Viva sailing 12/6-13/23 Thoughts and observations

[kwokpot]

I just disembarked the 12/6-13/23 sailing of the Viva. I will post additional thoughts and observations but in a nutshell as a Sapphire level but the first NCL cruise since 2017 we had an excellent time and the Viva is a stunning ship. My favorite things? Onda, Penrose Atrium, Indulge Food Hall, our very large Oceanview with round window cabin, Hudsons MDR. More to follow! 

[kwokpot]

Some background information to put my comments in perspective. I'm Anthony and I'm traveling with my husband Robert. We're both 62 and originally from New York City but took early retirement and moved to Philadelphia 17 years ago. 

 

This Viva Cruise was our 107th cruise overall and our 17th NCL cruise BUT we haven't sailed NCL since 2017 on the Getaway on a Baltics cruise. The Getaway was the newest NCL ship we sailed so we haven't been on the Breakawayplus ships either. Our very first cruise in 2000 was with NCL so they definitely gave us the cruising addiction. 

Our preferred cruiseline is Celebrity with 25 cruises with them although we have sailed the most with Royal at 31 cruises.

 

One very important factor to consider about our cruising background is for at least the last ten years we have been cruising on casino complementary cruises. My husband is the gambler in the family and living in Philadelphia we are only one hour away from the Atlantic City casinos. Robert belongs to all the major land-based casino programs in addition to the cruiseline based casino programs. The major reason we haven't cruised NCL since 2017 is their casino comped cruises requires an additional administration fee. No other cruiseline requires paying an administration fee on a complementary cruise. On this Viva sailing the fee amounted to $280/cabin. Carnival's casino comped rooms charges a $200 non-refundable deposit BUT it's returned back to you in the form of OBC which can be used for anything including gratuities.  We receive fully comped cruises from Royal, Celebrity, Carnival, Virgin, MSC.  This Viva Cruise was booked solely to experience the Prima-class ship. Neither of us actually stepped off the ship in any of the ports of call, so you won't see any reviews of the ports. We were here solely to enjoy what the ship has to offer. Lastly I have a personal interest in architecture and interior design which further peaked my interest in sailing a Prima Class ship. When my husband received a free NCL cruise certificate from an Atlantic City casino I said to him we MUST use the certificate to sail the Viva. I hope this introduction will give you a bit more insight as to my comments that will follow. 

 

[vacation44]

107 cruises!   You have my attention.   Looking forward to reading about your Viva experience.

[laudergayle]

Gosh I wish I had the guts to gamble.

[kwokpot]

Embarkation Day

 

We had an Check-in time of 11:30-12:00. We used Lyft from our Miami/Brickell hotel to the NCL terminal. It took less than 15 minutes and we arrived early way before 11:30. The terminal building is beautiful and easy to navigate. We had no problems checking in earlier than our scheduled time. Although we had one carryon sized bag each we handed them to the porters since we knew we couldn't access our cabin to store them nor are rooms ready early. We had one backpack each with us. It turned out that our cabin on deck five was ready at 2:00 along with one other deck. This is much later access than the other cruiselines and a couple of others allow cabin access when boarding to deposit carry bags only (Carnival allows this only for higher levels of the loyalty program).

 

There were priority check-in lines for Sapphire and casino invites (CAS) and we didn't have to wait at all to get checked in. Check-in was a breeze and we received our room cards which is a change from other cruiselines which have them in your cabin mailbox. After check-in we were able to board the ship immediately as they were already boarding group numbers (with priority status we weren't assigned a boarding group).

We were surprised boarding started so early at 11:30!

 

 

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by kwokpot

[FLAHAM]

Complimentary.

[kwokpot]

30 minutes ago, FLAHAM said:

Complimentary.

You're right, but too late to correct. 

