Vibe Beach Club - How Many Bartenders?

[wil e coyote]

We were just on the 2/16-26 Getaway sailing r/t NYC, and this was our first time in the Vibe - we were trying a version of the "Haven Lite" strategy. Getaway has a huge Vibe area, and I noticed that there were two bars (or one big bar, depending on your point of view), but the portion on the port side of the ship was never used. There were never more than two bartenders in the Vibe, always on the starboard side of the bar (near the hot tubs) and they were very busy every time we were up there. I kept wondering what the other section of bar was for, if not for more bartenders.

So my question is whether others have ever seen that section of the bar in use, or is it just there for some unknown reason?

[kalypso333]

The Vibe used to be smaller with the wall and door between the two bars. The Vibe had two bartenders and the other side served the public sundeck with its own bartender. Now it seems to never be used. 

[UKstages]

it depends on how busy the vibe is.

 

i was recently in the getaway vibe and share your assessment about the use (or non-use) of the "second" bar. bottles were in plain view there, however, and the fridges were used.

 

but the vibe was only at 50% capacity or so. i can only assume that both sides get used when the vibe is busier. i know both sides were used when i was on the joy last october.

[FPMoosally]

1 hour ago, wil e coyote said:

There were never more than two bartenders in the Vibe, always on the starboard side of the bar (near the hot tubs) and they were very busy every time we were up there.

 

You didn't mention whether you felt your service suffered. If it didn't, what does it matter?

 

[wil e coyote]

31 minutes ago, FPMoosally said:

 

You didn't mention whether you felt your service suffered. If it didn't, what does it matter?

 

Fair point. The vibe was 100% full, and on sea days it took quite some time to get service at the bar. The bartenders were going flat out, but there were a lot of people asking for drinks. So yes, I think a 3rd bartender would have helped.

[FPMoosally]

45 minutes ago, wil e coyote said:

Fair point. The vibe was 100% full, and on sea days it took quite some time to get service at the bar. The bartenders were going flat out, but there were a lot of people asking for drinks. So yes, I think a 3rd bartender would have helped.

 

I've personally never experienced a "100% full" Vibe. But yeah, a 3rd bartender would have been appropriate in that case.

 

[vacation44]

Both sides were open on the Encore two weeks ago but I do not remember how many bartenders there were daily. Vibe was hopping but the service was terrific as usual.

[PATRLR]

2 hours ago, vacation44 said:

Both sides were open on the Encore two weeks ago

What do you mean by "both sides"?  Encore has 1 vibe bar, located in the middle of the deck.

[PATRLR]

@wil e coyoteEncore has a similar sized (maybe bigger counting the upper sundeck)  Vibe and they typically had 2 bartenders and 1 or 2 servers walking around taking care of things throughout the Vibe.  I seldom had to wait more than a couple minutes.

The 100% full comment is interesting, I've not seen that, not even close.  I'd consider 50% full to be the extreme, typically its more like 25%.  Were you on a school vacation week maybe with people more motivated to escape the kids?

[vacation44]

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

What do you mean by "both sides"?  Encore has 1 vibe bar, located in the middle of the deck.

I meant the whole bar which encompasses both sides.

 

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

@wil e coyoteEncore has a similar sized (maybe bigger counting the upper sundeck)  Vibe and they typically had 2 bartenders and 1 or 2 servers walking around taking care of things throughout the Vibe.  I seldom had to wait more than a couple minutes.

The 100% full comment is interesting, I've not seen that, not even close.  I'd consider 50% full to be the extreme, typically its more like 25%.  Were you on a school vacation week maybe with people more motivated to escape the kids?

 

Both my husband and I thought the Vibe was the most crowded we have ever seen.   Granted, this was the first time that we were in a Vibe with the extra top deck.   However, for us, a well-attended Vibe is better than no Vibe.     

 

[wil e coyote]

1 minute ago, vacation44 said:

I meant the whole bar which encompasses both sides.

