Viva Haven Thoughts

[zuutroy]

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.

Edited August 18 by zuutroy

[nadeki]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We were in the Haven on the Viva in June. I agree with everything you said. 
 

The Haven lounge area was a big waste of space. We could not get coffee before the restaurant opened at 6:30. And the never changed menu became boring. 
 

these comments sound so petty. I hate complaining. Just observing that the Bliss haven was so much nicer. 
 

I spent hours yesterday trying to find another cruise in the haven that is close to a reasonable price. So far, no luck. 
 

welcome back 

[cruiseny4life]

On 8/18/2024 at 8:51 AM, nadeki said:

I spent hours yesterday trying to find another cruise in the haven that is close to a reasonable price. So far, no luck. 

It took me several months to find a decent deal! We timed our purchase just right for a February 2025 cruise as we were able to score an Aft-Facing Penthouse on Getaway for $2,600 per person. A week later the price had gone up nearly $600 per person. Now it's $1,000 more per person. You have to be constantly scouring the NCL site for a Haven deal and they won't be quite as good as 2022/2023. 

[david_sobe]

Your review hits a few common themes of the Viva/Prima Haven.  The outside bar is closed early evening.  No TV or entertainment in the Haven lounge and is very empty and uninviting.  No coffee or drinks outside bar for sunset?

I dont know why NCL does not do things to make the Haven lounge more social.  Maybe a 2 for 1 special.  Some free snacks.  A guitarist in some evenings.  The videos I watch the Haven lounge looks like Libraries in North Korea.  

Edited August 21 by david_sobe

[Captain-John]

Thanks very much for your review. The disembarkation time is a real kicker. On MSC we were able to stay in the Yacht Club (not the room but the public areas) until 2pm when we returned to Barcelona last year.

 

The Yacht Club lounge on MSC is a much more social space with entertainment in the evening etc. - I found the forward facing lounge to be a waste of real estate on the Joy Haven.

 

This thread is timely though as I have a bit of a dilemma. Considering either the Escape or Viva in Haven. Escape looks closer to the Joy experience we had which was great.

 

Pro and con list is lengthy.

 

Some Pros I have for Escape vs Viva (this is for end of the Med season):

 

+ Enclosed pool/sunbed area. Larger Haven pool? Hard to tell from photos.

+ 4x hot tubs instead of 2x on Viva.

+ Smaller number of Haven cabins overall.

+ Bath and shower combo (need to look at H5+ to get this on Viva).

+ Better spa

+ Bar area smaller (in a good way - better atmosphere)

 

Personal Pros for Viva

 

+ Indulge Food Hall

+ Los Lobos

+ New ship design (never sailed Prima class before)

+ 2x extra nights for the same price as Escape

+ More varied itinerary

 

____________

 

My gut upfront was 'try the new ship' but the more I get into the detail, I am not so sure. If the Escape was the same price pro-rata as Viva I think I might pivot that way.

 

Edited August 21 by Captain-John

[zuutroy]

Having done both, it is a close decision and your pros for each are spot on. I think the Viva pool is a good bit bigger, and 20 cm deeper when full. Also much more of a wow factor. Surprised to hear Escape is more expensive. I think specifically the Haven stuff was better on the Escape and my wife agrees, while the wider ship is better on the Viva.

[BirdTravels]

8 hours ago, david_sobe said:

The outside bar is closed early evening. 

While true, the outside bar was really not heavily used on our cruise. 

 

And really, it is about a 30 second walk from the outside bar to the inside bar, so other than killing the outside vibe, it is not a big deal. 

[BirdTravels]

8 hours ago, Captain-John said:

Thanks very much for your review. The disembarkation time is a real kicker. On MSC we were able to stay in the Yacht Club (not the room but the public areas) until 2pm when we returned to Barcelona last year.

 

The Yacht Club lounge on MSC is a much more social space with entertainment in the evening etc. - I found the forward facing lounge to be a waste of real estate on the Joy Haven.

 

This thread is timely though as I have a bit of a dilemma. Considering either the Escape or Viva in Haven. Escape looks closer to the Joy experience we had which was great.

 

Pro and con list is lengthy.

 

Some Pros I have for Escape vs Viva (this is for end of the Med season):

 

+ Enclosed pool/sunbed area. Larger Haven pool? Hard to tell from photos.

+ 4x hot tubs instead of 2x on Viva.

+ Smaller number of Haven cabins overall.

+ Bath and shower combo (need to look at H5+ to get this on Viva).

