(UN) Happy Hour on Nieuw Statendam

[Laminator]

43 minutes ago, Real NHDOC said:

I have not had any luck getting changes made to the happy hour aboard this ship. We have been onboard for almost a week and not bought a single cocktail so their policy has worked on us! I heard a new beverage manager is coming on soon. Hopefully they will be more receptive to improving the H H but if not we’ll just save money and enjoy our wine package all the more!  

A few years back I had an opportunity to chat with the food and beverage manager. I was informed by him that HH's depended on how alcohol sales were on each particular cruise. If sales were slow a few more happy hours were added. I am pretty sure the NS is sailing at capacity right now. With the ship at capacity I highly doubt that they are having trouble selling alcohol so good luck with your endeavor. I highly doubt they miss your drink sales. 

[Mosaic]

So is it just the NS doing this? Any 25% of drinks on other ships???

[Real NHDOC]

1 hour ago, Laminator said:

A few years back I had an opportunity to chat with the food and beverage manager. I was informed by him that HH's depended on how alcohol sales were on each particular cruise. If sales were slow a few more happy hours were added. I am pretty sure the NS is sailing at capacity right now. With the ship at capacity I highly doubt that they are having trouble selling alcohol so good luck with your endeavor. I highly doubt they miss your drink sales. 

Well your theory makes no sense because the Rotterdam was also at capacity and yet offered 50% off drinks at  a better time of day and the happy hour was always packed. Plus we spent 85 days last year on NS when it was far from full snd the happy hour was the same ss it is now. So it apparently is nothing to do with the liquor sales. It’s just a policy set by the particular beverage manager. 

[Laminator]

1 minute ago, Real NHDOC said:

Well your theory makes no sense because the Rotterdam was also at capacity and yet offered 50% off drinks at  a better time of day and the happy hour was always packed. Plus we spent 85 days last year on NS when it was far from full snd the happy hour was the same ss it is now. So it apparently is nothing to do with the liquor sales. It’s just a policy set by the particular beverage manager. 

It's not my theory. It's what the food and beverage manager told me. Here's my theory. I am not going to let an extra $20 charge or so for drinks a day bother me one iota. 

[REOVA]

1 hour ago, Laminator said:

A few years back I had an opportunity to chat with the food and beverage manager. I was informed by him that HH's depended on how alcohol sales were on each particular cruise. If sales were slow a few more happy hours were added. I am pretty sure the NS is sailing at capacity right now. With the ship at capacity I highly doubt that they are having trouble selling alcohol so good luck with your endeavor. I highly doubt they miss your drink sales. 

And if HH is at a time where most people won't drink as much, it saves the ship money (in discounts). Most marketing gurus will tell you that discounts (whether bars, restaurants, hotels, etc) are given at historically slower times (or oversupply) so it's probably left at discretion of the ship manager. 

[Real NHDOC]

My experience is that HAL just isn’t so sophisticated as to adjust their happy hour to meet supply and demand.
 

What’s more likely is there’s nobody aboard the ship who knows how to change the system so it’s what it’s always been for the past couple of years and how it will stay until the 12 year old who understands the accounting program changes it. 

[Real NHDOC]

31 minutes ago, Mosaic said:

So is it just the NS doing this? Any 25% of drinks on other ships???

From the replies here and my own personal experience on the other ships all of the other ships have 50% off happy hours and some have multiple hours per day. Only NS offers 25% discount at 3pm. 

[Real NHDOC]

24 minutes ago, Laminator said:

It's not my theory. It's what the food and beverage manager told me. Here's my theory. I am not going to let an extra $20 charge or so for drinks a day bother me one iota. 

Well, like so much of what comes out of the mouths of HAL employees it just doesn’t jibe with reality. If you don’t care about happy hour then why do you follow this thread so fanatically?

[albingirl]

3 hours ago, Real NHDOC said:

Well, like so much of what comes out of the mouths of HAL employees it just doesn’t jibe with reality. If you don’t care about happy hour then why do you follow this thread so fanatically?

Jeepers. It's somewhat interesting. We all follow these topics...nothing fanatical about it. Boredom, maybe lol.

[alanstarr]

On 3/19/2023 at 1:59 AM, Mosaic said:

We are currently on the Zaandam and Happy Hour is 50% off all "regular" drinks.

 

Same here on the Westerdam. 

[billbunger]

Real NHDOC    

Said:
 

Well, like so much of what comes out of the mouths of HAL employees it just doesn’t jibe with reality. If you don’t care about happy hour then why do you follow this thread so fanatically?

