dshefter

3 minutes ago, 15yearsandwaiting said:

How much does the week pass for go carts cost? Mini Golf? Cost to rent the dart?  Are there any combined packages?

 

Thanks

Not sure about weekly costs but it is $15 for go-karts or $20 if you want to race on track alone. Golf is $10 per game.

17 hours ago, ZsaZsa2019 said:

If not priority, what is the earliest?

We had 11:30 boarding time and showed up around 10:45 and walked right through. Took us about 15 minutes to get through everything.

15 hours ago, SteveM812 said:

Hello everyone! This will be my first major post on Cruise Critic.  I recently was on the Viva Southern Caribbean cruise out of San Juan and wanted to share my thoughts on this much maligned ship.  In our immediate group we had 4 adults in their 40’s and we met up with friends that we have traditionally cruise with but haven’t seen since COVID.  We flew in the day before to make sure any possible February weather delays didn’t mess up our plans.  In our immediate group we had 3 different room categories, from studio to balcony.  Most of us are veteran NCL cruisers with Platinum status. The ship was sold out.

 

Embarkation:  We left for the port around 9:30 from Old San Juan and arrived at the port around 10am.  We decided to go early because of the traffic we experienced when embarking on the Norwegian Epic from the same port a year earlier.  We arrived early enough to snag one of the few seats inside the terminal.  After about an hour sitting in the terminal, we were allowed to check in.  The whole process took under 15 minutes and we were on our way.  This was the easiest check in and embarkation we have ever had.  

 

The ship:  Much has been made about the design and aesthetics of the Viva/Prima.  My overall feeling is the criticism is too harsh.  We read plenty of reviews and understood what we were getting into, which may have helped our impression of the ship.  We also always pay for the Vibe, which was extremely convenient on the Viva.  The ship looks fantastic.  Outside of familiar venue names, the ship felt like a different cruise line.  This is neither good or bad.  It just felt different.  I understand the frequent complaints on design but we did not experience any issues that detracted from our trip.  The studio cabin was modern and a step up from the Breakaway class.  The balcony was large, spacious and bright.  We met and saw our cabin attendants daily and they did a good job.  Absolutely no complaints.  We had no service issues and generally speaking the crew was accommodating and pleasant.  Some quirks that stuck out but did not have a real negative impact include:

• In the atrium, you have to go around the elevator bank to get to the other side of the atrium.  Not a big deal for a 10 second detour to get to the other side.

• Lighting- this actually sticks out in my mind.  During the day, I have no issue that the atrium area and corridors to the bars and restaurants were bright.  At night, this was actually jarring to me.  Sitting in the Metropolitan or Belvedere bar in dim lighting and then walking down the hallways, especially the Syd Norman’s hall, was jarring to the point that it caused my eyes some discomfort.  A full ceiling of white light was tough to deal with.  With LED technology the way it has developed, seems like they missed an opportunity to dim or change the colors of the ceiling lights to create a better mood at night.  Same goes for the atrium area.  If they could dim the light at night it would provide a better sense of intimacy during the evening.

• The pool is small, but I rarely go swimming in the pool.  It did not seem any smaller than the Breakaway/Getaway adult area.  

 

Food Venues: We ate at Hudson’s, the buffett, Indulge Food Hall, Los Lobos, Cagney’s and Hasuki.  

Hudsons- We ate dinner 3 times at Hudson’s.  At most we waited 20 minutes.  Food was fine.  I saw no degradation of food quality from my previous cruises.  Against my better judgment,  I did order the bourbon bacon chicken breast.  As someone who has worked in the restaurant industry, I should have listened to my experience that cooking, and then holding chicken breast in a sham will not give you a tender chicken breast.  Outside of that, no one in our party felt any of the meals at the main dining room were better or worse than any of the previous experiences with NCL. The evening that we waited 20 minutes, they actually pulled our waitress from The Local since they were slow and Hudon’s was slammed.  She was in her Local outfit.  Did this impact our meal?  No, absolutely not.  I was actually glad they shifted staff to deal with a restaurant that needed extra help.  

