Hi there! New to NCL, booked Viva - leaving out of San Juan, a few questions

[lemon bar]

Hi all, previously booked on Celebrity, but canceled for reasons you probably won't care about. 😄

 

So we were looking for a port heavy itinerary and wanted to leave out of San Juan for a change so we could stay there for a few days before. NCL Viva has the perfect cruise (we think).

We are going in 2024 and we chose Easter week. (i know, i know, but dates worked out and it was a good deal)

 

Somehow, I don't know how, I was able to book an AFT balcony room on the 9th floor. Looks like there are only 2 available that aren't suites! 

I read some criticisms of Prima on how small the pool area is, but since we are in port every day, we aren't that concerned.

I also know it's a MUST to make reservations for shows, but again not that concerned. Since we are pretty much island hopping, I will be very happy to sit and drink some wine on deck, watching the islands fade away into the night.

Dining- we don't pick a time? Do you just make reservations?

 

Of course no one can give thoughts on this ship since it hasn't sailed yet, but how about sailing from the port in San Juan? Any advice? We've only sailed from Port Canaveral before.

Ports include Tortola, St. John, St. Lucia, St. Marteen, St. Thomas, Barbados - any ports you'd suggest spending part of day enjoying the ship?

 

I'm also reading Viva has been cancelling some cruises in 2023, so as with everything in life, nothing is guaranteed. 

 

I guess those are all my questions for now, but if you can think of anything I should know in particular, let me know!

 

thanks! 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by lemon bar

[BirdTravels]

37 minutes ago, lemon bar said:

Somehow, I don't know how, I was able to book an AFT balcony room on the 9th floor. Looks like there are only 2 available that aren't suites! 

 

I read some criticisms of Prima on how small the pool area is, but since we are in port every day, we aren't that concerned.

 

I also know it's a MUST to make reservations for shows, but again not that concerned. Since we are pretty much island hopping, I will be very happy to sit and drink some wine on deck, watching the islands fade away into the night.

 

Dining- we don't pick a time? Do you just make reservations?

 

An aft balcony sounds wonderful. We were in a forward facing room on our October Prima cruise. 

 

NCL has spread out the sundeck to include the pool area and almost all of Deck 8 with loungers, and small pools. There is ample deck space for a 3100 passenger ship. 

 

Complimentary Dining: NCL embraces Freestyle Cruising. You show up to complimentary restaurants when you are hungry and when it fits your busy schedule.

 

For Specialty Restaurants, you must make reservations exactly 120 days prior to departure starting at 12 midnight eastern time (priority guests will have access to the reservation system 130 days and 125 days prior to departure). 

 

Formal Nights: Do not exist on Freestyle cruises. Dress up as much or as little as you want. Shorts are allowed in all restaurants for all meals except Le Bistro and Palomar where gents are asked to wear long pants (jeans or dockers are fine). You are on vacation and you can be as casual or formal as you want. 

 

San Juan has had problems with embarkations since larger ships have started to home port there. Hopefully all of that will be fixed by the time you sail. But the current advice is to get to the port very early and let the crowds form behind you. 

 

We have sailed on the Viva's sister, the Prima twice. Here's a link to our live post. 

 

[lemon bar]

Thank you @BirdTravels!!! This is so helpful. I didn't even see that we should book dining 120 days out! So happy you told me this.

 

We plan to be in San Juan Thursday or Friday and ship leaves on Sunday, so we will for sure get there early if appears there are still issues. We also decided to fly home on Monday instead of Sunday just in case any issues! 

[BirdTravels]

8 minutes ago, lemon bar said:

Thank you @BirdTravels!!! This is so helpful. I didn't even see that we should book dining 120 days out! So happy you told me this.

 

We plan to be in San Juan Thursday or Friday and ship leaves on Sunday, so we will for sure get there early if appears there are still issues. We also decided to fly home on Monday instead of Sunday just in case any issues! 

Have a great cruise!

 

We love the charm of Old San Juan. The other side of the island gets kinda touristy for us. We had planned to sail out of San Juan on the Epic this year, but decided to wave-off after recent reports of embarkation / disembarkation drama. Maybe we'll join you on the Viva. 

 

[Sailing12Away]

If you like port intensive trips, leaving out of San Juan is perfect. We did an 11 day southern Caribbean trip from there and it was amazing. Not a lot of downtime, but we're not huge fans of sea days so for us it was perfect. We stayed one night before the cruise in Old San Juan and got to walk all over town. Ate some amazing food, and the next day took a shared bus with a few other travelers from the hotel over to the port.

[lemon bar]

40 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

If you like port intensive trips, leaving out of San Juan is perfect. We did an 11 day southern Caribbean trip from there and it was amazing. Not a lot of downtime, but we're not huge fans of sea days so for us it was perfect. We stayed one night before the cruise in Old San Juan and got to walk all over town. Ate some amazing food, and the next day took a shared bus with a few other travelers from the hotel over to the port.

 

Thanks! If you could give the name of the hotel and any others you think are good, let me know! We will probably be there 2 nights before cruise, but not arriving until late afternoon the first day.

[GreenFamily]

The alt balcony on the 9th floor is set back so that you don’t get a direct view of the wake, but of the indulge food hall and the soliel bar. I’m not sure how private it will be during lunch and dinner. It should be fine in the evenings with great views. Personally, I would be fine with it. 

[ColeThornton]

4 minutes ago, lemon bar said:

 

Thanks! If you could give the name of the hotel and any others you think are good, let me know! We will probably be there 2 nights before cruise, but not arriving until late afternoon the first day.

 

 

Check out the San Juan forum for lots of good hotel information.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/80-san-juan-pr/

[lemon bar]

1 minute ago, GreenFamily said:

The alt balcony on the 9th floor is set back so that you don’t get a direct view of the wake, but of the indulge food hall and the soliel bar. I’m not sure how private it will be during lunch and dinner. It should be fine in the evenings with great views. Personally, I would be fine with it. 

 

Thanks! Yes I found a picture of one on the Prima. It's pretty long! It might be fun to bring the chairs to the edge and stare at everyone eating. 😂

 

But it is set back like you said, so no looking straight down into the water. But since most of our days are at ports and the actual sailing during the night, I feel like the view would be pretty relaxing at night?

[Sailing12Away]

12 hours ago, lemon bar said:

 

Thanks! If you could give the name of the hotel and any others you think are good, let me know! We will probably be there 2 nights before cruise, but not arriving until late afternoon the first day.

This is the one we stayed at. Walking distance to a lot of scenic things, nice and clean, and they have a free happy hour where we ran into a bunch of fellow cruise travelers and started making friends the night before.

 

https://www.elconvento.com/

[lemon bar]

12 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

This is the one we stayed at. Walking distance to a lot of scenic things, nice and clean, and they have a free happy hour where we ran into a bunch of fellow cruise travelers and started making friends the night before.

 

https://www.elconvento.com/

 

Wow, that's looks absolutely perfect for what we are looking for! I can't book yet as we are too far out but this is it, thanks!