[kwokpot]

Embarkation Day continued

 

Our first order of business was for my husband to sign up to audition for Press Your Luck Live, to make show reservations, and to make a change to one of our previously reserved specialty dinners. Both was done in the Viva theater so we went to queue up. There's one queue line to start and once you enter the main theater there are different queues depending on what you need to have done. We split up to be more efficient. As I was waiting on line I logged into the NCL app and realized I was able to make the new dinner reservation myself using the app. The strange thing was all my previous dinner reservations for all seven nights wasn't showing up in my app, so I stayed on the queue to have that straightened out. Turns out that the reservations were there but under my husband's account since he is the primary cruiser. A quick update by the employee fixed that and my app updated immediately with all the dinner reservations.

 

My husband was finishing up his contestant application. He had already made show reservations for the two shows which takes advanced reservations; Beetlejuice and Press your Luck. The show reservations also showed up immediately in the app.

 

We then went to the CruiseNext deck to reserve the BTS (Behind the scenes) tour, wine tasting, and to receive our loyalty pins. In hindsight we should have done this first since I remember seeing no lines at the CruiseNext desk when we first entered the atrium but now there was a long line of people. Anyway we were able to get onto the BTS tour, wine tasting, and dinner with the officers. We also received our loyalty pins and the employee was nice enough to give the pins for all the previous tiers. 

 

The above tasks took about 50 minutes of our time. Based on recommendations here on CC we decided to go to Indulge Food Hall for lunch. Unfortunately at 12:35 Indulge was already packed with passengers and it was a bit chaotic. We circled around and around looking for a table, but nothing was available. There were seats at the counters of some of the offerings but we quickly realized that you can only order food from that eatery when you sit at their counter seats and can't get food from the other eateries. After circling Indulge over 5 times looking for seats we gave up and decided to go to Hudson's MDR for lunch.

 

Hudson's turned out to be the everything Indulge wasn't. It wasn't busy, we were able to be seated right away, and it was a calm and serene atmosphere to have embarkation day lunch. We had a beautiful view of the downtown Miami skyline. This restaurant is remarkably beautiful. The panoramic windows provide beautiful views. The semicircle layout is unique for a ship dining room and allows for an intimate but not confining nor overwhelming feeling. The columns have unique design elements which incorporate a lighting feature and a handy shelf which is used to hold the menus. Very clever! The other lighting fixtures are these gold and crystal petals arranged in a flower like pattern. The chairs were tub style with lower backs in a light blue velvet material. They were comfortable and neither of us had any issues with the chairs at any of our meals. 

 

We enjoyed our lunch at Hudson's and would recommend this as the preferred embarkation place for lunch. 

Photo of Hudson's Dining Room (not taken at embarkation lunch).

 

 

 

[kwokpot]

Embarkation Day continued - Cabin

 

Our cabin was ready at 2:00pm and quite honestly i feel that's a bit late and later than other cruiselines. And that was only for two decks, the rest of the decks weren't ready yet! We had cabin# 5202, which is a large oceanview with round window. It was a great cabin and extremely spacious. I highly recommend this cabin category. The Prima Class cabins no longer have the interlocking designs which necessitates a narrowing portion of the cabin so the cabin isn't the same width the whole length of the cabin. Not so in the Prima class cabins. This creates a nice wide cabin with plenty of room to walk by the foot of the bed. There is tons of storage and in this class of cabin there's an additional dresser and two additional nightstands with an extra large couch. The way it's setup is like a junior suite with a living room area. There's a multitude of storage options and also outlets, both electrical and USB. The bedside lamps have USB ports on both nightstands. The bathroom is a nice size (I still have to give a shoutout to Celebrity's E-Class standard cabins as having the largest bathrooms) with plenty of storage, large shower with glass door, and soft closing toilet seat. The only thing missing was a nightlight setting for nighttime bathroom trips. I like the closets with two sections both with hanging rods, and two pull-out wire baskets which are perfect for smaller items like socks,underwear, swimsuits, gym apparel. There's also a third section without a door that has an additional hanging rod and a luggage rack/shelf, and another lower shelf. This spot was perfect for coats, sweaters, jackets on the hanging rod; backpacks and beach bags on the luggage rack; and shoes on the lower shelf. The beds were high enough off the ground where you could store your luggage, even larger bags, under the bed. The mattress was very comfortable if you like a firmer mattress, but it's definitely not a plush pillow type of mattress. The TV was on a wall mount that you can swivel and tilt towards the bed or have it flat against the wall if you're sitting on the couch. All in all the room was beautiful and I couldn't think of anything that it lacked. Certainly one of the nicest oceanview cabins we've ever stayed at. The location was also good being just a few cabins in from the Aft stairs and elevators. 

