alliecat44

See the Concierge for go-kart reservations! Easy-peasy, even if it’s last-minute. AND they are AWESOME!! Lots of folks got off the ship every day, but that doesn’t matter with Haven priority embarkation/disembarkation. The Haven outdoor areas are never crowded.

On Saint Lucia, the “Best of Souffiere” speedboat excursion (to mudbaths, volcano, snorkeling). There were about 150 in the group, crammed onto four different boats. We left the dock second. All the boats hung out in the bay until all four were launched, then all four arrived at the same time to the destination—so had to wait while all four boats docked, unloaded, moved to allow the next one to dock. Then waiting for the vans to go to volcano/mudbaths. Then waiting to unload all the vans. Then waiting to load all the vans. Waiting to load all four boats again off of the one dock. Got to the snorkeling/beach spot and told we had thirty minutes there—meanwhile, one dock and all four boats had to take turns unloading. You get the picture. More time waiting than actually doing the activities.

Exactly. There are plenty of women/girls who cannot use tampons for a multitude of reasons.

ANY product. Pad or tampon. NOTHING was available. Edited to add that no pads available in Pandora—just the three boxes of tampons.

And FYI, I am not looking for an argument here, but if you believe guest services should have motion sickness meds and band aids, you should ask yourself why you think it’s okay they do not have feminine hygiene products. I posted this for figure users to be able to search and find this information if they are looking for the same thing on the Viva. I searched here after being rejected by guest services to see if any CC members had insight, but could not find anything. Merely trying to be helpful to others in the future who turn to CC for help.

I called guest services and they did not have any products—only the same suggestions. I asked multiple women and nobody had a tampon or pad. This is a basic necessity.

yes, you should bring your own in case of emergency—so the ship shouldn’t stock suntan lotion, aloe, lip balm, razor blades, shaving cream, toothpaste, or anything else—right? Because people should bring their own! 🙄 With at least 25% of passengers on a ship having the potential for menstruation—AT LEAST—you woukd think there would be some, somewhere, on the ship. In the public restrooms, for instance. Surprises happen. First-timers happen. Things get ruined in the suitcase. Whatever. This is a basic necessity, and should be available. Period. (Pun intended.)

Fresh off the ship and awaiting our flight at the airport, so thought I would do a quick post here. 🙂 We stayed in an H5 cabin (DOS) and had a FANTASTIC time…only leaving the ship twice the whole week! 🙂 The Haven area on the Viva is SO thoughtfully done. The dedicated elevator bank makes a HUGE difference, as does locating the complex in the aft of the ship—all of the restaurants were super close to the Haven elevators, which was nice. Also, when leaving the ship in port and re-embarking, the aft gangway made it super quick to return to the Haven. As always, service was impeccable and we were completely and utterly cared for the entire week. 🙂 I will say the food was even better this time, and the desserts—previously a weaker spot—were absolutely FANTASTIC. (Word to the wise: get the OMG Butterscotch Cheesecake—you will not regret it!). Happy to answer any questions about haven stuff. We only did two excursions, only one of which I would recommend: the America’s Cup Regatta in St. Maarten was THE highlight of our trip! Beetlejuice was fantastic—go see it!!!—but we didn’t even bother seeing anything in the Improv or Syd Norman’s. People would line up two hours ahead of time to try to get seats for comedy, Deal it No Deal, etc and standing in line for hours was not how we wanted to spend our hard-earned vacation time. NCL definitely needs to change this…! Overall, a fantastic trip and looking forward to the next one. 🙂

Just posting this thread so other folks in a similar dilemma can get accurate info (as of February 2024). If you are in need of feminine hygiene products on Viva, the only options are 1) going ashore and buying there, or 2) in the Pandora store on-ship, there is a little area in the back left-hand side with suntan lotion, etc—and there are three boxes of Tampax old-school cardboard applicators. However, Pandora (like all shops onboard) is closed while the ship is in port—current Viva itinerary out of San Juan has zero sea days, so you are stuck until the ship opens. PS I was in the Haven and the concierge couldn’t even get me a tampon before my water-based excursion, so I had to skip it (and it was prepaid…sigh) PPS my last period was less than two weeks before, so I thought I was fine—but surprises happen PPPS DO BETTER NCL.

