BenCoudon

For the next class of ships, they will begin with NCL Del Rio 🙂

I am sure that the name ULTIMA will be used for the last ship #6

Just want to have your thoughts about this change. NCL announced a fleet wide adjustments to their solo cabins https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/newsroom/norwegian-cruise-line-announces-fleetwide-expansion-of-its-solo-stateroom-category/?fbclid=IwAR0liCMGBFAoE4qzbmYiwacyRdzQPWeXjoED2YtdBcDEKH0s1EAFTg_O_JA In addition to the current solo cabins, they are now offering bookings for Oceanview and Balcony solo cabins. I was chatting with a travel agent and she mentioned that all what NCL does now is to use current double occupancy cabins and make them single occupancy. No changes in the actual cabin. This change include both Prima and Viva. So it reduces the overall ship capacyty. And regardless where your solo cabin will be located, your key card will give you access to the solo lounge (for ships that have one). We will all agree that if you compare today's space available on the solo cabins to the space you will have on a Balcony cabin with single occupancy, there is a huge difference. I think that with the construction of the last 3 Prima class ships (it is probably too late to make changes for the Leonardo #3), I wouldn't be surprised that they would come up with a redesigned section to build balcony cabins for solos that would be much smaller than the current balcony cabins, They may do the same thing for OV cabins. What's your opinion on that?

Shave it off Tom LOL

As many others here, I sailed the B2B cruises on the Inaugural sailings on the Prima last year. There was lots of reviews and comments and I posted my share of them. I just watched the video made by some youtubers that were on the inaugural sailing of the Viva. My interest was more on the video they made than their comments. After the inaugural sailings, Harry Sommer, (the new CEO of NCLH) said that the ship was 95% perfect. So I am not surprised to see that the Viva is 98% identical to the Prima. I noticed only 3 changes. 1. Yes the starbuck outlet has been removed from the Indulge food hall. That may add between 15 and 20 seats in the food hall. 2. In the Metropolitan bar, they made a more permanent area for live music. And, they add what appears to be a huge interactive board on the wall that goes the lenght of that bar. 3. To mitigate the issue of lack of seats at the Buffet restaurant, they said that mainly for breakfast, people can take their plate and go sit in the Food Republic restaurant which is not that far. As for the other features of the ship, it is identical to the Prima. And I got the impression that they even added more shops on the ship. All the other issues that were mentioned for the Prima have not been addressed. May be they will say that when the Prima was launched, the Viva was already in construction and major changes were not possible. So we will have to wait to 2025 for the launch of the 3rd ship to see if they took into account some of our comments.

Found this article in the Crew Center website The name of the Norwegian Cruise Line's third Prima class cruise ship could be Norwegian Aqua. The unexpected appearance of this name within the booking engine has ignited speculation among cruise enthusiasts. While the official announcement is still pending from Norwegian Cruise Line, it's highly plausible that the upcoming addition, set to be delivered in 2025, could indeed be named as the "Norwegian Aqua." The possibility of a name gaffe has been discounted, as records indicate that Norwegian Cruise Line has already laid claim to the trademark for "Norwegian Aqua." Norwegian Cruise Line secured trademarks for a series of names a few years ago, including "Norwegian Ultima," "Norwegian Luna," "Norwegian Viva," "Norwegian Bella," "Norwegian Vela," "Norwegian Prima," "Norwegian Ombra," "Norwegian Luna," and, significantly, "Norwegian Aqua." The first two Prima Class newbuilds, "Norwegian Prima" and "Norwegian Viva," have already been launched, reinforcing the likelihood that "Norwegian Aqua" is the next contender in line.

Its easy to explain: Harry Summer is much lighter than Frank Del Rio 🙃

I just noticed that I will have a very close look at the Viva next year. I will be boarding the Escape on October 10 2024 in Trieste and, according to port schedule, the Viva will also be docked there on that day. Ships are docking either side of the Trieste maritime terminal. And as the terminal is right downtown I will have a good view of it both from the street and on the upper deck of the Escape once I have boarded the ship But... still 15 months to go for that 🙂

The outdoor space on the Prima and Viva are much much larger than on the Bliss or Encore. The issue is not being outside to look at the scenerie. The issue is they made the eating venues (many specialty restaurants, the indulged food hall, the garden Cafe, and The Locals very small inside with very large outdoor space. So when you have bad weather, people don't want to eat outside and the inside space is overcrowded. 15 to 45 minutes line-ups just to get a table inside. That what I have experienced when I sailed Northern Europe, Iceland and the Trans-Atlantic, We had rain, strong winds and cold weather. There were several days where access to outdoor spaces were prohibited due to strong winds. People that sailed in the Caribean last winter didn't have those issues. Most people on the inaugural cruises last fall had the same comments: Those ships are build for warm weather. Finally, note that the entertaiment venues are very very small. Theater: About 750 seats. Sid Norman's under 50 seats. With 3500 passengers on board, getting a ticket to see the shows is a challenge. There were many complains last year that on a 7 day cruise, people were not able to get tickets to see Donna Summer show. If you don't pre-book your shows or don't do it the minute you are boarding the ship, it was sold out even before the ship sailed away.

