ColdCruise

@Von & John Do you really live in Talkeetna? We had a great stay there driving a rental RV from Anchorage to Denali. Did the long ride in the air boat - great fun! Is that Thai restaurant still open on the road into Talkeetna? Had one of the best drunken noodles there, so good we stopped on our way back south to get it again. Really cool owner/chef/cook!

@sjacobs11 - I think you’ll love it … and I don’t even know you 😁 you get a bird’s eye view of everyone shooting down the drop .. the only clear section is in front and off to the side of the deck 14 SJ. IDK the cabin number as there are slight differences in numbers between deck, ie if our suite was 15196 , the suite above and below us were not necessarily 1x196.

Sorry, @sbobsbob & @Sammae We arrived back home last week, kind of crazy. However I have quite a few photos of the SJ on deck 15 - 15196 in my trip report. I kind of want to keep it a secret as there was so much complaining about Pt1ma’s cabins by the slides … but the room was great and the slide no problem at all. I’d definitely book it again. There were a couple issues with the room, but the butler, steward and concierge quickly addressed them. Almost Live …. Sailing Aboard the NCL Viva on Her Maiden Trans-Atlantic [BTW, not my photo … someone unfortunately posted their photo in my thread instead of the Roll Call. I’d planned to post my first sighting of the V!va as the first photo so it’d be the headliner photo. Irksome that I couldn’t delete it or insert the V!va earlier in the thread. Most of the other photos are mine, so please disregard any quality issues like upside down rooms or floating people…] I’m making an index for the trip report, but here are parts that may be of interest on this thread: posts 35-37 for suite 15196 photos and comments post 23 for photos of a temporary inside We used one night posts 45, 147 for the lunch & breakfast menus at Cagney’s posts 88, 134, 170 for the food from those menus i am still planning to update more info on that thread, but ask any questions … just make sure you tag me so I get a notice.

Ohio is too exotic of a location for the masses - regular ole ships just can’t handle it and you have to use mostly expedition lines or luxury lines, eg new Viking. 😉😉😆

We’ve ordered the cheese option in MDR as dessert and as an appetizer but I think mostly before Covid shutdown, not on our last 2 cruises. It was listed on the menu with the desserts. It came with crackers but don’t remember what type. I vaguely remember seeing it on Viva last month, but didn’t order it. We had our secret stash in the cabin since we splurged out on a suite (well really only 350pp more than our balcony … so not a huge splurge). Unfortunately for the budget, hubs now wants to stay in suites….. can pax just bring on a package of their own choosing in their luggage? If anyone questions it just say you need it to counteract nausea….

Not being sarcastic @CrGuy but what would you say makes Perdernales worth visiting? We’re on the Sky porting at Cabo Rojo on 27 Nov and I am finding it difficult to obtain info, and especially hard to find alternatives to the IMO rather pricy NCL excursions of $120-150 for 4 hours (1 beach break at only $80). We’re in port from 8 to 3. We like snorkeling, so were hoping to find a way to do that as long as it’s not with a crazy packed cruise ship excursion that dumps you off in the water regardless of swimming ability. My husband and travel friends did that once on our first cruise (incidentally on the NCL Sky) and it was crazy - too choppy, people puking up all over the packed boat, 30 minutes in the water to “ snorkel”. The excursion should have either gone to a different area ( calm waters were available for other excursions) or cancelled. Didn’t know they were taking the boat out to an area with rough seas. On the other hand I went on a different non-ship adventure and the waters were beautifully flat. So I’m skeptical about being crammed onto a boat packed to maximize cash flow, and will go out regardless of water conditions. But if you have any leads for private guides….. I’d appreciate your sharing the info!

@BirdTravels thanks for another well documented & detailed trip report! It’s pretty interesting when there’s concurrent reports for the same cruise, see We had 2 reporting (I thought I saw a 3rd thread early on) on V!va’s Maiden Transatlantic (16-27 Nov, Lisbon to Miami) It was especially interesting reading @JIMESOPUS report as he went to several different activities we couldn’t make. There were so many competing activities, we couldn’t do everything we were interested in but we could read Jim’s reporting and grumble when we missed something great 😆 Both our reports are in the Live Reports section. He did a B2B so started about 10 days earlier.

@breadandbutter The butler brought us similar cheese trays to Birds’ every other day, with too few crackers. They were always the water crackers, with some extra saltines one day (?!?). We asked for extra. of course that only applies to suites/havens, but you can ask your waiter for some of these as … obviously… they exist onboard. Photos of cheese availability in my Almost Live thread Note: some guys’ photos hijacked my thread cuz the posted the first photo - kind of ticks me off every time I post a link since it looks like they are the ones who authored the thread. (Due to work, I tend to be a stickler for correct attribution) Note to all people posting Lives or post-cruise Reports…post a photo or image quickly. I was planning to post a photo of the actual new ship as the first headliner photo

