kwokpot

You're right, but too late to correct.

Embarkation Day We had an Check-in time of 11:30-12:00. We used Lyft from our Miami/Brickell hotel to the NCL terminal. It took less than 15 minutes and we arrived early way before 11:30. The terminal building is beautiful and easy to navigate. We had no problems checking in earlier than our scheduled time. Although we had one carryon sized bag each we handed them to the porters since we knew we couldn't access our cabin to store them nor are rooms ready early. We had one backpack each with us. It turned out that our cabin on deck five was ready at 2:00 along with one other deck. This is much later access than the other cruiselines and a couple of others allow cabin access when boarding to deposit carry bags only (Carnival allows this only for higher levels of the loyalty program). There were priority check-in lines for Sapphire and casino invites (CAS) and we didn't have to wait at all to get checked in. Check-in was a breeze and we received our room cards which is a change from other cruiselines which have them in your cabin mailbox. After check-in we were able to board the ship immediately as they were already boarding group numbers (with priority status we weren't assigned a boarding group). We were surprised boarding started so early at 11:30!

Some background information to put my comments in perspective. I'm Anthony and I'm traveling with my husband Robert. We're both 62 and originally from New York City but took early retirement and moved to Philadelphia 17 years ago. This Viva Cruise was our 107th cruise overall and our 17th NCL cruise BUT we haven't sailed NCL since 2017 on the Getaway on a Baltics cruise. The Getaway was the newest NCL ship we sailed so we haven't been on the Breakawayplus ships either. Our very first cruise in 2000 was with NCL so they definitely gave us the cruising addiction. Our preferred cruiseline is Celebrity with 25 cruises with them although we have sailed the most with Royal at 31 cruises. One very important factor to consider about our cruising background is for at least the last ten years we have been cruising on casino complementary cruises. My husband is the gambler in the family and living in Philadelphia we are only one hour away from the Atlantic City casinos. Robert belongs to all the major land-based casino programs in addition to the cruiseline based casino programs. The major reason we haven't cruised NCL since 2017 is their casino comped cruises requires an additional administration fee. No other cruiseline requires paying an administration fee on a complementary cruise. On this Viva sailing the fee amounted to $280/cabin. Carnival's casino comped rooms charges a $200 non-refundable deposit BUT it's returned back to you in the form of OBC which can be used for anything including gratuities. We receive fully comped cruises from Royal, Celebrity, Carnival, Virgin, MSC. This Viva Cruise was booked solely to experience the Prima-class ship. Neither of us actually stepped off the ship in any of the ports of call, so you won't see any reviews of the ports. We were here solely to enjoy what the ship has to offer. Lastly I have a personal interest in architecture and interior design which further peaked my interest in sailing a Prima Class ship. When my husband received a free NCL cruise certificate from an Atlantic City casino I said to him we MUST use the certificate to sail the Viva. I hope this introduction will give you a bit more insight as to my comments that will follow.

I just disembarked the 12/6-13/23 sailing of the Viva. I will post additional thoughts and observations but in a nutshell as a Sapphire level but the first NCL cruise since 2017 we had an excellent time and the Viva is a stunning ship. My favorite things? Onda, Penrose Atrium, Indulge Food Hall, our very large Oceanview with round window cabin, Hudsons MDR. More to follow!

No worries. Having said that even though it resembles the Casino Royale website putting in my spouse's CC # doesn't bring up all his offers like the way Casino Royale's site does. There's a drop-down menu that works if you put in the offer codes of emailed offers. It brings up the applicable sailings for that offer code.

Bluechipcluboffers.com

How far out does the current certificate go out to? I assume it's only good for the selected list of applicable sailings? Is there a cash value to apply for sailings other than the ones listed?

Starbucks gift cards can be used on Viva also. I understand(what the Starbucks employee told us) it's fleetwide for ships with Starbucks. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Comes in very handy. While the food has been excellent on the Viva in all venues the standard brewed coffee has been very, very hot or miss, and mainly it's a miss. Very weak.

Interesting, the same spider sculpture is in front of the Guggenheim Bilbao!

We can differ on opinions about the quality of cruise line buffets but I don't understand why one can't discuss and compare buffets across different cruiselines. No one implied the buffet is the determining factor in choosing a cruiseline but you seem to say you can't even make comparisons? I don't care for Carnival's buffet but that doesn't mean I won't sail them. I have two scheduled for next year and spent 30 days on the Luminosa in September/October which was my 27th Carnival cruise.

I sail Celebrity, Royal, MSC, Virgin, Princess, NCL(currently on the brand new Viva) and Carnival by far has the worst buffet of all the mainstream cruise lines. Celebrity's E-Class ships would rank the best.

Reservations onboard only for Press Your Luck Live and Beetlejuice.

We were on the Luminosa for the 30 days TP in September/October and quite oddly the tablecloth situation is exactly the OPPOSITE on this former Costa ship. Apparently during the conversion drydock they didn't replace any of the MDR dining tables to have a finished wood surface, necessitating tablecloths in the MDR( they are padded white vinyl tabletops) . In the steakhouse, however the tables there have the polished wood surface so there's no tablecloths in the steakhouse. Very weird! Photos to follow. BTW, the MDR food on the Luminosa was EXCELLENT and better than when we were on the Celebration during its second revenue sailing.

I'm currently on the brand new NCL Viva and here's the menu from the MDR breakfast: BTW the ship is stunning and looks more like a Celebrity ship than NCL. More modern and beautiful than Carnival's Excel Class ships. Second photo is one of the two MDRs.

On the current cruise it was a popular event with lots of families participating.

It's been 6 years since my last NCL cruise and the newest ship was the Getaway which doesn't have an observation lounge. Additionally on either Royal or Celebrity's version of a forward facing observation lounge neither cruiselines on any of their ship classes have a food service component (loyalty lounges excluded). Celebrity's E-Class aft facing observation lounge Eden does have a great cafe.

What's unexpected is the observation lounge has a mini food 'buffet' setup including a drinks station. It serves a light breakfast and light snacks in the mid to late afternoons.

Yes

Yes it's available in the MDR. I had it on the Apex in July. The server brought me 2 since he said it was small, even though I didn't ask for two.

Here's a recently expired offer. We're on the Ascent next month B2B , Aquaclass first cruise, Concierge Class second cruise. Both fully comped. Best part is the Aqua Class cabin was booked prior to the All included changes so we get drinks, Internet, and TIPS INCLUDED on a fully comped cabin!

Yes he is Sapphire tier.

No, your 2nd grade teacher didn't make that up. It is a popular slang term for coincidence.

It seems like the lower level casino players are receiving little to no offers from BCC. My husband, who is the gambler in this family, just received this from BCC TODAY, 12/7/23.

I'm on the Viva now. The upgrade to unlimited Wi-Fi with a special onboard discount came to $110/wk for the unlimited basic WiFi. Excellent price. You save $100.