TrustMeI'mANurse

We are currently on the Discovery in Alaska. And I thought someone might want to know the good and bad on this 4 month old ship. We've traveled Celebrity and MSC in the past and were looking forward to experiencing the thrill of a ship that wasn't at least a decade old.

The pros- the ship is beautiful and in near immaculate condition. The bathroom in our mini-suite is roomy compared to Aqua Class and laid how super conveniently in our opinion. The room, also, is nicely laid out and roomier than AC on Celebrity. The furnishings are clean and pretty and functional. The staff is exceptionally friendly and eager to please. The medallion app is very convenient for getting into and out of the room without resorting to a key card.

The cons- The Medallion App is glitchy on board. It frequently says I'm 'off ship' when I'm clearly on the ship. As long as it thinks you are off- ship you are not able to access any of the app functions. No contacting crew services, no room service, no checking locations, no ordering drinks.

The wifi is virtually unusable. For a ship that was built in the last two years, it's inexcusable IMO to have no access to wifi for days. I went to the Internet Services office and told them that it takes 15 minutes for a page to load and then you can't click on any links and the crew member told me that is the norm on the ship. WTH? We haven't been able to text with other guests on board because the service is so poor it won't even send IMessage. Really, really irritating when you're trying to prevent 80-year-old guests from having to wander around looking for family. Both Celebrity (20-year-old ship) and MSC (11-year-old ship) had far more efficient wifi. I paid an additional $70 for additional devices and not once has another device been able to connect. This is the first time in 6 days that I've been able to get a page on CC to load.

I tried the super appealing order-to-your-room service on the app and waited an hour for a piece of chocolate cake. After waiting an hour I checked the app and it told me it had been delivered. No, no it had not. I called room service 3 times before someone finally answered and he told me the app is 'glitchy' so I need to call them if I want something. It takes multiple calls to room service before anyone answers.

The productions are not a high priority to us but the two we did see were not to the standards of our previous cruises. The poor little Beatle's impressionist was kind of embarrassing, although a very nice guy it seems.

Our time in port seems to be much shorter than previous cruises, not sure if that's a Princess thing, or an overall cruise situation.

Just our 2 cents. Others will have their own opinions, this is mine.

43 minutes ago, DiRonT said:

Thank you - that will work for us.

I supervise these tests online. Your expiration date will vary by distributor and purchase date.

15 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

After the past two years, why would anyone trust the CDC?  It has gone from a maybe science-based organization to a purely political tool.   

I didn't say I trusted the CDC. But aggressive maskers do I think? 

On 2/24/2022 at 11:41 AM, FlaMariner said:

I'm thinking thru the "masks in certain areas" and wondering......

 

...is that there as a "catch all" in case they want to implement masks indoors again?

 

I'm trying to figure out how we leave our cabin without our mask and venture to another venue and then there is a sign that says "this area requires a mask" and my mask is back in my cabin....

 

(Again, thinking that's just a CYA notation, if needed but doubtful it will be needed)

 

What says the wise peeps on here?

 

I would say it's highly likely that Princess staff will be everywhere happily handing out masks to anyone that wants one. Along with the ubiquitous hand sanitizer.

On 2/19/2022 at 7:09 AM, riffatsea said:

Well I see we are in the small minority here that would feel much safer if masking was still required!

California has dropped the indoor mask requirement but most of my friends are still wearing them

I am very sorry that most people in here feel they are relieved to stop using this protection

You don't trust the CDC? What parameters do you intend to use in order to stop masking?

On 8/28/2021 at 9:27 AM, Sea Hag said:

The only time it's worth it for us is if we can get what I call "the big fat mini-suite" on one of the Royal class ships. Those are the ones on Marina and Lido, forward corners. They have a great cabin layout and larger balconies. The ones on Marina are enormous. I doubt we'd ever pay extra for club class in a different category.

We have the option to get one of those suites on the Discovery to Alaska. The notes say that balcony access is limited on sea days? This sounds like it might be a problem for Alaska since the glaciers are often sea days?

On 8/11/2021 at 3:58 PM, mellon1 said:

Very good point and well said.  I can't believe people would pay $500 approximately a day for Club Class.  We had it with a suite included.  It is not worth that.  You could go to the specialty restaurant for dinner every night and get an ultimate atmosphere and meal for $60 a day.  I know they have breakfast and lunch, but still.  I wonder if people realize how much more it is or if they have done the math.  However, that said, Princess is getting it so why not.

