Live Report - Norwegian Viva Lisbon to Rome. April/May 2024

[KeithJenner]

Hi everyone.

 

Another one of my live reports is incoming. As usual I’m not sure how regularly I will be posting but I will try to get on every day if I can.

 

A bit of background for those who don’t know us. I am travelling with my wife (our third cruise by ourselves after a few years of cruising with our son, who would rather stay at home these days.

 

We have been NCL regulars for over 10 years now, most often in the Med, but there are a few new ports for us this time.

 

We haven’t sailed on a Prima class yet (we were booked on the first Prima Amsterdam to Reykjavik cruise that was cancelled), so are interested to see how we get on with these ships.

 

We usually book free at sea plus and have done so again this time. In addition we have booked Vibe passes. I’ve never really considered these before, but it made sense to us due to concerns about finding quiet bars outside. Whether it will be worth the cost is very debatable, but we will give it a go.

 

Having free at sea plus makes some shore excursions very good value, so we have booked 5 in total. Some are full tours but we have also booked the hop on hop off in Majorca (for free) and a transfer to Florence. We have two days where we aren’t planning on going ashore (Ibiza and Marseille) but have plans on most days.

 

Currently we are at Heathrow waiting for our flight to Lisbon, we have a day there tomorrow before boarding on Friday,

 

More to follow from Lisbon,

[Travelling2Some]

Thanks for this.  Will be following since we are doing the same in reverse (Rome to Lisbon) on the Viva next month.  Looking forward to hearing your impressions.

[nadeki]

I am so happy to see this. I always enjoy your reports. And, we are doing this exact same trip in June. 
 

Thank you for your insights. 

[littlelulu01]

Have a wonderful vacation. Excited to hear about it!

[www3traveler]

Have a wonderful cruise.

How old is Robert now?  Grown up young man now?  How quickly children seem to grow up.

I have a friend from Canada who will be on your cruise.  She is doing a B2B.

BIG BIG BIG BIG HUG

Love and  prayers always,

 

Mandy

 

[smilegirl07]

OMG, I love you for doing this review!  We met on a few other topic discussions, I am doing the exact same itinerary in August on the viva.  Same as yours plus the three kids/the August heat and the crowds...🤣

 

Please let us know how beautiful Viva is, how's the service/food/cabin etc and ports!

 

I am so excited for you!  Happy and safe cruising!  Have fun in Lisbon as well! 

[KeithJenner]

Happy Freedom Day.

 

Somehow, despite seeing the date mentioned many times, I never spotted that we were here on the 25th of April, which is the anniversary of the “Carnation Revolution” when the fascist dictatorship was overthrown. It is the 50th anniversary this year, and there seem to be quite a few events planned.

 

I’m not sure how this will effect our plans today but we will carry on and be flexible as required.

 

We are staying at the Emerald House hotel, to the west of the centre, with a good view of the bridge (Ponte de 25 Abril - another clue that I missed) and the Santuario Nacional do Christo Rei monument across the river. It is a couple of miles from here to Alfama (the old city) and we plan to head there first thing and then work our way back.

 

Hopefully it should be a good day.

[KeithJenner]

15 hours ago, www3traveler said:

Have a wonderful cruise.

How old is Robert now?  Grown up young man now?  How quickly children seem to grow up.

I have a friend from Canada who will be on your cruise.  She is doing a B2B.

BIG BIG BIG BIG HUG

Love and  prayers always,

 

Mandy

 

He’s 19 next month. Was out on the town last night with friends from University, where he has just finished his first year.

[www3traveler]

3 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

He’s 19 next month. Was out on the town last night with friends from University, where he has just finished his first year.

WOW!!  What is he studying?

Best Wishes to him and to you and your wife.

 

[KeithJenner]

So it was a great day in Portugal.

 

Walked to Alfama and worked our way back as planned. There was a flypast in the morning which we saw some of from our hotel and then they were getting ready for a parade at Pravda do Comercio.

 

Alfama was really nice. The sort of place I could walk around for hours. On the way back we hit an event happening near the Elevador de Santa Justa which meant we couldn’t see the views from there and it was difficult getting through the crowds, but it was an experience.

 

Relaxing in the hotel now, as we did cover some miles during the day.

 

Overall I really enjoyed Lisbon. It’s my first time here and I would certainly like to get back soon. We didn’t head out to the Monastery at Belem and I think that’s where we will go next time.

