Are bar drinks limited to the bar menu selections?

[happy4al]

Quick question, are you limited to ordering drinks that are only on the menu for that particular bar, eg Billboard?  Or can you order any standard drink, eg an old-fashioned or whiskey sour, even if it’s not on the menu? Thanks.

[Hlitner]

3 minutes ago, happy4al said:

Quick question, are you limited to ordering drinks that are only on the menu for that particular bar, eg Billboard?  Or can you order any standard drink, eg an old-fashioned or whiskey sour, even if it’s not on the menu? Thanks.

You can order any drink, at any bar, as long as the bar tenders have the necessary product.  Although we have seldom seen a problem with typical cocktails, there can be outages (at various bars) of certain brands of spirits (especially the premium items.   Also keep in mind that if you order something that costs more than what might be allowed on a particular beverage package, you should only be charged the difference between your beverage package allowance the cost of the specific drink

 

That being said, on our recent 42 day cruise we were overcharged 11 times (some of these overcharges were in excess of $10).  On HAL we think it is wise to check your onboard account on a daily basis as their system does seem to have problems.  In about 600 days of HAL cruising, we have never been undercharged for anything.  Overcharges have been an ongoing issue which seems to happen with beverage packages and alternative restaurant charges.

 

 

Hank

[kazu]

You can definitely order different than what’s on the menu.  I’ve even done it with wine.  the bar tender knew I had HIA and always offered me something within the limit (and better than what was on the menu for me).

 

I check my account daily but I can honestly say that on 5 cruises, I was never over charged or had an issued with drinks (Oosterdam, Koningsdam B2B2B & Rotterdam).    

 

But, I do check daily to a) stay on top of things and b) make sure there are no surprises that need to be corrected 😉 

[Mary229]

We are often regulars at the Ocean bar and have asked them to stock a particular wine, a request they have always honored.  

[POA1]

Yes. It always helps to know the recipe for what you are ordering. The bartenders have recipe books, but many drinks have multiple variations.

[Haljo1935]

In MDR, I ordered and received a drink from the Tamarind bar. Server said they sent someone up to get it. I intended to order it another time from the Ocean Bar to see if they could/would make it, but always ended up ordering my usual, but next time I'm going to do it.