Neptune Suite Lounge - Nieuw Amsterdam

[packedandready]

We don’t drink alcohol. Is there anything else in the lounge?

[cbr663]

Coffee, teas, water, juices, sodas.  Don't think of the Neptune Lounge as a bar, it is more a place to sit and lounge.  There will also be different food stuffs and snacks that change throughout the day.

[Dutchman48]

As mentioned, above the lounge is way more than just a place to get a drink. As well as being able to get snacks and relax the staff is your guest relations point for everything. They can help with reservations or be your interface if any problems arise. 

They also have the best coffee on the ship.

[LouChamp]

Aloha. Have been blessed to sail HAL since the 1970s and Neptune Suites. Since the early 1990s. Generally I have been booking suites across the major lines primarily for space and comfort but also for the Suite Lounge or equivalent amenities. HAL Neptune Lounges provides me a place to get coffee and read the papers at an early hour since I have been getting up early for decades. This way I do not disturb the family although now we are empty nesters lol. I recommend them highly. We have several long cruises reserved next year and 2025 and they are Neptune Suites also. Please keep us posted and most all be safe, healthy and enjoy!

[OlsSalt]

Neptune Lounge is also a good place to wait,  while your stewards are making up the cabin if you have no other plans for that time. When staying in a Neptune, I rarely ever go to the Lido for lunch. The small snacks are more than adequate during the day. 

[Moriah]

This might be a little off topic, but the best thing about the Neptune Lounge are the concierge crew that man them.  My Mom used to call them "The Neptune Girls" until the first cruise when we had a male concierge 🙂 Anyway, they are, in my experience, amazing.  As others have said, the Neptune lounge isn't a "lounge" in the sense of a bar, it's more a place where those staying in the suites can have all services that others might get from Guest Services, while in a private space with yummy snacks! Only recently has it also become a "bar" for certain hours of the evening, and the alcohol is not complimentary. Everything else in the lounge is.

My best memory of The Neptune Girls was on Oosterdam in 2007 when they used to have tiny chocolate eclairs every afternoon.  When one of the concierge staff discerned that I was disappointed on the one afternoon when I arrived too late to partake of the eclairs, a few minutes later she knocked on my suite door carrying a tray of half a dozen of the treats that she had gone to fetch herself to alleviate my disappointment.  THAT is HAL service and while such a small thing, as you can see, I've never forgotten it! 🙂

[57redbird]

We used the Neptune Lounge attendants for straightening out our onboard account, sending hubby's outer wear jacket to the ship's tailor to repair the velcro that had come off the sleeve cuff, arranging seating at the sold-out Tamarind one night....they are miracle workers & smile throughout exchanges with some unpleasant sailors.

[jendependent]

22 hours ago, 57redbird said:

.they are miracle workers & smile throughout exchanges with some unpleasant sailors.

Unrelated, but this is what I'm most worried about by having booked our first sailing ever in a suite. We are VERY simple people who just wanted to splurge for our ten year anniversary and I can NOT abide with difficult, demanding, entitled people. GAH!

[OlsSalt]

44 minutes ago, jendependent said:

Unrelated, but this is what I'm most worried about by having booked our first sailing ever in a suite. We are VERY simple people who just wanted to splurge for our ten year anniversary and I can NOT abide with difficult, demanding, entitled people. GAH!

 

Take along Ann Landers 53 most memorable quotes, and you will have a wonderful time.

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[57redbird]

Unfortunately, that is becoming more of a part of life....& you'll find those people everywhere including on a cruise.  The worst behavior I have witnessed has been in dining areas & in the tendering process - we just try & look the other way &, if possible, apologize to the victim of such rudeness.

[DaveOKC]

On 10/10/2023 at 1:42 PM, 57redbird said:

We used the Neptune Lounge attendants for straightening out our onboard account, sending hubby's outer wear jacket to the ship's tailor to repair the velcro that had come off the sleeve cuff, arranging seating at the sold-out Tamarind one night....they are miracle workers & smile throughout exchanges with some unpleasant sailors.

Agree - they can be very helpful in dealing with all the little things that come up on a cruise.  We like to use them to get our airline boarding passes the day prior.

[Mosaic]

Most of the time the Lounge is very quite. Too quite for our tastes---and we have seen very little entitlement in the Lounge, so I would not worry.  On our last 14 day trip the MDR head waiter would NOT give us a Club Orange menu----lol. No kidding.  We were told point blank that Neptune Suite guests do not have this benefit. Took this issue to the concierge and they solved the problem.  It was uncomfortable for all.  But this is an example of how it can work and no this is not "entitlement."

[DaveOKC]

I never am afraid to ask/demand what I am entitled to onboard.  After all, I paid for these extras.  Of course there are ways to go about this........

 

 

[LouChamp]

On 10/11/2023 at 1:39 PM, jendependent said:

Unrelated, but this is what I'm most worried about by having booked our first sailing ever in a suite. We are VERY simple people who just wanted to splurge for our ten year anniversary and I can NOT abide with difficult, demanding, entitled people. GAH!

Aloha. Have been blessed to cruise since 1971 and have sailed in suites and inside cabins on the top lines and not so top lol. Even in the Queens Grill on the QM2 and other much more “top” ships, I would say go for it. Only on one cruise line HAL did we encounter a H & W who kept reminding everyone they were President Club status. Everyone kept rolling their eyes including staff. Having been born and raised in Manhattan it’s the ones who really have it that don’t tell you self included except maybe on these boards to get points across. You will be just fine. Go for it, congratulations and it is well deserved!!!

[VMax1700]

You have just as much chance of encountering the self entitled in an inside, ocean view or verandah cabin.  Unfortunately they have infiltrated everywhere these days!  

[lizinindy]

We absolutely loved the coffee/cappucino machine with a pastry and fresh fruit in the mornings and we usually found plenty of delish items for lunch so it was well worth it. Also met so many lovely people to chat with and those concierge helpers were the best. I think you'll love the lounge. The only weird thing they do is make you pay for drinks if you don't have a drink package. Having been to the Edge class retreat lounges on Celebrity that are 4 times as large and with free drinks, I wish HAL would rethink this charge.

[Torquer]

On 10/11/2023 at 3:08 PM, Mosaic said:

On our last 14 day trip the MDR head waiter would NOT give us a Club Orange menu----lol. No kidding.  We were told point blank that Neptune Suite guests do not have this benefit.

Yikes.  By "head waiter", do you mean the maitre d' at the podium when you enter the MDR, or your table's waiter.  Almost always, it is the person at the podium who gives the menus to an "usher" who takes you to your table.  I can't believe they would not know this, unless it was their very first day on the job.  Or maybe this was fixed time seating (which we never do and don't know how it works) where your table waiter gives you the menus?  That is more believable since if they are relatively new, they might never have had a NS guest at their table.  Glad it was resolved.