Overall great cruise, but left me missing sea days
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Went surprisingly fast! I had heard bad things about embarking in San Juan, so I was pleasantly surprised when we boarded the ship likely within 20 minutes of arrival!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The complimentary food tasted as expected across the ship, but some options I enjoyed on past ships were missing here, particularly at breakfast time. The only speciality restaurant I ate at was Hasuki, where I tried steak for the first time, and it was pretty good. The fried rice was very good.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
This I feel is one of the weak points of the Prima class, at least if you’re not willing to pay extra. The dry slides didn’t really interest me, and I only did the water slide on the last day of the cruise to avoid lines. We did the racetrack one time and it was fun, but costs extra. I personally find it a strange decision to dedicate so much space to something you’ll likely only do once a trip.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Most of the staff on this ship were very nice and provided quick and good service. I did not see my cabin steward much, but he did a good job keeping my cabin clean. I never felt like I was ignored at a restaurant or like I was bothering anyone.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
I sailed on the Prima in 2023 and was looking forward to sailing on her sister, and the Viva did not disappoint, I’ve always enjoyed the Prima class. The waterfront is my favorite spot to be on any cruise ship. However on this sailing the port side water catwalk was closed for the entire cruise, which made navigation difficult sometimes. Ship was new and clean as well.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
I had my own inside cabin on deck 15 and it fit all my needs. It was kept clean by my cabin steward, and had lots of outlets so I could charge my things for each day. It was also in a very convenient location. It was close to the aft elevators, meaning I was only 2 flights of stairs below the buffet, which was very convenient in the morning.
Ship tip
The buffet and the grill where they make burgers are split into 2 spaces. Make sure to get to the grill before the buffet closes, or the line will be VERY long.
Barbados was probably the most beautiful port we visited but with one big flaw. We started the day by with a brief history lecture as we drove to our first destination, the beautiful flower forest, which is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited. After that, we got to see some monkeys get fed fruit and walked around an animal enclosure. We also got to see a church at the end of the tour.
My one issue with my day on Barbados was the Saharan air coming from Africa triggered my allergies which led to me feeling less than my best most of the day, which did hinder the experience somewhat but that’s not the fault of the tour guides or anything.
St. Maarten started off a bit strangely, but ended up having my favorite activity of the whole cruise. Me, my dad and his friend rented ATVs from a vendor near the port, and had an awesome couple hours riding around the island. We even rode to the famous beach where the planes come in right over your heads!
My favorite part was when we were riding through the mountains near the port and I saw another cruise ship coming in! It felt like I was in a movie. If you ever come to St. Maarten I definitely recommend this tour. I kept the receipt as a keepsake.
Aside from some mishaps upon arrival (including having to switch hotels on the day of arrival LOL) I generally enjoyed my time in Puerto Rico. We ate at a nice restaurant for dinner and got to walk around the city.
After the cruise we went to a nice resort called The Royal Sonesta, and spent most of the day there. The food at the poolside bar was very good but a bit expensive.
We did the “let’s take a selfie” tour of the island. Tour guide was friendly and entertaining but the tour itself wasn’t the most interesting. The party I was with was very underwhelmed. However, we did have some ice cream at the Rodney bay marina which was good.
We only did a brief excursion in this port to try some local food and rum. I did not enjoy the rum, but most of the actual food I ate was very good! Not much else to say, as this was a short excursion and we went right back to the ship when it was done.
Very messy and disorganized disembarkation. We didn’t disembark until later in the morning, which meant that elevators were packed, and when we did finally get off, it took a long time to get a ride out of the pier. Friends in our group who checked their luggage mentioned conflicting information from different crew members as to when they could disembark.
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