Best Bar on the Rotterdam

[ctbeacher]

Hi - My first time on a HAL in February - sailing on the Rotterdam.  We usually cruise on Celebrity and really enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail at the Martini Bar, which is always fun and the bartenders are great to watch.  What would be a similar active, fun bar on the Rotterdam for before dinner?  We are not interested in music before dinner.  Thanks for the help!

[sailawayward]

One of our favorite spots on the Rotterdam for a drink was on Deck 2 across from the entrance to the private dining area for Club Orange.  You can really enjoy your time at those tables - the bartender for The Half Moon Bar will serve you.  If you can snag a 2-top at the right time, the views really are incredible.

 

 

[Skipper's Mom]

On our last cruise on the Rotterdam, every day in the Tamarind Bar they had a Martini party happy hour with Genevieve and her crew.  It was great and drew a nice group of likeminded people.

[renee00]

I really liked the Ocean Bar. The staff were very helpful and conscientious. They made sure to always clarify how the beverage package worked and with what drinks you'd pay extra.

[ctbeacher]

Thanks to all for the suggestions!

 

We will visit all of these!

 

Thanks,

[newtocruiseinblue]

On 1/6/2024 at 5:37 PM, ctbeacher said:

Thanks to all for the suggestions!

 

We will visit all of these!

 

Thanks,

This isn’t a bar but happy hour and trivia always seemed to be hopping. HH is usually 3-4 pm and I found the drinks to be stronger than those at the pool bar. Enjoy and cheers! 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Bill Board..

[Sir PMP]

The bill board bar is the best followed by the Tamarind, the ocean bar is ok, but not a real bar more like a hallway.

 

[Infi]

HAL doesn't have anything similar to Celebrity's martini bar in terms of the "show" of bartenders performing, juggling bottles, doing multi-pours etc. The bars above are good suggestions, but just wanted to share that in order to set expectations. 

[Petronillus]

I agree with Sir PMP that the Billboard Bar is top-notch, but in my experience the Crow's Nest bar gives them a run for their money.

[ctbeacher]

2 hours ago, Sir PMP said:

The bill board bar is the best followed by the Tamarind, the ocean bar is ok, but not a real bar more like a hallway.

 

 

Thanks to all.  We have a good plan to visit all suggestions.  (Thanks to the HIA package!).  We are looking forward to experiencing the Rotterdam for the first time!

[Haljo1935]

Welcome to HAL - I hope you enjoy your time on the Rotterdam. 

Safe travels  - enjoy your cruise!

[Niagarawine]

They all are, love the cocktails especially the pain killer. Had maybe a few too many,but that’s cruising

[Candyman232]

This is our first time on the Rotterdam Mar 8-29th having been on the Koningsdam and Neiuw Statendam We loved the Martini bar on Celebrity as well but are looking forward to the Half moon bar as they have unique drinks including a few smoked ones.....Always looking to try something new

Looks like this will be closest to the Martini Bar experience

 

[RICHARD@SEA]

I sailed in ROTTERDAM this past NOV / DEC - 

 

If you want a nice bar w a killer aft view & great service and drinks go to Tamarind.  It was never crowded & the service was great( I can't say the same about the other bars).

 

The billboard bar is more active / crowded.  Because of the lounge setup on that deck - The Billboard is either dead because the lounge across the way w the dueling pianos(there is only a  walkway dividing the 2 "lounges", no walls) or very busy when the band was playing in Billboard.  It was like sitting iin Grand Central station & the service almost non existent.

 

As far as the much loved OCEAN BAR on older HAL ships - on ROTTERDAM it is indeed just a pass through in the hallway w about an 8 seat bar & a small seating area w piped in music.  The bar was full & the service non existent in the attached seating area.(this bar also serves CLUB ORANGE, Sel de Mer & Pinnacle grill.

 

The HAL cutbacks are blatantly obvious in the service areas.

[ctbeacher]

On 1/10/2024 at 12:45 AM, Candyman232 said:

This is our first time on the Rotterdam Mar 8-29th having been on the Koningsdam and Neiuw Statendam We loved the Martini bar on Celebrity as well but are looking forward to the Half moon bar as they have unique drinks including a few smoked ones.....Always looking to try something new

Looks like this will be closest to the Martini Bar experience

 

We found that the Billboard bar was a good fit for us for pre-dinner cocktails.  We liked sitting at the bar and Jon and Henry were excellent bartenders.

 

Music trivia at 7:00 on some nights was fun.

 

[ctbeacher]

On 1/10/2024 at 1:49 PM, RICHARD@SEA said:

I sailed in ROTTERDAM this past NOV / DEC - 

 

If you want a nice bar w a killer aft view & great service and drinks go to Tamarind.  It was never crowded & the service was great( I can't say the same about the other bars).

 

The billboard bar is more active / crowded.  Because of the lounge setup on that deck - The Billboard is either dead because the lounge across the way w the dueling pianos(there is only a  walkway dividing the 2 "lounges", no walls) or very busy when the band was playing in Billboard.  It was like sitting iin Grand Central station & the service almost non existent.

 

As far as the much loved OCEAN BAR on older HAL ships - on ROTTERDAM it is indeed just a pass through in the hallway w about an 8 seat bar & a small seating area w piped in music.  The bar was full & the service non existent in the attached seating area.(this bar also serves CLUB ORANGE, Sel de Mer & Pinnacle grill.

 

The HAL cutbacks are blatantly obvious in the service areas.

Agree with your comments.

 

The best place for us was sitting at the Billboard bar.  We would arrive around 6:45 and always got a seat at the bar, where the service was excellent and the bartenders were very friendly.  We stayed for music trivia and then on to dinner.

 

It was a good fit for us.

[shipshape sam]

Each bar has pluses and negatives depending on your point of reference.

 

For a quiet, very small bar, we loved Half Moon.  Only 5-6 seats at the bar, but there are a number of tables for 2 down the hallway next to windows.  These tables for 2 are across from the exclusive CO dining room heading aft. We liked Half Moon when we wanted to stay for some time and just enjoy talking between ourselves/other bar seat mates and talking to the bartender.  This was our go to pre dinner drink and post dinner/entertainment nightcap.  They make some interesting drinks.

 

Bilboard bar is neat as it is in the entertainment area and thus you get  to hear the music when they are playing.  Lots of seating  and I think about 8 seats at the bar itself.  On our sailing, they had  a number of bartenders and due to the larger crowd, were busy when we were there, thus we tended to choose a table for 2/4 and have a wait staff person take our order.  This was our bar for show drinks.

 

Never sat at Ocean bar, but did walk pass it.  The bar seating seemed to be full most of the time with some people standing next to the bar seats. 

 

Taramind  has a very small bar. Bartender was customer centric and gave us some guidance to trying something we had not tried before and we did enjoy the restaurant once and you are looking aft 

 

Enjoy your cruise and let us know your favorite bar area.  

 

We loved the entertainment area with great music every night, either Rock and Roll, Blues, or  two pianos with themed music or requests.  We have booked Rotterdam again. 

 

 

 

[shipshape sam]

On 1/9/2024 at 1:02 PM, Niagarawine said:

They all are, love the cocktails especially the pain killer. Had maybe a few too many,but that’s cruising

We had the painkiller after lunch a couple of days from the Seaview bar.  Loved the cover area and also the area open to watching the wake.

Edited March 25 by shipshape sam

[Niagarawine]

I love painkillers and when I get on board Koningsdam in May guess what I will be doing?