 

Cagney’s:  We always eat at Cagney’s.  I traditionally order the 8oz filet medium rare.  The filet and overall meal was better than last year on the Epic.  It was just a little lesser quality than Cagney’s on the Encore right after cruising resumed after the pandemic.  The filet came out perfectly medium rare.  Service was just a little slow but we were catching up with friends so we were fine.  

 

Los Lobos:  This was a highlight for our group.  We always get the table side guac, which was great.  I ordered the fish and it was absolutely perfect.  Everyone’s meals were great and we all raved about it.  

 

Hasuki:  Typical teppanyaki.  It’s a fun atmosphere hand you definitely get plenty of food.  My scallops and shrimp were good.  No complaints here at all.

Buffett:  The often criticized Surf Side Cafe.  Where do I start.  Was it busy? Yes.  Did I have a problem getting in line and grabbing my food? No.  That includes the omelet station which I traditionally visit.  I waited no longer than any other ship.  Was the seating busy?  Absolutely.  But here is where I actually take issue with people who complain about the seating.  They literally have a sign and someone trying to direct people to Food Republic and Palomar for additional seating.  Walking through that area I saw at most 5 tables occupied.  People were verbally complaining about the lack of seating but refused to walk 30ft to additional tables.  I also saw a women have a complete melt down about the lack of hash browns.  She was literally screaming while slamming her hand on the spit shield. I just don’t get it.  The one truly negative thing I saw was they were not even trying to get people to wash their hands.  I always do but I had to wash twice since handling all the utensils.  We also took our food to the Vibe daily.  This was a huge benefit and a way to get away from the buffet madness.

 

Indulge Food Hall:  We really enjoyed Indulge and ate there 4 times between lunch and dinner.  Food always came out hot and quick.  We never had to wait for a table.  After reading reviews I figured there would be a wait or at least hard to find a table.  We never waited and always found a table.

Overall, we had no issues with any of the food.  Specialty dinners were good and everything else was exactly what we have come to expect, even when comparing to cruises before COVID. I guess I didn’t really miss the hashbrowns…

 

Entertainment:  We thought the entertainment also met expectations, and was probably better than the Epic the year before.  

Syd Norman’s: Syd’s Viva 2.0 just got on the ship so they did not perform their typical full set.  No 80’s prom and only one Rumours show.  I was ok with this because when you bring a completely different group in you have to adjust all the mics and settings to the unique performances of the group.  If the option was to have them simply rehearse all week with no performances or give us 4 nights of shows, I will take the 4 nights of shows every time.   We did line up around 45 minutes before the shows and were able to see 2 full shows.  We also walked in during a show and there was plenty of standing space.  This actually stuck out to me.  People rush in to get seats, but if you were ok standing, there was still space to stand and listen through the entire show.  I cannot say the same for showing up late for the Cavern Club.

 

Metropolitan Bar: Nightly entertainment that I considered more of background music.  It was fine and done at an appropriate level.

 

Penrose Atrium:  Much has been made about the placement of the live entertainment in the Penrose atrium.  I actually like the placement.  We could hear them throughout the atrium. If we were at the whisky bar, we could still hear the music.   This was a plus for me.  I don’t view the live performers as a draw per se that I have to sit and watch their whole set.  I appreciate the fact there is live music but I look at it as secondary.  If you must see every live performing duo or band for their entire set you are going to have problems with this class of ship.

 

ICONS: Well done for what it is.  Songs were a little eclectic but performed well.  We walked into the balcony with no issues.

 

Press Your Luck:  It was fine.  People in our group who saw the Price is Right on the Prima liked that better.

 

Beatlejuice:  Unfortunately the lead actor injured himself in a rehearsal right before the doors opened and the performance was canceled.  We saw what looked like the lead getting pushed out in a wheelchair in St. Thomas the next morning.  I do applaud the cruise director for making announcements regarding the show, being upfront and honest with everyone and they moved the comedian to the theater to fill the slot.  

 

Ports: This cruise was a very busy cruise.  Daily port stops and no days at sea.  We got off every day, most days with planned excursions.  No issues at all.

