salad was particularly tasteless and the balance of the meal did not compare well to the regular PG menu and preparation. We did speak with other passengers on the ship that attended the Le Cirque dinner and all expressed disappointment with the dinner. Nobody we spoke to would do it again. The PG waiter stated that they would be revamping the Le Cirque menu in about two months and one change is that they were going to dump the corn soup. We recommend avoiding the Le Cirque dinner unless there are significant changes and improvements made. "

[tcook052]

Thanks for sharing and your experiences mirror my own very positive visit which I shared here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1357186&highlight=le+cirque

since we seem to be sharing our Le Cirque impressions.

Too bad about the soup though as it was one of the things I liked most about the meal. Different tastes for different diners. :)

[soccerpapi]

Thank you for the review of the Pinnacle Grill and your evening at Le Cirque. The food, atmosphere and service sound great.

I am looking forward to enjoying the dinner at the Pinnacle Grille and Le Cirque on my upcoming cruise.

soccer