 

 

You’re way out of line and off base with your remark. The OP told you what he based his opinion on and that was the information that a HAL manager passed on to him. But it appears you’re the one that knows it all. 
 

Maybe you should lighten up and accept other people’s opinions instead of pretending to be “Mistra Know It All” and CC thread moderator. 

Edited March 25, 2023 by billbunger

[Real NHDOC]

3 hours ago, albingirl said:

Jeepers. It's somewhat interesting. We all follow these topics...nothing fanatical about it. Boredom, maybe lol.

My response was directed solely to the comments it referred to in the reply. That individual basically said he didn’t care about the happy hour special so I ask why does he feel compelled to follow the thread so closely and troll my posts? If he’s perfectly happy spending $25 for two drinks then this isn’t the thread that should concern him, that’s all. 

Edited March 25, 2023 by Real NHDOC

[Laminator]

14 hours ago, Real NHDOC said:

My response was directed solely to the comments it referred to in the reply. That individual basically said he didn’t care about the happy hour special so I ask why does he feel compelled to follow the thread so closely and troll my posts? If he’s perfectly happy spending $25 for two drinks then this isn’t the thread that should concern him, that’s all. 

If I buy two drinks with the 2nd being 50% off at $11 a drink it costs $16.50 plus the tip. If I buy 2 drinks with the 2nd being 25% off the cost is $19.25. An additional $2.75 per drink. To me this is not the end of the world. And if it was to the other 2800 other people onboard it would take the Ocean Bar bartenders and servers 12 hours to serve all the pax who wanted to take advantage of the offer. And you are stating that you have not bought a drink on this cruise yet because of the happy hour discount. You're on vacation. Have a few drinks and enjoy yourself.

[Real NHDOC]

8 hours ago, Laminator said:

If I buy two drinks with the 2nd being 50% off at $11 a drink it costs $16.50 plus the tip. If I buy 2 drinks with the 2nd being 25% off the cost is $19.25. An additional $2.75 per drink. To me this is not the end of the world. And if it was to the other 2800 other people onboard it would take the Ocean Bar bartenders and servers 12 hours to serve all the pax who wanted to take advantage of the offer. And you are stating that you have not bought a drink on this cruise yet because of the happy hour discount. You're on vacation. Have a few drinks and enjoy yourself.

It’s not the second drink that’s 50% off on all of the other ships it’s every drink. So two people can each have a cocktail for under $13 for both. So that’s the difference. 

[Mosaic]

Yep!

 

[Real NHDOC]

We ordered a martini last night in billboard onboard. It was not during the 3pm happy hour but at a more civilized 5pm. $12.69 for one drink. Exactly what we had been paying for two on Rotterdam during happy hour at the same time of day. And it was half full to ad insult to injury.  So half the booze at twice the price! 
 

Seriously, we’ve been averaging 100-150 days a year aboard cruise ships and like to enjoy one cocktail a day. The difference does add up but it’s more the principle of it. Same cruise line, should have policies that are consistent between the ships, especially when the beverage manager on Rotterdam said it was a fleet-wide policy. But the beverage manager on this ship disagrees and says it’s up to the beverage manager’s discretion. So who is telling the truth?
 

 

Edited March 26, 2023 by Real NHDOC

[cgolf1]

New to HAL, do all the ships have a happy hour and is it even for first time HAL cruisers? On our previous 18 cruises across Disney, Royal, and Celebrity this is unheard of. The closest was on Royal were we got a 10 drink punch card that gave us 1 to 2 free drinks. 

 

This does sound cool to me.

[Native Floridian 26]

3 hours ago, Real NHDOC said:

We ordered a martini last night in billboard onboard. It was not during the 3pm happy hour but at a more civilized 5pm. $12.69 for one drink. Exactly what we had been paying for two on Rotterdam during happy hour at the same time of day. And it was half full to ad insult to injury.  So half the booze at twice the price! 
 

Seriously, we’ve been averaging 100-150 days a year aboard cruise ships and like to enjoy one cocktail a day. The difference does add up but it’s more the principle of it. Same cruise line, should have policies that are consistent between the ships, especially when the beverage manager on Rotterdam said it was a fleet-wide policy. But the beverage manager on this ship disagrees and says it’s up to the beverage manager’s discretion. So who is telling the truth?
 

 

we were hoping you'd get this all rectified before we board the TA on the 8th.  Have you determined the stingy 25% is it off all drinks, or just the second drink when you buy two together?  

[Cruise Suzy]

4 hours ago, cgolf1 said:

New to HAL, do all the ships have a happy hour and is it even for first time HAL cruisers?

