Here are the bar lists from Westerdam- scanned from our cruise last week

[Schplinky]

http://schplinky.smugmug.com/gallery/2418958#126861429

[Herrbeir]

Great info!. That Smugmug is a tremendous program, I got to blow up the menu and not squint at my monitor. It's nice to see that the drinks aren't priced out of sight. Wine and highballs are very reasonable. Did you try the house wines per chance? Were they drinkable or yuck?

[Schplinky]

We didn't try the house wine. We only drink wine at dinner, it seems, and we had brought our own. I think Arunda is about the same level as La terre or Yellow Tail so I would think it to be ok.

I think the cocktails were very reasonably priced. You would have to go to a place like TGI Fridays to find better prices on land, I think.

[Schplinky]

I love SmugMug , too. It's a really easy service to use.

[Sale Away]

So helpful! I've been following another thread on the beverage cards and everyone's been wondering exactly what qualifies under those as far as selection. I thought it was interesting that they technically only listed 5 drinks as "Specialty Cocktails" so I just called Ship Services to ask if those are really the only ones that you could use the Specialty Cocktail card for. I was told that each ship's menu is slightly different and that there are more (she sure wasn't reading what you scanned!) than just 5. While she didn't think it would be an issue to order any of the other fruity cocktails since they're all priced the same, she did say that it was somewhat to the discretion of the individual bartender as to what he'll accept to put on the card.

Hmmmmm....... so I wonder what happens if you don't use up all the credit on one of those cards. Can you get a shipboard credit for the remainder?

[middle-aged mom]

Schplinky:

I'd like to say a great big "thank you", not only for taking the trouble to scan and post this information for us, but also for your extremely well-written, organized, informative, and helpful multi-part review of your Westerdam cruise. I'm quite in awe of your abilities. I'm one who had to learn computers on my own well into my thirties (I can barely keep up with all the new stuff!), and I'm so impressed with all your technical skills. Thank you very much for all the time you've lavished on your reports; you've addressed questions that so many of us have, and you've done so in a very entertaining and easy-to-follow format. I wish I could do even half so well! :)

Karin

[vince b]

Thanks very much for this. Any idea if it's the same - or at least pretty similar - on all HAL ships?

[lg rover]

Thanks for all the great info. That was a real treat, usually when something is scanned I have to get out my magnifying glass and then still can't read it.
We will be on the Westerdam March 18th, just booked so all your info is just great. We are thinking of bringing a case of wine. I drink cabernet or Chardonnay and my girlfriend drinks pinot grigio. I am going to look into some kind of carrying case w/ wheels. I have always brought wine on for the cabin but never for the dining room.

We also love the crows nest for cocktails before dinner, aft for Coronas and explorers lounge after dinner for special coffees.

[Chivalrygirl]

We didn't try the house wine. We only drink wine at dinner, it seems, and we had brought our own. I think Arunda is about the same level as La terre or Yellow Tail so I would think it to be ok.

I think the cocktails were very reasonably priced. You would have to go to a place like TGI Fridays to find better prices on land, I think.

IMO Yellow Tail is yuck, it is a very very cheap Australian chardonay and not nice. Take your own wine on board, if you like white try getting some of the wonderful NZ Sauv Blanc that is now appearing in quite large quantities on your shelves up there.

[Schplinky]

Yellow Taail actually comes in a number of varietals. Their Shiraz is rather good, especialy at the price. They also have Merlot, Cabernet, Grenache, etc.

[10s nut]

Wow...just found your pictures too...They are fabulous!!!! Will you be adding more???

[Schplinky]

Wow...just found your pictures too...They are fabulous!!!! Will you be adding more???

We're done with adding pictures but we will be adding more of the daily prgrams, etc.

[jascruise]

Thanks for the info.

I got thirsty just reading it.

[bflo john]

By any chance, did you scan any of the dinning room menus? We are sailing on the Westerdam 2/25 and would love to see them.

[Schplinky]

By any chance, did you scan any of the dinning room menus? We are sailing on the Westerdam 2/25 and would love to see them.

They are sort of harder to walk away with so I'm afraid not.

[bankerbabe]

Thank you so much for posting that information! It is really helpful for my budgeting process! Now I'm REALLY counting down the days, hours, minutes, seconds . . . . . .

[Schplinky]

Thank you so much for posting that information! It is really helpful for my budgeting process! Now I'm REALLY counting down the days, hours, minutes, seconds . . . . . .

They had drinks of the day and martinis of the day at $5 each, also. I liked the drinks on HAL; I thought they were creative and tasty. The one thing we noticed is they used a lot of home-made sours in their drinks and you could get a sore stomach if you drank too much.

[Herrbeir]

Bob, I've posted a couple links for a Westerdam Cruise in 2004 and one from the Zuiderdam in 2005. I'm sure the menus have changed since then, but it will give you a good idea about the dinners on HAL.
http://home.g-net.net/%7Ecbrock/ZuiderdamECMenus.html
http://travel.webshots.com/album/236237424Kvjpag

[ottawapuppy]

Bob, I've posted a couple links for a Westerdam Cruise in 2004 and one from the Zuiderdam in 2005. I'm sure the menus have changed since then, but it will give you a good idea about the dinners on HAL.
http://home.g-net.net/%7Ecbrock/ZuiderdamECMenus.html
http://travel.webshots.com/album/236237424Kvjpag

They have changed slightly but I did recognize many of the items I had (or considered) on Westie last week.
It's pretty darn close.

