NCL Viva Not Getting Good Reviews?

[ZsaZsa2019]

Finally found a cruise that is ticking most of my ports of call boxes and started to read some not-so-stellar reviews of the ship - small and crowded public areas, crowded pools and no loungers, long lines for food and shows, no seats..........etc.  Granted with stops every day on the southern caribbean cruise, there isn't a lot of time to be spent ON the ship, but I don't want to feel frustrated.

 

Kind of would like to stay with NCL becuase of their "free" promotions (mostly the drink pkgs).  Other cruise lines were pricing out much higher once that was added.  Or am I stressing too much over the ship?

[zqvol]

13 minutes ago, ZsaZsa2019 said:

Finally found a cruise that is ticking most of my ports of call boxes and started to read some not-so-stellar reviews of the ship - small and crowded public areas, crowded pools and no loungers, long lines for food and shows, no seats..........etc.  Granted with stops every day on the southern caribbean cruise, there isn't a lot of time to be spent ON the ship, but I don't want to feel frustrated.

 

Kind of would like to stay with NCL becuase of their "free" promotions (mostly the drink pkgs).  Other cruise lines were pricing out much higher once that was added.  Or am I stressing too much over the ship?

You are probably stressing too much, the complaints are from the people who complain all the time 

[bluesea777]

1 minute ago, zqvol said:

You are probably stressing too much, the complaints are from the people who complain all the time 

 

Not quite.

 

Viva TA (Libson to Miami) in Nov 2023 was our 30th NCL cruise but first new prima class ship. Suffice to say we will not go on a prima class ship again. We will return to any of the older NCL ships but not on Prima or Viva.

 

We still enjoyed the cruise but ..... prefer the other ships. We have been on all NCL ships except the Sky and Prima. 

 

 

[cruiseny4life]

We cruised in November on Pr1ma, so not exactly V!va, but there are far more similarities than differences. I really enjoyed the sailing. As I mentioned somewhere else, I'd say 20% was bad, 40% good, and 40% great. I'd sail a Prima class ship again in a heartbeat. My husband...he didn't really enjoy the ship. He's glad we never have to sail on Pr1ma again. 

 

I wrote about my experience on my "live." It's not the most enthralling read, but it might give you a sense of being onboard. The cruise starts on page 8 - ignore the first few pages: 

 

 

There have been a few V!va lives also, so perhaps you could check those out to get a better sense of life onboard that specific ship.

 

Be prepared for a somewhat different style of ship and you'll enjoy yourself! 

[Cruisinfor3]

1 hour ago, ZsaZsa2019 said:

Finally found a cruise that is ticking most of my ports of call boxes and started to read some not-so-stellar reviews of the ship - small and crowded public areas, crowded pools and no loungers, long lines for food and shows, no seats..........etc.  Granted with stops every day on the southern caribbean cruise, there isn't a lot of time to be spent ON the ship, but I don't want to feel frustrated.

 

Kind of would like to stay with NCL becuase of their "free" promotions (mostly the drink pkgs).  Other cruise lines were pricing out much higher once that was added.  Or am I stressing too much over the ship?

We are going on the Viva in March for Southern Caribbean. Everyday we are in another port for 7 days, so yes you are not on the ship that much.  Pretty much just nights. Yes I am sure certain areas will be busy and full of people so we will just avoid those areas if we are not there on time. Its a cruise so there are many things to do so I am not worried about it.

[luv2kroooz]

You've read the reviews. So you have to decide if the valid complaints are important enough to warrant a different ship. Many complaints concern the sizing of venues...pool deck, comedy club, syd's, buffet, way too small. Sounds like you are looking at a port intensive cruise so your days will be full traveling ashore and maybe you will be sleepy at night. Just don't expect to get a spot at the pool or a seat in the clubs or atrium without some patience and standing in line.

[ZsaZsa2019]

2 minutes ago, Cruisinfor3 said:

We are going on the Viva in March for Southern Caribbean. Everyday we are in another port for 7 days, so yes you are not on the ship that much.  Pretty much just nights. Yes I am sure certain areas will be busy and full of people so we will just avoid those areas if we are not there on time. Its a cruise so there are many things to do so I am not worried about it.

That's when we are looking, probably 3/10-17th.  I think you are right.  Just wasn't expecting to read all those bad reviews on a newer ship.

