Everything.. Norwegian Viva/Prima class #2

[StellaTN]

I thought the Harr Travel walk thru on you tube was the best video of the Viva so far. It’s pretty extensive. I also saw a good Forbes article that covers 5 differences between Viva and Prima. There’s a few config/seating changes. 

 

[FrostyJoe]

Is it true that at Indulge we can order from any venues now when seating at the high-top/counter?

[Steff79]

On 8/24/2023 at 5:14 AM, StellaTN said:

I thought the Harr Travel walk thru on you tube was the best video of the Viva so far. It’s pretty extensive. I also saw a good Forbes article that covers 5 differences between Viva and Prima. There’s a few config/seating changes. 

 

 

some differences to Prima, ( i watched not the complete vid, only the things i was looking for )

 

19:38 covered smoking area

 

33:07 new things at the galaxy

 

58:20 little of beetlejuice stage

 

at 1:11:00  old arcade games instead of table kicker.

 

at 1:13:00 the tables in front of the big scrren are now in a other position or?

 

at 1:19:00 not the starbucks at food hall

 

1:21:09 ice cream is new?

 

1:23:10 new Art

 

1:29:10 the art wall (Butterfly ), but not in service

 

 

 

 

[steamboats]

3 hours ago, Steff79 said:

1:21:09 ice cream is new?

 

Without watching the video... I saw a photo of soft serve ice cream machines in one of the booths outside Indulge Food Hall onboard Viva. On Prima those booths on both sides had wine dispensers.

 

steamboats

[StellaTN]

This is the article I meant. 
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ramseyqubein/2023/08/20/7-differences-between-norwegian-prima-and-the-new-norwegian-viva-cruise-ships/amp/

[PhillyTravelBug]

Thanks for posting that @StellaTN.  I’ve been wondering if they have done anything different t. As I’m ending my sailing on the prima, it’s not enough to make me want to sail again in this class right away.

[Keith.W]

9 days to go to the Viva , cant wait 

[olemissreb]

1 hour ago, Keith.W said:

9 days to go to the Viva , cant wait 

I hope you'll do a "Live From"...I've got 550+ days till I'm on the Viva.

[CruizinSusan70]

4 hours ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

Thanks for posting that @StellaTN.  I’ve been wondering if they have done anything different t. As I’m ending my sailing on the prima, it’s not enough to make me want to sail again in this class right away.

We did a total of 25 days on the Prima, 11 last year and 14 this year.  Liked it very much.  But since we're not thrilled about having to embark from San Juan on the Viva, we'll wait until the Aqua comes out and probably sail on her in 2026 from whichever port in FLA she'll embark from.  She should also be slightly larger and that will enhance the experience quite a bit.

[Big_Rich]

Hi all, we have just got off Viva from the Lisbon to Rome cruise I can confirm all was good. 

 

Can't put everything into perspective at the ship was only 75% full so the busy parts of the ships were just not busy really. Plenty of beds, space in restaurants and comedy club. 

Have sailed many different classes of NCL and this this was my favourite so far. 

No its not perfect but its never going to be trying to suit 3500 guests. Blimey me and my wife cant agree on our best and worst bits so everyones going to have a different opinion. 

Overall loved it, and looking to change my booking on Escape next year to Viva now 

[david_sobe]

On 8/19/2023 at 1:09 PM, cruiseny4life said:

Thanks for sharing! It's going to be my after Cruise Critic Saturday afternoon entertainment. If it's a topic I am interested in, such as V!va I can tolerate these guys. When it's not...well I run away haha

 

Anyway, I'm sure this'll be a fun video of theirs for me!

They love the ship.  They are usually fairly positive about everything.  They just gave honest opinions on a few venues.  But where they are negative is a fairly common complaint already on NCL ships.  I loved the Encore. It was a luxury vacation from start to finish.  But even me loving the ship, I could see several venues were far too small for the crowds they attract.

[IrieBajan54]

7 hours ago, Big_Rich said:

Hi all, we have just got off Viva from the Lisbon to Rome cruise I can confirm all was good. 