+ Better spa

+ Bar area smaller (in a good way - better atmosphere)

 

Personal Pros for Viva

 

+ Indulge Food Hall

+ Los Lobos

+ New ship design (never sailed Prima class before)

+ 2x extra nights for the same price as Escape

+ More varied itinerary

 

____________

 

My gut upfront was 'try the new ship' but the more I get into the detail, I am not so sure. If the Escape was the same price pro-rata as Viva I think I might pivot that way.

 

The biggest problem with the Escape is I think that the sun deck is still tiny. Whereas the following ship have Haven sundecks that wrap around the bow, the Escape still has a tiny sundeck on the starboard side with the remainder of the bow being a steerage class sundeck. 

 

Not sure what "better spa" means. They both have a sauna. The Sauna on the Viva also has beautiful views (versus the Escape which is a box). The Viva also has a  snow room. 

 

Viva

 

Escape

 

[Captain-John]

Thanks, the Viva area does look much nicer.

 

By spa, I meant the thermal suite. From what I understand, Viva's is enclosed. Additionally, I like the thalassotherapy pool from the Breakaway/Breakaway + range.

 

 

[Captain-John]

6 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

The biggest problem with the Escape is I think that the sun deck is still tiny

 

Thanks also for highlighting this, it does make a big difference - just watched a YouTube video. I misread the deck plans and assumed it was the same as Joy. I revise my Haven hot tub count from 4 to 3 on that basis!

[cruiseny4life]

15 hours ago, zuutroy said:

I think the Viva pool is a good bit bigger, and 20 cm deeper when full.

I didn't measure depth on Pr1ma which has the same Haven pool as V!va. On our Transatlantic cruise, with a couple port stops (very nice/warm days), the Haven pool was only filled to the brim once. That was embarkation day in Barcelona. It was really a disappointing pool at all other times as the depth was up to about my waist. How often was the pool full on your cruise? I'm interested to know.

 

4 hours ago, Captain-John said:

By spa, I meant the thermal suite. From what I understand, Viva's is enclosed. Additionally, I like the thalassotherapy pool from the Breakaway/Breakaway + range.

I really enjoyed Pr1ma's thermal suite (again, same as V!va). The pools are very disappointing, compared to Getaway's pool (only one I've experienced on that class). The spa staff has to turn the bubbles on for you to get any massaging action going. The floating pool provides enough space for two adults to actually float. My feet hit my husband's head several times when we were floating and were the only two in the pool, so I'm not sure how you feel about stranger's feet/heads/hands hitting you while you're trying to relax. 

The actual treatment rooms on Pr1ma are so much better than Getaway! They don't have a view, but I really did enjoy them. The area with the ceramic loungers is better also. It's much quieter as the pool/treatment rooms aren't right there. The loudest noise I heard were folx snoring as we transited the Atlantic. 

 

Pr1ma is a nice ship, which means V!va is too. I'd highly recommend trying it out, especially if you get two extra days for the same price!

[zuutroy]

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

I didn't measure depth on Pr1ma which has the same Haven pool as V!va. On our Transatlantic cruise, with a couple port stops (very nice/warm days), the Haven pool was only filled to the brim once. That was embarkation day in Barcelona. It was really a disappointing pool at all other times as the depth was up to about my waist. How often was the pool full on your cruise? I'm interested to know.

 

That is quite disappointing. For us, it was full every day when in port. They would start to drain it about 60-90 minutes before setting sail and it would be about waist height when they were done. It is 140 cm deep when completely full.

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, zuutroy said:

 

That is quite disappointing. For us, it was full every day when in port. They would start to drain it about 60-90 minutes before setting sail and it would be about waist height when they were done. It is 140 cm deep when completely full.

That sounds much more pleasant! When the pool was full, the water went almost up to my armpits. It's really a gorgeous pool full! 

[BirdTravels]

8 hours ago, Captain-John said:

Thanks, the Viva area does look much nicer.

 

By spa, I meant the thermal suite. From what I understand, Viva's is enclosed. Additionally, I like the thalassotherapy pool from the Breakaway/Breakaway + range.

 

The thermal suite on the Viva/Prima are nice. The pool area needs some redesign since the sides allows water to slosh out in rough seas (requiring the spa to lower the water level). The Viva thermal suite has large comfy day beds, multiple saunas (interesting, but not exactly sure what all of the differences were), steam room a vast improvement over BA/BA+ ships, and a salt bath which is provide over BA+ ships. 

 

The only thermal suite that I know of that is not enclosed is the Epic which has an small outdoor sundeck with a few loungers. 

 

Viva (fresh water pool in front and salt water pool in the distance)

 

Panoramic forward facing views from Viva Thermal Suite 

 

 

Edited August 22 by BirdTravels