[destar]

2 hours ago, ZsaZsa2019 said:

Finally found a cruise that is ticking most of my ports of call boxes and started to read some not-so-stellar reviews of the ship - small and crowded public areas, crowded pools and no loungers, long lines for food and shows, no seats..........etc.  Granted with stops every day on the southern caribbean cruise, there isn't a lot of time to be spent ON the ship, but I don't want to feel frustrated.

Why are you stressing on some negative reviews?

Go on your cruise and enjoy yourself, bars will be open and there will be plenty of food.

I sailed on the Prima 12 days out of Galveston and had excellent cruise, even with 2 ports cancellation. Will be on the Viva in March out of San Juan, looking forward to another excellent cruise.

[Cruisinfor3]

2 minutes ago, ZsaZsa2019 said:

That's when we are looking, probably 3/10-17th.  I think you are right.  Just wasn't expecting to read all those bad reviews on a newer ship.

We are going 17-24.  I would do it.  Some people like certain things and are used to it.  I am sure i won't like certain things on the boat too, but I won't let it ruin a good time.

[Sailing12Away]

Just go in with the right expectations and you'll be fine. With Prima (and I assume Viva) you have to do a lot more planning and compromising than you normally would. If you really want to eat at the food trucks, you need to either get there early, get there right before they close, or make friends with anyone sitting at a table with an open seat to share. Or - go to the Local next door instead and try your luck another day.

 

If you reallly want to get a seat for the Rumors show, get there and stand in line an hour before it starts. Or, take your chancing finding a leaning perch near the bar or against the wall and stand and dance along.

 

I was poo-pooing all the negative folks when I was first reading them myself, until I sailed on Prima in September. It's just not the ship for us and how we like to cruise and spend time with people. So we're waiting to see what changes are made to Aqua and beyond. Now if the price was more agreeable and the itinerary was amazing, I would certainly hop on board - but never again in the room we had.

[sportscruiser]

Also going in March and although the inside venues do seem much too small for the amount of passengers, I think most of the "too crowded" reviews came from the first sailings when it was cold outside and everyone stayed in. Check for newer reviews from the Caribbean cruises to see if the complaints about seating are as bad as those first sailings. Except for the comedy and Syd's shows; I think there will always be people complaining about those venues....and I might be one of them, we'll see! 🤣

[FLAHAM]

I had a highly enjoyable Mediterranean cruise on the Viva in October.  I recommend it.

[BirdTravels]

8 hours ago, ZsaZsa2019 said:

Finally found a cruise that is ticking most of my ports of call boxes and started to read some not-so-stellar reviews of the ship - small and crowded public areas, crowded pools and no loungers, long lines for food and shows, no seats..........etc.  Granted with stops every day on the southern caribbean cruise, there isn't a lot of time to be spent ON the ship, but I don't want to feel frustrated.

 

Kind of would like to stay with NCL becuase of their "free" promotions (mostly the drink pkgs).  Other cruise lines were pricing out much higher once that was added.  Or am I stressing too much over the ship?

The Viva is a beautiful ship. We have sailed on her sister the Prima twice a were on the Viva last month. We are looking forward to another Viva cruise in the near future. 
 

Don't believe everything you read on the internet or this thread. People insist on comparing the 3100 passenger via to her 4500 passenger cousin the Escape. By proportion, that is like comparing the Escape to the Oasis of the Seas. The venues on the viva are right sized for her class of ship. 

The Bird highly encourages you to take the cruise and enjoy the NCL perks. 

 

Here’s some photos from this stunning ship

 

Edited January 4 by BirdTravels

[AZDuck]

We're doing the same cruise in 1/2025 for the same reason. The cruise visits 7 ports in 7 days with 8 to 10 hours in each port so all I can think about is what activities to do each day on the islands, plus pre and post cruise time in Puerto Rico. With no sea days the ship is just the vehicle to the destinations, and as my wife and I don't enjoy public pools or buffets those areas of concern aren't as important to us as they might be to others. People seem to think the MDR is great for dinner. We've never been to the Caribbean so hopping 7 islands in 7 days sounds pretty amazing! We're stoked for this cruise and wish we were going this year instead of next year. 

Edited January 4 by Dereknadz

[zackarykeef]

Everyone sees the negative reviews and gets nervous and starts posting about cancelling, but no one sees the positive reviews and gets excited and starts posting about packing.

 

If you look on the posts here that may be a negative review, or the posts on another popular social media website that are negative reviews, there are hundreds of comments from people saying the opposite. People tend to read the main post but fail to read the comment.

 

Literally, on the other site, there will be one long, negative review, and all the comments underneath are "disagree," "we had the opposite experience," "it was awesome," etc.

