Cocktails on Nieuw Statendam?

[jules815]

Looking at deck plans. It will be our first time sailing with HAL. I only really see a couple of bar options, not counting the clubs with evening entertainment.

 

Where do most people go for a pre-dinner cocktail? Ocean Bar? Is that considered part of the atrium? So used to looking at other cruise line deck plans where you can't walk 10 feet without another bar there. I understand there are drinks in the concierge lounge, but is it a limited menu like on RC ships or is it more like Celebrity? (pre-Retreat)

[CruiserBruce]

There are bars and lounges all over the ship. For example,  there are 3 on the Lido deck. There are 2 or 3 on each of the decks where the MDR are located. 

 

HAL doesn't have a "concierge lounge". Are you talking about the Neptune Lounge?

 

We go wherever strikes us at the moment. 

[Dobby36]

None of the entertainment venue bars are so buried deep into the entertainment venues that it would be odd/difficult to pop in for a drink while walking elsewhere.  I often do so (although the HAL bartenders always want to bring it to your seat instead of making you wait, even if you prefer to wait and then move along) on the way to dinner or elsewhere. 
 

the Ocean bar is likely closest depending on where you are eating. If I recall there is no bar lower in the atrium, but the Grand Dutch Cafe also serves a full bar (perhaps less some speciality cocktails) so don’t forget about stopping there as an option in the evenings when there isn’t a long line for espresso drinks.  Often in the casino on NS when it was busy in he evenings I would just as much rather walk to the restroom and grab another cocktail from Grand Dutch on the way back in than wait a few mins at casino bar.  
 

You should never have trouble with long waits in the bars, in my experience.  Especially with a transatlantic cruise crowd  versus a shorter family cruise. 

[FlorenceItaly]

Also, worth mentioning is the alcohol is not complimentary in the Neptune Lounge.  HAL is years behind other cruise lines in this regard!

[Mosaic]

And the choices in the Neptune are VERY VERY limited!

[Torquer]

1 hour ago, jules815 said:

So used to looking at other cruise line deck plans where you can't walk 10 feet without another bar there.

I don't think anyone would call a HAL cruise a "booze cruise" like many people call Carnival and a couple other lines.  I can't remember ever seeing someone obviously drunk on a HAL cruise.  Still there are plenty of bars and other sources of your favorite adult beverages to make sure you won't run dry.

 

The Neptune lounge only has alcoholic drinks in the late afternoon and it ends around dinner time.  It is pretty limited with one red and one white wine, and one bottle each of vodka, scotch, gin, bourbon, etc.  On our cruise last summer on Oosterdam, they were testing having free drinks in the Neptune lounge during the late afternoon.  Everyone loved it but unfortunately, it did not catch on or was too expensive for the executives in Seattle; therefore you have to pay for these drinks in the lounge by writing your name down and what you had, and it gets charged to your room.  And of course, you can't even go into the Neptune lounge unless you are staying in a Pinnacle or Neptune suite.

[jules815]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

There are bars and lounges all over the ship. For example,  there are 3 on the Lido deck. There are 2 or 3 on each of the decks where the MDR are located. 

 

HAL doesn't have a "concierge lounge". Are you talking about the Neptune Lounge?

 

We go wherever strikes us at the moment. 

Yes, Neptune Lounge!  In the past 48 hours I've asked about beer and bars on board. I promise we're not big boozers. Just enjoy having someone make me a cocktail on vacation!

 

Good to hear.  Are there any bars that specialize in champagne (sparkling wine) cocktails? We used to gravitate toward the champagne bar back in the day when we sailed with RC.

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

6 minutes ago, jules815 said:

Yes, Neptune Lounge!  In the past 48 hours I've asked about beer and bars on board. I promise we're not big boozers. Just enjoy having someone make me a cocktail on vacation!

 

Good to hear.  Are there any bars that specialize in champagne (sparkling wine) cocktails? We used to gravitate toward the champagne bar back in the day when we sailed with RC.

 

 

We usually drink champagne as well. The Tamarind Bar had a couple champagnes not seen elsewhere on the ship when we were there, but, no, none specialize in champagne. Occasionally one or another will be out, but not usually a problem.

 

We did learn the Neptune Lounge usually has the cheapest champagne that we enjoy avoiding.

[Cruising on a Sunday afte]

Are there happy hour specials?

[Haljo1935]

4 hours ago, Cruising on a Sunday afte said:

Are there happy hour specials?

Yes, daily, but lately it does seem to vary by ship. Big thread recently on that very topic - you may want to review it..

Typically it's 50% off; I don't have the exact times for each bar, but I'm sure someone here will provide those details.

[Native Floridian 26]

On 6/7/2023 at 6:18 PM, Cruising on a Sunday afte said:

Are there happy hour specials?

Yes!  In fact they were misadvertised until I sent in a feedback form to let them know.  Daily program said 25% off I think and in reality they were 50% off.  Yay!  It was always in Billboard from 3-4.  Also they had a few times on the Transatlantic where they rolled back prices to 150 years ago in light of the 150th Anniversary this year.  We couldn't believe the prices.

[Cruising on a Sunday afte]

Ohhh, I like that!

[Haljo1935]

Nice - we did not have rollback prices for AK on Eurodam.

[Florida_gal_50]

1 minute ago, Haljo1935 said:

Nice - we did not have rollback prices for AK on Eurodam.

The only time I’ve heard of those prices was on the transatlantic.  I don’t imagine it hurt them to much because a number of people probably have drink packages.

[Native Floridian 26]

16 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

The only time I’ve heard of those prices was on the transatlantic.  I don’t imagine it hurt them to much because a number of people probably have drink packages.

We didn't have HIA so the Happy Hours and especially the Historic Happy Hours were awesome.