It was all stunning!

[Herrbeir]

Didn't mean to call you Bob. My bad.

All stunining? That's great! On my one and only Grand Princess cruise in 2001 our waiter skillfully directed me to the better dishes.

[madelinerose]

I totally agree....very reasonable martini prices. Thanks! ;)


I think the cocktails were very reasonably priced.

[LILynn]

Thanks so much for posting this and your review. I really enjoyed reading it. I just booked my first HAL cruise and I am so glad that HAL has caffeine free Diet Coke...seeing that made my day (the caffeine free part!)

Thanks again

Lynn

[LILynn]

Thanks so much for posting this and your review. I really enjoyed reading it. I just booked my first HAL cruise and I am so glad that HAL has caffeine free Diet Coke...seeing that made my day (the caffeine free part!)

Thanks again

Lynn

[O2B@C]

Schplinky, thanks again for all the wonderful info you have posted, and your great reviews.

Reading the list of mouth-watering cocktails and top-quality booze brands made me wonder why they don't offer any better beers. Am I the only one who thinks it would be nice if they offered some true premium beers, or even some of the more widely marketed microbrews? Of course they would charge a premium price for them, but I'd rather pay $7.00 for a Redtail Ale than $3.50 for a Budweiser any day. Am I alone in this?

(PS: I like Heineken and Corona OK, but would not choose them if something better were available. I'm spoiled, I know.)

[OceanFantasys]

Thank you for sharing the drink menus. Did you happen to get dinner menus you can share with us also?

Rhonda

[Schplinky]

I guess that would be my partner. He pays for half of my drinks and I pay for half of his.

[Schplinky]

Schplinky:

I'd like to say a great big "thank you", not only for taking the trouble to scan and post this information for us, but also for your extremely well-written, organized, informative, and helpful multi-part review of your Westerdam cruise. I'm quite in awe of your abilities. I'm one who had to learn computers on my own well into my thirties (I can barely keep up with all the new stuff!), and I'm so impressed with all your technical skills. Thank you very much for all the time you've lavished on your reports; you've addressed questions that so many of us have, and you've done so in a very entertaining and easy-to-follow format. I wish I could do even half so well! :)

Karin

I'm sure you could top me if you wanted. We obsess about the details before the cruise and, particularly with HAL, it seems hard to find anything current that folks have posted online that is hard fact.

[Schplinky]

We will be on the Westerdam March 18th, just booked so all your info is just great. We are thinking of bringing a case of wine. I drink cabernet or Chardonnay and my girlfriend drinks pinot grigio. I am going to look into some kind of carrying case w/ wheels. I have always brought wine on for the cabin but never for the dining room.


We used computer cases with whees. Each seems to hold three or four bottles of wine quite well and since we don't bring our computers on holiday, it works out well.

[Schplinky]

Schplinky, thanks again for all the wonderful info you have posted, and your great reviews.

Reading the list of mouth-watering cocktails and top-quality booze brands made me wonder why they don't offer any better beers. Am I the only one who thinks it would be nice if they offered some true premium beers, or even some of the more widely marketed microbrews? Of course they would charge a premium price for them, but I'd rather pay $7.00 for a Redtail Ale than $3.50 for a Budweiser any day. Am I alone in this?

(PS: I like Heineken and Corona OK, but would not choose them if something better were available. I'm spoiled, I know.)

You should try a Voyager class ship on RCL. They actually had a dedicated brew pub on each ship. Seemed very popular with the beer guys. I know some HAL cruisers are itmidated by the size but in all honesty, Westerdam is a big ship with lots of walking, it just has fewer passenger decks. We found we were walking about just as much on Westerdam as a Voyager class ship.

[bflo john]

Bob, I've posted a couple links for a Westerdam Cruise in 2004 and one from the Zuiderdam in 2005. I'm sure the menus have changed since then, but it will give you a good idea about the dinners on HAL.
http://home.g-net.net/%7Ecbrock/ZuiderdamECMenus.html
http://travel.webshots.com/album/236237424Kvjpag

Thank you for the menus....they will help us a great deal. We are just trying to figure out what nights to eat in the dinning room and which nights we should eat at the Pinnacle.

Thanks Again!

[O2B@C]

We're done with adding pictures but we will be adding more of the daily prgrams, etc.

I notice the daily programs and welcome-aboard docs are now up on the same site where you put the cocktail menu. Thanks for the info - so fascinating that my neck got sore from looking at them sideways:rolleyes: ! (Just kidding - I'm sure that was the only way they would fit.)

Really appreciate all the info you've provided!

[Schplinky]

I notice the daily programs and welcome-aboard docs are now up on the same site where you put the cocktail menu. Thanks for the info - so fascinating that my neck got sore from looking at them sideways:rolleyes: ! (Just kidding - I'm sure that was the only way they would fit.)

Really appreciate all the info you've provided!

You're welcome. You should print them. They're standard letter sized, mostly.

I didn't know you could rotate them until just now! Thanks for asking