HAL STRATEGY BAIT AND SWITCH?

[POA1]

OK. Got it now.

 

When you order something in the secondary booking flow, its description has item, date, people, and delivery location.

 

Work with me for a moment.

 

Your Quench Beverage Package says "Delivered to stateroom." All that means is that it will be tied to your room key which will be in your room's mailbox when you arrive. It doesn't mean you have to go to the room when you want a soda. If you order OBC, it'll be listed the same way, despite the fact that it's not even a deliverable item.

 

The location field makes sense for a flower arrangement or balloons, or a celebration cake. For a meal, not so much.

 

I looked at our PG pre-orders. They say Dining Room as well. So did a Tamarind and Morimoto dinner.

 

That's just the way meals get displayed. Don't let it worry you. It always looks like that because secondary flow items have a field that says location. (Secondary flow is the booking system for gifts, excursions, meals, spa treatments, and anything else that's not cruise, hotel or air.)

 

Your images really helped. I honestly had no idea what you were talking about until I saw them.

 

So... Don't worry. Specialty dining always displays that way on the receipt. You'll be dining in whatever restaurant you booked, on the date & time listed.

 

 

Edited May 23 by POA1

[QuattroRomeo]

My guess is that this a website error or silly programming (surprise, surprise), as ALL of our specialty dining reservations  show " delivered to dining room". I saw this in the My Itinerary- Show my Purchases screen. Includes Pinnacle Grill, Canaletto, and Morimoto by Sea.... on the Noordam.

Edited May 23 by QuattroRomeo

[luv2cruisenz]

Yes it does look like it’s something their system needs to have.
‘Delivered to Dining Room’ could just mean the PG dining room. Although it’s a bit superfluous from a customers point of view. And confusing!

 

I do wonder if they have any kind of user experience testing on their website to identify when things are not clear. So it would be good if HAL can confirm what it really means. 

[QuattroRomeo]

6 minutes ago, luv2cruisenz said:

Yes it does look like it’s something their system needs to have.
‘Delivered to Dining Room’ could just mean the PG dining room. Although it’s a bit superfluous from a customers point of view. And confusing!

 

I do wonder if they have any kind of user experience testing on their website to identify when things are not clear. So it would be good if HAL can confirm what it really means. 

 Yes it is confusing. User-friendly it is not. We only have the "Feedback" button to work with!

If IT simply read a few of these CC threads, they would have all of the user experience testing they need!!😉

[POA1]

2 hours ago, QuattroRomeo said:

 Yes it is confusing. User-friendly it is not. We only have the "Feedback" button to work with!

If IT simply read a few of these CC threads, they would have all of the user experience testing they need!!😉

I have copies of our receipt emails going back to 2014. They've always read this way. I have two receipts from NCL in 2017, and theirs followed the same format, with a 3 meal specialty dining package being delivered to the stateroom on embarkation day.

 

If I had to guess, I'd posit that most cruise lines use a similar format.

 

If you have made advance dining reservations in the past, dig up your old receipts. You'll see that your items were delivered to the room or the dining room. If you can remember back far enough, you'll recall that stateroom delivery used to mean that you got the little white "invitation" delivered to your cabin.

 

This is the first time I can recall it ever being a source of confusion. I'll admit that I didn't know what the heck the OP was talking about at first. However, once I saw it, I realized what it was. And... It's been like this for years. Somehow, most of us never took it literally before.

 

I have a receipt for "Pinnacle Grill" being delivered to "Stateroom" in November 2014. Since I have an annoying habit of writing Live-Froms, I can confirm that my wife, my father-in-law and I did not sit on the bed and eat steaks off the coffee table. (Also, the old creme brulee presentation, with the vanilla, chocolate, and mocha, was way cooler.)

 

 

Edited May 23 by POA1

[CruiserBruce]

6 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

That’s just crazy. How in the world would they get food from the PG kitchen to the MDR? Or would they make it in the MDR kitchen? My first thought was whether the HAL rep had full command of the English language, or was even familiar with the product- but the “@“ is troubling…

 

Please let us know what happens. 
 

(or does the MDR and PG share kitchen space on the Kingkongdam? Deck plans show them adjacent.)

The Pinnacle galley is part of the MDR Galley on all the ships. Tamarind and Cannaleto are separate.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Never, ever, EVER heard of this before.... MUST be a reason ..

