Mediterranean cruise with Norwegian Cruise Line shows off new ship Viva
Bask in the golden sun and blue waters of the Cote d’Azur aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s latest addition to the fleet.
Pablo Picasso was the most prolific of artists but there is an intimate collection of his works housed in the castle in which they were created that capture a special time on the Mediterranean and its carefree spirit.
In 1946 there wasn’t a lot of light and bright in war-torn Europe when the civic keepers of Grimaldi Castle in Antibes, on the Cote d’Azur not far from Cannes, invited Picasso to spend a few months in the place – built on the site of Greek and Roman settlements and once owned by the Monaco royal family – and be inspired. He sunned and swam in the Mediterranean by day, accompanied by his young girlfriend Francoise Gilot, and worked in his studio by night with the owls, producing 23 paintings and 44 drawings left to the castle, now a Picasso Museum, and gifting more of his works through the years, including vibrant ceramics. The magic was captured by Michel Sima, an Auschwitz survivor, whose photographs hang in the museum.
As I look over the castle terrace to the Mediterranean, I’m struck by the exuberance of one piece, La Joie de Vivre, in which a female (presumably Francoise, but as is the way with Cubists, it’s your guess) cavorts with pipe-playing fauns and satyrs. The exactness of the blue water and golden sun is picture perfect.
I am in Antibes on a shore excursion from Norwegian Viva, the new Prima-class ship of Norwegian Cruise Line, which is on its maiden voyage. Guide Danielle is authentic Riviera and entertaining, with a few tales about Picasso, who died 50 years ago. He would, for example, happily “pay” for a restaurant meal by drawing a quick sketch on a napkin, but never sign it. “I want to pay for the meal, not buy the restaurant,” he explained. Back on deck, I note the buoyant deep Mediterranean blue is captured in the carpets and fittings of Viva and in the abstract mural in my balcony stateroom, cabin 12764, along with sun-driven yellows. It’s a very welcoming space with king bed positioned alongside the balcony rather than the sofa, which is a usual cabin configuration. This enhances the views of port arrivals or lazy days at sea without having to move a limb. There is nothing cramped about the bathroom, and put-away space could accommodate my (meagre) wardrobe ten-fold.
I have joined Viva, which has as its welcoming message, Live It Up, at Civitavecchia, port for Rome, and we are to sail to Livorno, port for Florence and Pisa; Cannes; Ibiza, the island off the Spanish coast known for its libertarian lifestyle; and through the Gibraltar Strait to Lisbon, Portugal’s capital on the Atlantic coast.
The ship has more sailings in the Mediterranean before its christening ceremony in Miami, Florida, late November. It will home-port in Puerto Rico for a Caribbean season before returning to the Mediterranean next May.
There’s no denying Viva is a big ship, with 20 decks, the capacity for 3099 guests and about 1500 crew from 55 countries. This “United Nations’’ of staff, although servicing a new vessel, are efficient and unfailingly friendly. What the ship’s exterior may lack in streamlined elegance, its interior design, with comfortable, contemporary stylings, is sublime and the work of leading creatives Lissoni & Partners, Studio Dado and Rockwell Group. The fluid spread of open areas, dining and entertainment venues, staircases and lifts ensures there are no crunch points. Fellow passengers seem largely Europeans on summer holidays although there is a fair smattering of British, North American and Australian accents.
For passengers seeking a more secluded experience, a ship within the ship, The Haven, offers 107 suites, with its own access lifts, sundeck and infinity pool, restaurant and lounge with views all around from super-sized suites designed by Piero Lissoni. They are priced at two-to-three times a balcony state room. The ship also has 73 studios for single travellers and a solos lounge.
I’m impressed by how much Viva is a worlds-within-world environment while in the cool confines of the Metropolitan Bar, which specialises in sustainable cocktails. British digital artist Dominic Harris is introducing his spectacular 16m-long dynamic artwork, Every Wing Has a Silver Lining, in which butterflies emerge from a background pattern by touch. Meanwhile on the top decks, what I call Luna Park, younger passengers are whizzing around on a three-level (soundless) speedway or plunging 10 decks on The Drop, a free-fall dry slide. For staid recreational pursuits, head to Mandara Spa and Pulse Fitness Centre and experience a charcoal sauna, ice room, flotation salt pool and infra-red sauna. Or laze with a cocktail by the pool and do nothing.
Hungry? Now we’re talking harder decisions because there are 17 dining options. That spread helps eliminate crunch points, too. Complimentary options will meet many guests’ needs especially when they include dining rooms such as Hudson’s and The Commodore Room, the self-serve Surfside Cafe & Grill and innovative Indulge where dishes prepared at 11 food stations are ordered by tablet and delivered to the table. Think Indian to Italian, smokehouse, Mex and tapas.
Extra cost restaurants take menus and decor up a notch. My favourites are Onda (Italian), Le Bistro (French), Nama (sushi) and Palomar (mouth-watering Mediterranean seafood).
After dinner, shows include an adaptation of the Broadway show Beetlejuice, with music by Australian Eddie Perfect (although not quite ready for the maiden voyage); stick around for the raked-seating Vivid Theatre’s own drama – a 20-minute transformation into a flat-floor dance club. Although entertainment abounds, there’s always a track leading back to Syd Norman’s Pour House where a resident band nails crowd pleasers; a recreation of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album is the go.
I have boarded Viva after a post-flight recuperative night in mighty Rome and will disembark in an even-older European capital, Lisbon. I have visited Lucca, the exquisite Renaissance-walled city in Tuscany where the wine and food have flowed at a vineyard feast and, most memorably, we have sailed by the Rock of Gibraltar, the legacy of Hercules’ labour in ripping apart Europe and Africa (if you’re a myth believer). The last time I was in this neck of the woods, Gibraltar was off-limits to entry from Spain in a “custody battle” with Britain, but that was a lifetime ago. Joie de vivre? It’s been a masterstroke.
IN THE KNOW
Norwegian Viva sails several itineraries in the Mediterranean. Fares on an 11-day cruise departing Rome on November 18, 2024, and visiting 12 ports in Italy, France and Spain from $3813 a person, twin-share.
Graham Erbacher was a guest of Norwegian Cruise Line.