Debarkation: We self carried our luggage and waited to the last possible moment.  It was very quick with minimal lines.

 

Final thoughts:  The cruise fully met our expectations.  The upgrades with design and furniture were great.  The Vibe was great with the two large hot tubs that were actually hot this time.  We found that if we got back on the ship a little late for lunch the grill was always open with minimal waits.  Even though the ship was sold out it never felt overly busy.  There were not a lot of kids on this cruise.  We always cruise President’s week and sailing out of Florida you experience a lot more kids.  We are looking at potentially booking next year on the Viva for the same week.  Overall I think to enjoy this class of ship you need to put the Breakaway class behind you and try not to compare.  Enjoy that it’s a new design with new offering and go with the flow.

 

Great review. We were on the Feb. 4 sailing. Agree with most of your thoughts.

51 minutes ago, AllHandsAstern said:

How difficult/easy was it to get dinner reservations?

You should not have difficulty. If you can't book a decent time prior to your cruise, I suggest getting onboard as early as possible on embarkation day and using the touch screens. You should get the restaurants you want.

On 2/21/2024 at 12:28 PM, MR_BUTCHIE said:

Is the Vibe beach club worth the price. We will be on a 7 day cruise with 4 stops so only 2 at sea days. I'm wondering how much time I would really get to use it.

With two sea days it might be worth it if you enjoy a little more privacy. Pool area fills up fast, especially if you are sailing on Viva. My only pet-peeve about VBC is the lack of a pool. And it's gotten pricey.

On 2/21/2024 at 8:15 AM, Spencer71 said:

I'm on March 31 cruise and it's 8-5.

That is plenty of time to enjoy an excursion. Enjoy your cruise on Viva.

13 hours ago, CRUIS4ME said:

On Feb 25th Viva cruise.   Having a discussion with our tour guide in BVI as our itinerary and cruise mapper says we will be in port in Tortola from 7am until 4pm.   Our tour guide checked with BVI port schedule…local…who says we are in port from 8am till 5pm.

 

Can you recall the times you were in port for Tortola?  And…can anyone tell me their itinerary times for their port visit to BVI?   Thanks 

Seem to recall it being 7 to 4. Plenty of time to do any shore excursion.

4 minutes ago, maggieq said:

@dshefter   That’s disappointing.  We were able to book specialty restaurants prior to our cruise on the encore then booked all entertainment (including comedy shows) once onboard first day (11/2019). Any reason they are no longer allowing this?  Thanks!

You can book specialty restaurants. We were unable to book entertainment. Check with NCL as policies can change. But you should have ZERO difficulty booking the main show. Can't book comedy club or Syd Norman's.

On 2/18/2024 at 1:34 PM, tmisinski said:

Thank you for your excellent review.  

We are actually going on the Viva on March 10.  What excursion did you do with NCL to get to Maho Beach?

Thanks!

We booked the Maho Beach Transfer. Basically a bus to the beach. They give you about 3-plus hours to enjoy the beach and the Sunset Bar. You can also take a cab. Just beware that we experienced a lot of traffic in St. Maarten the day we were in port. 4 ships (15,000 passengers). Check ahead to see how many ships are in port that day.

25 minutes ago, maggieq said:

@dshefter  thanks so much for posting.  Looking at this same cruise next year. 
 

shows - ncl does not allow you to book any of them pre cruise?

specialty restaurants - is pre cruise reserving allowed if no status with ncl?

Yes. You can't pre-book shows. When you board the ship, you can make reservations for Beetlejuice as well as specialty restaurants. You can book specialty restaurants 90 days prior to the cruise. Keep on the lookout after making your final payment.

On 2/12/2024 at 3:31 PM, brookie848 said:

Thanks. We're hoping to hit Indulge a few of the days for lunch when people are off the ship. We're not huge fans of the Haven lunch menu.

Did not stay in The Haven but on the same cruise. Definitely hit Food Indulge. We did not have a bad meal the entire week. 5 specialty restaurants and 2 in Main Dining Rooms.