We paid a total of $500 extra for 2 people for 7 days. So about $30/day/person.

On 12/17/2019 at 8:27 PM, Hlitner said:

We were just on Ocean Cay (Yacht Club) this past Monday.  I took a long walk around the entire island just to check out the various facilities.  To be very blunt, we were completely underwhelmed by the cabanas.  Why?  The beach front cabanas are actually located behind the regular chairs/loungers.  So you are paying a lot of money to be further from the water.  There is not room in the cabana for a few loungers (they do have chairs) so when we did see some cabana users in loungers they had put them in front of their cabana.  I guess it was possible to rearrange furniture and cram a couple of loungers partially inside the cabana but we did not see this happen.   When I did my walk around a large majority of the cabanas were NOT rented and remained empty.  Personally, we were very happy to just grab a couple of nice loungers right on the water line (far in front of the nearest cabana) and use a beach umbrella (now free for those in the YC and only about $13 for others.

 

I also do not understand the term "locals."  What you might refer to as a local is simply a worker brought to the island by MSC to do various tasks (including construction).  Many of these folks are flown in from Freeport and work on the island for about 3 weeks before getting 1 week off at home.  We talked to several of these workers (who do provide support during cruise ship visits) and they were really nice folks grateful to get the jobs on Ocean Cay.  Quite a few were left unemployed after last Falls hurricane damage on their home island.

 

And by the way, the biggest issue we saw on the island was the lack of adequate rest room facilities.  This was particularly bad at the Yacht Club area where there was a single bathroom to serve everyone (male and female).  With about 150 YC folks sharing a single toilet the situation can get ….urgent.  Elsewhere on the island there are a few rest room buildings where we noticed relatively short lines.

 

One senior officer in the Hotel Department made it clear that Ocean Cay is a "work in progress" and noted that for anything this new there is a learning curve.  Personally we were impressed by what we saw and think the future potential is excellent.  I was happy to be among the first few groups to visit the island and look forward to seeing how the facility improves over time.  For us it was really a fun way to spend a nice day.

 

Hank

We had the same experience on day 2 of the OC opening. The bathroom is located in the YC restaurant and we were seated right in front of the (only) restroom to eat. I can't imagine what made anyone think that the YC area on OC would only require a single bathroom- even on day 1.

21 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Since this is the first I've read of a sewage issue on Mera, I tend to believe that there isn't a design flaw on this ship (as there was with Seas and the smell may just be typical s*it at sea :). 

I read of this issue weeks ago on the Meraviglia and hoped it was temporary. I'm on board now and our bathroom (in YC) has a definite sewage gas type smell. It's been there since day one and persists now on day 6.

I've checked probably a dozen (or more) online sites and messaged several independent TA's. Not one has offered anything more than 3%. I found it odd as well.

I assumed it was a MSC thing but maybe it's just a me thing. 🙂

I'm just not finding that kind of return. When we booked Celebrity and spent around 10k (on 3 rooms) we got about 10% in a warehouse club card.  When we booked Celebrity with a large online agent we got about 10% OBC. Looking around with MCL we're looking at a return of about 3% on a YC suite. I was kind of surprised.

41 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

TA every time. Every. Single. Time. 

Thanks for your input. Can you tell me why? At this point I'm trying to get a Voyager status match and dealing with MSC myself trying to make that happen. I'm not seeing the benefit and am afraid it's an added layer of stress if I need to make changes in the future and am not able to deal with MSC directly.

41 minutes ago, Até said:

In addition to the company being very frustrating to deal with, MSC bookings must not be as lucrative for TA's.  My experience has been if you book at full retail price the TA's can offer their normal OBC, discount or perks but if you search out MSC's better deals like Voyagers Selection or other discounts suddenly all the TA's can do is pretty paltry.  One of my Yacht Club bookings got down to an offer of $50 OBC, I just made the booking myself.  I tend to watch what's going on with MSC and can make a lot of changes to my bookings so dealing through a TA just adds a layer of complication.  It' pretty tough to find a good TA that's willing to spend the time dealing with MSC when things get complicated.  If you find that person, great, but that's definitely not going to happen with the high volume and big box TA's.

