Everything.. Norwegian Viva/Prima class #2

[JIMESOPUS]

6 minutes ago, RVACruiser43 said:

You found Knooks and cranies?  And I was thinking you only used the seating at the bar 🙂  I think the whole iceland itinerary is a bit off too in addition to NY.  At least with Viva going to the Med and San Juan that is an improvement.  I am looking to see if any improvements were made in the Spa Thermal.  Locker room was really poorly designed and no hot tub or Therapy pool.  I enjoy the thermals in Dawn/Star and the 4 Jewel class ships much more than I did Prima.  I heard they did add jets to the smaller soak pool but that still doesn't make it a hot tub in my mind.

Tom

 

@RVACruiser43 Tom, here is one spot that we loved.

 

We will be the Viva for about 21 days this Fall, maybe even three more if we win that contest.

 

Jim

[Sugar Magnolia]

11 minutes ago, JIMESOPUS said:

@RVACruiser43 Tom, here is one spot that we loved.

 

We will be the Viva for about 21 days this Fall, maybe even three more if we win that contest.

 

Jim

 

Looks familiar....Deck 7 by Starbucks?

 

Edited August 17, 2023 by Sugar Magnolia

[JIMESOPUS]

1 minute ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

Looks familiar....Deck 8 by Starbucks?

 

deck 7, just below Starbucks, don't tell anyone

[Sugar Magnolia]

Just now, JIMESOPUS said:

deck 7, just below Starbucks, don't tell anyone

 

Yes just remembered deck 7. I won't tell anyone on this thread.

[JIMESOPUS]

another vote for Aqua

https://crew-center.com/ncls-third-prima-class-ship-be-named-norwegian-aqua?fbclid=IwAR1kkV8vOgUp46jVD63sWnY8IuWhHpu_CmqgyYujDHCzc4-69qEspn8NJJM

[herbanrenewal]

I haven't looked at this thread in a while, but I'm now booked on b2b2b2b (4 identical week-long itineraries) in February on the Viva. So thought I'd check out what people are saying about the Viva. Interesting to see several names from the Prima inaugural b2b.

Re: the ship design comments, one doesn't need to be an architect to know when some space aspect of design just doesn't hit the mark. And having a couple of the most popular venues with such limited seating that you can't even get inside for standing room only unless you stood in line for over an hour is just not good design. While I understand the concept of small intimate venues there needs to be enough space for guests to enjoy a venue without long lines. Pre-sell reserved seats, use a larger venue, or closed circuit record for showing on TV. Everyone should be able to catch a show they are particularly interested in. And since fall cruises tend to have a fair number of seniors with limited ability to stand for long periods, the Prima venues just don't hit the mark.

As someone (I think Jim) said, At least the choice to base this one in Puerto Rico and a southerly TA rather than northern Atlantic crossing is a much better fit for a ship with so much outdoor space (and so little indoor space)

[DanielNL]

Maby I missed it, but what are they main big difference between the Viva and Prima?

[RVACruiser43]

1 hour ago, DanielNL said:

Maby I missed it, but what are they main big difference between the Viva and Prima?

Just the spelling! 😜😜

[ggTexasGal]

1 hour ago, RVACruiser43 said:

Just the spelling! 😜😜

And date of Inaugural cruise (age of ship). 

[amygutman]

On 8/17/2023 at 6:21 AM, david_sobe said:

BTW
This is great video. NCL Viva walkthrough

 

Love these guys - actually have a Patreon with Ben and David them so I am biased and didn't post a link to their video for that reason. Don't always agree with them but found their review interesting for 2 reasons:

1. 1) They LOVED the Prima, though had the same complaints on as the Viva re: entertainment and dining venues being too small. It's interesting that they give the Viva such a negative review when it's essentially the same ship as the Prima. 
2. 2) They appear to be sailing in the Haven which is not what Ben and David usually do. It's a shame as it appears to be a very different Haven experience than on the other ships. It's really a terrible color scheme and decor - 1960s Ikea with poor lighting and dim spaces. The outdoor areas look nice, but not spectacular. 

 

Disappointing all around - but, as I've mentioned before, we booked the Viva 2025 for the itinerary in spite of the ship. It's usually the other way around. 

 

Thank you for sharing...Warmest Amy

[Karaboudjan]

20 hours ago, BenCoudon said:

As many others here, I sailed the B2B cruises on the Inaugural sailings on the Prima last year.  There was lots of reviews and comments and I posted my share of them.

I just watched the video made by some youtubers that were on the inaugural sailing of the Viva.  

