Discovery Princess B739 Cabin Video Aft BalconyWe just got back from a 7-day Alaskan cruise on the Discovery Princess. We departed and returned to Seattle, WA. A couple of notes about the itinerary. This is your standard 7-day round trip Alaskan cruise that most every cruise line offers, and it stops in 4 ports (Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Victoria Canada) along with a 1/2 day sailing around Endicott Arm or the Dawes Glacier. There are lots of reviews about these ports of call so I won't spend time on that.
We did pay the ransom, I mean fee, to take the little aluminum boat all the way up to Dawes Glacier. It was beautiful and we saw a little wildlife including a Bald Eagle, Seals, Sea Lions and even a couple of whales on the way back to Juneau. Unfortunately, we didn't get any large calving of the glacier and we didn't see any bears, but those things can't be planned. They either do, or do not, happen.
We took the White Pass Train in Skagway. Another beautiful day in Alaska with some interesting history. If you've got nothing else to do during your trip it's relatively affordable and only takes a couple of hours. One cool thing is after the train departs town the passengers can actually stand on the platforms outside the train cars to get unobstructed views of the scenery. The train drops you right downtown for shopping, eating, drinking...
Now to the two things I most look forward to when reading about a cruise ship I'm about to travel on. The room and the cigar smoking options.
We had an Aft Balcony, B739, on the Discovery Princess. Nice room that was a little smaller than most aft balconies we've stayed in. I have posted a video to show the room and balcony. A couple of the highlights. The Bathroom is a normal stateroom bathroom. The hanging closet is wide and has no doors, but does have a top shelf. There is one floor to ceiling cabinet that is about 18" wide and 7' tall with one shelf taken up by a safe. The rest of the storage includes 2 night stands, each has a USB charging outlet, and a small desk with 4 drawers. There is also a minifridge in the room.
Here's a little secret, the balcony on deck 11 aft units is twice the size of the other aft balconies. I estimated the deck 11 aft balcony is 10' X 12' while the other units are around 5' X 12'. This makes a world of difference, plus there is a 5' overhang so you may have a chance to tuck away in the shade. If you want to try and get an even larger balcony space there is a weird empty balcony next to room B739 that isn't tied to a room and maybe you could get the Stateroom attendant to open the balcony door so you could access that space too.
Now the really BIG drawback to the Aft Balcony rooms on deck 11 of Discovery Princess. When the hide-a-bed is pulled out for a child, as was our case, you cannot access your balcony w/o claiming on-top of the hide-a-bed opening the door and jumping out onto the balcony (pictured). I have no reason to believe the other aft balconies are any different, but we were on deck 11 so I cannot 100% validate the set up on other floors. We did travel with some friends who also stayed in aft balcony on deck 11 and their cabin had the same issue with the bed. If you don't want to jump over the bed, then you can just move your child into the big bed and lift up the hide-a-bed to access the deck, but if you have child that isn't a heavy sleeper, trying to access the balcony is going to wake them up.
Cool idea we tried this trip and it worked really well. We purchased a shower curtain and magnetic hooks to create a little separation between us and the kid. Stuck the magnets to the ceiling, hung up the shower curtain and boom, instant separate space. I'd suggest a blackout curtain if you want maximum separation.
Churchills Cigar Bar. I know that many of the people reading this review will stop reading here, but often it is hard to find out information about cigar smoking prior to getting onto a ship. Churchills was great. There is a humidor with a nice variety of sticks if you didn't pack your own. I don't know what they cost as I packed my own cigars for this trip. The lounge is beautiful with classic wood paneling. There are NOT enough chairs in the lounge when it gets busy. No one could tell me why the seating is so sparse but that was the one drawback. The room has good ventilation and some windows to look out at the sea. Drinks mostly have to be ordered through the medallion app unless you can catch a server in the room helping someone else, and there is a speaker system but no live entertainment.
If the weather cooperates there is a very nice covered smoking section, Aft Deck 17. There are servers who regularly wonder this area, but the App in many cases was the best way to get a drink order in. Please note that if you want a glass and not an acrylic cup, you'll have to bring your own because the drinks for deck 17 are served from a pool bar. If you are not a smoker and don't want to be inundated with smoke I would steer clear of Aft 17 as there were always a handful of people having a cigarette or a cigar.
Final thought: We ended up asking to make our servers on Wednesday night our permanent servers for the trip. If you get the opportunity to sit in Roland Reyes' section with Michael Angelo (asst waiter) you'll get the best servers on the ship in my opinion.
There is so much more to this beautiful ship. If you have questions let me know and I'll answer what I know. Discovery Princess B739 Cabin Video Aft Balcony