As far as I know, all HAL ships have some form of Happy Hour discounts. All passengers can take advantage of it, but you must be 21 to purchase the alcoholic drinks. If you have a beverage package, it doesn't make sense to partake.

[Suncitycruiser1925]

We were on the NS 2/25 sailing.  The happy hour 25% drink special at 3 to 4 pm did not entice me to have a drink at that time of day.  We did purchase drinks in the evening while listening to music.  Margaritas were served in very small glasses  (not resembling a normal margarita glass) and I tasted very little alcohol in them.   

[Real NHDOC]

12 hours ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

we were hoping you'd get this all rectified before we board the TA on the 8th.  Have you determined the stingy 25% is it off all drinks, or just the second drink when you buy two together?  

Reportedly it is 25% off all drinks but I cannot personally attest to this as we have not participated in it since 3pm-4pm is too early for us.   The navigator app says 25% off the second drink but the daily planner says 25% off all drinks and we’ve asked the drink server and he said it was off all drinks. 
 

When faced with the “short pour” situation on other ships (and now on NS) my advice is to make friends with your favorite server and make sure they know you’re not on HIA and would appreciate a full pour. They are usually more than willing to fix it for you and remember that you would like to get what you’re paying for. At the end of the cruise we will give that special service the recognition it deserves in both a small remuneration and shout out in the guest survey. 

[Mosaic]

On the Zaandam (last week), during real happy hour, the drinks where not weak at all!

[Native Floridian 26]

3 hours ago, Real NHDOC said:

Reportedly it is 25% off all drinks but I cannot personally attest to this as we have not participated in it since 3pm-4pm is too early for us.   The navigator app says 25% off the second drink but the daily planner says 25% off all drinks and we’ve asked the drink server and he said it was off all drinks. 
 

When faced with the “short pour” situation on other ships (and now on NS) my advice is to make friends with your favorite server and make sure they know you’re not on HIA and would appreciate a full pour. They are usually more than willing to fix it for you and remember that you would like to get what you’re paying for. At the end of the cruise we will give that special service the recognition it deserves in both a small remuneration and shout out in the guest survey. 

Thanks for the update.  Hoping if you get a questionnaire for the cruise that you mention the lack of the 50% off drinks.

[Native Floridian 26]

It's now a HAPPY Hour!  On our April 8 Transatlantic on NS the daily program mentioned the Happy Hour each day from 3-4 in Billboard offering 25% off drinks.  We didn't go for several days but did talk to a bartender one day and he said the drinks were half off.  Because the programs said 25% off, I sent a How Can we Help message through Navigator informing them of the discrepancy.  Within an hour of submission, we got a phone call in our cabin saying that they got my message.  Believe or not, from the following day forward the Daily Program said 50% off drinks!  Happy campers we were.

 

To top that off, on 3 days of the 14 day cruise, they had a Historic Happy Hour taking prices back to 150 years ago with beers, wines, and cocktails ranging from 25 cents to 75 cents.  It was so fun although the bar got very busy. 

Edited April 29, 2023 by Native Floridian 26

[Iamthesea]

42 minutes ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

It's now a HAPPY Hour!  On our April 8 Transatlantic on NS the daily program mentioned the Happy Hour each day from 3-4 in Billboard offering 25% off drinks.  We didn't go for several days but did talk to a bartender one day and he said the drinks were half off.  Because the programs said 25% off, I sent a How Can we Help message through Navigator informing them of the discrepancy.  Within an hour of submission, we got a phone call in our cabin saying that they got my message.  Believe or not, from the following day forward the Daily Program said 50% off drinks!  Happy campers we were.

 

To top that off, on 3 days of the 14 day cruise, they had a Historic Happy Hour taking prices back to 150 years ago with beers, wines, and cocktails ranging from 25 cents to 75 cents.  It was so fun although the bar got very busy. 

 

 

That's all great information!!! 

 

Although we have the HIA, I hope that HAL continues to have the "Historic Happy Hour" on our cruise.   Very neat!   Reminds me of when my parents took the family to The Cloister at Sea Island, GA to celebrate their 50th anniversary.  My mother had read somewhere that if you honeymooned there (which they had), and could present your original bill, that the accommodations would be the same rate per day as that of the original bill if while visiting during your anniversary.   I cannot remember the amount, but it was something between $25-$50 per night.  This was back when the standard Cloister rooms were going for around $350 a night.  Not only did my parents get the reduced room rate per night, but upon check-in, The Cloister gave the same rate to the whole family!  In total, we had 4 rooms booked.   And not only that, but they upgraded us all to their ocean front suites!!!

 

Edited April 29, 2023 by Iamthesea