My interest was more on the video they made than their comments.  After the inaugural sailings, Harry Sommer, (the new CEO of NCLH) said that the ship was 95% perfect.  So I am not surprised to see that the Viva is 98% identical to the Prima.  I noticed only 3 changes.  1. Yes the starbuck outlet has been removed from the Indulge food hall. That may add between 15 and 20 seats in the food hall.  2. In the Metropolitan bar, they made a more permanent area for live music.  And, they add what appears to be a huge interactive board on the wall that goes the lenght of that bar.  3. To mitigate the issue of lack of seats at the Buffet restaurant, they said that mainly for breakfast, people can take their plate and go sit in the Food Republic restaurant which is not that far. As for the other features of the ship, it is identical to the Prima. And I got the impression that they even added more shops on the ship.  

All the other issues that were mentioned for the Prima have not been addressed.  May be they will say that when the Prima was launched, the Viva was already in construction and major changes were not possible. So we will have to wait to 2025 for the launch of the 3rd ship to see if they took into account some of our comments.

 

They were using Food Republic as overflow seating for the buffet on Prima also, so #3 above is not new with Viva.

 

In general, just because something is mentioned as 'an issue' does not mean that it needs to be addressed by NCL.  Often it just means that some people don't agree with NCL's choices/priorities for how to use space.  There is no guarantee that changes would not produce as many or more complaints from a different group of people.

[PATRLR]

17 hours ago, Agent999 said:

We all sail them, but sailing them doesn't qualify any of us as ship design experts.

 

I'm sorry, did I miss the memo that said we need to be "ship design experts" to be critical of the design of ships we cruise on?

17 hours ago, Agent999 said:

But you do need an engineering degree to know how many seats it would take for it to be smart. Have you considered the POSSIBILITY that people with the knowledge, people with engineering degrees, just may have actually determined that 50 seats IS the correct number?

Have you considered the possibility that the people with the knowledge, people with engineering degrees, just may have actually made some mistakes?  I AM an engineer and I can tell you from experience that engineers make mistakes.  Lots of mistakes.  

 

17 hours ago, Agent999 said:

And how would that work? As I've pointed out, you can't have a venue where everyone know that they can get a seat. Even if the comedy club had 1,000 seats, guest #1,001 would be complaining that the design is not smart because THEY couldn't get a seat.

Using this logic, they should build the venue with exactly one seat. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Agent999]

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

I'm sorry, did I miss the memo that said we need to be "ship design experts" to be critical of the design of ships we cruise on?

 

The memo? When did somebody say that there was such a memo? IMHO, anyone (even the uneducated) can be critical. However, such criticism isn't really worth much without something behind it. Just because someone has an opinion doesn't automatically assign value to it.

 

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

Have you considered the possibility that the people with the knowledge, people with engineering degrees, just may have actually made some mistakes?  I AM an engineer and I can tell you from experience that engineers make mistakes.  Lots of mistakes.  

 

Sure I have. It works both ways.However, they are likely correct more often than they are incorrect. And the inverse is true when it comes to the non-experts.

 

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

Using this logic, they should build the venue with exactly one seat. 

 

Interesting interpretation. Since I know your ego won't let you admit your mistake, why don't you walk everyone through the logic? Remember, my only point here was that there is no venue on any ship that can hold all the guests. Since you can't control what people will want to do, it is impossible to guarantee that everyone who wants to come will get a seat. I'm just not sure why that is so hard for you to admit.

[vacation44]

3 hours ago, amygutman said:

 

Disappointing all around - but, as I've mentioned before, we booked the Viva 2025 for the itinerary in spite of the ship. It's usually the other way around. 

 

 

Us too, but we do have a Plan B in place.

[SpacemanSpiff]

5 hours ago, amygutman said:

. 

2) They appear to be sailing in the Haven which is not what Ben and David usually do. It's a shame as it appears to be a very different Haven experience than on the other ships. It's really a terrible color scheme and decor - 1960s Ikea with poor lighting and dim spaces.

 

Considering there were multiple complaints by them about how the lighting was too bright in much of the ship, that's a rather interesting note.

[moto_italia]

9 minutes ago, SpacemanSpiff said:

 

Considering there were multiple complaints by them about how the lighting was too bright in much of the ship, that's a rather interesting note.

My presumption was that since this was a launch cruise including TA's and Vloggers, the ship turned up the lighting so the videos would show better. Just my speculation though

[bortman23]

9 hours ago, amygutman said:

They LOVED the Prima, though had the same complaints on as the Viva

 

Thought the same thing, seems very sus. Kinda hated this review for that reason. Seems like they're just trying to "go with the popular opinion" rather than form their own.

