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.