On 1/6/2024 at 12:38 PM, pm75 said:

Hi

Taking NCL Viva from san juan Tortola, Barbados, St Thomas, St Marteen, Adntigua, St Lucia islands.has anyone already taken it yet? would love to chat and discuss. especially confused about the excursions and what may be best options! also would love feedback and lessons learned on the viva as well. I am travelling with my little kid so would appreciate advice on what and what not to do for these islands.

Thanks!

Just got off the Viva (Feb. 11). Did all of those ports. Plenty of beach opportunities in these islands as well as snorkeling. How old are the kids? Zip lining is a fun activity.

On 2/13/2024 at 11:56 AM, Spencer71 said:

Thanks for the detailed review! Trying to plan our excursions. Our group is two couples, about 50 yrs old with varied interests. Some like snorkeling, history, some not so much. Not interested in NCL's excursions, but will book through Viator or even custom. Want to keep costs down though. While I can look up things to do at each stop (and I will), I'm interested in what are the absolute best 3-4 things to do from all of the stops. What should we absolutely not miss? What should we book in advance? I figure we'll book a few things at some ports but then nothing at the other ports. Where can I best find this info? On CC there is no category for Southern Caribbean, but instead they have categories for each one of the stops.

Tortola: The Baths (a must)
Barbados: Any beach. Do on your own. Harbour Lights allows you to book chairs in advance (they have a turtle snorkel adventure right there on property for $25)

Great snorkeling in St. Thomas/St. Johns
Antigua: Great beaches. We went to Valley Church Beach, but there are others

St. Lucia: We zip-lined in the past there. Wonderful experience in the rain forest. The rum tour we did was not expensive and something different.

Feel free to book outside of NCL

You can take a cab to Maho Beach in St. Maarten. Just plan accordingly as traffic there can be brutal. Our 30-minute ride turned into more than an hour each way.

20 hours ago, olemissreb said:

Thank you for this review! My group will be in the Viva in March '25...and we can't wait for a week of relaxation, adventures, and laughter. My BF is a bourbon drinker, so we'll probably hang out there...A LOT!

No shortage of bars. Plenty of bourbons fit into the regular beverage package. Have a great time.

On 2/13/2024 at 11:51 AM, Hmmcminn said:

Thanks for the great review!  I’ll be on the Viva next week, so I’ve been looking for info.  
 

Do you happen to have the dailies from your cruise?

We did not save them. Beatlejuice was on Friday. Rumours was on Thursday

23 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

First off, I'm a little jealous: 3 weeks on the Epic. Wow, that's awesome. Now on to the food. I am so sorry you had a disappointing experience. We sailed on the Epic in Dec 2022 and the food was exceptional. I was particularly delighted with Moderno, Le Bistro and Teppanyaki. La Cucina and Cagney's were good, too. We also ate at the included Asian place twice and loved it! I thought the portions were fine. I wonder sometimes if the amount of food waste causes the cruise lines to cut back on the portions. But again, so sorry the food wasn't up to scratch. Like you said, food taste is subjective. Perhaps after nearly 60 cruises, your standards have evolved? (Nothing wrong with that, BTW-mine have, too.) I REALLY loved the burgers and the fish 'n chips at O'Sheehan's. The wings were decent. Not the best in the world, but certain We edible. Good luck on your next trip, wherever it may be!

We sailed on the Epic in October 2022 (Barcelona to Rome) and the food was excellent. Only bad experience was LeBistro. Just came off the Viva and the food was outstanding. 

For Starters, this was my 15th cruise overall and sixth with NCL. Previously, I have sailed on Royal, Princess and Carnival. My DW and I find cruising to be a great value and an excellent way to spend a vacation. We chose the NCL Viva because it was a brand-new vessel, the price fit our budget and we love all of the ports, some of which we have visited multiple times (i.e. St. Thomas, Tortola and Barbados)

At first glance, the Viva is a beautiful ship and once aboard, we found her to be bright, modern and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Before we set sail, I made sure to familiarize myself with the Deck Plans, and on embarkation day, we walked around to get a feel for where the public areas were. One thing I repeatedly heard from passengers is it was difficult to sometimes find things. That wasn’t the case for me.

