A half-term cruise was the perfect holiday for my family of 3
If you’d asked me five years ago for three things I’d never do, I’d have replied: date a man with a child, go on a cruise, wear Crocs. But, here I was, doing all three - and loving it.
Ever since meeting my partner Rob in 2019 and becoming a ‘stepmum’ to his then 6-year-old, I’ve learnt a lot about kids, including but not limited to, how to play Roblox; names of Pokemons and Premier League goal scorers; and how to transform boring everyday food into something exciting during the non-stop buffets that are school holidays: Where some people see some sad fruit and few half-empty jars of spreads, I see ‘apple dippers served with a tasting menu of gourmet toast toppers’. Vanilla ice-cream? Cover it in sprinkles and chopped strawberries and you've just made "special dessert". Chocolate tacos, however, will not be getting a second outing.
What I - a woman who has never, ever been maternal, who even as a child refused to play with dolls and instead pushed a pet cat or rabbit around in a pram - have gained from my time as a pseudo-parent to Albie has changed me for the better.
Firstly, it has unlocked new levels of patience I didn’t know I had (with him, my partner and other parents in general); filled me with pride at seeing him learn and master new things, from bike riding to building an encyclopaedic knowledge of Viking, Roman and Ancient Egyptian culture; and seen me find genuine joy in sharing new experiences with him. Whether it's a trip to Crocodiles Of The World, pony riding lessons, going to the seaside, watching kids' movies and series, tie-dying, baking bread and cakes, making pizza from scratch, hosting birthday and Halloween parties, getting stuck into arts and crafts... everything we have done together has brought so much happiness into my life. I love my little family and being a stepmum.
And that is how we ended up going on a family cruise holiday for October half-term.
Like most families, our life is time poor but stress rich. There was so much I wanted us to do during half-term, but the mental bandwidth (and our general energy levels) put a stop to most of them. On my wishlist was a European city break, I loved the idea of Albie tasting authentic ice-cream and pizza in Italy, and it would be a new life milestone for him, marking his first time on a plane. I also wanted to relax in luxurious surroundings at a spa with some decent books, Rob wanted to go in the sea, catch-up on sleep and watch football, while Albie wanted to spend a week playing football and computer games with his little pals.
Three very different ideas of a perfect week, but as I discovered after Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) offered Women's Health a chance to review a trip, not mutually exclusive. We were to board a 10-day trip from Trieste in Italy to Athens, sailing with 3,096 other passengers on their brand new ship, Norwegian Viva, a 16-storey vessel with loads going on, and an itinerary which would take us to four different countries, Italy, Croatia, Greece and Turkey.
As a first time cruiser, I was trawling forums and Facebook groups trying to get as much information as possible about 'cruises with kids' and 'family cruises'. If you've come across this article in the same way, hello! I hope our experiences and my packing list tips help make your family cruise as memorable and enjoyable as ours.
What happens on embarkation day on a cruise ship
Getting to Trieste for embarkation day involved a 6am flight from Heathrow to Venice. To make this as stress-free as possible, we checked in to the Thistle T5 Hotel so we would be close by when it was time to wake up at 4am (urgh). Despite being right next to one of the airport's runways (you can watch the planes come and go from the hotel's restaurant) we all slept really well, I would have quite liked a lie-in there TBH.
Getting from the hotel to the airport also meant we could start the holiday on an adventurous note with a trip on a POD. These 'automated people transporters' run on a loop between the car park and departures every few seconds between 4:00 am and 12:15 am (£8 each way). It was fuss-free, easy, and it felt really futuristic. A great start to a long day!
Upon landing in Venice, we took a coach from Venice Marco Polo airport to the cruise port, a transfer arranged by NCL for the hundreds of passengers arriving from all over the world ready for their holiday. It was a two-hour journey, a perfect opportunity to catch up on some sleep.
Arriving at the cruise terminal, I was taken aback by the sheer size of Norwegian Viva - and seeing it in person reminded me of why I had vowed to never go on a cruise - big ships frighten me. They make me confront how vast, deep, and deadly the sea is (I have a theory I died in a submarine in a previous life, but that's a story for another day).
Getting off the coach, we stepped into what could only be described as organised chaos. In a system which made no sense to me but worked perfectly, passengers were leaving their bags with crew members who ran them through airport scanners and then arranged for them to be left in the correct stateroom within a few hours. I had packed our essentials into hand luggage ready for once we got on board - toothbrushes, change of clothes, swimwear, Crocs, there's a lot of walking on a cruise ship! - so we could crack on with freshening up, having fun and exploring the ship ASAP.