 

People are more likely to post when they had a negative experience...we know this. People with positive experiences only tend to comment/post when they are opposing something negative.

 

Don't cancel or be nervous about something because of what people you have never met think. They function/like/need things that are completely different from you.

 

I sailed on Prima and loved it. Extremely upscale, modern ship design with good food, drinks, and service. That's all I need, and there was nothing to complain about. Viva is the same, and I can't wait to board un 3 days!

[luv2kroooz]

6 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

People insist on comparing the 3100 passenger via to her 4500 passenger cousin the Escape. By proportion, that is like comparing the Escape to the Oasis of the Seas. The venues on the viva are right sized for her class of ship. 

The OP is concerned about the ability to obtain a seat in lounges, availability of lounge chairs on pool deck. This is based on multiple negative reviews they have read. All valid concerns. Why not post about your specific experience as opposed to making generalizations like, don't believe everything you read, or venues are right-sized, or Viva is beautiful? As your pictures show, there is no doubt Viva is a beautiful ship, but many of your pictures don't have any people in them. The OP is more concerned about functionality during the "pinch-points" when passengers are present.

 

I find it interesting that your analysis  compares Viva to ships with higher capacity. A more equitable approach is to compare to both larger and smaller ships to Viva, especially given the concerns posed by the OP. By way of example,  if we compare the 3,100 passenger Viva to her 2,400 passenger Jewel class cousins, then this theory doesn't hold water and the venues are not right sized. 

 

Are the lounges on the Viva bigger than lounges on the Jewel class ships, say Bliss Lounge? What about the pool deck? The Lido buffet?  No, No, and No. But the Viva has 3100 passengers compared to the smaller Jewel class 2,500 passengers. So you would expect the Viva's venues to be the same size or slightly larger on a comparative basis to Jewel class. They aren't. Therefore, your right sized theory is suspect and only works when making a comparison to larger capacity ships.

 

Edited January 4 by luv2kroooz

[ontheweb]

We were on the Prima this past summer. I had reviews, many negative, some positive. And we were not in warm water ports, sailing from London (Southampton) to Reykjavik, and many of the reviews complained that the ship was not built for cold weather.

 

We loved the ship and had a great time. Go in with the expectation of a wonderful cruise. If you do the opposite and let the negativity of some reviews get to you and to expect a bad experience, that will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[Beer Belly]

17 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

 

 

 

  we will not go on a prima class ship again. We will return to any of the older NCL ships but not on Prima or Viva.

 

 

 

 

Our experience on the Prima in May of 2023 was pretty bad, many problems with the ship, shows and entertainment cancelled or substituted with entertainment that did not suit our taste. This does not mean everyone will have the same experience (NCL would not survive....no pool for till day 5, sewage smell on pool deck, broken elevator, only one Hot Tub, Cracks in the Hull), I'm thinking ours was the perfect storm, although I will say "Never again on any Prima class", the interior of the ship was way too crowded during inclement weather, jusy our opinion. Go on the cruise, enjoy all the ports that checks those boxes, life is too short.

[deliver42]

I've been looking at the Viva for a cruise out of Galveston. I've seen good reviews, and not so good on You Tube. To us, we love the look of the ship, and taking in the pros and cons, I think we know what to expect, and will be booking this cruise with an open mind. We'll then form our own opinions. If we like it, we might sail the next one. If we don't then we'll find something else, but we've never had a bad cruise.

[Laszlo]

19 hours ago, ZsaZsa2019 said:

Finally found a cruise that is ticking most of my ports of call boxes and started to read some not-so-stellar reviews of the ship - small and crowded public areas, crowded pools and no loungers, long lines for food and shows, no seats..........etc.  Granted with stops every day on the southern caribbean cruise, there isn't a lot of time to be spent ON the ship, but I don't want to feel frustrated.

 

Kind of would like to stay with NCL becuase of their "free" promotions (mostly the drink pkgs).  Other cruise lines were pricing out much higher once that was added.  Or am I stressing too much over the ship?

Do a search on any cruise line, any ship. You will find all kinds of negative reviews. Don't let that stop you

[moto_italia]

Sailed on the Viva Dec 6-13, 2023 out of Miami. No real complaints from me. The big complaints I heard on board were regarding the illogical layout that perhaps needed more and better signage and arrows. Overall a great cruise again on NCL for us!