 

Edited December 14, 2023 by kwokpot

[laudergayle]

20 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Embarkation Day continued - Cabin

 

Our cabin was ready at 2:00pm and quite honestly i feel that's a bit late and later than other cruiselines. And that was only for two decks, the rest of the decks weren't ready yet! We had cabin# 5202, which is a large oceanview with round window. It was a great cabin and extremely spacious. I highly recommend this cabin category. The Prima Class cabins no longer have the interlocking designs which necessitates a narrowing portion of the cabin so the cabin isn't the same width the whole length of the cabin. Not so in the Prima class cabins. This creates a nice wide cabin with plenty of room to walk by the foot of the bed. There is tons of storage and in this class of cabin there's an additional dresser and two additional nightstands with an extra large couch. The way it's setup is like a junior suite with a living room area. There's a multitude of storage options and also outlets, both electrical and USB. The bedside lamps have USB ports on both nightstands. The bathroom is a nice size (I still have to give a shoutout to Celebrity's E-Class standard cabins as having the largest bathrooms) with plenty of storage, large shower with glass door, and soft closing toilet seat. The only thing missing was a nightlight setting for nighttime bathroom trips. I like the closets with two sections both with hanging rods, and two pull-out wire baskets which are perfect for smaller items like socks,underwear, swimsuits, gym apparel. There's also a third section without a door that has an additional hanging rod and a luggage rack/shelf, and another lower shelf. This spot was perfect for coats, sweaters, jackets on the hanging rod; backpacks and beach bags on the luggage rack; and shoes on the lower shelf. The beds were high enough off the ground where you could store your luggage, even larger bags, under the bed. The mattress was very comfortable if you like a firmer mattress, but it's definitely not a plush pillow type of mattress. The TV was on a wall mount that you can swivel and tilt towards the bed or have it flat against the wall if you're sitting on the couch. All in all the room was beautiful and I couldn't think of anything that it lacked. Certainly one of the nicest oceanview cabins we've ever stayed at. The location was also good being just a few cabins in from the Aft stairs and elevators. 

 

Wow, that OV is really nice.  Thanks for the photo.

[kwokpot]

7 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

Wow, that OV is really nice.  Thanks for the photo.

Just to be clear the photos is from NCL's website. I actually forgot to take my own photos!

[kwokpot]

Embarkation Day continued - Dinner at Onda By Scarpetta

 

One of the reasons that I had lined up for service when I first boarded was to switch a specialty restaurant reservation from Le Bistro to Onda. To my surprise as I was waiting on line to speak to someone to make the change I logged onto the NCL App and was able to make the change myself even before reaching someone to help me. I was also surprised to see that there was a spot available that night at the prime dining time of 7:30pm so I took it. The best decision of the whole cruise. 

 

Onda was by far the best meal we had on the ship. The dining room is wildly modern and could double as a set for a sci-fi movie restaurant from the future. Service was impeccable. We had used one of our Sapphire dining certificates that came with a bottle of wine. I chose a Louis Jadot Beaujolais Villages and it was a good match for my entree. Following suggestions made here on CC I chose the Filet Mignon (my husband chose the Salmon) as my entree. But before that we shared the Burrata and Fritto Misto, then followed by the Pappardelle Bolognese and the Market Salad. Yes, we ate all that BEFORE our entrees! With so much food we skipped ordering extra side dishes (our entrees already had accompaniments). My filet was cooked perfectly to medium rare and was properly seasoned with a nice char. My husband enjoys his salmon cooked the way he requested. Although we wer full we just had to order dessert. Both the Butterscotch Budino and tiramisu were excellent.I have to say the whole experience rivaled any land-based high end restaurant. Every dish we ordered was well prepared and there wasn't anything that disappointed. Do not miss dining at Onda!

