Live from the ViVA

[misguy]

I mislabeled the last topic.

We are getting ready to sail from Miami, and I bought the Premium internet package, so we will be able to post regularly, I hope.  We were able to get on very early to do videos about the accessible cabins.  We got to tour an accessible balcony cabin, accessible ocean view cabin, and an accessible inside cabin..  We will publish videos from those tours in the next few days.  We had lunch in Hudson's, which was basically empty, and I am sure the buffet was swamped.  I will never understand why everyone runs to the buffet.  Lunch was very good, and pictures coming.

[schmoopie17]

Let us know if you run into @BirdTravels. He's doing a simultaneous live report from the Viva.

[bluesea777]

1 minute ago, schmoopie17 said:

Let us know if you run into @BirdTravels. He's doing a simultaneous live report from the Viva.

 
Yes, but I want to hear from @misguy’s review of the Viva.

 

 

[schmoopie17]

1 minute ago, bluesea777 said:

 
Yes, but I want to hear from @misguy’s review of the Viva.

 

 

So do I. I love when more than one person does a "live" from the same cruise to get different perspectives,

[bluesea777]

1 minute ago, schmoopie17 said:

So do I. I love when more than one person does a "live" from the same cruise to get different perspectives,

Righto! 
 

We were just off the Viva TA on Monday. We rate the ship as not at the top of our fave NCL ships - in fact we will not go on any of the Prima class ships in the future if all those ships stay what they are. We’ll go back to older ships even the larger than Prima ships. 
 

 

[misguy]

12 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

Righto! 
 

We were just off the Viva TA on Monday. We rate the ship as not at the top of our fave NCL ships - in fact we will not go on any of the Prima class ships in the future if all those ships stay what they are. We’ll go back to older ships even the larger than Prima ships. 
 

 

There are things about the Prima Class I like, but the ships I like best are the Breakaway and the Getaway.

[seemoreroyals]

Hope you are having a great ride on the Viva.  Looking forward to your review.

[misguy]

I will work on scanning the dailies today and share them.  Last night the comedy show featured two comedians,  The first was a female from Canada, and she had some good bits, but the set wasn't that solid.  The second was a gentleman and he had the audience in stitches.

We ate at Cagney's and it was, as expected, a great meal.   

[misguy]

Here is a description of our lunch in Hudson's with pictures, and our cabin.  This is the first part of what will be a multiple post blog about our trip.

https://www.travelingwithachair.com/blog/Viva1

 

[seemoreroyals]

4 minutes ago, misguy said:

Here is a description of our lunch in Hudson's with pictures, and our cabin.  This is the first part of what will be a multiple post blog about our trip.

https://www.travelingwithachair.com/blog/Viva1

 

 

I got a not found 404 message when attempting to view on google chrome.  Maybe it is an issue with my laptop.  

[graphicguy]

15 minutes ago, seemoreroyals said:

 

I got a not found 404 message when attempting to view on google chrome.  Maybe it is an issue with my laptop.  

Me,too!

[misguy]

4 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Me,too!

That is weird, because I am using Chrome and it worked fine. 

Try this link https://www.travelingwithachair.com/blog/Viva1

 

[graphicguy]

18 minutes ago, misguy said:

That is weird, because I am using Chrome and it worked fine. 

Try this link https://www.travelingwithachair.com/blog/Viva1

 

That link worked.  I use Safari.

[seemoreroyals]

23 minutes ago, misguy said:

That is weird, because I am using Chrome and it worked fine. 

Try this link https://www.travelingwithachair.com/blog/Viva1

 

 

Thank you.  New link worked for me as well.  

[brianz09]

19 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

Righto! 
 

We were just off the Viva TA on Monday. We rate the ship as not at the top of our fave NCL ships - in fact we will not go on any of the Prima class ships in the future if all those ships stay what they are. We’ll go back to older ships even the larger than Prima ships. 
 

 

Agree and on this sailing as well.  Viva is beautiful and crew has been great but two negatives for me so far: solo studio cabin set up not a good as Epic, Breakaway and Breakaway + ships.  Combined bathroom and shower leave very little room to move around in bathroom without brushing against the toilet.  I don't watch TV in my cabin, but imagine it would be difficult with TV on same wall as bed.  Thermal spa VERY different.  No jacuzzis and no big water feature in the pool (the one that inundates you with water on your head, neck and shoulders).  I love that feature and have booked NCL ships for that reason. Super bummed they don't have one on Viva.  
 