There were far more positives about the ship than negatives and I will get to both later in the review. Now I’ve never been on a bad cruise, dating to back to my first one in 1982 on the old Cunard Countess (cruising was far different then, think no drink packages or specialty restaurants, and no wow factor things like slides and virtual reality rooms). Now, there have been some weak ships, but never had I not had a great time aboard a cruise.

As for our vacation, we made sure to fly into San Juan a day earlier. Even with a late departure (8:30 p.m. on Feb. 4), I never want to take a chance of a flight being canceled or delayed. There were several passengers who had to hustle to the ship on Feb. 4 due to flight delays. We stayed at the Sheraton Puerto Rico Resort & Casino on Marriott points, which turned out to be a 5-minute ride to the Pan American Port, where the Viva departs. UBER is ever-present in Puerto Rico and we had no issues getting rides from the airport, to our restaurant and to the ship the following day. We enjoyed a nice dinner at Casita Miramar, a restaurant that came highly recommended by a work colleague who grew up in PR. It was a short UBER ride from the hotel.

Embarkation was an absolute breeze. We signed up for 11:30 a.m. check-in but arrived around 10:45. It took about 5-10 minutes from the time we walked into the terminal until we boarded. We went to our Muster station and within minutes we were enjoying the Viva.

I quickly found my spot for the week: the Humidor Cigar Lounge. One reason we sail on NCL is all of its modern vessels have a dedicated cigar lounge. A huge feather in NCL’s cap.

One key component of a cruise for me is the food and service from the crew. Viva gets an A+ in this area. Every restaurant was great. We did not visit Nama (sushi), Food Republic or Los Lobos (Mexican). But all of the other venues were terrific, including the two main dining rooms, Hudson’s and Commodore Room. Because my wife is Platinum and we already had 3 specialty dinners pre-booked, we managed to enjoy 5 specialty dinners. Those with Platinum or greater status receive two vouchers for specialty dinners, including one that includes a bottle of wine).

The service was outstanding. Everyone we encountered had a smile and appeared to thoroughly enjoy serving us. Slotko from Montenegro who worked the Cigar lounge on Epic for our Mediterranean cruise in 2022, even recognized me at the pool area. He has since moved to the Viva and it was great catching up. Was shocked that he remembered me. Salomon, from Peru, was another great server in the cigar lounge.

For food venues, don’t miss Cagneys (steak), Onda by Scarpetta (Italian), Palomar (seafood) or Le Bistro. You can also order off a portion of the Cagneys menu in the two main dining rooms for a small upcharge. Indulge Food Hall also was outstanding. Just make sure to get there when it opens as it fills up fast. You can order off an iPad and there are four different restaurants to choose from. I loved the pulled pork sandwich from the Smokehouse.

We also enjoyed The Local. We rarely hit the buffet and like many have previously said, it should have been built to accommodate more people. Only have one side for all of the offerings just doesn’t work for the number of passengers on the ship.

We managed to grab a quick bite during non-peak hours and never ate there for breakfast. We chose Hudson’s or The Local (limited breakfast menu) each morning and it worked well. You can also dine at Hudson’s for breakfast on debarkation day. Highly recommend over the buffet, and if you get there when it opens, there is never a line.

As for the other public venues like The Improv, Syd Norman’s Pour House and pools, they are just too small in proportion to the number of passengers. The Improv and Syd Norman’s can barely house 100 people. And without reservations, you end up standing in line an hour before showtime (doors open 30 minutes prior) just to see the comedians or musicians. NCL should figure out a way to allow for reservations, and also have multiple shows of the same act to give everyone a chance to see the act. We thoroughly enjoyed Andrew Kennedy, one of two comedians on our cruise. Saw him 3 times (opening night in the main theater, and then his PG-13 and R-rated performances in The Improv).

But we never saw anything in Syd Norman’s. Missed the popular Rumours show because our dinner was at 8 p.m. and by the time we got done, the room was already jammed with people. That is one show that belonged in the main theater or performed multiple nights.