 

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by kwokpot

[UKstages]

On 12/13/2023 at 12:43 PM, kwokpot said:

There were seats at the counters of some of the offerings but we quickly realized that you can only order food from that eatery when you sit at their counter seats and can't get food from the other eateries.

 

there have been reports that this "feature" was changed on the prima, so that you can now order from any of the food stations, not just the one you are sitting at. i'm surprised to see they didn't do that on the viva. 

 

kwokpot, i'm very much enjoying your review. really well written and highly detailed! and i share your sentiments on onda. i thought it was one of the best restaurants on the prima.

[kwokpot]

10 minutes ago, UKstages said:

 

there have been reports that this "feature" was changed on the prima, so that you can now order from any of the food stations, not just the one you are sitting at. i'm surprised to see they didn't do that on the viva. 

 

kwokpot, i'm very much enjoying your review. really well written and highly detailed! and i share your sentiments on onda. i thought it was one of the best restaurants on the prima.

Thank you. We really did try to eat at Indulge on day one but it just wasn't meant it be. Having said that we loved Indulge and ate there multiple times. I'll write up about that shorty. 

[bluesea777]

Tip: if you love Indian food, go to Tamara in Indulge for dinner, it’s quiet and their dinner menu is so different to the lunch one. Their naan breads are to die for!

 

 

[JGmf]

On 12/13/2023 at 9:41 AM, laudergayle said:

Gosh I wish I had the guts to gamble.

 

No, you are way better off.  Whatever I save by getting comped or discounted cruises, regardless of the cruise line, over time, is definitely offset by losses in the casino.  Gambling is an understood financial risk, but nonetheless a fun past time...as long as you can afford it. 

[laudergayle]

10 minutes ago, JGmf said:

 

No, you are way better off.  Whatever I save by getting comped or discounted cruises, regardless of the cruise line, over time, is definitely offset by losses in the casino.  Gambling is an understood financial risk, but nonetheless a fun past time...as long as you can afford it. 

I guess it could be considered your hobby!  Thanks for replying to my post.

[david_sobe]

Loving the review and pictures.  Onda was my favorite restaurant on Encore too.  Huge step up from the mediocre La Cucina. 
Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[EllieinNJ]

Looking forward to more of your report.

[kwokpot]

Rest of Cruise – Food and Dining

Main Dining Restaurants; Hudson’s and Commodore Room; Belvedere and Metropolitan Bars

 

We ate in both main dining rooms and Hudson’s is our favorite of the two. The Commodore Room is on deck 6 and while the décor is nice without the dramatic 270-degree deck 7 aft window views in Hudson’s it just can’t compare in environment. The large round windows in Commodore are a central design theme but they look out right below the lifeboats, so the views are obscured.  The other dominating design elements are these polished chrome ‘cages’ that surround each of the columns in the room. The ceilings are lower than in Hudson’s, which again lends to a more enclosed and intimate setting. Belvedere Bar sits right outside of Commodore and is a beautiful place for predinner cocktails or to wait for your table. It’s cozy and intimate, mirroring the dining experience at Commodore.  The Metropolitan would be the venue for predinner drinks if dining at Hudson’s. It’s a little further removed from the dining room itself and it’s a large and very popular place. The highlight of Metropolitan is the interactive video art installation along most of the wall in the walkway portion of the bar. It’s a video wall of butterflies with their wings open but if you wave your hand and/or touch the screen the butterflies respond by flapping their wings and flying. Very cool! The Humidor Cigar Lounge is located here. There’s entertainment and activities programming at Metropolitan. Metropolitan was always a busy venue on the ship. Photos below of Belvedere and Metropolitan bars.