[Cruise Suzy]

As others have stated, your Pinnacle Grill dinner will be in Pinnacle Grill Restaurant - NOT the Main Dining Room or your stateroom. Likewise, your Canaletto dinner will be in the Canaletto Restaurant. etc.

 

Your Itinerary says "Delivered to Dining room". It does NOT say "Delivered to Main Dining Room".

 

It is poor choice of words - not a bait and switch.

[Haljo1935]

7 hours ago, hamnabsma said:

Agree, there is no pull down tab to select delivery to dining room or cabin at all when making a Pinnacle Grill reservation.

 

I wonder if it's just a system note, kind of like with the Beverage Package purchase. The location for the Beverage Package is "Delivered to Stateroom" but obviously the beverages aren't delivered to the stateroom.

I didn't even think of that - fingers crossed 🤞 I think that's what it is.

Edited May 23 by Haljo1935
Typo

[afdds]

7 hours ago, julia said:

@afdds

One thing is for certain... when calling HAL reps, they are frequently misinformed.  It's very sad. It's very frustrating. Do NOT fret... this will get cleared up and you WILL dine in the actual restaurant. 

Thank you Julia for the positive thoughts. I will check with them later this afternoon and see what another representative says

[afdds]

7 hours ago, hamnabsma said:

Agree, there is no pull down tab to select delivery to dining room or cabin at all when making a Pinnacle Grill reservation.

 

I wonder if it's just a system note, kind of like with the Beverage Package purchase. The location for the Beverage Package is "Delivered to Stateroom" but obviously the beverages aren't delivered to the stateroom.

Nope, not the case.  The representative said, he is showing that we are eating in the Main Dining Room.We can order anything off the Pinnacle Grill menu.  This is not good!  And not what I imagined my anniversary dinner to look like.  Husband keeps telling me it's not the worst thing to happen.  But there are only a few days in the year that I'm a hopeless romantic.   And eating dinner in the main dinning does not qualify for romantic.

[Haljo1935]

3 minutes ago, afdds said:

Nope, not the case.  The representative said, he is showing that we are eating in the Main Dining Room.We can order anything off the Pinnacle Grill menu.  This is not good!  And not what I imagined my anniversary dinner to look like.  Husband keeps telling me it's not the worst thing to happen.  But there are only a few days in the year that I'm a hopeless romantic.   And eating dinner in the main dinning does not qualify for romantic.

I'm hoping that maybe one you're onboard you can make a stop by the dining kiosk to confirm your reservations ARE actually IN the PG. You should find the kiosk near the spa has a shorter line so you can get it sorted quickly.

[afdds]

Ok, this is making more sense now.  I hope this is the case, that even though your specialty dinning reservation isn't with the "Have It All" , that the reservation is saying " Delivered to Dinning Room"   I was so worried that the "Have It All" reservations were being forced to eat in the main dinning but ordering off the Pinnacle Grill menu.    If this is true I have no idea why the representative said, Good News, Bad News....I checked and there are no more reservations for 6:30pm on any night.  Good News, I will try and call and see if we can work something out.  Then another 15min later, he came back on the phone, said he can switch it but can't send me any confirmation.  Just check on the reservation when I board. Which I will do, first thing!.   Thank you for all the help and I will call again this afternoon.  Fingers and toes crossed.   I would like to mention that RC does NOT word their reservations like this.  It just simply states the time and the speciality restrauant by name and time.   HAL and their website is a horrible learning curve.   Hopefully, it will be smooth sailing!  Can't wait for our Anniversary trip to Alaska.

[TiogaCruiser]

OP- I know you’re new to HAL and I’m going to guess you rather new to this HAL sub-forum. 
 

My money is on Brian’s response (#30) (  @POA1) not either of the reps you have talked to.  He has an example of what you are seeing from long ago and they are in the PG, and he is a very experienced and knowledgeable HAL cruiser. HAL is notorious for having staff who simply don’t know the product that they are selling, much less have stepped onto a ship.

 

You might consider shooting an email to (maybe) Ships Services with the first line being “Escalate to an experienced Supervisor please”, and ask your question- and then tell them what you have been told. 
 

(I’ve gotten results several times by sending an email to a business with the subject “XYZ’s Customer Service Needs Improvement” and the first line of the email being to escalate.)
 