Thanks so much for the input. I'm beginning to lean in that direction.

We're new to MSC and have always booked previous cruises through a warehouse club store or .com TA.

The warehouse club store offered a Amazon card worth $300-$500. The .com TA offered various perks and additional OBC.

I'm not able to book MSC through the warehouse club store. The TA I contacted states she offers $150 total OBC.

Is there a benefit to booking directly through MSC? Is it worth to add the third party (TA) for only  $150 OBC

9 hours ago, DebInAntigua said:

 

Didn't realize they allowed children into the Solarium except for inclement weather. I guess since Alaska isn't swimming weather on deck, X created family hours. Fair enough, but do they enforce them?

Meaning, if I want to enjoy the Solarium without children splashing and screaming about the space,  can I count on the non-family times actually being quiet and adults-only? Or does X look the other way if families stay beyond the family time hours?

Our experience on Solstice (twice) was that they did enforce the adult's only rule except for the brief hours (I think 11-1p?) that children were allowed. 

We did it several years ago and loved it. We don't do a lot of excursions but we really enjoyed the biking and the scenery and the beer tasting (my husband, I don't drink beer). Highly recommend the fish and chips available in the beer tasting venue. Still talking about that 4 years later.

We're also new to NCL and have only traveled on Celebrity so far. Am I understanding the the $50 credit will only be applied after you take an excursion? So we may be credited $50 after every excursion but it won't be credited to the excursion? We'll have to use it for some other on board charge?

Another question if anyone is willing to humor me. We always travel in at least Aqua Class, and with a Premium drink package. When I'm looking at the suites on MCL or NCL I'm not seeing drink packages. Do those lines offer drink packages? Are they ever included as a perk? Or do you have to purchase drinks individually while on board? Do any of the suite areas offer gratus drinks?

On 12/16/2018 at 9:12 AM, Sam.Seattle said:

Don't rule out Hubbard Glacier!  One of the few Glaciers still Advancing and not retreating.  The Millennium is being revolutionized for a better Suite Experience.  Also, Millie leaves from Vancouver, BC which provides a better inside passage experience especially on the return trip to BC. I live in Seattle and will happily drive to BC for the Inside Passage Experience along with Hubbard Glacier which was amazing this past summer.  

We've done Hubbard Glacier and really liked it. We've done Alaska 3 times already and are really ready to do Glacier Bay. Definitely interested in checking out the Summit and Millie after their renovations.

On 12/16/2018 at 6:10 AM, mafig said:

Read the reviews.  There are families traveling in the Haven, but not always and they are not always out of control.  What stops me from going with Haven is the price.  I've found a better deal and experience with MSC's Yacht Club....but they don't go to Alaska.

Definitely would love to try out MSC Yacht Club. Likely we will book that after doing Alaska in the summer. Thanks for the info.

Thanks so much for the info. What did you think of NCL Haven experience? Are there other dedicated suite areas?

We're not thrilled with the idea of traveling with a lot of kids. And DH does not enjoy crowds. The smaller M class ships worked great for us.

If Celebrity did Glacier Bay we would definitely be staying on Celebrity.

My husband is committed to sailing with Celebrity because he enjoys Blu/Luminae and is not interested in the MDR experience. He is also a huge fan of Michael's club when we've sailed in suites.

Next summer we plan to jump ship because we want to experience  Glacier Bay.

Any Celebrity regulars that have gone to a different line and found dedicated suite dining? Any line that offers something similar to a Blu/Luminae/Michaels Club? It seems NCL has something similar in Haven?

Thanks for any input.

Thanks so much for the info. I'll put a request in.

We will be traveling on the Summit next month. My mom will need access to distilled water for a medication that she needs to mix daily. I know there are people that choose to drink distilled water and that Smart Water is distilled. Does anyone know if we will be able to count of getting distilled water while on board?

(I searched this forum, called our travel agent, and am now on hold with Celebrity- no definitive answer yet).

Absolutely not. 100% no.

Unless you find a ship that has a CT on board, and an neurologist to read the scan (that part can be done online) you will not be seeing TPA given in a ship infirmary.

It gives me a little tic in my eye to even contemplate it.