Reply To: Beer and HAL
We’re still working on it. The issue is that normally beer must be ordered for cruises by the full pallet–that is, 60 cases. And if we were to special-order something for our cruise, whatever is left over would be charged back to us. That could get, as you could imagine, rather expensive for us.
So we’re working on possible solutions either getting permission to order smaller quantities, or getting them to waive the chargeback option. The latter is more likely, but in that case, it would apply to brands they still have a hope of selling on future cruises; in other words, it can’t be super-exotic/obscure microbrews that few people have heard of. So we might be able to expand their selection, but the “more exotic” brands we get them to include may still have to be at least *somewhat* mainstream–Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams, etc. Not the optimal solution, but at least it’s *something* beyond the regular selection.
In addition, the week before we’re on the Westerdam, they’re hosting an Irish music charter; as such, we’ll be the beneficiaries of any leftover Guinness and Bass and such. Assuming there’s anything actually leftover.
Discussions are ongoing, and we’ll let you know when we hear anything more definitive.
P.