MV Discovery - Egypt to Istanbul - April 2010

[Northscot]

We were fortunate to be on one of the last flights out of London Gatwick on 15th April - so didn't miss our cruise.

Others have given a comprehensive review of the lectures and food options - so I be very brief on those topics.

Food: Bottom line was that the food was great and no problem even for the fussiest eater to find something that was palatable....indeed for those of us not so fussy - the biggest problem was knowing where to stop at times!

Entertainment - well the shows were good, but I must say that the show from the crew was (for me) one of the big highlights - some of those people can really sing / dance / entertain - even to the point of being better than some of the formal entertainers!.

Organised tours:

I'm sure they were good but I feel they were pretty much overpriced & we didn't take advantage of any of them. For most of the stops we did our own thing and hired a taxi to do what the organised tours were doing, but much cheaper and faster. This suited us (although I am aware that many would prefer the organised bus tour with guide). For example, in Jordan we had a taxi between four (2 couples) which we hired after a leisurely breakfast. Visited briefly Wadi Rum where we stopped to take a few quick photos and then on to Petra, where our taxi driver waited a few hours for us to do the "tourist" bit. A real good day out with plenty of "banter" with the taxi driver.

Bar Staff / Bar Waiters:

Excellent and it only took a few hours for them to know our order / names / cabin numbers. Really great bunch, friendly and helpful.....mind you - we did keep them busy!!

 

Criticism:

A couple of criticism's that could easily be resolved with a bit better organisation on the ship.

1. Lido Bar: - why shut this bar at 5pm ? Just towards the end of the afternoon - when many were still taking advantage of the remaining sunshine on the sun deck. Also a time when many people are up on the sundeck and Lido Deck watching the last few passengers boarding before the ship sails away from port. Can't understand it - an opportunity missed as far as sales of sundowner drinks (alcoholic AND non-alcoholic) - for people watching the ship leaving port. We did get some excellent help from some of both the Bar Waiters/Waitresses and also from one of the Deck Crew, in getting a tray of drinks up to the sun deck from the bar many decks below. [Also provided with a phone number for the bar that we used when the Lido Bar was closed, which allowed us to order our drinks and have them taken up for us.]

[On a Princess cruise through the Panama Canal 2 years ago - this time of day was used as an opportunity to sell more refreshments.....and I don't want a lecture about drinking..it's holiday time - do as you please personally - but don't criticise what others choose to do!]

2. Late Evening Snacks: Why do these stop a midnight? Seems crazy to me, with entertainment going on until midnight, that those going to the entertainment would have to LEAVE early to take advantage of the late Evening snacks!! Suggestion - keep the snacks going for another 1/2 hour or hour. THEN you have a better chance of getting people to STAY in the entertainment lounge until the entertainment finishes.

3. Departure Day: I understand why they want everyone out of their cabins by 8am on changeover / departure day - buy why not have a repeat showing of some of the films, running continuously on departure day? Even with regular announcements about those departing - I believe this would be a good way of passing the time for those on later departures.

 

Summary - We enjoyed our Voyage of Discovery from Safaga to Istanbul.

 

regards

Northscot

[SwissMyst]

Having recently spent time also on the Discovery, one learns this is not a "full service" ship nor is it intended to be a competitor to more full service ships. It was my impression this is primarily a small, destination-oriented ship with lots of enrichment lectures appropriate to the areas visited, but that provided more basic and functional ship services that meet most general travel needs. And does this overall mission extremely well.

 

My personal miss from mainline cruising was flexible room service. Did you use room service and find a special room service menu? We were told we had to order only from the dinner or lunch menu and wait for delivery only when each meal had started in the main dining room. This was hard for those times when the seas were rough and one wanted just some simple things; not prepared dinner items. Apparently we missed the separate room service menu but never got direction there was one.

[WBradfordGary]

We were part of the group that was grounded in UK due to " ash-cloud" over European airspace and missed our air embarkation onto Discovery at Safaga.

 

Having said that, we were most impressed by the outstanding way that Discovery and her parent company looked after us whilst we waited a week to travel our to meet the cruise in Turkey. They placed us in a superior hotel in Brighton, paid for all meals, and arranged day tours in Kent and Sussex to various castles and country houses.

 

Discovery " short cruise" and alternative UK arrangements were outstanding.

 

The Company - All Leisure Holiday - deserves special commendation.

 

We have cruised worldwide for thirty years on well over fifty lines -- this was our most " positive" experience to date. Well done to Discovery and All Leisure !