If you book the Prima (or the Viva) make sure you will be sailing in warm weather. As most of the public spaces are located outdoor, if you sail in cool or cold weather, you will be end up with overcrowded inside venues

According to Cruisemapper.com, here are the cruises listed for the Viva Date Itinerary Embarkation 2023 Aug 10 9 days, one-way from Trieste to Lisbon Trieste $1149 2023 Aug 19 7 days, one-way from Lisbon to Civitavecchia-Rome Lisbon $1149 2023 Aug 26 9 days, one-way from Civitavecchia-Rome to Trieste Civitavecchia-Rome $1349 2023 Sep 04 9 days, one-way from Trieste to Piraeus-Athens Trieste $2039 2023 Sep 13 10 days, one-way from Piraeus-Athens to Civitavecchia-Rome Piraeus-Athens $2499 2023 Sep 23 8 days, one-way from Civitavecchia-Rome to Lisbon Civitavecchia-Rome $1749 2023 Oct 01 9 days, one-way from Lisbon to Civitavecchia-Rome Lisbon $1039 2023 Oct 10 9 days, one-way from Civitavecchia-Rome to Trieste Civitavecchia-Rome $2199 2023 Oct 19 9 days, one-way from Trieste to Piraeus-Athens Trieste $1849 2023 Oct 28 9 days, one-way from Piraeus-Athens to Civitavecchia-Rome Piraeus-Athens $3499 2023 Nov 06 10 days, one-way from Civitavecchia-Rome to Lisbon Civitavecchia-Rome $929 2023 Nov 16 11 days, one-way from Lisbon to Miami Lisbon $879 2023 Dec 02 4 days, round-trip Bahamas Great Stirrup Cay Key West Miami

At least, you know that it will be similar to the Prima. It was worst for us a year ago when we were getting ready to sail on the Prima and there was absolutely no information available except what great people on the Cruise Critic page were able to find out. The first real pictures we got was 2 weeks prior to my cruise when media boarded the cruise in Reykjavik for the media cruise

It would be nice indeed. But I don't think that adding more seats in the venue is a factor should they made that decision. For the 22 days I was on the Prima, I never saw lots of people buying stuff at that Starbuck. If they remove it, it would be because they don't make money with it. This ship has been designed to maximize additional revenue. X-Large Casino that reduced the atrium, X-Large Galaxy Pavillion that reduce 60% of the observation lounge, X-Large Vibe that removed 75% of the normal space of the Garden Cafe, Private office for the Art auction people that removed lots of space at Sid Norman, etc. etc. If you look at the amount of space allocated to Duty free shops compared to similar or even larger size ships, it is huge.

Agreed. It appears that NCL has all kind of problems to incorporate new ships into their restaurants and other amenities reservation systems. Last year, while on the Prima, an officer explained to me that there is a component in the system that has to be completed by the staff onboard the ship. It has someting to do with the confirmation of the number of seats available in each venue. And it cannot be done until the NCL staff has boarded the new ship, which is about 2 to 3 weeks prior to the first sailing. So it is safe to say that the situation will repeat itself for every new ship.I had the same issue with reserving a venue for the meet & greet and the gift exchange game. I received confirmation about 10 days prior to sailing.

I don't think you need to make reservations at neither Hudson nor the Commodore complimentary dining rooms. Both are rather huge and never saw them with a line-up. And I am not even sure if they accept reservations. You show up when ever you are ready and it will not be a problem.

You may remember that the Prima, after few days of sea trials, went to dry dock in Trieste for about 1 week (if I remember correctly). May be this is standard procedures for Fincantierie when they do sea trials

For the sea trials of the Viva, this is in line with what the Fincantierie guy told me on April 7. As it appears they are few days ahead of schedule, this is a good sign.