 

Some negatives to me:

• The layout takes a bit of getting used to as it's less logical than other NCL ships as you have to walk through named spaces to get to other named spaces (Walk through The Local Bar to get to the Indulge Food Hall).
• Some areas you may walk through are tighter. (If you come off the Aft elevators on Deck 17 and want to go to the Observation Lounge, you have to walk through Surfside Cafe (Buffet) which is a tight area at meal times)
• Some bars, venues and gathering places are smaller.
• Some of the items at Indulge Food Hall were not great to us (Pad Thai for example).
• The bars adjacent to the restaurants (Belvedere, Metropolitan, Whiskey) were over-run in the evenings and could be larger to accommodate more bartenders
• Proximity of Cruise Next (adjacent to Penrose Bar) made conversations with Cruise Next staff challenging during busy/loud times, particularly with live entertainment in bar area.

Some positives observations:

• Balcony Cabin has a really nice bathroom and plenty of closet space/shelves. Mid-ship balcony rooms on Deck 10 overlook infinity pool and walkway on side of ship. Glass door to balcony has a lateral movement to seal tightly, so not noisy. 
• MDR's were excellent, nearly as good of a meal as specialty restaurants. We did Palomar and Onda which were both excellent.
• Outdoor dining at The Local Bar was nice, with built-in heaters in ceiling pointing downward which was nice in the morning at breakfast.
• Vibe Beach Club was outstanding - great bar area, loungers, bathrooms, and proximity to Surfside Grill.
• Beetlejuice and Press Your Luck were both really fun and not completely full.
• The Observation Lounge is a great space, has a nice small bar, and offers some snacks in the afternoons.

Anyway, there are good and bad reviews of everything. We had a great time on the Viva!

[zackarykeef]

7 hours ago, luv2kroooz said:

I find it interesting that your analysis  compares Viva to ships with higher capacity. A more equitable approach is to compare to both larger and smaller ships to Viva, especially given the concerns posed by the OP. By way of example,  if we compare the 3,100 passenger Viva to her 2,400 passenger Jewel class cousins, then this theory doesn't hold water and the venues are not right sized. 

 

Are the lounges on the Viva bigger than lounges on the Jewel class ships, say Bliss Lounge? What about the pool deck? The Lido buffet?  No, No, and No. But the Viva has 3100 passengers compared to the smaller Jewel class 2,500 passengers. So you would expect the Viva's venues to be the same size or slightly larger on a comparative basis to Jewel class. They aren't. Therefore, your right sized theory is suspect and only works when making a comparison to larger capacity ships.

 

I would argue your theory doesn’t hold water either, as I don’t really think you can compare this class up or down. Do the Jewel class ships have Indulge? Do the Jewel class ships have Ocean Boulevard? Do the Jewel class ships have as many specialty restaurants? No, no, and no. I could go on. They made more areas on this class to spread people out. Just because the ship is bigger doesn’t mean every area has to be bigger. You can either increase area size or add more areas, and NCL chose the latter. All the aside from the fact that the Belvedere and Metropolitan bars have some of the largest total bar/lounge areas, but people tend to overlook that.

 

Everyone complaining about the Prima class should just shift to RCCL’s Oasis class…it seems not only do they want one or the other, but both. Bigger AND more.

Edited January 4 by zackarykeef

[luv2kroooz]

10 minutes ago, zackarykeef said:

I would argue your theory doesn’t hold water either

LOL! Thank you for your argument. Have a great day!

[schmoopie17]

We were on the Prima a year ago. Yes, it's a funky layout trying to get from point A to point B, the buffet is tiny, as are many of the public spaces. On the bright side, it's modern, the cabins and bathrooms are nice and it had that new ship smell. I assume the Viva is pretty much the same thing with a different name. Would we sail on Prima (or Viva) again? Maybe, maybe not. How's that for an answer?

 

Our biggest complaint was with the creaking balcony wall. So loud that it woke us up, even though we sleep with a sound machine and ear plugs. This has been a common complaint with the Prima and I've even read some reviews of the Viva that mention it, as well.

 

Bottom line...do what you want and don't let the naysayers or cheerleaders influence you one way or another. Do your own thing and YMMV.

[luv2kroooz]

2 hours ago, Laszlo said:

Do a search on any cruise line, any ship. You will find all kinds of negative reviews. Don't let that stop you

Interesting comments. You will find all kinds of positive editorials (especially here in this thread). They read like cruise ship brochures, instead of critical analysis. Would you let them stop you? Perhaps better advice would be to disregard the extreme negative and extreme positive reviews and set proper expectations based on what each cruiser values. Refreshing.