 

Edited May 23 by TiogaCruiser

[afdds]

HALJO1935, Thank you for the tip about the spa Kiosk.  We will head that way as soon as we board.  

[afdds]

TiagoCruiser, would you happen to have that email address?  And I will compose an email and see what they say.  Boy or Boy, do they need to change their wording.  I guess this is one case where checking and rechecking your excursions and dinning didn't pay off.   We have already had several airline schedules change including our flight home that would NOT  have allowed us near enough time to clear customs in Vancouver, so I guess my senses or gut feelings are on high alert.  Thank you for your help.

[julia]

9 hours ago, luv2cruisenz said:

 

 

I do wonder if they have any kind of user experience testing on their website to identify when things are not clear. 

End user testing on the website??

Hahahahaaaaaa, gasp, hahahahahahaaaaaaa.  😅😲😅  Whew, thanks for the laugh!

 

 

[QuattroRomeo]

I understand what POA1 is saying about secondary flow and location field, no issues there and thanks. What is an issue, as luv2cruisenz  stated, is the lack of User Experience testing. A customer should NOT have to wonder where they are actually eating! This has spoiled her anticipation and created needless stress. The Location field should be blanked out for the User when it makes sense to do so. Stupid, careless, lazy programming, or whatever it is called in the I.T. world. And   the Rep training is pathetic, and the Rep compounded the confusion.

 

 HAL should be embarrassed by all of these things. They are not. So I feel for the OP, and I feel embarrassed that WE are so used to incompetent website content, endless error codes and ignorant Reps, that we hardly give things like this a second thought!

 

afdds,  I hope you have a wonderful cruise- the crew on board are terrific!

[kevingastreich]

You should still be able to eat in the PG.  They will have room for you.  The PG isn't as popular as it once was so there is always plenty of room.  Just ask as soon as you get on.

[shadow 123]

12 hours ago, afdds said:

Never thought about that.  The representative was trying to tell me it was something I did.  He kept saying there was a pull down tab for either Main Dinning Room or Cabin delivery.  And for the longest time he was trying to switch my reservation to the Cabin instead of the Main Dining Room.  It took awhile for us to get on the same page that NO I wanted the actual restrauant, which is what I assumed I was receiving.  Of course, I can't check on this tab because I have already made the reservation.  I can however, go into our 2025 cruise once the reservations open and see if there is such a tab that exists.  I know there was no such tab on the first day they opened their books.

I've been sailing with Holland America for quite a while now and I have never seen a drop down tab giving you the option of having the dinner in the main dining room. Never.  Can't imagine why you'd want to

[yerdua]

@afdds When in July is your cruise? There is a Continuing Education Group on board the Koningsdam July 20th sailing according to @VMax1700. Is it possible that HAL has reserved the PG for them? I don't know if there's any way to determine how large the group is. For the record, I've never seen a drop down menu when reserving a HIA Pinnacle Grill dinner either. It meal has always been in the restaurant itself.

Edited May 23 by yerdua

[Kay240]

Your posts made me wonder about the Pinnacle reservation I made last night;  I know it has been difficult to get Pinnacle reservations siince HAL started to give the dinners as an incentive.

 

I used CHAT, so I could have proof of the response I received.  I was assured that no restaurant meals were being delivered to the main dining room!

 

[Wehwalt]

Sorry for these troubles, but I'd say that the title of this thread assumes far more bad faith than I'd feel justified in attributing to HAL. There doesn't seem to be bait and switch, but there does seem to be a little bit of clickbait.

Edited May 23 by Wehwalt

[CruiserBruce]

8 minutes ago, Wehwalt said:

Sorry for these troubles, but I'd say that the title of this thread assumes far more bad faith than I'd feel justified in attributing to HAL. There doesn't seem to be bait and switch, but there does seem to be a little bit of clickbait.

Agree. Hyperbole doesn't give credibility. Even in all caps.

[KAKcruiser]

Maybe it is a choice between the Pinnacle "dining room" or delivery to your cabin.  Once you make the reservation and then go back to edit, the only other option is "delivery to the cabin" and that it what you are seeing.  I would assume that you have the reservation in the Pinnacle Grill but agree that you should visit the reservations podium when you get onboard to confirm.