 

Can't put everything into perspective at the ship was only 75% full so the busy parts of the ships were just not busy really. Plenty of beds, space in restaurants and comedy club. 

Have sailed many different classes of NCL and this this was my favourite so far. 

No its not perfect but its never going to be trying to suit 3500 guests. Blimey me and my wife cant agree on our best and worst bits so everyones going to have a different opinion. 

Overall loved it, and looking to change my booking on Escape next year to Viva now 

Surprising NCL can't fill the ship! Especially being new. Read that RCI ships are packed to the gills and some even overbooked, having to entice some cruisers to move to other dates.

[Big_Rich]

1 minute ago, IrieBajan54 said:

Surprising NCL can't fill the ship! Especially being new. Read that RCI ships are packed to the gills and some even overbooked, having to entice some cruisers to move to other dates.

Im sure they can, but these 2 cruises were put on as an extra as the ship was completed early. I have been told they set them at 75% on purpose to help iron out any kinks 

[debenson0723]

7 hours ago, Big_Rich said:

Hi all, we have just got off Viva from the Lisbon to Rome cruise I can confirm all was good. 

 

Can't put everything into perspective at the ship was only 75% full so the busy parts of the ships were just not busy really. Plenty of beds, space in restaurants and comedy club. 

Have sailed many different classes of NCL and this this was my favourite so far. 

No its not perfect but its never going to be trying to suit 3500 guests. Blimey me and my wife cant agree on our best and worst bits so everyones going to have a different opinion. 

Overall loved it, and looking to change my booking on Escape next year to Viva now 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise on the Viva. By any chance do you have a list of officers on board? Thanks!

[cruisewingman]

I can't possibly catch up on 24 pages here.

 

I just booked Prima for a Western Caribbean Cruise in Feb 2024. I'll be travelling with my wife and little one (who will be turning 5 around the trip).

 

We picked Prima bc it is one of the newest ships but after booking, we started watching videos and realized that 1) the aqua park is sad 2) there's only one pool.

 

What is everyone's thoughts on Prima for kids in kindergarten?

[MouserNY]

Hey I totally understand your concern. We booked a sailing on the sister ship Viva for this December. Our 10 year old watched the video tour with us and already complained the splash waterpark for the kids looked boring. However when he was five he was afraid of the waterpark, now he loves them, go figure. But im hoping the splash academy will have fun programs for them to help make things exciting. Plus they have some family fun game zones as well like the miniature golf, that he’s always loved since he was 4. But I’ll see when we go. I would also love to hear about the splash academy on these ships too.

[kasimir]

3 hours ago, cruisewingman said:

 2) there's only one pool.

On that part I don’t agree! There are 3 outdoor pools, actually 4 if you consider the haven pool as well. There are 2 really nice infinity pools on deck 8 on either side of the ship, and when we were on the Prima we actually preferred the infinity pools on deck 8 over the top deck pool. 
Keep in mind that the Prima class of ships has a completely different concept, so keep an open mind and I am sure that you guys will enjoy it. 

[cruisewingman]

5 hours ago, kasimir said:

On that part I don’t agree! There are 3 outdoor pools, actually 4 if you consider the haven pool as well. There are 2 really nice infinity pools on deck 8 on either side of the ship, and when we were on the Prima we actually preferred the infinity pools on deck 8 over the top deck pool. 
Keep in mind that the Prima class of ships has a completely different concept, so keep an open mind and I am sure that you guys will enjoy it. 

 

Don't have the budget for Haven so it's 3.

 

As far as the infinity pools go I am excited about it but they don't strike me as the type of pools that a child could swim in. I hope I'm wrong in my expectation that it will be packed shoulder to shoulder in there.