Thanks so much, Chris! We are booked with Quasar on our preferred itinerary in September 2024–can’t wait! In the meantime, will be checking out your blog—thank you so much for sharing!!!

I happily stand corrected! Guess I didn’t notice six dollars here and twelve dollars there.

On a somewhat-related note—when booking shore excursions online, I never ever get the Latitudes discount applied to the total. I’m now Platinum, and it does make a difference in how much I would save…any idea how to get credit for paying the regular price on excursions I’ve already booked for an upcoming cruise??

Right?! Most travelers have wildlife that is on their bucket list for a Galápagos trip. It seems completely unhelpful and backwards to not nail down the itineraries. Feel free to poke around the website and if I am incorrect, would love to know!

In the early research stages of booking a Galápagos cruise. I really want to live NG/Lindblad, but…their itineraries are vaguer than vague! “Days 3-6 exploring the Galapagos” saying that the islands visited will vary. No commitment to specific islands. ?! Does anyone have insight on this? My other top choice is Quasar, and I can find detailed itineraries for their offerings.

This whole thing is crazy to me. NCL has had private hot tubs on multiple ships for years. I wonder if there is some design flaw on the new ships that allow stagnant water to hang out somewhere or something.

Thanks, guys! I had been looking at the deck plans on my phone and didn’t squint to see the little light gray unlabeled swoops that indicate the slides. 🙂 now that I am on a desktop and you pointed them out, I can see where the slides are. Thank you! We’ll be in 13316, so they shouldn’t affect us (thank goodness). I was just wondering if there was a policy against butler delivery of Indulge items since the venue sounds consistently so busy and standing room only on the Prima. Have been in the Haven before. Woukd much prefer to eat at Indulge, but if seating is such a huge problem I was just wondering about a backup plan for their incredible menus. 😉 Many thanks!

Hello, all! I know Viva is just completing her first couple of cruises, and am very excited to have booked Viva for February (the San Juan port-intensive itinerary). I was wondering a few things so far: —in the Haven, will your butler bring selections from Indulge? —any idea yet which cabins have the slide problem (slides that obstruct the balcony and/or view) like the Prima? —any confirmation on the location of the deck 18 smoking area? (For DH) Hoping all are enjoying planning for their next cruise! More questions to come later, I am sure! 🙂

Holy cow…I thought I was dreaming. Thanks for verifying! 🙂

So, booked in a suite with LATRIPLE promo code on a 16-day cruise…how many total points will that be…?!

Loving these replies—and the pictures!! 🥰🥰🥰 There really seems to be a paucity of information on what it’s really like in forward-facing cabins. Even on CC, only a few threads came up in a search! I remember seeing a couple of different photos of warning signs saying not to open the balcony door when the ship is underway (can’t remember if on CC threads or cabin reviews). it’s good to know that’s not necessarily the case!!! For all who are searching this topic in the future, I hope this thread is helpful—and that the posts keep coming!! Thank you, all!

Thank you all for these posts!!! I am feeling super excited again!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Amy, tgat trip sounds fantastic!! We are in the regular forward facing suite, not the deluxe, so we have the one long shallow/narrow balcony. 🙂

Because when the ship is moving, you’re not supposed to open the door to the balcony due to the strong winds.

Hi all, So I managed to snag the (supposedly) last suite on the upcoming Spirit 16-day Hawaii to Alaska. I am trying not to freak myself out about the limitations of a forward-facing cabin (especially with six sea days and the potentially limited use of the balcony!), and instead trying to focus on the extra room and other “suite stuff.” Is there anyone out there who can reassure me that forward facing isn’t ALL bad?? I woukd really appreciate it!!! happy sailing! ❤️

Update: after ten days, received an email that request for FCC was rejected “because there was no price drop at the time of your booking.” I believe they must have been looking at the suite cost when I upgraded, not the original balcony cost and the new balcony cost. So, the timing did screw me over—but based on the above posters’ experiences, it might have been rejected anyway. Happy sailing!

Update: day 8 and no contact re: FCC. I have seen on these boards and in social media groups that passengers received a FCC, and then went on to upgrade. I imagine my upgrade request was too close in time to when the FCC email was sent, but I was worried the one available suite would be gone by the time the FCC request came through. Sigh. Does anyone know if you are notified if a request for FCC due to a price drop is rejected? Or is it just radio silence?