Edited December 17, 2023 by kwokpot

[kwokpot]

Rest of Cruise – Food and Dining

Local Bar & Grill; Indulge Food Hall; Surfside Café

 

We had two meals at Local Bar & Grill, Local Grill to be exact. The reason for the clarification is that although the bar side serves the same food it only serves what would be considered starters or more generally bar-type food. If you wanted a more complete lunch you would have to go to the restaurant side.

As indicated Local is divided into two sections. The bar and the restaurant. The bar also serves as the corridor to Indulge Food Hall. The bar is a nicely decorated space with the main design element being a huge, long bar that was always busy whenever we walked by. There’s a variety of seating styles with low easy chairs with a coffee table, a hightop counter area, the bar itself, and some hanging basket chairs which were always occupied.

We enjoyed our lunch meals at Local restaurant, which has a casual vibe. One of our meals was outdoors in the shade and it was a comfortable experience. I had pork with rice and beans and my husband had fish and chips and both were tasty.

 

Indulge Food Hall was our favorite lunchtime eatery and we ate there three times. It’s a tight space with various individual food stalls, some with counter seating space, some without. Otherwise there are tables and booths scattered among the food stalls. There’s also an outdoor seating area.  We enjoyed the ability to order different types of food, like a buffet, but semi-service without the chaos. Employees will come over and ask if you want any beverages. There’s setups and napkins already on the tables. You order food by using a tablet that’s placed at each table. Once you choose what you want on the tablet and submit the order the food will be brought to you in no particular order. I enjoyed the Asian noodles, and the barbeque foods were very tasty, especially all the sides. It’s very easy to over order but the individual portions aren’t that huge, so we never wasted anything. Desserts are self service by going over to the Sweets Stall and getting the items yourself. Highly recommend Indulge!

 

We ate three meals (Breakfast and 2 lunches) at the Surfside Café/buffet. It was our least favorite dining venue solely because of it’s design. I dislike the old-style cafeteria-style buffet setups where the food is laid out in long, continuous lines. I much prefer buffet layouts where the food stations are in smaller pods which can be accessed from all four sides rather than just from the front. This layout reduces the lines and makes getting food easier and quicker. This may not be a popular statement but I WILLOT line up at the start of a cafeteria style buffet if I ONLY want one food item that’s at the end of the line. It makes no sense and causes unnecessary crowds and lines. What I do is wait for a break in front of the food item I want, and if no one is getting that food item I will go right to it, get what I want, and leave. There is no logic for me to stand at the beginning of the line when the only thing I want is at the very end.  We were never able to find an available table so all three times we ate at the buffet we sat at the long communal high top eating counters. They were always easier to find available space and the stools are comfortable albeit a bit awkward to get on and off. There was an employee directing people down the hall for seating at Food Republic but since there are no trays to carry food this isn’t a convenient solution to the seating issues.

It was never an issue sharing the counters with others. As to the food quality it was hot and tasty. My husband enjoyed the hamburgers and hot dogs from Surfside Grill, which is further aft just beyond the main buffet area. In summary the buffet was always too busy to enjoy a meal there and we basically eat and ran from the area.  

[kwokpot]

Rest of Cruise – Food and Dining

Palomar and Cagney’s Steakhouse

 

Palomar is a Greek inspired Mediterranean restaurant that in my opinion is in an awkward location on deck 17 portside beyond the pool deck. We came from the forward elevators and had to walk across the pool deck and even though you can see the sign for the restaurant it wasn’t quite clear where the entrance was. We tried to walk through the outdoor seating area and instead had to backtrack and walk around and into one of corridors to access the main entrance. It’s location afforded an expanse of large window for great views. The overall décor hah a more casual vibe with a mild nautical theme.  I went full seafood mode for dinner starting with the Thalassini Salad and the Dover Sole as my entrée. A glass of Sauvignon Blanc from the Penrose Bar was a good match for my food.  My husband had the Greek salad and lamb chops as his meal.  We shared Asparagus and Rice Pilaf as our sides. We topped off the meal with The Valrhona Dark Chocolate Mouse Cake for me and Chocolate sorbet for my husband.  The whole meal was delicious. I loved the seafood salad and enjoyed the Dover Sole although it was a bit dry. My husband enjoyed his Greek salad and thought the Lamb chops were perfectly seasoned and grilled to his specifications. Photos to follow.

