Norwegian Viva debut delayed as supply chain issues impact shipyard

Norwegian Cruise Line has announced that its second Prima-class cruise ship Norwegian Viva will be delayed by two weeks due to delays at the shipyard caused by the ongoing global supply chain issues.

Even though the vessel is not due to undertake her maiden voyage until 2023, Norwegian Cruise Line is planning ahead and has cancelled two cruises that were due to depart on June 15th and June 24th, 2023.

The 142,500-gross-ton Norwegian Viva is currently under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Marghera, Italy, as is her sister ship, Norwegian Prima, although her scheduled christening and maiden voyage on August 27th, 2022, in Reykjavík, Iceland has not been impacted.

RELATED: Norwegian Cruise Line reveals details on spa aboard new Prima and Viva ships

RELATED: Additional dining and bar concepts revealed for Norwegian Prima and Viva

In a letter sent to guests and travel partners, Norwegian Cruise Line said the cancellation of Norwegian Viva’s first two cruises was a result of delays at the shipyard.

“We regretfully inform you that as a result of the global supply chain constraints impacting industries worldwide and the related downstream construction delays at the shipyard building our next class of ships, Norwegian Viva’s June 15, 2023 and June 24, 2023 sailings have been canceled,” it said.

“We are committed to always putting our guests first. This includes providing information regarding any changes to voyages with as much advance notice as possible,” the cruise line added.

The canceled itineraries were 9-night cruises from Lisbon in Portugal to Rome in Italy, and from Rome to Trieste, also in Italy.

Both the June, 2023 sailings have also been removed from the cruise line’s website and are no longer available for booking.

Norwegian Viva‘s first passenger sailing will now be a previously scheduled July 3rd, 2023 departure from Trieste, Italy to Athens, Greece.

The cruise line said that impacted guests will receive a full refund automatically processed back to their original form of payment.

While cruise lines typically add an additional form of compensation, such as a Future Cruise Credit, or onboard spending bonus, this generally only applies to cruises cancelled at short notice.

Since the cancelation of Norwegian Viva’s inaugural cruises is being made a year ahead of time, this does not apply.

The 142,500-gross-ton vessel is a sister ship to Norwegian Prima, the second in the eponymously named Prima-class, which is the first completely new class for Norwegian Cruise Line since the popular Breakaway class debuted in 2013.

Norwegian Viva is the third major new cruise ship to suffer shipyard delays after Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady and Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Wish.

Disney Wish has had 12 sailings canceled and will now debut on July 14th, 2022. Resilient Lady has been delayed by almost a year into mid-2023.