[KeithJenner]

Some Pictures of the Freedom Day events:

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6MBX7miBws/?igsh=eThyb3Y4ejh4YnFz

 

Edit: I’ve never really worked out how to use Instagram. I don’t know if that link is any good. Let me know if it isn’t.

Edited April 25 by KeithJenner

[KeithJenner]

And some others, mainly from Alfama:

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6MBwfVioUM/?igsh=MWM2ZmExMXpvaGltYQ==
 

[ggTexasGal]

@KeithJenner Your Instagram videos are great!  Thank you for posting them!!!

[cruiseny4life]

Worked here! I'm loving the travels you have had, so you just gained a follower (hope you don't mind). I'm not nearly as obnoxious on Insta as I am here, so don't worry about me blabbing. 

[KeithJenner]

Quick check in.

 

We boarded fairly early. There have been long queues at the terminal all day because of the port authorities checking everyone’s passports before entering. It took up about 30 minutes to get in but I think the queue has been over an hour all day. Departure will be a bit delayed as a result.

 

Firat impressions are that I really like the ship. I see a few of the annoyances that people have mentioned (having to walk through venues to get places for example), but also quite a few positives.

 

Vibe is really nice and I’m pleased we made that decision at the moment,

We had a snack at Indulge for lunch and it was pretty good.

I’ll do a more detailed report later (or maybe tomorrow morning), but here are the day 1 dailies.

Edited April 26 by KeithJenner
Correcting pictures

[www3traveler]

I pray you and your wife have a wonderful cruise.

[KeithJenner]

I’ve been struggling to load the Cruise Critic site. So haven’t been able to update since yesterday. Just managed to load it now, so I’ll just leave a link to some Monkey pictures from Gibraltar.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6RCCJrobGV/?igsh=MTNmNXp2azJreXp2eg==

[smilegirl07]

1 hour ago, KeithJenner said:

I’ve been struggling to load the Cruise Critic site. So haven’t been able to update since yesterday. Just managed to load it now, so I’ll just leave a link to some Monkey pictures from Gibraltar.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6RCCJrobGV/?igsh=MTNmNXp2azJreXp2eg==

I hope you are having an amazing time!  

 

quick two questions!  How's the internet speed?  Unfortunately, my husband will have to work a few hours a day and I got him the unlimited internet package (not the streaming kind) but was wondering if we should upgrade to the streaming kind.

 

Also for Gibraltar, I am just planning to buy the tickets to the cable car and the rock and explore on our own however would youb rather recommend a tour?  It was pretty pricy.  was it hard to catch a cab/walk to the cable car/rock area?  

 

No rush to answer, take your time and only when you can, after all you are on a cruise!

 

Have a blast!  Thank you!

 

 

 

[KeithJenner]

Just got back onboard and enjoying a mudslide in Vive before going to Le Bistro for dinner.

 

I will catch up properly later, but for now here’s some pictures from Gibraltar 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6RQ3FhIEta/?igsh=MTNpa2o4Y3d6N2E4MQ==

[KeithJenner]

50 minutes ago, smilegirl07 said:

I hope you are having an amazing time!  

 

quick two questions!  How's the internet speed?  Unfortunately, my husband will have to work a few hours a day and I got him the unlimited internet package (not the streaming kind) but was wondering if we should upgrade to the streaming kind.

 

Also for Gibraltar, I am just planning to buy the tickets to the cable car and the rock and explore on our own however would youb rather recommend a tour?  It was pretty pricy.  was it hard to catch a cab/walk to the cable car/rock area?  

 

No rush to answer, take your time and only when you can, after all you are on a cruise!

 

Have a blast!  Thank you!

 

 

 

Very quick answers.

 

The internet seems pretty good. I’m not doing much on it but it seems to be a decent speed.

 

I was planning on doing Gibraltar by ourselves, similar to what you are considering. However I heard that the queues for the cable car can be long so we ended up doing the NCL city under siege tour instead (without the cable car). It was fairly cheap with the free at sea discount and was pretty good. The rock is quite big so you would potentially be restricted on how much you would see if going by yourself.

[smilegirl07]

8 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

Just got back onboard and enjoying a mudslide in Vive before going to Le Bistro for dinner.

