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switch from Celebrity to HAL


surebeatssailing
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We usually sail with Celebrity but years ago we did 3 cruises with Hal which we enjoyed.

 

We are looking at the Westerdam for Oct 2017.

 

Does the Westerdam have something similar to Celebrity's Cafe al Bacio which serves various coffee drinks, pots of tea, etc.

 

Thanks for your help.

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The closest is the Explorations Cafe, which features espresso drink for a nominal charge. There are also a limited number of pastries. I don't recall tea being available. However, afternoon tea is likely to be served a couple times during your cruise in the MDR.

 

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We have sailed quite a few times on the Westerdam -- most recently this past spring.

There is the Explorations Café where you can buy specialty coffees and teas and get a free snack. No pots of teas.

There is also the Chocolate Seduction also sells specialty coffees and teas. The hours of operation were very limited every day.

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There are all kinds of tea bags available 24/7 in the Lido. You can also order a pot of tea from room service 24/7.

 

Not really a pot of tea as a real tea-drinker knows it. You get a carafe of hot water (how hot varies) and a cup and some tea bags. It was Bigelow on our last cruise.

 

Afternoon tea is also a tea bag in a cup. You choose and they pour the hot water into the cup.

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And I've been thinkin' about switching from HAL to X for a couple of reasons: 1) I'm a blackjack player and the casinos on X are non-smoking. 2) I'm solo and have to pay the burdensome supplement. X awards double loyalty-program points for solos who must pay double, which HAL does not do.

 

But now I have three reasons :D!! I'm a tea drinker and it's nice to know that there's a venue on X where a pot of tea is available.

 

Disclaimer: I'm not really complaining about HALs tea. There is excellent tea available in the Explorations Cafe, although I must say that I really miss the old HAL-branded darjeeling.

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We usually sail with Celebrity but years ago we did 3 cruises with Hal which we enjoyed.

 

We are looking at the Westerdam for Oct 2017.

 

Does the Westerdam have something similar to Celebrity's Cafe al Bacio which serves various coffee drinks, pots of tea, etc.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Here is the last Explorations Cafe menu that I scanned to show you what is available (Note that pastries/sandwiches are complementary):

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Explorations-Cafe.pdf

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While the Explorations Cafe on HAL is nice, in my opinion, it doesn't compare to Cafe al Bacio on Celebrity, especially if you are a tea drinker. I love, love, love sitting in the Cafe in the morning enjoying my pot of tea watching everyone walk by. Also the "sweets" selection in Cafe al Bacio is much more extensive than what you get on HAL. 837f53038dfe75f39e98e658b9858c9d.jpg

 

 

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Thanks again for all responses concerning beverages in Exploration Cafe, esp the scanned menu from CrewNews.

 

And then the next post down showed the Celebrity tea pot ...don't plan on showing this to my husband since he is the tea drinker. He has a back up plan to bring a travel mug with him to fill with hot water to "take the place" of the tea pot.

Edited by surebeatssailing
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