Viva Live 21 days, Rome to Miami, plus a few days in Rome

[JIMESOPUS]

After the sub spectacular Prima TA, nevermore was said by me, the raven, and many others.

 

Well never say never. We are going live in 19 days, 2 days pre-cruise in Rome, and 21 days on the Viva. 

 

So many “firsts" for us on this adventure. We are still burn’t out from the NCL Star cruise but super excited about our next adventure.

 

This will be our seventh and eighth cruise this year. We have been blessed by good health, retirement, excellent bargains, and surprising coupons found in MyNcl.

 

Thanks to all the negative reviews on the Prima and, a change in the Viva TA original itinerary we saved over 2K. This allowed us to book the 10-day cruise prior to TA sailing out of Rome.

Prices continued to drop and we saved additional money on both cruises before the final payment.

10-day cruise out of Rome to Lisbon

 

11-day TA, Lisbon to Miami

 

 

 

 

 

[FLAHAM]

Earlier this month I cruised Rome to Lisbon on the Viva and had a great time.

[mertziek]

3 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

After the sub spectacular Prima TA, nevermore was said by me, the raven, and many others.

 

Well never say never. We are going live in 19 days, 2 days pre-cruise in Rome, and 21 days on the Viva. 

Same here.  We did not like the TA on Prima for several reasons (we still had a great cruise though) but we are going with you on Viva mainly to join friends.  Agree - never say never!

[Sugar Magnolia]

Glad you are on the advance team leading up to the TA. Wish I could join you for the first leg but will catch up with you in Lisbon for the second leg.

[JIMESOPUS]

So last night we were all set, Pistachio martins in hand and ready to check-in, and then nothing. Typical NCL IT stuff. This morning was able to check in but we didn't have a martini to celebrate this milestone, they disappeared last night, Ooh La La

[JIMESOPUS]

Edocs arrived today, but the luggage tags were printing too big. Had to manually adjust the size on the printer.

 

Was planning to go up into Catskills this week and catch the colors but now dealing with car issues. The car hasn't been the same since our MSC September cruise, got worse driving back the other night from Bradley, the money light turned on yesterday.

Guess we are not going to purchase the premium drink package.

 

Forgot to list some numbers.

The cost per person per day for the first leg is $194 per person per day, including Ncl Air.

The cost per person per day for the second leg is $125 per day. I booked this so far in advance that our DSC is only 15.50 per day.

 

So that's about $158 per day per person for a BB Balcony cabin. 

 

 

[JIMESOPUS]

So the saga continues for the Chevy, the final price was over 1K but the car got its revenge. Got about 300 feet from the dealership, and the light came back on. They looked at it for over an additional hour then said it's good to go. Got about 44 miles on it and the light is back on, back to the dealership.

 

Back to the cruises - unable to book any entertainment, even called that number for pre-cruise latitudes - nada. Will try again for the last leg.

 

Found a semi-live thread for the Viva, something to do while waiting for the car.

  

[JIMESOPUS]

Since we are now Diamond, I called that pre-cruise service number and placed a request for an upgrade on our January cruise.

He then said anything else, since this was a different rep, I replied how about entertainment on the Viva cruise? After about 15 minutes he said that he was unable to book but looking into his crystal ball he saw openings.

Guessing another glitch or maybe something else is on the horizon, you never know what's going on with NCL

Edited October 19, 2023 by JIMESOPUS

[JIMESOPUS]

Down to 14 days before we trek to Rome, another long day ahead thanks to being cheap and using NCL air.

Just got our eighth reminder today, Bradley to Toronto to Zurich, and finally Rome. Wish we could get off at Zurich and take the train to Rome.

 

Went to the doctor today to get the flu shot, he was a happy boy when he found out I lost seven pounds since June. He asked what diet I was trying, liquid I replied. Didn't have the heart to tell him that it was mainly beer, hard cider, and booze. 

 

The saga about the car continues, think the dealership may call in an exorcist next week.

 

Most of the leaves have been stripped off the trees by the rain but the peepers are still coming, don't get off exit 17 NYS Thruway, it will be a mess on Saturday and Sunday.

 

Planning on visiting the cider house ( Angry Orchard ) next week, 2 apple ciders a day keep the doctor away, right?

 

Have a great weekend.

Jim

 

 

[JIMESOPUS]

13 days to go or is it 23 days to go?

 

Tried the other night to book entertainment on the second cruise, same result as the first cruise, nothing is available to book.

Get a very nice note from Hotel Milton about our upcoming stay.

Not this one found in Hershey PA

 

But this one in Rome

 

My son and his wife spent almost a week there during their honeymoon, they simply raved about the location. The hotel has a subway entrance less than 800m from its front door but the pictures of the free breakfast buffet convinced me even more. I know it's staged but it sure beats Hampton Inn.

 

Exorcism on the car didn't work, next up a witch doctor.

 

Had to go visit the foot DR., guess the walk we took in Northern Ireland caught up with me. We went down the steps but we to get to the cliffs first.

Two shots of cortisone and a soft boot and I'm ready to.

 

Two days to go before we check in, again. We will be ready with our traditional drink but will NCL be ready?

 

Jim

 

[Laszlo]

Have a great cruise!

 

Ditch the Chevy an get Honda or Toyota Lol

[JIMESOPUS]

39 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

Have a great cruise!

 

Ditch the Chevy an get Honda or Toyota Lol

But we worked so hard to have zero bills before retirement, that the thought of dumping cash into a new car of financing/leasing just doesn't work anymore. I'm in the driver's seat on this one, looks like they didn't do a simple smoke test on the intake and went with prior experiences, I guess if they throw enough parts at it, something will fix the car. 