I don't think you need to worry. You may want to read the latest press release concerning the Viva dated March 23, 2023 (few weeks ago) https://www.nclhltd.com/news-media/press-releases/detail/537/norwegian-cruise-line-announces-tony-award-nominated The press release states: Debuting in August 2023, Norwegian Viva will sail a selection of bucket-list worthy Greek Isles and Mediterranean voyages through November, before homeporting in San Juan, Puerto Rico in December for a season of Caribbean itineraries.

As I was away for the last month, I am not sure if anyone saw this information. It was included in the press release that covered the 2022 NCLH financial satement "The Company has modified certain existing newbuild contracts which has resulted in an increase in ship contract costs of approximately €1.2 billion. These changes include the previously communicated modification and enlargement of the last four Prima Class vessels as well as additional modifications to the final two ships in this class to accommodate the use of green methanol as an alternative fuel source in the future. Compared to the first-generation Prima Class vessels, these changes will result in an approximately 10% increase in gross tonnage for the third and fourth ships and an approximately 20% increase in gross tonnage for the fifth and sixth ships. As a result, delivery dates for these ships have shifted and the Company now expects one next generation Prima Class ship to be delivered each year from 2025 through 2028. " So the 3rd ship will not be delivered until 2025. No new ship in 2024

I have already booked Seattle to Miami, 21 days, starting October 28 in the Haven of the Encore. I did 10 days in the Haven on the Prima and I didn't like it. And Harry Sommer said that the Viva will be almost identical to the Prima. So no thanks for me. We all have our own preferences and although they did a great job with the Cabins on the Prima class, I find there are so many design issues on this new class of ship. Just one example: the observation lounge is about 1/3 of the size of the Bliss or Encore. This is because they allocated most of the space to the Galaxie Pavillon (more revenue). On sea days, if you arrive there after 9:30 am, no seats available. These ships are not for me. Have a great cruise

Not sure I will see that guy again. He was on the ship only for a few days. For the Nov 16-27 TA, I cancelled that cruise after my sailing on the Prima inaugural sailings last October. I will see what changes they are making on Leonardo #3 before booking again this class of ship.

I am currently in Rome, cruising on the Oceania Riviera. At a bar, I met a guy that is working for Fincantierie and he boarded my ship to do some work to prepare the introduction of the next Oceania Ship this fall. He appeared to be quite aware of the schedule of the NCLH with Fincantierie He said that the sea trials for the Viva are currently scheduled for the 2nd week of May. But that is flexible. It may happen 1 weak earlier or 1 or 2 weeks later but thus far, everything seems on schedule. He also mentioned that several problems that have been identified during the sea trials of the Prima and since the introduction of the Prima have already been fixed on the Viva. So he expects the sea trials to be a bit shorter this time. But they have a big log of tests that have to be performed and all of them must be done.

I did not talk about the Norway weather. We all agree that it was far than optimal. I said that the reason we did not had space issue was because we were far to be at full capacity. I confirmed with one officer and also with the Haven concierge that we were just shy of 2300 passengers on the Copenhagen to Southampton cruise. So it was about 55% full. For the disembarking in Southampton, I can't comment as I continued to New York City. But totally agree with you that for the later part of the cruise (Amsterdam, Bruges and Le Havre, weather was really too cold to use the outdoor area for meals.

Everyone is entitled to his opinion. I presume that people that didn't experience issues with the size of the buffet, the indulge food hall and the locals were sailing on the Prima after she arrived in the Caribean. I sailed the back to back Copenhagen to Southampton and then to New York city vial Iceland. For the first cruise, we had no space issues as we were sailing under 50% capacity. But the TA was a totally different story. As the weather was cold and rainy, it was not possible to eat outside. For the buffet, it was very difficult to find a place to sit between 7:30 am and 9:00. And I don't consider the food hall being a good alternative as, for breakfast, it is "grab and go". My preference is not pre-prepared food. For the locals, again before we were not able to use the outdoor space, on several sea days, there was a 45 minutes line-up for lunch. Similar situation with the Food hall. It was fully packed for lunch. Speaking of space, although the 3 level atrium is beautiful, there are almost no space to sit except at the Whisky bar on deck 8. If you need to go to the internet cafe, good luck. It is squeezed behind the Starbucks. As for the observation lounge on deck 17, it has 1/3 of the size of the one on the Encore. Most of the space was allocated to the Galaxy Pavillion. The Prima as many nice features. I really enjoyed the cabins. I already cancelled my bookings on the Viva and unless the itinerary is exceptionnal in a warm climate area, I will not sail her again

For the Trans-atlantic Southampton to NewYork, I was in forward facing cabin 13702. Never heard the glimpse of a noise due to the theatre below.