Just as bags were checked for contraband, so were us passengers. For the next two hours we snaked through an intensive onboarding process which saw us and our passports scanned, checked and photographed, resulting a personalised keycard which would grant us access to our stateroom and be used as currency while on ship (you can link a credit card to it, or add a lump sum for spending, with the latter, you get what's left back in cash at the end of the trip).
After passing our hand luggage through the final scanner, our keycards safely secured to the lanyards I pre-bought for us from Amazon, we stepped out on to the dock and Norwegian Viva came in to full view. At nearly 300m long and 142,500 gross tonnes, it loomed so high into the grey Italian sky above me that I had to start mentally referring to the ship as a 'floating hotel' rather than a boat to quash my inner terror. It was absolutely massive.
What was it like on board Norwegian Viva?
Shifting my mindset from 'giant metal container' to 'floating hotel' wasn't hard once we finally got to step on board. The interiors of the ship were absolutely gorgeous, with spacious walkways, beautiful fixtures and fittings, and everything was incredibly clean. At the heart of the ship is the Penrose Atrium, a three-storey, glass fronted hub with different bars and restaurants, a Starbucks, the guest services desk and access to the casino, theatre and mall.
For our time on board, we would be calling a Family Balcony Stateroom on the ninth floor home. There was a double bed and a pull-out sofa bed which a crew member made up as part of a nightly turn down service, and put away again in the morning when we were out. The room did feel a bit cramped at times, but there was lots of storage, a surprisingly large en-suite with a powerful shower, and the balcony offered us a bit of extra room - and a brilliant spot for people watching and seeing brave passengers emerging out of one of the ship's two huge slides.
There were plenty of free and pay-per-view movies on the TV, and you could even tune in to the view from the Bridge, which is both interesting and a good hack for lessening feelings of seasickness.
To make our stay more comfortable, I brought along some magnetic hooks (most cruise liner's walls are made from metal) to hang our hats and lanyards, plus ear plugs and sleeping masks to make sure we were all getting as much sleep as possible - because this holiday was going to be busy.
What was the itinerary on the Norwegian Viva?
There is genuinely so much to do on Norwegian Viva that we could have spent another week onboard and still have not seen and done it all.
The best way to keep abreast of the schedule is via the Freestyle Daily, which is available on the NCL app and comes delivered in printed form to your room. It outlines everything that’s going on from 7am til after midnight, from social mixers for kids, teens, solo and LGBTQIA+ passengers, to the themed musical performances at the different bars, and morning arts and craft sessions.
Up on Deck 18 there was loads to do for free, including shuffleboard, fuseball, ping pong and even a Pickleball court. It was also the location of the kids aqua park and the entry point for the ship's two adrenaline-fuelled slides, the Wave and the Drop.
One thing I quickly realised about the cruise industry is that they want you to spend as much as possible while on board, so not everything is included in the price of your sailing.
For an additional fee, you could also play mini-golf and darts, or lose yourself in the VR games arcade the Galaxy Pavilion. For $25 you can tackle the Viva Speedway, a three storey go-kart track on the roof of the ship. Sadly Albie was just a few inches too small to have a go.
You could get professional portraits taken (after a $69 ‘red carpet blow out’ at the hair salon), sign up for a painting course, go to a fitness bootcamp, attend a yoga class, or try Champagne tasting. Similarly, a free skin consultation at the MediSpa could lead to having fillers or non-invasive tightening treatments which cost much more than on dry land.
Our scheduled day in Split was cancelled due to atrocious weather so we had a day at sea. While it was a shame to miss out on the first Croatian stop of the trip, it did give us a chance to relax and make the most of the ship’s amenities as a storm raged outside - i.e. we ate, drank negronis, and watched Premier League football in The Local Bar & Grill.
The ship was so large and seemed to be filled with adults but there was a thriving social scene for the youngsters upstairs on Deck 15. Albie had a great time at the 3-12 kid’s club, Splash Academy, playing dodgeball, Fifa and Mario Kart. In fact, he enjoyed it so much it was hard to get him to want to do anything else!
The one night we managed to peel Albie away from the Splash Academy, we took him to watch the Broadway production of Beetlejuice The Musical in the Viva Theatre, another great first for him. The show was great, with fantastic production values and performers, it was a real highlight of the trip for all of us.
Overall, the nighttime entertainment was brilliant, and we loved the live performances from The Classic Tones and Duo Azucar. We also tried to make it to the karaoke nights - and yes, someone did sing My Heart Will Go On.
What happened off the ship?