 

I will catch up properly later, but for now here’s some pictures from Gibraltar 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6RQ3FhIEta/?igsh=MTNpa2o4Y3d6N2E4MQ==

Not sure if I am jealous more so because of the mudslide at the Vive or dinner at the Le Bistro. 🤣

 

Enjoy!

[KeithJenner]

OK, so I telly need to deliver on this live report thing. I’ll blame the internet, but I’ve really been too busy enjoying myself anyway.

 

Lets have a catchup.

 

Firsly, and most importantly, what’s the ship like?

 

This does actually surprise me a bit. I’ve read a fair amount about the Prima class, and I wasn’t expecting to be a big fan. However, after two days I love it.

 

Positives;

 

Staterooms: we are in a mini suite (using the diamond upgrade from a balcony. The room is noticeably more spacious than equivalent rooms on other ships.

 

The overall feel: ok, so I’ve had a few beers, and I really don’t nderstand this stuff, but all the spaces are very open and light. I’m probably talking garbage but I’m a standard customer rather than a designer and the ship feels very inviting to me. Everywhere is just… you know… just nice,

 

The Local (and probably other bars): I love the idea of o’Sheehand on the older Breakaway class ships (and the Epic). This also applied to the early ones that were called the Local. But the location, by the atrium, often made it a bit of a disaster if you just wanted to spend some time at the bar. The Local is a great bar. We have spent the time after dinner there both nights and have loved the conversations with other cruisers that just couldn’t have happened at the old location. As a result of o’Sheehans being so good we haven’t yet tried Metropolitan or Belvedere, but I guess they are similar.

 

 

 

[KeithJenner]

Ship condition: I’ve heard stories of noisy cabins and things like that but haven’t seen or heard any issues. That could be due to our location (deck 9 aft), but it all looks fine to me

 

Staff: they are busy, we know that there have been cutbacks and I’m not going to argue either way on that. We have noticed some changes over the past few years. Personally I’ve no problem with just one cabin service a day. Our room steward has done a good job.

 

Maybe bar service is a little slower, but the service overall is fantastic. These guys work so hard for us and do a great job. There already a number of servers who know up and have a good idea of what we may order. Not complaints here and there are some cruise hero forms ready to be completed.

 

The waterfront: OK, I know that not what it’s called, but if always will be to me, just like I said we would go to o’Sheehans for a beer after dinner today.

 

Anyway, it’s very nice. We walked around when it was quiet (a bit cold and just after all aboard), and it was really nice. I bet the Soleil bar can get busy, which would be a problem, but on a day like today it as very nice.

 

Nehatives: call me a cheerleader if you want but I can honestly say thay I can’t think of one right now. Perhaps thats

a product of the beer , but I’m really pleasantly surprised by how much I like the ship.

 

Maybe the fact, as mentioned earlier that it can be a bit of a pain walking through venues, Oh, and they could have a Starbucks on the upper decks. But these really are minor issues.

 

All is really good so far.

[KeithJenner]

Vibe:

 

I really wasn’t sure about this beforehand. I think I mentioned that it was a fairly last minute addition.

 

Im pleased we got it. There is a decent group in Vibe and we all seem to get on well. It is live to have our little area during the day.

 

We haven’t yet taken food from the buffet to Vibe, mainly because of the weather but plan to tomorrow for breakfast and/or lunch. I’ll report back.

 

we had a chat this afternoon about vibe in other cruises and decided there always no reason for it on our Joy cruise in September. We could have done without it on this cruise too, but I think that it would be needed for us on a Prima class ship on a summer itinerary. If we were doing this same cruise in the summer then we would certainly buy it.

[KeithJenner]

Dining:

 

We went to Food Republic on embarkation day. I’ve only been to Food Republic once before, on the first Escape transatlantic in 2015 when it was a favourite.

 

The menu has changed quite a bit since then but we really enjoyed it. The food was good and the service excellent. We probably won’t get back there on this cruise but will prioritise it on future cruises.

 

Today was Le Bistro. My wife isn’t a big fan but I’d go there just for the Escargot,

 

Food was great today. The service was good too, although we didn’t see the wine steward after the starters even though I’d said I would be open to recommendations. It wasn’t a problem

as we just ordered more Veuve from our server but it was disappointing that he went missing.

 

Other than that it’s been The Local for breakfast and lunch today which were both good. We have walked through the buffet once on the way to Vibe and it was packed. I’m glad that we won’t be needing to find a seat there at all.