bluesea777

Yes, but I want to hear from @misguy’s review of the Viva.

I think Encore is too big a ship to anchor and tender, so you should be okay as Encore will be docking. We were on Spirit and we anchored and tendered into middle of downtown and it was good!

Who’s your source? Only 2 ships have their winter 2025/6 itineraries listed now: Viva and Pride of America. Still too early to list winter 2025/6 itineraries for other ships.

We just got off the Viva TA crossing and methinks these pics and video might be a deal breaker for you … bottom line: get the Vibe Club pass … 05:56am 06:26am 06:27am a deckhand came out to untie the loungers to put them out … IMG_6401.mov

May I add, explore/research the flights to Istanbul & Venice and pre-cruise hotel days first before deciding on option #1 and #2. We recently were on Viva and although it’s a beautiful ship with nice cabins, we would go on either Breakaway or Dawn over Viva. Viva is very different from other NCL ships (except Prima).

#1 would be the best as it’s off season, less crowds, especially Santorini. Weather would still be warm & pleasant. #2 is next, but still in season. #3 no. Viva cannot tender with their own lifeboats. The other 2 can. Still in season and earlier than Dawn’s.

Right now I'm seeing these: And when I clicked on May & June 2024 I get this: And I see 8 sailings listed. Also our Bermuda Marine & Ports released the 2024 cruise schedule and Joy is listed as coming to Bermuda from New York weekly throughout summer 2024. The other NCL ship coming to Bermuda weekly is the Gem from Boston.

Here are the photos of the stage where the trivias took place - in Improv and Syd Norman’s …

@JIMESOPUS you're dead on right about the bars on Viva. I wasn't able to get my fave martinis on Viva - I was able to enjoy loads of them on other ships over the years. The Cosmopolitan martini was even pre-mixed!!! Another thing, we are Trivia and Game Show buffs and enjoy going to them a lot on other ships, but on Viva .... what a joke! The only two rooms they can do trivia/game shows with visual aids (laptop and screen) are Improv and Syd Normans - only if they are available. Otherwise they are held in either Metropolitain or deck 6 atrium area without visual aids ... useless to me as I'm hearing impaired. DH said the acoustics in the atrium was so bad that he couldn't hear the person saying the questions properly!!

Righto! I bought a nice white top and neon print capris for the Glow party on Viva, only for it not to happen! I'll save them for the next cruise as long as it isn't a prima class ship!

I don't think the lunch menus change.

I don’t know if you have been to Indulge Food Court for dinner … it’s quiet there and the dinner time menus are different from the lunchtime ones. We very much enjoyed the curries in Tamara and their naan breads are to die for!

If you click on the Embark With NCL (top right) there is a 3 min video about Clarense Bennett aka the Chocolate Cowboy).

Yeppers, Clarense is on the Joy, and I’m not surprised. He lives to make highballs, cocktails, martinis, etc the way he has been accustomed to doing over the 22 years he has been with NCL. He is a brilliant bartender and a fun one too. If you ask him to think of a drink containing certain liquors he’ll whip up one for you. This is his way. I asked the bartenders in Metropolitan while on Viva about him and what they told us didn’t surprise me. Both Prima & Viva have scaled down the cocktail/drink menus in every bar and also cut back the variety of liquors … your fave ones might not be there … I love martinis and when I asked for the ones I’ve had on other (non-Prima class) ships over the years I was told they don’t carry the correct liquors/ingredients on board. So Clarense must be happy to be back on Joy to spend his last years of his NCL career mixing up and serving up his personal storm - good for him. By the way the Joy will be back to Bermuda for the summer 2024. We disembarked the Viva yesterday in Miami - it was easy one - face recognition. We have decided to carry on sailing on other ships and will steer clear of the Prima class ships. The Viva TA was our 30th NCL cruise. Lastly, the lengthy US Immigration on board the Viva in St. Thomas was due to the fact that there looked to be more non-US citizens than the US ones (they finished long before us), and many of them were using the ESTA for the first time (to the USA) and they had to have their thumb and finger prints taken and that took a bit of time. We (being on deck 9) queued for 2.5 hours for a 15 second inspection as they didn’t require our prints, just a photo (which in turn is used for the disembarkation face recognition). There were only 4 officers sitting at table for us non-US and 2 standing up (brought over from the then-finished US Imm.) for the Canadians. @mking8288 sorry for the lengthy post … but I enjoy reading your reviews and pictures!!

No more Porthouse steak in Cagney’s! This was the case during our recent cruise on the Viva. We were disappointed.

next to Metropolitan.

Who’s “they” and which terminal/ship and did that happen today? We got off the Viva at Terminal B this morning just fine!

RCCL’s Vision of the Seas docked at Terminal C.

Today (Nov 27, 2023) 7 ships are docked in Port of Miami, one more is coming in, making it 8 !!! NCL Viva in at Terminal B and NCL Sky is at Terminal V.

We have had ice cream from there when we were done eating in Indulge at lunchtime.

We have done Indulge several times and often stopped at The Local bar for glasses of wine to carry to the Indulge. Last night after the early Beetlejuice show (that was fab - about the best show NCL has ever put on) we went to Indulge for curry meal with fresh baked naan breads - fab - one of our fave dinners on Viva.

Breakaway & Getaway also have lifeboats sticking out like the Escape. These 3 plus the Epic are the 4 NCL ships that cannot do the Panama transit. The Joy, Bliss and Encore were built after the Escape.

We went to Surfside Cafe at 5:30 to get some turkey, and we must say it was so good. They offered all vegs (incl. Brussels sprouts that were good!) and side dishes as well as delicious giblets gravy and cranberry sauce. This is our 30th NCL cruise and we have come to the realization that the Garden/Surfside Cafe really do serve excellent turkey dinners. Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Epic has the same problem as Escape: her lifeboats also sticks out.

Metropolitian? We’re there often …. there’s better show (the bar, that is) there to watch than the Press Your Luck 🤓