Favorite Bar on the NS?

[Guardsy]

Booked a 14-day on the NS.  It has been decades since we sailed on HAL.

 

What is your favorite bar for daytime and favorite pre-dinner and after dinner and why?  Sell me on a bar!  Yes, I will still visit them all and do my own research, but any help is appreciated.  

 

No Crow's Nest on the NS, so that one is out.

[crystalspin]

I think it's still the Crows Nest, just labelled only Explorations Cafe. Both the Koningsdam and Rotterdam sister ships have it labelled Crows Nest/Explorations Cafe.

[Crew News]

3 hours ago, crystalspin said:

I think it's still the Crows Nest, just labelled only Explorations Cafe. Both the Koningsdam and Rotterdam sister ships have it labelled Crows Nest/Explorations Cafe.

Indeed, it is merely a name change but the activities of the Crow's Nest continue.

 

 

 

[iceman93]

On my recent NS cruise, I never found a bar that I liked enough to go out of my way to visit again.  They were all adequate, so whenever I wanted a drink I just went to whichever one was most convenient.  Usually a couple of days into a cruise my wife and I find a bar (and let's be honest, it's usually an outstanding barTENDER) that becomes our go-to spot.

[bluesplayer]

12 minutes ago, iceman93 said:

On my recent NS cruise, I never found a bar that I liked enough to go out of my way to visit again.  They were all adequate, so whenever I wanted a drink I just went to whichever one was most convenient.  Usually a couple of days into a cruise my wife and I find a bar (and let's be honest, it's usually an outstanding barTENDER) that becomes our go-to spot.

I agree.. it’s the bartender.. that makes it special.  I loved going to see Jerry in the Crows nest on the Eurodam.  Hope he is still around 

[rkacruiser]

8 hours ago, iceman93 said:

I find a bar (and let's be honest, it's usually an outstanding barTENDER) that becomes our go-to spot.

 

Agree!  And on recent HAL cruises, the Ocean Bar has been where such gentlemen preside.  On the Nieuw Statendam, the Billboard on Board had the bartenders that I preferred.  

 

Once upon a time,  my HH residence was the Crow's Nest.  No where better!  But, then, HAL began figgling around with the Crow's Nest.  Other than the views, it has never been the same, in my opinion.  

[CruiseCruiseCruise13]

52 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

Once upon a time,  my HH residence was the Crow's Nest.  No where better!  But, then, HAL began figgling around with the Crow's Nest.  Other than the views, it has never been the same, in my opinion.  

I agree, my husband and I would love spending time in the crows nest, often spending a lot of our evening up there.  But since they’ve moved all activities (trivia) away from there we rarely find ourselves up there and have to make an effort to make sure we visit for the views and maybe some puzzles. 
 

I second what others have said, the bar tender makes the bar. On the KO we had a great bartender at Billboard. We also really liked the ‘bar tenders’ at the Dutch cafe on the NS, they have specialty beers there my husband really enjoyed. 

[crystalspin]

4 minutes ago, CruiseCruiseCruise13 said:

I agree, my husband and I would love spending time in the crows nest, often spending a lot of our evening up there.  But since they’ve moved all activities (trivia) away from there we rarely find ourselves up there

Haha, we're all different. The (loud) trivia was what would drive us AWAY from Crows Nest! Also the better appetizers in the Ocean Bar when we were going HH to HH. They would only have peanuts in the CN. My husband loves (loved?) the big chairs with the big view, although the chairs just eat me, and I would pull a club chair over to sit next to him.

[CruiseCruiseCruise13]

3 hours ago, crystalspin said:

Haha, we're all different. The (loud) trivia was what would drive us AWAY from Crows Nest! Also the better appetizers in the Ocean Bar when we were going HH to HH. They would only have peanuts in the CN. My husband loves (loved?) the big chairs with the big view, although the chairs just eat me, and I would pull a club chair over to sit next to him.

I haven’t seen any of the good appetisers on our last 2 cruises, only the peanuts. Will have to check out the ocean bar on our next sailing!

[willoL]

On Nieuw Statendam in August 2024, my first choice venue for a before dinner drink was the Grand Dutch Cafe, actually, but that's because I adored the staff there who made my daytime espressos.

 

My teen likes mocktails, so we visited the Ocean Bar for those. It seemed like only in the Ocean Bar was I asked if I wanted a double. Perhaps it is the bar for bigger drinkers?

 

After the Thermal Spa, I would often get a glass of evening wine at the Lido pool bar as I walked back to my stateroom.

 

So, like @iceman93 said, I never settled on a particular favorite, aside from the Grand Dutch, but rather went to the convenient place based upon my other activities.

[rkacruiser]

23 hours ago, crystalspin said:

Also the better appetizers in the Ocean Bar when we were going HH to HH. They would only have peanuts in the CN.

 

Interesting of you to think of making a comparison!  Since the atmosphere of the Crow's Nest has changed, I have not been a patron of their bar.  The appetizers in the Ocean Bar has changed in recent years.  Always good.  Sometimes, 4 on a platter; sometimes 3.  There has been an occasion when one of the choices was a small dish of----potato chips--!  

 

In HAL's past, there was an experienced HAL veteran by the name of Mary Ellen.  Fortunately, I got to know her and she was a frequent patron of the Crow's Nest.  A bartender would present her with a bottle of peanuts after serving her beverage.  "I want "formal nuts"! would be her answer.  ("Formal nuts were mixed nuts.")  She got them and her bar companions did as well.  

[Native Floridian 26]

25 minutes ago, willoL said:

On Nieuw Statendam in August 2024, my first choice venue for a before dinner drink was the Grand Dutch Cafe, actually, but that's because I adored the staff there who made my daytime espressos.

What year?

[willoL]

5 minutes ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

What year?

Oops! August 2022. (Almost made it 2200 this time and sadly I'm too late to edit my original response. Maybe I need to get to bed...)