 

[ColdCruise]

What entertainment are you trying to book before boarding @JIMESOPUS ? 
 

We’re only platinum but I don’t see any booking option in myNcl for the TA, should I?

[JIMESOPUS]

6 hours ago, ColdCruise said:

What entertainment are you trying to book before boarding @JIMESOPUS ? 
 

We’re only platinum but I don’t see any booking option in myNcl for the TA, should I?

We should have been able to book the main production show Beetlejuice on day 26.

[JIMESOPUS]

Had issues again with checking in last night but was able to complete it today, we did have our traditional Martinis. Pistachio again, this time I remembered to take a picture. Still can't get enough foam to support the chocolate writing, it's either my shaking or the quality of the BOOZE.

 

 

 

Car saga had ended, the Witch Doctor took a look and he said Ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang
Walla walla, bing bang, if you remember that song then you may be as old as I am. Actually, it was a $69 valve that was replaced but was defective out of the box. The dealership was happy to see us leave.

Guess another tradition is ending with these cruises, I have been packing candy and passing it out to the crew. Every inch and ounce count and I don't see any way. Is there a Walmart in Rome?

[brookie848]

I'm looking forward to your review! We have two cruises booked on the Viva -- one for next year and one for 2025. We hope we like the ship! Both cruises have zero sea days, so if we hate the ship, we'll have something to do every day (except for St. Lucia -- not our favorite).

 

I drove from Pittsburgh back home to Albany last weekend. The colors on the trees were nice, but the Thruway was a cluster on Friday (like it always is on the weekend).

 

Enjoy your trip...I'll be following along.

[JIMESOPUS]

Down to a week, before we travel. Rome is six hours ahead of the home office but next Sunday they go back 1 hour so does that mean our travel is one hour shorter?

 

Starlink will work in the middle of nowhere? With a lower altitude orbit will there be gaps in coverage?

Starlink satellites map.

 

 

  

[Sugar Magnolia]

2 minutes ago, JIMESOPUS said:

 

Starlink will work in the middle of nowhere? With a lower altitude orbit will there be gaps in coverage?

 

I am currently on the Getaway transatlantic with Starlink. The wifi has worked well from Southampton to Lisbon so far. Will let you know how it goes during the Atlantic crossing. 
 

[www3traveler]

On 10/26/2023 at 5:35 AM, JIMESOPUS said:

Had issues again with checking in last night but was able to complete it today, we did have our traditional Martinis. Pistachio again, this time I remembered to take a picture. Still can't get enough foam to support the chocolate writing, it's either my shaking or the quality of the BOOZE.

 

 

 

Car saga had ended, the Witch Doctor took a look and he said Ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang
Walla walla, bing bang, if you remember that song then you may be as old as I am. Actually, it was a $69 valve that was replaced but was defective out of the box. The dealership was happy to see us leave.

Guess another tradition is ending with these cruises, I have been packing candy and passing it out to the crew. Every inch and ounce count and I don't see any way. Is there a Walmart in Rome?

In case you have ever wondered "Walla Walla" is a real live community in Southeastern Washington (state) just a few miles North of the border with Oregon State-- population then about 25,000 and now about 42,000.  I know because I live there (even though this address says College Place).  Walla Walla is across the street.

[cruiseny4life]

On 10/26/2023 at 6:49 AM, JIMESOPUS said:

We should have been able to book the main production show Beetlejuice on day 26.

We should have been able to book Donna Summers on Pr1ma as of a couple days ago. Can't do that. We can book Price is Right....meh, I'm going to pass. 

 

1 hour ago, www3traveler said:

In case you have ever wondered "Walla Walla" is a real live community in Southeastern Washington (state) just a few miles North of the border with Oregon State-- population then about 25,000 and now about 42,000.  I know because I live there (even though this address says College Place).  Walla Walla is across the street.

Only reason I know about Walla Walla is that they have been in the Little League World Series at least a couple of times (I believe). 

[JIMESOPUS]

@cruiseny4life Bugs told me about Walla Walla

 

 

[www3traveler]

2 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

@cruiseny4life Bugs told me about Walla Walla

 

 

Thank You  I had not seen that one.

[RedRover96]

Enjoyed that reminds me of back in the day when cartoons were what I call cartoons 😁

RedRover

[JIMESOPUS]

Hunter's Moon 2023, is super bright tonight, the camera was having issues or was it me?

 

Last weekend for the Headless Horseman Hayride, can't believe that they are now charging on-site $80 plus now they have a $30 scream pass. Just drive down Broadway Kingston during the day if you want to see something scary. Speaking of Kingston, last month they had a reenactment of the British burning down Kingston, and again Kingston is still here. 

 

Sent a note, again, asking where should we meet our driver

Gate? 

 

Decided that I should learn to speak Italian, Babble was too boring. Found the Godfather trilogy in Italian with English subtitles, so be good to go.

 

Have a great Sunday

 

[JIMESOPUS]

Note to self, no pictures, posting in CC, or trying to talk to the wife in Italian while under the influence.

 

After attending three martini tastings on the Star I have been trying to extend my mixology resume, the Creme Brulee martini is killing me in so many different ways. Next up will it be the Black Momba martini or Aviation martini?

 

After a very warm week this week, we will see a return to autumn here in the valley, heavy rains will finally strip off those remaining leaves on that sugar maple tree, looks like Tuesday will be my last chance to close up everything before we leave.

 

Have been packed since we got back from the Star, the hardest part is packing so much underwear. I had an issue one time with ship laundry and underwear, just say it was an itchy affair, nevermore.

 

Jim