On the plus side, Indulge Food Hall is a big win.  The food here is really great. 

[schmoopie17]

I will be following this report with interest. Mrs. Schmoopie broke her leg pretty severely a couple months ago and continues to have mobility issues. We may need to bring a wheelchair onboard, so will be particularly interested in your comments.

[misguy]

33 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

I will be following this report with interest. Mrs. Schmoopie broke her leg pretty severely a couple months ago and continues to have mobility issues. We may need to bring a wheelchair onboard, so will be particularly interested in your comments.

Accessibility has been excellent.  I would recommend renting a scooter from Scootaround, and the Whill Ci2 is what my wife uses and we love it.  

[misguy]

1 hour ago, brianz09 said:

Agree and on this sailing as well.  Viva is beautiful and crew has been great but two negatives for me so far: solo studio cabin set up not a good as Epic, Breakaway and Breakaway + ships.  Combined bathroom and shower leave very little room to move around in bathroom without brushing against the toilet.  I don't watch TV in my cabin, but imagine it would be difficult with TV on same wall as bed.  Thermal spa VERY different.  No jacuzzis and no big water feature in the pool (the one that inundates you with water on your head, neck and shoulders).  I love that feature and have booked NCL ships for that reason. Super bummed they don't have one on Viva.  
 

On the plus side, Indulge Food Hall is a big win.  The food here is really great. 

The problem with the indulge food hall on this cruise is that if you don't camp on a spot at least 30 min prior to to opening you may not be able to get in.  We were there at 12:38 and the place was packed, the hostess told us to go eat somewhere else.

[misguy]

Laat night was dinner in the Commodore Room, and then rush to get into line for Syd Norman's.  We got in line about 30 minutes before the doors opened, and were probably about 80 people back.  The show last night was the full production of Rumors.  The show was amazing and worth the wait.

[misguy]

Here is our video tour of our cabin 15798, which is an Accessible Balcony cabin.  

 

[cruiseny4life]

On 12/3/2023 at 2:04 PM, misguy said:

The problem with the indulge food hall on this cruise is that if you don't camp on a spot at least 30 min prior to to opening you may not be able to get in.  We were there at 12:38 and the place was packed, the hostess told us to go eat somewhere else.

Lunch time is more challenging, but my husband and I were able to find seats in the smaller Pr1ma Indulge last week for lunch on two occasions. Just had to wait a couple minutes cruising around looking for a seat. 

 

Dinner should be better (if crowds are similar to Pr1ma). Nowhere near the amount of people. We had tables and tables to choose from all three times we had dinner in Indulge. Plus, the menu is much better! 

 

Have an amazing cruise.

[debenson0723]

44 minutes ago, misguy said:

Laat night was dinner in the Commodore Room, and then rush to get into line for Syd Norman's.  We got in line about 30 minutes before the doors opened, and were probably about 80 people back.  The show last night was the full production of Rumors.  The show was amazing and worth the wait.

We had a difficult time deciding whether to go to Rumours or Beetlejuice. Ended up going to Beetlejuice and loved it. Great energy and hilarious. The GM told us that this sailing is the only one where reservations are not being taken for the main theater shows. No plans to do that permanently. Went to the 10pm showing and everyone got in. 

Two other changes from the Prima is no Starbucks or Cocos in Indulge so extra seating and the stateroom beds are a little higher, so luggage fits under easier. 

[misguy]

We went to Icons tonight and it was really good.  Back at Syd Norman's tomorrow.  Dinner Hudson's was good, and going at 5:00 we got right in and were seated and eating very quickly.  

[misguy]

This was an amazing show, they performed the entire Rumors album, and told the back story about each song.  As always, it was SRO, and for those that need to sit, you want to plan on being very early.

 

[zanharst]

Could you possibly tell me how quickly the infinity pool areas fill up? Going on Viva on Jan 7th from PR, and plan to use boarding day as my "sea day" and hang out by an infinity pool if possible. Thank you!