Kids Eat Free In Pinnacle ??

I realize that there may have already been discussion on this but I find this idea quite unusual:

Pinnacle: $25 per person for dinner & $10 per person for lunch; 0 to 12 years of age- Complimentary; 13 to 18 years of age- Half price; 19 years of age and up- Full price

Has anyone experienced a Pinnacle Grill dinner chock full of kids? Now I know I might get some slack for this, but if this is the high end restaurant on the ship where a couple celebrates a special occasion like a Wedding Anniversary or just a nice quiet romantic evening, wouldn't that couple want to have a very high level of decorum?

I just picture unruly children getting bored silly over the 2 hour plus dinner presentation, and how do I say? acting up.

I hope I'm wrong.

Does that ever happen?

Generally I haven't found it to be full of kids. That said, one time I was in there and a kid talked non stop and loud for 2 hours. While parents might enjoy that it got to be a bit much for me. I quieter voice would have been really appreciated.

Generally I haven't found it to be full of kids. That said, one time I was in there and a kid talked non stop and loud for 2 hours. While parents might enjoy that it got to be a bit much for me. I quieter voice would have been really appreciated.

Just from our experience, kids in restaurants these days do not behave as we did when we were growing up. But you know we just got off a Celebrity cruise and for the most part, the children on board were extremely well behaved, at least at dinner hour. I'm sure our experience this summer will be fine.

The Pinnacle is our 8 year olds favourite restaurant on HAL and we do tend to take him and our 5 year old there. Having said that, we have rarely seen other kids in it. Yes it is free for kids. I believe parents know their kids and if they won't behave or last, they likeliy won't take them there.

My kids are some of the well behaved ones (to the point on our last cruise our youngest -then4- fell asleep. The staff were amazing. They brought over another chair and a small pillow and he slept through the main and woke up for dessert). If they start to get bored, we allow them their iPads with headphones so not to disturb other guests, however, that has not happened in the Pinnacle. Too much cool stuff to watch.

Now I will say the most disruptive behavior I ever saw was an abnoxious passenger/diner who wanted his 18 year old daughter to have wine. He actually yelled at the crew. It was disgusting. All the while my kids sat quietly eating their dinners (trying to point out its nt always the kids who are problematic).

Try not to worry, your romantic dining experience should be intact.

Oh and I should mention, if you book a later time for your reservation, you will be more likely to avoid any families who might also want to enjoy the Pinnacle for their special occasions too. Most families seem to book earlier in the evening from our experiences so go later.

The Pinnacle is our 8 year olds favourite restaurant on HAL and we do tend to take him and our 5 year old there. Having said that, we have rarely seen other kids in it. Yes it is free for kids. I believe parents know their kids and if they won't behave or last, they likeliy won't take them there.

 

My kids are some of the well behaved ones (to the point on our last cruise our youngest -then4- fell asleep. The staff were amazing. They brought over another chair and a small pillow and he slept through the main and woke up for dessert). If they start to get bored, we allow them their iPads with headphones so not to disturb other guests, however, that has not happened in the Pinnacle. Too much cool stuff to watch.

 

Now I will say the most disruptive behavior I ever saw was an abnoxious passenger/diner who wanted his 18 year old daughter to have wine. He actually yelled at the crew. It was disgusting. All the while my kids sat quietly eating their dinners (trying to point out its nt always the kids who are problematic).

 

Try not to worry, your romantic dining experience should be intact.

I have no doubt that it will be fine. And glad to hear that your family respects the etiquette and standards that are attributed to a fine dining experience, with respect to fellow diners who are often sitting just a few feet away.

That isn't always the case though.

Interesting story about the 18 year old and her dad. wow!:eek:

To add to that, we also notice diners that have been imbibing a bit too much before dinner, and remarkably, the volume of their banter and the cackling of their laughter amplifies coincidentally as the ethanol takes effect. You are right...some of the most disruptive behavior often times comes from adults (perhaps behaving like children ???)

Yes they do. In that case we were there for my dads birthday dinner so we were celebrating. I couldnt believe the man went on and on and on. The rules are pretty clear about 21 and drinking but he kept insisting and even poured a glass himself. We were very happy when they finished and left.

We are really thankful we can take our kids to restaurants like this. We know them well enough and have always said if they are going to misbehave, we will take them elsewhere (like the Lido) then to Club Hal but have never had to do that. I think most parents (or would hope most parents) do this.