We did book Beetlejuice, the Broadway show on the Viva, and we saw it performed for the first time by this group of actors/singers. Not bad, but not awesome either.

Again, I never worry about entertainment aboard a cruise ship. That is not why I book cruises. But I like to enjoy music and comedians and it was very difficult to do so on the Viva without standing in line. Other ships in the NCL family also do a better job of spreading around the entertainment.

As for the bars themselves, there are plenty aboard Viva, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find one open before 11. On the Epic, the bar near the main dining room was open in the morning and I could get a soft drink. There are also only a select number of bars where you can get a frozen drink (Pool Waves, Observation Lounge and The Local). Keep that in mind when choosing a bar to enjoy a cocktail. But even though the ship was fully booked, I never had to wait more than a few minutes to get a drink, and that included the always-packed Pool Waves bar. And there were plenty of servers walking around on the pool deck.

The pool area itself is rather small compared to other NCL ships. I think the designers of Viva wanted to make sure they had room for extra-fee activities like a 3-deck go-kart track, mini-golf and virtual-reality room. While the go-kart track was cool – my DW chose to spend $20 apiece to ride solo on the track – I wouldn’t be disappointed if future ships eschewed this activity to enlarge the pool area. The Infinity Pools on Deck 8 are very nice as well, but they, too, fill up fast. NCL also spent money for an enlarged Vibe Beach area that appeared to hold around 100-plus people. While I have enjoyed this area on past ships, we chose not to spend nearly $300 pp for this privilege. It does have its own bar, but not a dedicated pool. We just figured it wasn’t worth the money given the port-intensive itinerary.

Now if NCL wanted to give a discount for Platinum members and above, we might have thought about it.

We did enjoy the Infinity pools on Deck 8. Would be nice if NCL had put in a hot tub in this area. There were only two on the entire ship for the general public and both on Deck 17.

One area that was beautiful was the Observation Lounge. It is very big and encompasses the entire front of the ship on Deck 17. This was a great place to hang out and enjoy a drink. It’s also where NCL had our Cruise Critic Meet-N-Greet. We had a chance to meet the GM and the rest of his team. The Captain did not show up, but the GM allowed us to ask questions.

As for our stateroom, we stayed in an Inside Cabin on Deck 10 forward (10121). This was my first time in such a cabin since we sailed on the Pearl in 2008 when our daughter was 4. I was very impressed with the amount of storage space as well as the size of the bathroom. The water pressure was outstanding/ar There was an ample amount of plugs to charge our phones.

I also was impressed with the workout facilities on Deck 16. Plenty of treadmills and nautilus/free weights. And you get a nice view, especially at sunrise or when pulling into a port.

As for the ports, we love Barbados. Just took a cab to Harbour Lights, where we had two chairs and an umbrella booked. You can go onto their website and book chairs, jet skis and even snorkeling with turtles ahead of time. In Antigua, we took a cab to Valley Church beach and rented chairs and an umbrella for $20. Our snorkel excursion through NCL was canceled in St. Thomas due to inclement weather. A storm had come through the night before. In St. Maarten, we used NCL for a transfer to Maho Beach (where the planes fly right over your head to land) and glad we did as there was a lot of traffic. Took more than an hour to get there and return on what normally is a 30-minute ride. Four ships in port that day had something to do with it. Did a rum tour through NCL in St. Lucia and thoroughly enjoyed. Did nothing in Tortola as we had been there multiple times and already gone to The Baths (Virgin Gorda) and Jost Van Dyke.

Debarkation was an absolute breeze. We waited for a color to be called (Pink) and we were off the ship and outside the terminal within 15 minutes.

So where can NCL improve? Bigger public rooms would be a place to start. They could have easily removed some of the shops and art area on Deck 7 to enlarge The Improv and Syd Norman’s. Take out the go-kart track for more pool space. Replace the 8-story dry slides (The Drop and The Rush, both are fun BTW) with water slides. I think both would see heavier usage if they were water slides. Allow for reservations in the entertainment areas. Spread out the entertainment. Maybe add a piano bar.