[amygutman]

4 hours ago, SpacemanSpiff said:

 

Considering there were multiple complaints by them about how the lighting was too bright in much of the ship, that's a rather interesting note.

Ah...the Haven area specifically. Apologies for not clarifying that. Yes...they did say the rest of the ship, especially the shopping area was too bright. 

Don't you think the colors do look drab especially in the Haven bar area? Maybe it's just me, or maybe the video. Heck...we are on a cruise, not at work, so it could be painted pure black and I'd still be pretty darned happy. 

Warmest A,y

[UKstages]

On 8/17/2023 at 4:28 AM, david_sobe said:

50 seats in a comedy club is a joke on a ship that sails 3500.

on the prima, ALL comedy shows have been moved to the theatre. at least that was the case on my transatlantic B2B in may and june of this year. i assume they have done the same on the viva. on the prima, they use the improv space for trivia, solo traveler meet ups,  lectures and such, this making the branding a puzzlement. there is no longer any comedy presented in the dedicated space for comedy.

 

as for ben and david, you couldn’t hope for two more passionate, independent and unbiased reviewers. while I generally agree with them, I took exception to some factual errors they made in their video of the viva. and while that video review (which is about an hour long) leans toward the negative, i actually thought they were overly generous with their praise, based on my experiences on the nearly identical prima.

 

as for the troll, JITT. 

 

just ignore the troll… literally set the message board settings to ignore anybody who - in your opinion - doesn’t contribute or edify the conversation and only seeks to stir the pot, poke the bear. don’t engage. don’t respond.

 

 

[amygutman]

1 hour ago, UKstages said:

on the prima, ALL comedy shows have been moved to the theatre. at least that was the case on my transatlantic B2B in may and june of this year. i assume they have done the same on the viva. on the prima, they use the improv space for trivia, solo traveler meet ups,  lectures and such, this making the branding a puzzlement. there is no longer any comedy presented in the dedicated space for comedy.

 

as for ben and david, you couldn’t hope for two more passionate, independent and unbiased reviewers. while I generally agree with them, I took exception to some factual errors they made in their video of the viva. and while that video review (which is about an hour long) leans toward the negative, i actually thought they were overly generous with their praise, based on my experiences on the nearly identical prima.

 

as for the troll, JITT. 

 

just ignore the troll… literally set the message board settings to ignore anybody who - in your opinion - doesn’t contribute or edify the conversation and only seeks to stir the pot, poke the bear. don’t engage. don’t respond.

 

 

@UKstages Agree wholeheartedly. Personally, I do that opposing views are always interesting, but stir-potters are often fixed in their opinions and resistant to reasonable discussions. However - they do make for some lively discourse!

Warmest Amy

[UKstages]

opposing views are always welcome.

 

belittling other posters, questioning motives, challenging their education or vocation, demanding “proof” for stated opinions… not so much. 

[Agent999]

11 hours ago, UKstages said:

opposing views are always welcome.

 

belittling other posters, questioning motives, challenging their education or vocation, demanding “proof” for stated opinions… not so much. 

 

I agree. Asking (less dramatic word choice than "demanding" don't you think?) for proof for an opinion isn't right. However, I do believe that it is OK to flesh out the substance of an opinion.

 

For example, someone could post the opinion that "the Encore is the most poorly maintained ship in the fleet". So...what if that opinion came from somebody who had only sailed once with NCL? What if that poster had no background, education, or understanding of maintenance procedures in a marine environment? How would you feel about their opinion then? OTOH, what if the same person had sailed on every ship in the fleet? What if the person had a career in marine maintenance? Would you agree that their opinion is likely more valuable than the first example?

 

This is exactly why people trust chengkp75's opinion on this board. There is education and experience behind it. Again, nothing wrong with seeking info on what it behind an opinion. One need to know the value of the opinion.

[cruiseny4life]

On 8/17/2023 at 6:21 AM, david_sobe said:

BTW
This is great video. NCL Viva walkthrough

 

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!

[Beezo]

Yea - Wasn't a fan of the baiting "somethings wrong" to get you to keep watching the video (they also get paid via ads) you have to watch thru it.

 

Reviews (everyones) are subjective. Not everyone needs to think/feel/like the same - They did a great job on video quality and editing.  I put it on mute and admired the tour to make my own opinion.

 

Happy cruising and wish NCL much success on this new class!

Edited August 22, 2023 by Beezo

[JIMESOPUS]

@Beezo This was done by a CC member, around the TA last September, some of us, well just say we had a great time ( at 7:14 ) . Since the Viva is almost the twin of the Prima it's useful.