 

[DCGuy64]

As someone who has probably too often pushed back against negative opinions (often masquerading as fact, BTW- it's one thing to say "I don't care for the Epic's design" or "I'm not a big fan of Cagney's" vs saying "The Epic is a terrible ship!" or "Avoid Cagney's at all costs, it's terrible"), I can say that 1) it's helpful when facts are presented as facts and opinions as opinions (it isn't always obvious when a person is clearly stating an opinion), and 2) frequent readers of topics on Cruise Critic are likely all too familiar with the scenario of someone saying "I booked a cabin on the Norwegian Encore (or whatever) but I'm thinking of canceling because of all the bad reviews." PEOPLE MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT WHETHER TO CANCEL BASED ON THESE OPINIONS. So I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but negative consequences can occur when people put out their opinions that are nothing more than that. Of course, I support people's right to give negative reviews, but I also support the right of others to challenge those reviews, because, just as @Agent999 pointed out, there's a difference between an educated opinion and an uneducated one. I'd wager that if 2 people complain about the food in the main dining room, and one of those people is on his first cruise ever, but the 2nd has only cruised with Viking, Cunard, or Oceania, my impressions would be quite different based on those perspectives. Sorry for the long post!

[kasimir]

4 hours ago, cruisewingman said:

As far as the infinity pools go I am excited about it but they don't strike me as the type of pools that a child could swim in. I hope I'm wrong in my expectation that it will be packed shoulder to shoulder in there.

 

From our experience, the infinity pools were less packed then the top deck pool. Overall we personally enjoyed the infinity pools and the area around it more then the top deck pool (area). 

One negative if that is important to you, you are further away from the wet slides and aqua splash area. 

[PATRLR]

4 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

PEOPLE MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT WHETHER TO CANCEL BASED ON THESE OPINIONS. So I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but negative consequences can occur when people put out their opinions that are nothing more than that.

By that logic, people also shouldn't put positive opinions out there either.  PEOPLE MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT WHETHER TO DO SOMETHING BASED ON THESE OPINIONS

It's all caveat lector, isn't it?
 

So, I disagree with your assertion that people shouldn't post negative opinions.  What people shouldn't do is make decisions on one anonymous person's opinion (good or bad) on some internet forum.  

In the case of Viva, the negative opinions will be, I suspect, helpful to me when I cruise on her in December.  No ship is perfect, it's always helpful to have an idea of where/what/when/who the possible negative issues are so I can prepare and mitigate them.  Of course, I won't do anything based on one anonymous person's opinion.  I'll do my due diligence and hopefully be appropriately prepared.

 

[DCGuy64]

44 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

So, I disagree with your assertion that people shouldn't post negative opinions

I literally never said that. Caveat lector, indeed. 😉 Here is what I DID write: "... I support people's right to give negative reviews." So that's the actually the opposite of what you claim I said. Edit: I hope you don't think I'm giving you a hard time; I'm not. I read a lot of your posts and I tend to agree with you most of the time.

 

Edited September 1, 2023 by DCGuy64

[DCGuy64]

41 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

Of course, I won't do anything based on one anonymous person's opinion.  I'll do my due diligence and hopefully be appropriately prepared.

That is VERY good advice, and I share that view. Nothing at all wrong with posting positive OR negative reviews, but it certainly helps to know some background about the person posting them. Imagine if someone wrote glowing reviews of Carnival but actually WORKED for Carnival. Or wrote terrible reviews of NCL and it turns out the person is employed by RCCL. I would certainly want to know that.

[PATRLR]

37 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I literally never said that. Caveat lector, indeed. 😉 Here is what I DID write: "... I support people's right to give negative reviews." So that's the actually the opposite of what you claim I said.

 

You are correct of course, you didn't write that.   But dang, this line sure seems to imply you don't think people should post negative reviews:

 

5 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

So I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but negative consequences can occur when people put out their opinions that are nothing more than that.

Sorry if I inferred too much there.
 

37 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

 I hope you don't think I'm giving you a hard time; I'm not. 

I didn't think so.  My claim about your words was incorrect and you are defending it.  No problem, I'd do the same. And with probably a lot less tact 😉

 

37 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

 I read a lot of your posts and I tend to agree with you most of the time.

Same here.

[JIMESOPUS]

if you have some free time, a video of Viva, you can skip the first 12 minutes

 

 

Edited September 1, 2023 by JIMESOPUS