Need recommendation for pre-dinner bar for a group

[skurvish]

I am travelling on the Zaandam soon with a group of roughly 25 people. We are all ATD and we like to get together prior to dinner for a drink and a gab. Anyone suggest the best location for this? I don't want to 'take over' a space as the ship belongs to everyone but I would like to be able to accommodate all of us in a somewhat relaxed area with bar service.

Recommendations?

[RuthC]

I would give serious consideration to the Crow's Nest. It's large enough to hold your group, as well as many others who would like to be there.
You might want to ask if an area can be cordoned off for your group. If that many people want to charge drinks, the Bar Manager might be very accommodating.

[skurvish]

Thanks, the Crows Nest might work. Most of us have the E4 package so not sure the Bar Manager gets anything extra for that.

[OlsSalt]

If the weather is okay and the daytime crowds are thinned out, the Lido pool bar could work - depending on the ship there are nice seating areas around that bar and you could  have the place almost to yourself for a friendly crowd that large. Not sure when they close, but if this bar is open after the early diners leave, this area just might work.

Edited January 10, 2019 by OlsSalt

[skurvish]

Actually the Lido Pool Bar sounds like it could be a great option. We are doing South America so it is likely the roof will be closed for most of the trip which would make it quite comfortable. The big question is how long the bar is open.

 

Anyone have any firsthand experience with the Lido bar around the 6:00pm time that can advise if it is open and how busy it was?

[richwmn]

32 minutes ago, skurvish said:

Anyone have any firsthand experience with the Lido bar around the 6:00pm time that can advise if it is open and how busy it was?

Looking back at the schedules for two previous cruises, one lists the hours of the Lido Pool Bar as 9:00am to 10:00pm, the other had varying opening hours and listed closing as "though the evening".

 

[skurvish]

1 hour ago, richwmn said:

Looking back at the schedules for two previous cruises, one lists the hours of the Lido Pool Bar as 9:00am to 10:00pm, the other had varying opening hours and listed closing as "though the evening".

 

Thanks richwmn.

[OlsSalt]

2 hours ago, skurvish said:

Actually the Lido Pool Bar sounds like it could be a great option. We are doing South America so it is likely the roof will be closed for most of the trip which would make it quite comfortable. The big question is how long the bar is open.

 

Anyone have any firsthand experience with the Lido bar around the 6:00pm time that can advise if it is open and how busy it was?

 

Since many people are getting ready for dinner and/or meeting in the indoor Crows Nest or the Ocean Bar at that time, this Lido Bar is often quite empty from my own recollections. Worth a try.  It is a slightly segregated physical space, with a variety of seating away from the main pool lounger area. Good place to both stand and sit for an informal cocktail gathering. 

Edited January 10, 2019 by OlsSalt

[PFU92038]

What is ATD?

[KroozNut]

12 minutes ago, PFU92038 said:

What is ATD?

 

I'm wondering this too..

[KroozNut]

I Googled ATD and came up with this..

 

Association for Talent Development

 

Not sure if it's the right acronym, but that's what showed up.

[RuthC]

57 minutes ago, PFU92038 said:

What is ATD?

Guessing it refers to Any Time Dining in this context. On HAL it's referred to as open seating.

[skurvish]

Ruth is correct, ATD == Any Time Dining (or whatever any particular cruise line wants to call it).

[Mutumbojimbo]

I don't know how the Ocean Bar layout on the Zaandam compares to the layout on the Eurodam, but on our cruise, several evenings a section of the Ocean bar was cordoned off for a group and it did not seem to impact overall service. I suppose that this was arranged in advance, but I'm sure you could let the bar manager know what you're looking for and see if they could set something like that up for your group.

[skurvish]

Thanks Mutumbojimbo, another good idea. I will have to search out the bar manager and ask his advice on how best to accommodate our group.

[Randyk47]

On 1/9/2019 at 6:34 PM, RuthC said:

I would give serious consideration to the Crow's Nest. It's large enough to hold your group, as well as many others who would like to be there.
You might want to ask if an area can be cordoned off for your group. If that many people want to charge drinks, the Bar Manager might be very accommodating.

 

Is the Crow’s Nest still intact on the Zaandam?

[OlsSalt]

1 hour ago, Randyk47 said:

 

Is the Crow’s Nest still intact on the Zaandam?

 

Last June 2018 after a recent interior refurbishments, the Crows Nest was still pretty much its same old self - some new more flexible seating, but no major alterations or EXC Central stuff.  Library and Explorations Cafe coffee bar still where it belongs - downstairs.  

 

Long may the Zaandam and Volendam escape some of the changes her sisters had to face. Five years and counting to still cruise on these classic and traditional cruise ship beauties.

Edited January 12, 2019 by OlsSalt

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, Randyk47 said:

 

Is the Crow’s Nest still intact on the Zaandam?

To my knowledge, based on everything I have read on this forum, yes, it is.
There are no plans to remove the Crow's Nest as a lounge from the older, smaller, ships.

The Ocean Bar on the Eurodam is very different from the bar with the same name on the Zaandam. On the Eurodam the Ocean Bar takes up a long portion on both sides of the ship, with connecting tables on the cross passages between them, around the Atrium staircase.
On the Zaandam it is smaller, and not as easily divided into sections. I can't think of any place in that room that could contain 25 people so they can stay together and not interfere with others. The most I was ever with in the same bar was 15, and it took an early-bird or two to get our space every night.
It is worth asking about, however.

[skurvish]

To close the loop on this posting, we found the crows nest to work well for us. We used a corner immediately to the left after entering on the left and for the most part this worked out well. There were occasions when there were still happy hour people in the area but they moved out relatively quickly. One night toward the end of the cruise the area was roped off for a private party but we just moved a little.

 

It was good to have the same wait staff service us over the 22 days.