Would I sail NCL Viva again with the right itinerary and price? Absolutely. We had a fabulous time.

Happy to answer any questions.

For our Viva cruise on Feb. 4, boarding begins at 11:30 a.m. Generally, one of the complimentary restaurants is open for lunch along with The Local, buffet and Indulge Food Court will be open for lunch.

NCL should have reservations for the show and then have a line for those who don't show up. If shows are similar, you only get to see it once to allow other passengers a chance to see it.

10 hours ago, UKstages said:

 

it isn't so much what's in it (although that's a part of it), it's really about what's not in it: no kids, no chair hogs, no loud music, no smoking, no crowds, no long wait to be served.

 

the vibe offers a guaranteed lounge chair (not a specific one, but the number of lounge chairs is equal to or exceeds the vibe's capacity). the loungers (many with umbrellas) are much more comfortable than those on the pool deck. the vibe offers exceptional service from a dedicated team of bartenders, servers and chair attendants. the vibe has hot tubs and several well-maintained bathrooms.  and it offers unparalleled views... among the best on the ship.

 

for a seven day journey, you can probably expect to pay about $249 or thereabouts. do you have a current cruise booked? if so, you can go under the entertainment tab and see what the vibe will cost on your ship.

 

both people do not have to purchase, but only the person who purchases would be allowed in. so, unless you want to spend the entire cruise apart from your traveling companion, this would not really work. (the vibe does sell day passes, if available, for about  $99.)

I have booked Vibe in the past and we enjoyed it. But with 6 port days on a 7-day cruise, we decided against it this time on Viva. Just too expensive. I know it's a great place to escape. But it doesn't offer a pool, which is a major miss IMO. Great to have a private bar and be away from the crowds. But we couldn't justify paying that much extra. Rather use that money for other things.

21 hours ago, scubaslayer said:

We are looking for a fall cruise with 2 teens (15 &17). We have previously sailed on Liberty of the Seas with Royal but are open to trying something different. I am trying to understand the included drink package but since they are under 21 what would they get? The drink package on Royal let them get mocktails, plus all the sodas juice, and bottled waters. Also what ships would you recommend? Waterslides are a must have and a fun itinerary. We have already done Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Is the atmosphere on Norwegian similar to Royal? We are kind of a laid back group that keeps to themselves. I have yet to get them to go to the kids or teen clubs. They mostly ditch the parents and hangout together now. We also will travel in 2 balconies but could do a 2 bedroom suite if the price and amenities matched up but teens must have own bedroom and bathroom because how dare we all cram into one room with their parents now.

Encore or Escape are great for kids. If kids are in the same stateroom, they would not get the drink package. You can buy a soda package. Two adults would get the drink package. If in separate rooms, book it without the Free at Sea promotion with the Drink Package. Better off buying a soda package on your own, and then pay for any subsequent mocktails. .

On 1/14/2024 at 4:27 PM, BirdTravels said:

Post #188 has a couple of food pics from Nama. We got a free dinner there (order whatever you want, as much as you want) on the Viva and though the food was really bad. We go to sushi on the Breakaway/Getaway and Food Republic on the BA Plus ships and enjoy the food. Nama was pretty poor. 

 

 

Thanks for the advice. Might try to book teppanyaki. Already have Cagneys, Onda and Palomar booked

On 1/6/2024 at 12:55 PM, Obobru said:

We are just about to end our first NCL cruise which was 16 day Antarctica and South America. We have traveled with a few cruise lines and are not loyal to any but wouldn't ever travel NCL again, I am wondering what people think is good about them? 

 

Here are a few of the issues which are both ship and head office issues. 

 

Awful food quality akin to prison food some days with horrific meat that was like shoe leather or full of fat. Sausages at breakfast with barely any meat in them they are all filler. Tasteless dry foods.

 

No stocking of the ship over 16 days so ran out of basics like coke zero/diet/Fanta/apple juice and foods such as bananas but we did have banana bread every day as they had a lot of black bananas after a week. 