We were on the V!va transatlantic ( 16-27 Nov, which was several cruises BEFORE the cruise people are calling the “INAUGURAL” on Dec 2). They were out of several wines on the Premium and Premium+ packages, including the Inniskillin ice wine. They were pouring Veuve (not the rose) in Le Bistro and Paladar, by the glass and by the bottle. other observations: several wines that used to be on the Premium package were “upgraded” to be a member of the Premium+ package most of the current «Premium» wines retail for well under $15US per bottle and Are not wines I’d necessarily buy. Kind of ruining the whole unlimited bevy idea for me. But paying the per glass upcharge for the Premium+ wines by the glass was cheaper than buying the whole Premium+ upgrade. (I mostly drink wine but love the martinis too) they were out of other premium alcohols in addition to wines. Wine staff and a bartender said they just didn’t get several items/brands on board in Europe. Even European beverages are shipped to the US then sent back to Europe to provision ships. (My assumption something to do with ATF and taxes). and a recommendation: if you’re really into Veuve and only Veuve, and embarking from a US port, go to Costco and buy it (if they can sell alcohol). A whole bottle is close to the NCL price for a glass 😁

Ahh that explains why I missed the triple up - cramming in a bunch og workshop befriende er flere out to Portugal on the 11th for the V!va TA.thank you @vacation44

Expedition cruising you may see polar bears but I think it’s unlikely on NCL unless there’s an excursion. But then they do wander into the Svarlbad town limits from time to time and I saw photos of 2 by the airport. good luck on your cruise. … I’m going to go check out the itinerary now 😁

On the TA the beds in the infinity pool were “occupied” by 07:00 every sea day. Our cabin (15196) had a great view to that area and there was always stuff, sometimes people too, on the beds when I went out on the balcony to photo sunrise. There are only 3 beds in each pool area. I think NCL should time limit them so people don’t camp out all day… worse than the pool deck chair hogs. I correct myself - well we did have 1 sea day that was a bit rough, no one out that day.

@misguy may I suggest bringing the dailies up in the app and screen shotting them with your phone or tablet (whatever mobile your using)? It worked wonderfully for me on Viva’s TA - I was able to crop them to remove the parts from the previous and/or next pages and post them immediately. I think they looked cleaner and I didn’t have to worry about glare or shadows. Of course, it took me a day or two to think of that and Viva staff dint have the daily up a couple times till mid- morning (defined as anytime after 7:30am) so my “Almost Live…” has both techniques posted.

@Adam Packett agree with @gizfish Call and ask to speak with the RESOLUTIONS DEPARTMENT. Give them the date and time you talked with the rep and made the upgrade.They can pull up the recording of your conversation. This helped us get an expensive BOGO airfare credited when our PCC forgot to put in the 2 day deviation. We didn’t know that was missing until we got our air arrangements with arrival at a European destination 4 hours before departure (a lot of pax missed the original departure). and in fairness to the PCC, he told us to call resolution cuz he wasn’t able to change anything at that point. He is almost always on point.

A Triple Up promotion? 😱 when was that? I totally missed it 😭😫😭 how was it announced? I’ve never seen that before and, now I’m back to regular working routine, not checking boards or NCL site as often …darn

That was a nice opportunity! Thanks for sharing your photos!

Thanks so much for sharing that @insidecabin ! Was your main galley tour part of the Latitudes Behind the Scene tour, the $149 tour or something else? the Latitudes BtS tour I went on started with the Onda kitchen (they didn’t refer to it as a galley but as a kitchen due to association with Scarpetta, I believe).

I like both La Cucina and Onda. However, if I had to choose …. Onda. we just got off Viva in Miami, are there 2x in 11 day cruise. The “star” pizza however wasn’t as good as on Prima - topping were skimpy. OTOH, the filet at Onda was the best steak on board Viva! And, as others mentioned, the “bread service” is great! we were informed that the Onda team were trained by Scarpetti staff to ensure they accurately replicated the recipes, as well as table service and uniforms.

Yes the buffet was definitely ice MILK. Didn’t try the o neon deck 8. As previously mentioned it was never open when I was in the area. Hmmm, maybe they closed when they saw me on deck?

I noticed several wines on Premium Plus that I drank on the Premium package previously (Sep 22 and prior) totally not impressed with the current Premium wine line up - currently fewer choices and then from really low bottle price points & quality.

@KKB & @PATRLR I agree- the only way Berlinger white Zin and “premium” belong together is in some marketing fool’s mind, a marketing fool who never drank anything more than cheap plonk. I don’t think I’ve had that since (or if ever?) college days…more than a couple decades ago! I tried it on board, it was free, and quickly moved on. @KKB I too am a fan of the winking owl PG - great summer wine for picnics, patios & parties, etc.

Yes. I signed up via ID.me, linked from NCL’s veterans program oage https://www.ncl.com/military?intcmp=pro_sl_military3 now when I am logged in, I always see the military discount rate (-10%)

no its not. No thanksgiving decorations either - last thanksgiving we dId a T A, the dining rooms were decorated with all kinds of carved fruit, etc (was on Epic). I did hear rumors the kitchen staff are prepping Christmas decor (gingerbread houses were mentioned). I think the next cruise if a fam cruise for the industry & influencer crowd - there’s a small gap in the cruise schedule but crew are talking about tomorrow being turn over day. enjoy your 6 Dec cruise - we looked at but couldn’t swing it AND the TA (still working)

And the new Veterans appreciation package in our stateroom after checkin

Dinner at Hudsons, Day 1 Premium package wine Apps Main courses Desserts