The suggestion about the later time for reservation though is a valid one. You would be less likely to encounter families at a dinner starting after say 8 pm.

I am with you on this one. While I would not go as far as to ban kids, I see no reason to encourage them by letting kids eat for free in the Pinnacle. My wife eats very little but she still pays full price.

I am sure that there are plenty of examples where an adult behaved worse than a child, but the fact is that young children are much more likely to misbehave in a fine restaurant where diners converse quietly and dinner takes more than an hour.

BTW, I am knocking the permissive parents more so than the kids. We had a family next to our MDR table where the parents sat there and said nothing while their son climbed up on the table and wailed because the dinner was taking too long. I can tell you that my father would have put a quick end to such behavior. Fortunately, the family was overflow from the downstairs open seating so we didn't see them again.

igraf

I realize that there may have already been discussion on this but I find this idea quite unusual:

 

Pinnacle: $25 per person for dinner & $10 per person for lunch; 0 to 12 years of age- Complimentary; 13 to 18 years of age- Half price; 19 years of age and up- Full price

 

Has anyone experienced a Pinnacle Grill dinner chock full of kids? Now I know I might get some slack for this, but if this is the high end restaurant on the ship where a couple celebrates a special occasion like a Wedding Anniversary or just a nice quiet romantic evening, wouldn't that couple want to have a very high level of decorum?

 

I just picture unruly children getting bored silly over the 2 hour plus dinner presentation, and how do I say? acting up.

 

I hope I'm wrong.

 

Does that ever happen?

HAL obviously is trying to promote the cruise line as 'family friendly' to encourage more young families to sail on what has been thought of as a line for older people. I don't think Club HAL is quite enough to make this marketing fully successful though when other lines have far more amenities and activities attractive to children.

I do think half price for teenagers and complimentary to age 12 in the Pinnacle is a bit much though; most teenagers will eat a lot more than a lot of seniors and should be full price with half price for kids from 4-13.

Glad to see HAL is trying to promote a family friendly atmosphere.

I realize that there may have already been discussion on this but I find this idea quite unusual:

 

Pinnacle: $25 per person for dinner & $10 per person for lunch; 0 to 12 years of age- Complimentary; 13 to 18 years of age- Half price; 19 years of age and up- Full price

 

Has anyone experienced a Pinnacle Grill dinner chock full of kids? Now I know I might get some slack for this, but if this is the high end restaurant on the ship where a couple celebrates a special occasion like a Wedding Anniversary or just a nice quiet romantic evening, wouldn't that couple want to have a very high level of decorum?

 

I just picture unruly children getting bored silly over the 2 hour plus dinner presentation, and how do I say? acting up.

 

I hope I'm wrong.

 

Does that ever happen?

FYI - The Pinnacle Grill is now $29/pp not $25. Which means some of that other info may have changed also?

Generally I haven't found it to be full of kids. That said, one time I was in there and a kid talked non stop and loud for 2 hours. While parents might enjoy that it got to be a bit much for me. I quieter voice would have been really appreciated.

Did you make a comment to the Matre' de the the din from the kid was very disturbing? Perhaps he could have made a comment to the parents of the the kid that he should shut up or tone done.

Could not have hurt to try it.

DON

We eat quite often in the PG and hardly ever see kids in there. The ones we have, have been quite well behaved. I believe most parents know their kids well enough to know whether they can make it through a long dinner.

FYI - The Pinnacle Grill is now $29/pp not $25. Which means some of that other info may have changed also?

Thank you for posting this. You are correct and what was previously true may no longer be. If anyone is relying upon that printed info, they should verify.

Did you make a comment to the Matre' de the the din from the kid was very disturbing? Perhaps he could have made a comment to the parents of the the kid that he should shut up or tone done.

 

Could not have hurt to try it.

 

DON

No I didn't. I usually find restaurant owners or manager will not get involved. Parents should act like parents and make sure their kids are not disturbing others.

Perhaps there would have been less of a need to raise the price if there were no free or half-price meals.

igraf

FYI - The Pinnacle Grill is now $29/pp not $25. Which means some of that other info may have changed also?

Perhaps there would have been less of a need to raise the price if there were no free or half-price meals.

 

igraf

So adults with no kids are subsidizing other people's kids' free or half price meals?

Perhaps there would have been less of a need to raise the price if there were no free or half-price meals.

 

igraf

Perhaps, but I doubt it.