 

 

Both my husband and I thought the Vibe was the most crowded we have ever seen.   Granted, this was the first time that we were in a Vibe with the extra top deck.   However, for us, a well-attended Vibe is better than no Vibe.     

 

I wholeheartedly agree that the Vibe was waaaay better than the pool deck. This was our first time in the Vibe, and so my question was really to get other perspectives on what "normal" looks like in the Vibe.

[UKstages]

when discussing how "full" the vibe is, it's important to define terms.

 

when i say the vibe is at about 50% capacity, i mean that 50% of the available passes have been sold. i've never seen the vibe packed, with every chair taken, even when 100% of the vibe is sold. i've never seen it overwhelmed with crowds even on a sea day. 

 

so, when we say the vibe was "full," what do we mean?

 

it was crowded and packed to an unusual degree?

 

or that all the passes were sold?

 

people go and do other things on the ship. not everybody hangs out six hours a day in the vibe. even when it's at full capacity (100% of passes sold), it's rarely "full."

 

 

[wil e coyote]

5 minutes ago, UKstages said:

when discussing how "full" the vibe is, it's important to define terms.

 

when i say the vibe is at about 50% capacity, i mean that 50% of the available passes have been sold. i've never seen the vibe packed, with every chair taken, even when 100% of the vibe is sold. i've never seen it overwhelmed with crowds even on a sea day. 

 

so, when we say the vibe was "full," what do we mean?

 

it was crowded and packed to an unusual degree?

 

or that all the passes were sold?

 

people go and do other things on the ship. not everybody hangs out six hours a day in the vibe. even when it's at full capacity (100% of passes sold), it's rarely "full."

 

 

I'm not sure how to tell how many tickets had been sold - I guess I could have asked, but I didn't think to do that. I do know that on sea days, almost all the chairs were taken.

[UKstages]

that certainly sounds like a sell out.

[DrUrsula]

5 hours ago, vacation44 said:

Both sides were open on the Encore two weeks ago but I do not remember how many bartenders there were daily. Vibe was hopping but the service was terrific as usual.

We were on in December and there were 3 bartenders and 2 waiters; ship was full full full.

service was amazing.

[PATRLR]

50 minutes ago, UKstages said:

so, when we say the vibe was "full," what do we mean?

 

it was crowded and packed to an unusual degree?

 

or that all the passes were sold?

 

I have no idea how many passes were sold any of the times I've been in Vibe, I always assume it's sold out.  When I talk about "full" I'm referring to butts in seats.

[PATRLR]

44 minutes ago, wil e coyote said:

I do know that on sea days, almost all the chairs were taken.

I have never seen anything like that.  Is the upper deck on Getaway part of Vibe like on Encore?  Looking at deck plans, it's hard to tell.  I could imagine a scenario where it's just too windy (or whatever) to be on the upper deck, hence crowding on the lower deck. 

[bkrickles1]

16 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

Is the upper deck on Getaway part of Vibe like on Encore?  Looking at deck plans, it's hard to tell. 

I was wondering about this too. 

[UKstages]

i was on the getaway and in the vibe a month ago. there was no upper deck in the vibe.

[D_And_K_gocruising]

We didnt have to worry about the vibe on one of our sea days as it was closed due to high winds (one of the risks you take).   The other sea day was fine..   Embarkation day was probably the 'busiest' it ever was and saying it was busy isn't really fair as I dont think more than 1/2 the loungers were ever taken any day I was up there.   Now I wasnt there 100% of the time  of course.    Normally had server come along before I was ready for another so got my order in, but even when I was a little quicker on finishing my previous, never had to wait for a drink more than a minute or two.. Basically for them to finish the order before mine. 

 

edit: oh this was Escape (one of the smaller vibes) Dec 2023, and we had 2 bartenders. 

Edited March 1 by D_And_K_gocruising