My wife and I were on the Oosterdam many years ago and loved the Explorations Cafe. It was on the center of deck 3 I think and very convenient. We would often go there for coffee and event stop on the way off the ship to grab a bottle of water to take with us on a shore excursion. The location could not have been any better in our opinion. We are booked on the Nieuw Amsterdam next year and I noticed the Explorations Cafe is at the front of deck 11. This does not seem like a convenient coffee place, unless I am missing something.
Are there other places on the ship to purchase coffee or water to take into port? It is not a deal breaker bur seems pretty inconvenient. I could be wrong, but thought for some reason the Crows Nest areas is where people smoked cigars all hours of the day. Again, I have not cruised on HAL for many years and my data set could be off.
I am interested to see what people think of the Explorations Cafe on Deck 11 and if there are other places to grab coffee or bottled water on shore excursion days. We would also get the Vita Water sometimes using our drink package. Do most people think the Explorations Cafe is a good fit on deck 11 forward?