Norwegian Viva

Norwegian Viva is the second Prima-class ship, delivered at Fincantieri’s Marghera yard in August 2023 and christened in Miami that November. The class was Norwegian’s reversal of a fifteen-year trend: instead of packing more people onto a bigger hull, they built a ship slightly smaller than the Breakaway ships and put eight hundred fewer passengers on it. Viva carries 3,215 guests on 143,535 tons. Norwegian Getaway carries 3,963 on nearly the same tonnage. That difference is the whole design.

Where the space went

Outdoors, mostly. Ocean Boulevard is a promenade deck that runs the entire circumference of deck eight, twenty feet wide in places, with restaurants and bars opening onto it, two infinity pools cantilevered over the sides at the stern, and a pair of glass-floored bridges called Oceanwalk that let you cross the bow with the sea directly under your feet. It is the Breakaway class’s Waterfront idea taken seriously; wider, longer, and continuous, so you can actually walk a lap.

Inside, the money went into the atrium and the theater. The Penrose Atrium is three decks of open space with a sculptural staircase; the Viva Theater & Club spans decks six, seven and eight and converts from a proscenium theater to a nightclub between shows. On the open deck aft, The Concourse is an outdoor sculpture garden, which is an unusual thing to find above a pool bar and rather better than it sounds.

Dining is where the class is divisive. Indulge Food Hall replaces a second formal dining room with eleven counters and a tablet ordering system, and it is complimentary and it is good. But a larger share of the ship’s restaurants carry a surcharge than on the older hulls, and the free rooms (Hudson’s, The Commodore Room, Surfside Café) are fewer than a Breakaway ship gives you. Roomier does not mean cheaper.

Viva Speedway and the rest of the toys

The go-kart track is three levels and about a quarter of a mile long, the largest Norwegian has built and larger than the one on Norwegian Encore that held the record before her. It winds around the funnel casing at the top of the ship and you pay per session.

The two slides are worth separating. The Rush is a pair of dueling water slides. The Drop is a ten-story dry free-fall tube with a trapdoor floor and no water in it at all, which takes about ten seconds and is the single most frightening thing on any Norwegian ship. There is also a Galaxy Pavilion of virtual-reality rigs, a kids’ aqua park, and Vibe Beach Club, the adults-only sun deck at the stern that costs extra.

The Haven sits on top of all of it, gated behind its own elevators, with a private restaurant, lounge, bar, sun deck and pool and a butler for each suite. It is a good product and it is sold as one; it also means the top of the ship is divided by keycard, and about one guest in twenty is on the right side of that line.

Where she actually sails

She splits her year across an ocean. Summers are the Mediterranean, working from Istanbul and from Ravenna on the Adriatic, ten- and eleven-night runs through the Greek islands, the Aegean and the Italian coast, which is a genuinely port-heavy program rather than a Caribbean loop with a beach day.

In autumn she crosses the Atlantic and goes to work out of Galveston on week-long Western Caribbean sailings, with a spring block in Miami. Roughly a third of the sailings on offer here are European, a third Caribbean and a third Bahamas, plus the crossings in between, which are among the few genuinely long voyages Norwegian sells.

Who she suits

People who want a modern ship without the density of a Breakaway or Oasis hull, and who will use the outdoor space; she is the best big Norwegian ship to be on in warm weather, and Ocean Boulevard is why. The Mediterranean sailings suit anyone who wants a new ship attached to a serious itinerary, which is a combination Norwegian does not offer often.

She does not suit anyone on a strict budget: more of this ship is behind a surcharge than on the older ones, and the fare buys you less of it than you might expect. She does not suit anyone who dislikes ordering dinner from a tablet. And Galveston, for all its convenience to Texas, means two sea days out of seven to reach anywhere worth calling at.