Is the Pinnacle Grill outsourced?

[1aCruise4wks]

Just sailed the Nieuw Amsterdam across the Atlantic and dined in the Pinnacle Grill one night. The waiters were not Indonesian. That made me wonder if the PG is being outsourced to some restaurant chain. BTW, we were very disappointed in our experience. We arrived for our reservations a few minutes early and ended up waiting 10 minutes to be seated - the restaurant was not full... there were plenty of open tables. Then, we were quickly handed menus and the waiter disappeared. I had to flag someone down to get a Wine List. We sat there for 20 minutes waiting for our waiter to show up. Finally, one of the people at our table went out to the Host and asked what was causing the hold-up. It still took another five minutes before the waiter showed up. The wait staff were not friendly - I'd describe their manner as "haughty", like we should be happy to be served by them. The food was good but not to the level of a Ruth's Chris. I've eaten in the Pinnacle Grill on the Veendam and found that to be a better experience. Does anyone know if it is outsourced?

 

[Tampa Girl]

I'm not sure what you mean by "outsourced." I understand outsourced to mean American companies which utilize companies or individuals from outside the U.S. to produce their products or services. By that definition, 99% of the staff on HAL ships is "outsourced." However, I share your criticism of the Euroean staff - at least at breakfast. "Haughty" best describes them. Our service at dinner and at special luncheons, however, was fine.

[Cruzin Terri]

I was on the NA for 24 days in Sept. in the Mediterranean. I had breakfast in the PG on most mornings. Service was fine the first 12 days when almost no one came in for breakfast. However, on the second 12 days practically all the suite guests decided the PG was the place to go for breakfast. Wait times were completely unacceptable and the PG Manager was nowhere to be found. When I asked I was told he has to attend a meeting every morning.

Evening service was slightly better but not by much.

 

I feel the PG on the NA is not well managed.

Terri

[CruiserBruce]

Pinnacle isn't outsourced any more than any other part of HAL.

 

The European orientation of the Pinnacle is considered better class, different atmosphere. To set it apart from the MDR.

[Karennella]

Our experience was also disappointing. We are Australain and used to and prefer a slower pace of service than that of the main dining room, but in the PG it was really slow. Also two of the deserts were not cooked properly, and our friends were thinking they would say something but all the staff had simply disappeared. Our friends couldn't be bothered following it up but we certainly didn't return.

[GeriatricNurse]

Pinnacle isn't outsourced any more than any other part of HAL.

 

The European orientation of the Pinnacle is considered better class, different atmosphere. To set it apart from the MDR.

 

Yah, right! :rolleyes: Did you read the experience of the OP? :confused:

[Mickb]

We dined in the Pinnacle Grill on the Eurodam and had similar problems. We waited 20 minutes before ordering and whilst the food was good I agree that it was below a Rut's Chris Steakhouse standard. One interesting point was that as we were leaving at the end of the meal, we were surprised by one of the waitresses who came up and exhorted us to score it a 9 in the end of voyage customer evaluation sheet. I heard her asking other guests to do the same.

Incidentally - we thought Tamarind outstanding!

[MadManOfBethesda]

I'm not sure what you mean by "outsourced." I understand outsourced to mean American companies which utilize companies or individuals from outside the U.S. to produce their products or services. By that definition, 99% of the staff on HAL ships is "outsourced."

 

No, that's incorrect. Or more accurately, too specific.

 

Outsourcing is just a general term that refers to the practice of contracting out a specific business function to a third party. Many small businesses, for example, outsource accounting or billing rather than hiring their own employees to perform these functions.

[cruise crazed]

I just returned from the 11/13/11 sailing on the NA. we had a very nice experience at the Pinnacle grill on formal night. Service was excellent and the food was comparable to an upscale restaurant.

[Halfmoonfan]

Pinnacle isn't outsourced any more than any other part of HAL.

 

The European orientation of the Pinnacle is considered better class, different atmosphere. To set it apart from the MDR.

 

All Carnival lines, including HAL outsource their casino, spa and gift shop operations. That means these third parties operates those services using the third party’s employees and operates a revenue sharing agreement. This is way you will see these staff members eating at the buffet, hanging out at Half Moon Cay, etc while you do not see the waiters or housekeepers doing the same, because the outsource contract allows for this.

My understanding is that the Pinnacle is part of HAL’s F&B/Hotel Department, just like the MDR.

[sail7seas]

When Pinnacle Restaurants were first introduced on Zuiderdam, the first HAL ship to have a Pinnacle, the stewards were Indonesian. Most are now Eastern European and have a different service style. We have had excellent service in all the Pinnacles on all the ships but, of course, have liked some more than others. That is only natural and a personal/personallity preference thing.

 

[/b]

[sail7seas]

We have personally been present and seen and spoken with Rudi Sodamin when he was at a Pinnacle where we were dining. He definitely comes to the ships..... ;) Saw it with my own eyes. :D

 

[Tampa Girl]

No, that's incorrect. Or more accurately, too specific.

 

Outsourcing is just a general term that refers to the practice of contracting out a specific business function to a third party. Many small businesses, for example, outsource accounting or billing rather than hiring their own employees to perform these functions.

 

 

Thank you - I stand corrected. The terms has become so associated with U.S. companies using foreign workers. So . . . back to the OP's original question: Who does operate the Pinnacle Grill?