I think they would have raised them anyways. NCL and RCI raised specialty prices; NCL already did a similar pricing plan to HAL, RCI already charges full fare no matter what age. So prices are going up; that is mostly due to the cost of "Raw materials" (food) going up.

I suggest OP write a letter to HAL stating that they expect a certain decorum in upcharge dining and that HAL should charge full fare to all guests out of fairness. Charging everyone the same price is hardly discriminatory. If HAL finds their overall sales down when Mom and Dad are not dining I am sure other diners will be willing to pay even higher fees still to offset increasing food costs.

Just to note whenever we have been in the Pinnacle with the kids, they push the same kids menu that you get in every other restaurant so it is not the steak etc they are eating. That is why it is free for the younger kids. They can get the appetizers and desserts but generally they dont get the same mains as adults.

Personally I am glad it is not exclusive to adults only. HAL is trying to promote more families on board. If they didnt, unforutnately their average age would eventually begin to fall off. It is a good thing they welcome families. We choose HAL because we like the atmosphere aboard. We are not the typical cruising family who wants climbing walls and no stop parties so this line is perfect for us and I really hope they dont change things too much.

No I didn't. I usually find restaurant owners or manager will not get involved. Parents should act like parents and make sure their kids are not disturbing others.

I would have asked the manager to speak to the parents in the hopes the kid would talk quieter. Some parents don't find their kid or kids a problem at all but I beg to differ.:rolleyes:

Just to note whenever we have been in the Pinnacle with the kids, they push the same kids menu that you get in every other restaurant so it is not the steak etc they are eating. That is why it is free for the younger kids. They can get the appetizers and desserts but generally they dont get the same mains as adults.

 

Can you clarify when you say "pushed" and "generally". If a parent wants their child to have the "regular" Pinnacle menu how do the charges work?

Whenever we have sat down in the Pinnacle, the kids are given the same kids menu they are given in the regular dining room not the Pinnacle menu. We have shared our meals with them at times (our steak) but have never ordered steak or a main dish item from the Pinnacle menu. Our kids have had an appetizer from the menu but never a main (they dont eat that much). However the one time we were offered it was explained that it would be a smaller cut of steak that was too small for them to serve to the full paying diners. We chose not to in the end (the kids didnt want steak that night) but if we had, what they would have been served was not big enough for a regular portion anyhow.

So to quote someone else: We are NOT subsidizing the adults by having the kids eat free.

Oh and to add on other lines we have had kids eat free or at a much reduced rate too in their specialty restaurants, so this is not uncommon. Honestly it is a good move by HAL because if it means it gets my family in the door where they can get 4 adult meals purchased then that is 4 more they would have if they ban kids.

To play devils advocate, if you want to complain about this, why not complain about mariners of higher star levels getting the discounts too? Arent they subsidizing a fully paid meal too then? Because they do get discounts over a certain star level.

I don't imagine teenagers are given the kids menu and don't they just pay half price someone said?

No I didn't. I usually find restaurant owners or manager will not get involved. Parents should act like parents and make sure their kids are not disturbing others.

I agree with you about the parents but many parents are witless about the behavior of their kids. There was another way you could have made a point about their loud kids - get up and leave and go to the MDR. Then the matre'd asks why you are leaving, tell him.

I have never had to do this on a ship but I have walked out of land restaurants because of problems that had nothing to do w the quality of the food.

DON

I will probably suffer some back lash for this but I find the 'children should be seen and not heard' or 'ban kids' attitude to be a prehistoric attitude.

I have a 3yr old and a 10mths old who will be cruising with us at xmas (so almost 4 and 18mths). We WILL be dining in the Pinnacle.

We dine out with our kids 3-4 times a month and insist they behave. We go as soon as the restaurant opens and are gone no later than 7pm as this is bed time. We often go with friends and they expect the same behaviour from their kids.

Why should all kids be labelled and/or excluded because some parents let their kids run wild. I strongly believe parents should teach their kids the right way to behave in all different situations and banning kids is not the answer

We are paying almost $20,000 to go on our cruise and we will take advantage of all it has to offer and will not miss out because we have kids. There are plenty of adults out there that behave much worse than my kids and are much more annoying. Elderly walk slow, block queues, take too long to make decisions, talk loud and act entitled, maybe we should ban them as well.....

I would suggest anyone who does not like kids don't go on a cruise that welcomes children. Such a shame in this modern day people have such narrow minds

OK fire away