Tracky.....
Some people seem to like HAL, and I think the line a culinary potential.
When I was on the Oosterdam last August I tried the chef's dinner and the special Le Cirque dinner in the Pinnacle grill. I talked to people who said they paid the extra fee ($20 or $25 pp) to eat there every night.
But I will agree I had meals in the main dining room that I felt were not up to standard. I recall one fish dinner in particular that was almost inedible (if I wasn't hungry enough to finish it off).
And that is too bad, because the Pinnacle Grill food was excellent. But when you have people onboard a cruise saying they haven't tried the main dining room, especially on cruise that really tends to attract people in their 40s-plus, I agree with you.