[Typhoon1]

The PG has been staffed by Eastern Europeans for a number of years.

 

The reason behind that? Your guess is as good as mine.

[iriemon]

We have eaten in the Pinnacle Grill on both the Eurodam and Zuiderdam multiple times on each. Sometimes with other people, sometimes with just my DW. We have never had a bad experience in either service or food. We did find the waiters do not interact with you as they do in the MDR, but I would not downgrade them on that.

[rkacruiser]

Interesting thread! My experience with the Pinnacle Grill has been that there were Eastern Europeans staffing the restaurant when they first began and then they were replaced by Indonesians. I agree that the European wait staff creates a somewhat diiferent dining atmosphere than when the staff are Indonesian. I also have found that whomever is the Manager of the Pinnacle Grill has a tremendous influence on one's dining experience.

[scamper]

This is all rather interesting. I brought this up on our second visit to Pinnicle on Eurodam recently to our Belgian waiter. He and his assistant, Carlos, were the only two Europeans on the service staff. He said he had heard that HAL was going back to having an all Indonesian service staff in Pinnacle because HAL felt that the Eastern European staff wasn't a "big hit" for the customers.

[Cruzin Terri]

On our recent NA cruise the manager of the PG was Romanian, the staff were mostly Indonesian, with one from India and another from another Eastern European nation.

The manager really needed to go back to manager school. He was a non-presence, especially for breakfast.

Dinners were somewhat better, but the wait times were much longer than we have experienced on other HAL ships.

Terri

[1aCruise4wks]

No, that's incorrect. Or more accurately, too specific.

 

Outsourcing is just a general term that refers to the practice of contracting out a specific business function to a third party. Many small businesses, for example, outsource accounting or billing rather than hiring their own employees to perform these functions.

 

Thks for helping clarify what I meant. By "outsourcing", I meant to ask if the Pinnacle Grill is like the Casino, Gift Shops, and Spa in that it is operated by some company other than HAL and shares the revenue with HAL (or pays for the space occupied).

 

I believe someone responded in this thread that the PG is run by HAL just like the MDR.

[woody14h]

All Carnival lines, including HAL outsource their casino, spa and gift shop operations. That means these third parties operates those services using the third party’s employees and operates a revenue sharing agreement. This is way you will see these staff members eating at the buffet, hanging out at Half Moon Cay, etc while you do not see the waiters or housekeepers doing the same, because the outsource contract allows for this.

My understanding is that the Pinnacle is part of HAL’s F&B/Hotel Department, just like the MDR.

 

Also their photography segment.l.

[lettienets]

This is all rather interesting. I brought this up on our second visit to Pinnicle on Eurodam recently to our Belgian waiter. He and his assistant, Carlos, were the only two Europeans on the service staff. He said he had heard that HAL was going back to having an all Indonesian service staff in Pinnacle because HAL felt that the Eastern European staff wasn't a "big hit" for the customers.

I prefer the Indonesian staff for their gracious quiet service and other nice qualities. I find the E Europeans in food areas, shops, casinos etc to be cool to cold, unresponsive, unfriendly and dull. Maybe it is a language problem I don't know. I always wonder if the shops have less business because E European staff don't have the friendliness and sales manner we are used to. They never seem to engage the customer in conversation about the products. I know this is my personal opinion and others won't agree but it is how I have been feeling lately when sailing at least on Carnival, Hal or RCI and finding more and more E European staff.

[jf606]

I agree with 1aCruise4wks. We dined in the Pinnacle last year on the Veendam and really enjoyed it, so I was disappointed on this (Nov 13) cruise. The service just wasn't there. No one came around to see if we required anything (and we did), and there just wasn't a friendly feeling with the staff. The food was very good though. The MDR staff was really excellent and I expected the Pinnacle service to be at least as good.

[CANDYAPPLE]

On our recent Westerdam cruise, we ate breakfast in the Pinnacle several days. Service and friendliness were excellent!! Our waiter even carried a supply of Earl Grey tea pouches in his jacket just for me!! I had a variety of breakfast items..kippers, all American, traditional full English, Belgian waffels etc.

 

We had LeCirque dining one night, courtesy of our travel agent. Service was a bit rushed at first, until we asked them to "slow down, we weren't going anywhere!!" Food was very good.

 

Small co-incidence.....just before reading the above posts, I made a reservation at our local Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for our anniversary!!

 

 

 

Cheers CANDYAPPLE

[scamper]

I prefer the Indonesian staff for their gracious quiet service and other nice qualities. I find the E Europeans in food areas, shops, casinos etc to be cool to cold, unresponsive, unfriendly and dull. Maybe it is a language problem I don't know. I always wonder if the shops have less business because E European staff don't have the friendliness and sales manner we are used to. They never seem to engage the customer in conversation about the products. I know this is my personal opinion and others won't agree but it is how I have been feeling lately when sailing at least on Carnival, Hal or RCI and finding more and more E European staff.

 

I just wonder why the "attraction" to Eastern Europeans? I understand the Indonesians and, to a lesser extent, the Filipinos, but I don't get the E. Europeans.

[catl331]

All Carnival lines, including HAL outsource their casino, spa and gift shop operations

Also the Internet and cell phone operation, to MTN/Sea Mobile.

My understanding is that the Pinnacle is part of HAL’s F&B/Hotel Department, just like the MDR.

Correct - just like the Tamarind on the Signature ships, and all other dining.