The ship was scheduled to make a daily stop on its 10-day voyage from Venice to Athens. Departing from Trieste, it crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Ravenna, before making two stops in Croatia, Split and Dubrovnik, before heading south to Corfu, Santorini, Kusadasi, Istanbul (where we flew home from, because U10's football team > holiday), Mykonos and Athens.
It was really exciting to fall asleep at sea and wake up in a new place. Pulling back the curtains to see a new unfamiliar landscape was really interesting, and added to the adventure.
Of the stops only Santorini was a 'tender port', which means taking a smaller boat from the ship to the shore. You can register for your tender tickets on the large touch screens near Guest Services the day before. If you're desperate for a whole day somewhere then make sure you get in early. We were in tender boat 23 and didn't leave ship for hours after it had dropped anchor.
The other stops all docked at port, and from here you could get a shuttle to and from the city centre. This cost around $20 per adult/$10 per child, and we were able to charge it to our stateroom. There was also an additional cost in Santorini to take a cable car to get up to the capital, Fira. The queue took about an hour due to the volume of people who had gotten off the ship, and I heard rumours that people queued for nearly three hours to get back down again.
We opted to walk down the 588 steps carved in to the mountain, which was tougher than we anticipated... it made me desperately sad for the poor donkeys who have to do the trip multiple times a day, sometimes with a tourist on their back.
The stop in Ravenna meant that Albie was able to enjoy some authentic pizza and ice-cream, ticking off my initial hope for half term, and it soon became a daily ritual to seek out some mango sorbet and pistachio gelato for us all to try whenever we were in port. Personally, I think Corfu had the best.
Dubrovnik was probably the best stop. After taking in the beautiful architecture we wandered along the coast to a small beach, where Rob and Albie got to enjoy a dip in the sea while I caught up with a bit of reading and tanning. It was a gorgeous way to spend an afternoon.
NCL arrange a lot of excursions and trips which seemed very popular with the American travellers on board. These ranged from 'selfie tours' (being driven to landmarks to take photos), to food and drink tastings, vineyard trips and visits to historical ruins. You can book these via Guest Services, the NCL app or a printed excursions order form left in your stateroom.
But there are other options. When we were on Santorini, we arranged a private transfer to a beach on the other side of the island using Skyline Travel. The driver was also a professional tour guide so we learnt a lot about the volcanic history of the island, and what life is like when there are no tourists visiting. It cost around €60 for a return trip in an air-conditioned people carrier.
The food on Norwegian Viva was great (even for a fussy eater)
We didn't have a bad meal while sailing on Norwegian Viva. Most days we had lunch at the Surfside Cafe, a sprawling buffet with international cuisine, a salad bar, and dessert station. It was one of seven complimentary eateries on board, we also had a great dinner at the Indulge Food Hall where you can mix and match different dishes using a tablet. Room service is also available 24/7 and is free of charge.
There were eight other speciality dining restaurants where an extra charge applied. We went to Los Lobos, a Mexican restaurant where they make fresh guacamole right next to your table. Other premium restaurants include Nama sushi, Hasuki Teppanyaki, and Onda by Scarpetta, a very popular Italian. You need to book in advance to secure a table.
As for drinks, you can pay for them individually or it might be cheaper to buy a package. They come in different tiers, so check the NCL website for which package best suits you.
What was the wellness offering like?
Located on Deck 16 is the Pulse Fitness Centre and Mandara Spa. Access to Pulse is free and you can use the machines and weights and attend some daily classes (like morning stretch and abs). However, you need to pay extra to attend some of the fitness classes like yoga and bootcamp.
With the Mandara Spa, you need to a Thermal Suite Pass to access the facilities (plunge pools, hot tubs, saunas and the best relaxation room I have ever been in) for the day, or you can buy a pass which gives you access for your entire trip. I lost hours snoozing and reading on a day bed, watching the ship sail on to its next destination.
Treatments use Elemis products and range from $99 to $259, higher than you'd pay at home. I had two treatments with Judy-Mae, a hot stone massage and a salt scrub, both which sent me to new levels of zen. Even now I think wistfully about the relaxation room... I'd love to looking out at the cliffs of Santorini from a huge cloud-like lounger right now, actually.
Final thoughts
From quite early on, I realised why people become obsessed with 'cruising' - and I can imagine myself going on another sailing in the future. The food was great, the rooms comfortable, the entertainment and on-board facilities were brilliant, and there was plenty for all of us to do together - and separately when we needed a bit of 'me time'. Plus the other passengers were friendly, and it was a generally nice vibe. Sharing a small cabin felt a bit intense at times, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a cruise for a family holiday - and you don't even need to get off the ship to have a great time and enjoy new experiences.
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