Just back from 10 days in the Med on the Viva, having done a similar cruise on the Escape 2 years ago and decided I would share some thoughts that might be of help to some. I guess a lot of this isn't new information but nonetheless!...
The Ship: Beautiful ship and very modern. Also a bit difficult to navigate! Soleil Bar at the back was a great place to watch the sunset, and also curiously the only place that one could get an IPA beer on board, so I was there regularly. The mini golf was fun, but some of the screens weren't working which kind of confused things. Photographs are so expensive I actually laughed when I saw the prices.
The Room: We were in aft facing penthouse with master bedroom and balcony, basically the cheapest Haven room in which you can realistically have 4 people. Room was lovely, TV offering was good. Walk in closet seems like a bit of a waste of some space. Nice big balcony (balcony size on this class varies wildly by deck) but didn't spend much time on it. The lack of a stocked minibar at this price point is crazy to me.
The Haven: A lovely area but a lot of the lounge felt like dead space. They could do with not having so many partitions and making the bar area feel a bit bigger and more lively. There was no music, no TV to watch the Olympics and no entertainment whatsoever up there. The pool area was great during the day. A spectacular place to spend the afternoons but it dies a death in the evening. The outdoor bar closes early and after 7:30 pm basically nobody is outside. If they made this area more like the Soleil bar and left the next deck up house the majority of the sunbeds, it would be an improvement.
Overall the much bigger Haven detracted from the previous experience. It felt less personalised and exclusive. We were still seeing people on day 10 that we hadnt seen previously. They also seemed to be a bit more penny pinching. Last time out the bar guys were happy to pour me some Macallan Enigma to try. This time they were taking $3+ upcharge if we wanted an espresso martini.
The Food: Generally worse than last time, but broadly still very good. Static Haven menu is a downside, and every time one of us ordered a steak it was overdone based on what we had asked for. Lobster also didn't seem as nice this time. Closing breakfast at 9:30 seems early. Ordered room service a few times and they sent the wrong thing twice. Elsewhere the Surfside Cafe seemed like bedlam at traditional meal times. Indulge was very good. Main dining seemed decent, and we did Onda and Los Lobos as the specialities which were find. Tried Le Bistro but I couldn't go in because the one pair of long pants I brought with me I had left in Lisbon! Generally the speciality restaurants strike me as more of the same, and are nothing beyond a typical dinner you might have at home in an OK restaurant.
Entertainment: Pretty good overall. Comedian was good but the shows were mostly audience interaction without much material. Beetlejuice was good but musicals aren't my thing at all. Popped my head in to see one band and the guitarist was clearly miming which was a bit poor. Trivia and karaoke were nice family activities.
Disembarking: Last time we had a room service breakfast at 9 and wandered off the ship at 9:45. This time we were told that breakfast finished at 8:30. We went to the Haven restaurant at 8:20 and were told breakfast finished at 8. They did whip us up some omelettes but we felt very rushed. We were then dumped into the cowshed terminal in Rome which was total chaos. Overall, having to be up at 7:30 is not a nice way to end a relaxing holiday that you have paid a fortune for.
Price: Got hooked on the Haven experience in 2022 when we got a decent price as things were recovering. This time it was pretty much 2x as expensive, and on the whole I would say no better an experience. I will hold off on cruising NCL again unless I can find a Haven deal for 20-30% less than this one cost, on one of the ships with a smaller Haven.
