VIVA ship is an acronym for Very Inferior Vessel Avoid! The “management” staff was horrible. They had a canned rehearsed excuse for everything. Made NO attempt to fix anything or make any accommodations for our issues. Lies from the very start!
What a huge disappointment and WASTE of $8,000! NEVER, EVER, AGAIN!
Embarkation
2 out of 5
Our 10-day cruise in August of 2024 started in “Rome” and ended in “Venice”. But wait, we had to get on the shuttle at a cost of $50 per person and drove two hours from Rome to get on the ship? Our 10-day cruise was really 8 days. Couldn’t get on the ship in “Rome” until 4pm!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Cagney's Steakhouse was awesome. We purchased the Dining experience upgrade. The filet mignon and shrimp cocktail were outstanding. The entire meal was perfect. So much food that my wife and I could finish our meals. HOWEVER, they even screwed us again! When we ask for a doggie box for the leftovers, they said that was not possible. Had a canned rehearsed BS statement “It’s not allowed, you can’t take ANY food back to the cabin, that’s what room service is for!”
I can understand this policy for the buffet, but EVERYTHING we couldn’t finish AND PAID FOR went in the garbage and for what reason?
There are two buffets, both have identical hours and are ONLY open from 8:30am to 10:30am for breakfast, 1pm to 3pm for lunch and dinner is 5:30pm to 9:30pm .WHY? Couldn’t stagger the times between the two? Oh but wait, that’s what room service is for!
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
Most of the movies cost $10 or more. There were 6 drama, 6 comedy and 6 action movies that were free. Again nickel-and-dime.
Fabolous arcade room, amazing virtual reality games, 2000+ square feet.
HOWEVER, NOTHING WAS FREE! Air Hockey was the least expensive at $2, nearly everything else was $9 per person for 4 minutes of playtime. Hence NO ONE was in game room, NO ONE. The attended did have a canned rehearsed BS statement though… “well sir, we do offer a package deal, would you like to take advantage of our huge discount offer for unlimited play for the remained of the cruise, it’s only $199 per person”
Darts in the Pub cost $5 a person per hour! Miniature Golf cost $10 a person!
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The Fleetwood Mac cover band was awesome.
The show in the main theater was also top notch and worth attending.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
The staff was great! The bartenders for the pool area were on top of everything and remember what we ordered from the day before.
The waiters and waitresses were also great, nice and professional.
Ship Quality
1 out of 5
The ship has over 3000 guests and yet the main pool has a maximum occupancy of 24? WTH?
There were easily 50 people just standing in the pool most of the time.
There were two infinity pools on deck 8, which had a maximum occupancy of 12 and easily had 20+ people squeezed in most of the time. So much so, that we were only able to take a plunge once during our entire 10 days.
Cabin / Stateroom
2 out of 5
Don’t stay on the deck 15! Between 12 midnight and 3am it was roller derby time on deck 16 as the staff replenished supplies for deck 17. It was SO BAD we demanded to switch cabins for anywhere else on the ship. Come to find out it was 106% occupied? WTH! After nearly an hour, they “found” a cabin on deck 13 and finally were able to get a good night rest.
Both cabins on deck 15 and 13 had MISSING screws holding the bathroom door handle, broken door stops and NO fans in the bathroom, canned rehearsed BS statement given was “for our safety due to the potential fire risk”? WTH?
Ship tip
Norwegian Cruise Line should be called Never Cruise Line! Their VIVA ship is an acronym for Very Inferior Vessel Avoid? What a huge disappointment and WASTE of $8,000! NEVER, EVER, AGAIN! Nickel-and-Dime you every chance they could!
when it got time to get off in Venice, we were told the port was closed and we would be getting off in…. wait for it…. Austria! Thank goodness we got the “voucher” for $60 per person two days in advance. The bus trip took nearly 3 hours! AND they only had “vouchers” for 1400 guests, keep in mind there are 3000+ onboard. The ones that missed out on the vouchers had to pay $850 for two OR $1400 for a party of 4 for the black SUVs lined up waiting to fleece the sheep. They cut the Wi-Fi at 6am on our last day! WTH! WHY? Everyone is getting off the ship and we don’t have Wi-Fi to communicate with our party or figure out where to go?
Ships don’t leave from Rome. They do charge for some activities that are more popular so they can ensure they are available for guests. Most cruise lines also offer very limited TV and movie options. That’s not at all an NCL thing.
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