 

As someone with an interest in modern architecture and design Cagney’s Steakhouse stood out for me as one of my favorite spaces on the ship. Most people will not know that the design inspiration for Cagney’s is the innovative and controversial designs of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Cagney’s on the Viva is an homage to his use of prefabricated concrete blocks to build inexpensive homes for the common person (It turned out to be the exact opposite). The column casings and coffered ceilings are NCL’s interpretation of Wright’s concrete building blocks. Wright also was a fan of using wood accents which you can see was also done here in Cagney’s. Even the lighting for the restaurant pays homage to Wright’s use of metal and circular shapes for furniture he designed for the Johnson Wax Building in Wisconsin. The chairs for the restaurant are in a shade of green that will be familiar to those who know mid-century modern design. It was such a delight to be in this space! Onto the food.

Ribeye is our favorite cut of meat and Cagney’s didn’t disappoint. The steaks were perfectly seasoned, had a delicious char, and cooked to the requested medium rare. The side dishes were just OK with the creamed spinach being too watery. I started the meal with a shrimp cocktail and although the shrimps were very large they could have been a little bit firmer in texture. My husband’s Crab cake was very good though with very little filler and almost all crab meat! We ended with some gigantic and yummy desserts. The seven layer chocolate cake is perfect for chocolate lovers and the OMG Caramel Butterscotch Cheesecake was sinfully delicious.  Although this wasn’t our best or perfect meal the main attraction, the ribeye steaks, were everything we were hoping for.

Photos to follow are our meals at Palomar; photos of Cagney’s Restaurant; and our meals at Cagney’s.

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by kwokpot

[Sugar Magnolia]

Thank you @kwokpot. Very much enjoying your review and reliving my time on the beautiful Viva. Agree that Onda is a huge step up from La Cucina.

[kwokpot]

Rest of Cruise – Venues

Penrose Atrium; Casino

Out of all the venues on the ship the Penrose Atrium was probably where we spent the most time (followed by the gym but more of that later).  It’s such a beautifully design space and I enjoyed that instead of one big, large square each deck was asymmetrically designed. The basic design principle (which is the same philosophy for the design of the Grand Plaza on Celebrity’s E-Class ships) was to evoke the grand plazas and town squares of Europe’s beloved cities of Rome, Venice, and Paris. It’s supposed to be a gathering space for people watching, entertainment, having drinks and snacks, and just relaxing. The way the spaces have various nooks and overlooks is meant to simulate the narrow streets of the old towns in Europe where you’ll witness sights and sounds from different vantage points.  There are multiple places to sit and relax. Starbucks is a great resource (You can use their gift cards there!) and behind the Starbucks is some more private seating with giant windows providing great views. Penrose Bar on Deck 6 is a busy place since I’s the de facto casino bar. It’s also where a lot of the musical entertainment takes place. We enjoyed this space very much and prefer it to the designs of similar spaces on the Dawn, Jewel and Breakaway class ships (I never cared for the big video screens in the atrium on most of the other NCL ships. Very distracting. NO VIDEO SCREENS in the Penrose Atrium). I will agree with those who say that when there's entertainment going on the whole space can get noisy, but in all honesty that's also by design as other cruiselines have similar issues with the main atriums in their new builds. Virgin Voyages eschews this design philosophy by eliminating a large central atrium in favor of multiple smaller venues. But then people complain there's no wow factor without a big, multi-deck atrium. You can't please everyone. 

 

The casino on the Viva was a surprise. Maybe it was just our sailing, but it was seriously lacking in energy. It was never particularly busy.  It looks nice and it is never smoky. Neither my husband nor I were particularly lucky in the casino. We actually spent very little time in the casino considering this was a fully comped casino cruise!

 

Photos of the beautiful Penrose Atrium.

Edited December 17, 2023 by kwokpot

[L1211]

Excellent review. So appreciate!