Viva la Viva

Item: Norwegian Viva
Rating: 4.3
Author: Lulutulip

Norwegian Viva Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean

Lulutulip

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 18

Overall rating:

4.3 out of 5

Verified Review

10 Night Greek Isles & Eastern Mediterranean (Athens To Rome)

Sail date: September 13, 2023

Ship: Norwegian Viva

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 14918

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 10 months ago

Review summary

That back to back 18 day cruise was our best vacation ever. We are going to make this fall back to back cruise an annual tradition for us in the Mediterranean. We loved everything especially the Haven and the people….so many. And we stay in touch with them too!

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

We did a back to back 18 day Haven cruise. LOVE the Haven…LOVE the people BUT the Haven restaurant is only average. Why? Guys…we have owned a top tier restaurant in Florida for 36 years…we know what we are talking about. You CANNOT have a stagnant every day the same menu on a restaurant like the Haven. You HAVE to run daily specials or different items. You have to be creative and change it up for what Haven people are paying. Look…you want a model to emulate…Go look at Blu in AquaClass on Celebrity. They are fantastic…menu varies….people are highly interactive with customers. You can also get a menu item served in Blu that’s on any of the other Celebrity dining room menu and pronto! So if Blu doesn’t have escargot and another dining room does you can get it and fast. Excellent chefs. Great classy environment. Sommeliers are amazing and involved. Food is varied and fantastic. On the Haven…dinners…deserts we have had to deal with on a stagnant menu. When you are on a ship for 18 days and that same few deserts are available and none are great…something HAS to change! Can’t keep it the same. Actually the dessert menu from lunch is better by far than dinner and we love the banana dessert…but only at lunch. The rest….zero interest at dinner. Just NOT top tier. That’s among a few things the Haven restaurant has got to change to be truly great. We loved the experience. The aft pool deck on the Viva. The NCL PEOPLE! But it could be SO much better with just a few changes. Ship wide…get RID of Locals…you HAVE a GREAT concept in O’Sheehans! Why would you even THINK of replacing it with Locals? Not even in the same league and I think you know it. Your people do!!! We talked to them. Change that back back to the Irish Pub and you’ll be way ahead of the game. I could go on and I know how to make the Viva way better…Syd Norman’s for example…the Improv…dinky…but I’m out of time! There’s way more!!!

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Go carts and virtual reality are a waste of way too much space. You do know that right? People don’t go crazy over that….

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Good if you had more space and good people in those bars like Syds. But Beetlejuice? Ah…NO. Bring on more 70’s music night too. Newsflash…:it’s the best era ever for foot tapping music EVERYONE likes. Including millennials and younger. Cater to the audience. Not what you wish was of interest.

Children's Programs

No little kids…love grandkids. Prefer to cruise without them.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Awesome especially Haven folks. We wrote up Hero cards on 7 or 8 of them we got to know very well in 19 days.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Yes…very clean. Haven is awesome. But NOT on every ship. Aft on the Viva is the best.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Perfect. We don’t need anything else you got it close to ideal.

Ship tip

Stay in the Haven and take advantage of that infinity pool deck. I think the pool on the main ship is too small. Don’t think the ship experience would be anywhere near as good as the Haven. Not true on other ships. Haven in the Epic for example barely OK…

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