 

Lack of daytime entertainment that isn't a sales pitch or paid event such as bingo/spa services/foot analysis/shopping event/deal or no deal/art events

 

Absent senior management. All ships I have been on the senior crew would be in the atrium in the evening and the Cruise Director would be ever present but not on this shop as she's only seen when she gets to play a part in the Xmas show the rest of the time she's nowhere to be seen. 

 

Lack of variety in the evening entertainment as it's is all dancing and singing and not a single magician/comedian/ventriloquist

 

Painfully slow main dining room service often taking over 2 hours to have dinner due to 20 min waits for menus, 40 mins to get starters, etc

 

Drills done during lunch instead of between 3-5pm when no food is served and they did it on a sea day. The lunch staff all walked off to their posts which they have to do but no explanation, never known this to happen it's usually done on port days at quiet times. 

 

Awful rude staff. The internet didn't work well and the internet manager was rude to people who were being polite to him. I saw him rolling his eyes at people and throwing his head around in a dramatic fashion. We arrived to our room at 14.30 as a crew manager was opening the doors as we passed down the stairs but the room wasn't vacuumed when we arrived and all the attendants had gone, rang guest services but didn't get "sorry we will send someone to clean it" nope I got "why are you in the room, who let you in, you shouldn't be in the there, it's your own fault" I couldn't believe how rude she was. 

 

Managers on the ship especially in the buffet are rude to staff in front of guests, the work culture here stinks. 

 

Talking of stinks the bathroom smells like a sewer often due to the fact the toilet doesn't always fill with water leaving the pipe open for gas to come it and the drain in the floor under the sink smelling foul, they know this as they took the bin out of its holder and keep it on the floor over the drain. 

 

On the stinky front we can smell rotten waste smells some days on the aft stairs, my partner says it had the smell of a rotting rat (if you keep you know apparently). 

 

NCL still things it's the 90's and allows smoking in the casino which is fine as it stopped me spending a single dollar in there as it seems NCL favour a few smokers using the casino over 95% of the other guests who stayed away. The problem is the smoke floats everywhere as the casino has no doors and to avoid it we had to go up and down stairs. The smoking area outside is next to a main door to thr pool area, it should be miles from kids playing around the pool. 

 

When we had a missed port all other cruise lines give us a letter for our missed port insurance or put a stack of them on the guest services desk but not NCL, this is because NCL don't want to put in writing the missed port as they are keeping the taxes and fees for the port due to a "change in the maritime laws" according to the staff. 

 

NCL can't organise a tender system they give out tickets from 6am with people waiting since 4am! Why not hand them out the night before? Why not run all 6 tenders to the Falkland Islands instead of 3 then later 4 when it became apparent that it would take from 7am to 1pm to get everyone off when the final return tender was to be 4pm which ended up being 6.45pm. Why only arrange to use one dock that holds one boat and not the second dock as the local port agent was saying NCL should have done but didn't (most likely because they didn't give the tickets out the night before so had no clue of how many would go ashore so made no sufficient plans)

 

Some positives about NCL

 

Drinks package offers a good selection of in stock

Paid restaurants are good

The live music was generally good the B12 band are excellent 

 

So why do you sail NCL? Am I missing something? 

 

Never have had a bad experience on NCL. Never really have a bad experience on any cruise. Are they perfect? No. But I also don't expect everything to be perfect.

4 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

You can prebook the latitudes meals in the usual way, but the system doesn’t know about the meals, so will try to charge you any fee required at the time of booking. This makes booking Tepoanyaki an issue as it will require payment when booking.

 

The way round this is to book the fixed price places (Teppanyaki and Moderno) first so that the system sees you have dining credits available and doesn’t charge you. I assume that it is too late for you to do that now.

We will try to book when we get onboard. We're pretty flexible. Was hoping to be able to use at the Sushi place. My wife is going to call NCL. Thanks for the tip.

On 1/8/2024 at 6:30 AM, BirdTravels said:

No. One set of vouchers per

cabin. You get two dinners for. Two. 

Front

 

Back

Do you receive these vouchers on embarkation day? Wife is Platinum. I am Gold.