LIVE from Discovery Princess - March 27th, 2022 - 7 Day Mexican Riviera Inaugural Sailing

[dskenn]

1 hour ago, Astro Flyer said:

No one checked our Arrival Group nor QR and only scanned Medallion.
 

Prior to arrival groups those with priority boarding were allowed to arrive when desired. Then each Captain’s Circle level had boarding priority cards which would have helped to eliminate crowding…sit until your group is called.

I am trying to picture where people had to sit and wait for their turn to board the bus.  We it upstairs to the right of check in?

[startedwithamouse]

7 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

You timed it perfectly! 😃 We arrived 50 minutes earlier & were onboard only about 15 minutes sooner. 

 

Hopefully they will begin issuing boarding group cards by Captain’s Circle level like before the pause to reduce crowding when boarding buses. In the elite lounge people surged to the door but only 40 could board the bus. Everyone else was jammed together for about 15 minutes waiting for the next bus. If having group cards that would eliminate such crowding during the pandemic.

How did you get a 9:30 am boarding time?  Ours was 11, and we were about 30 minutes early.

[SNJCruisers]

5 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

They are the same exact menus on other ships. Nothing new... 😞

OK...but there are some of us that are Princess virgins and it would be appreciated.

[SNJCruisers]

2 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Ugh.  We can’t stand Larry King. 

I thought he passed away just over a year ago.

[RSS from SF]

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If any of you onboard could upload some or all of the Princess Patters from this cruise, that would be wonderful.  Thanks much if you are able to!

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[Astro Flyer]

1 hour ago, dskenn said:

I am trying to picture where people had to sit and wait for their turn to board the bus.  We it upstairs to the right of check in?

After upstairs check in & through security  to the right & then to the elite/suite & platinum lounges and the general boarding seating area. Previously went to left to ship & this time went right to buses on the upper level not used since 9-11 as I recall.

[Astro Flyer]

1 hour ago, startedwithamouse said:

How did you get a 9:30 am boarding time?  Ours was 11, and we were about 30 minutes early.

With no passengers to disembark we arrived before our 1100 group time & they were already accepting bags & processing passengers at 0945.

[bonsai3s]

13 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

After upstairs check in & through security  to the right & then to the elite/suite & platinum lounges and the general boarding seating area. Previously went to left to ship & this time went right to buses on the upper level not used since 9-11 as I recall.

When will Discovery Princess ultimately dock in Pier 93...so no more buses? Thank you. (Apologies if duplicate post)

[MsSoCalCruiser]

14 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

Did anyone watch the DOND game show yesterday?  It was lacking something. Not polished. 

We thought it was fun.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

13 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

Perhaps this answers the question better with visuals. 😁  

 

Walked up at 10:34am ( first photo is with the Uhaul vans for luggage transport). IYKYK 🤣😳

 

Second photo is 10:54am, just before boarding the shuttle bus.

 

Third photo is 11:18am few minutes after arrival in the Piazza. 

😂😂😂 Looks like we boarded the bus at 10:54 AM because my friend is in your photo.  You can’t see me but I was with her.  

[SNJCruisers]

20 minutes ago, bonsai3s said:

When will Discovery Princess ultimately dock in Pier 93...so no more buses? Thank you. (Apologies if duplicate post)

Probably starting on April 24.  April 17 is the last time that the NCL Bliss will be embarking from San Pedro before it repositions north for it's Alaska season.  It's currently using 93.

[Astro Flyer]

27 minutes ago, bonsai3s said:

When will Discovery Princess ultimately dock in Pier 93...so no more buses? Thank you. (Apologies if duplicate post)

Never…Royal-class ships are too long to dock at B93.
 

The only berth long enough with a terminal is B92 and the other piers that are long enough are B46 (larger tent) & B50 (small tent for security screening) & both are located at the end of Miner St. On 4/24 & 4/29 Discovery will dock at B92 with a terminal & not require the current complicated boarding process.

[Astro Flyer]

11 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

It's currently using 93.

NCL Bliss is at B92.

[ceilidh1]

7 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Never…Royal-class ships are too long to dock at B93.
 

The only berth long enough with a terminal is B92 and the other piers that are long enough are B46 (larger tent) & B50 (small tent for security screening) & both are located at the end of Miner St. On 4/24 & 4/29 Discovery will dock at B92 with a terminal & not require the current complicated boarding process.

Thanks for this - I'm sailing her on 4/29 and this is welcome news. Although, for some reason, we don't depart until 11pm????

[wallyj]

6 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Thanks for this - I'm sailing her on 4/29 and this is welcome news. Although, for some reason, we don't depart until 11pm????

I thought I read somewhere on 4/29, there will be a special ‘naming’ ceremony for Discovery , so there might big special events planned, and then some of the participants will not sail, thus the late sail away.

[Astro Flyer]

20 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Thanks for this - I'm sailing her on 4/29 and this is welcome news. Although, for some reason, we don't depart until 11pm????

Discovery is scheduled to arrive at 0615 after a 5-day Cabo cruise…I think wallyj has the answer. There were no ceremonies I saw for our inaugural cruise with no terminal.

 

That’s it: “A traditional naming ceremony celebration will take place at the Port of Los Angeles on April 29, 2022, with more details to follow”.

 

https://www.carnivalcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/newest-princess-medallionclassr-ship-discovery-princess-sets

 

Edited March 30, 2022 by Astro Flyer

[ceilidh1]

1 minute ago, Astro Flyer said:

Discovery is scheduled to arrive at 0615 after a 5-day Cabo cruise…could the late departure having anything to do with sailing to your homeport of Vancouver for the first time or a US Coast Guard inspection. Just grasping at straws & you probably have better resources than me.

Possibly, or they just don't want to toodle around out at sea en route to San Fran...???? It does mean that I'm happy to fly down same day and save $$$ on a hotel for the night!

[macusr]

12 hours ago, pootsien2 said:

How is the casino? Is smoking allowed? 

 

Unfortunately yes it is

[MsSoCalCruiser]

6 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

You’re welcome…Crooners tonight has Live Music with A.J. Clarke from 2100-Late.

We really love listening to him.

[macusr]

Appears no one else has commented on today's logistics meltdown for excursions and tendering.  We had booked the whale watching excursion 12:30-2:30.  First indication of concern was our tour tickets said to meet in the Princess theater at 12:45.  Ok well fine.  Our excursion was assigned Yellow 8.  We waited and waited and finally at 1:15 they had Yellow 8 go down to Deck 4 and we boarded our tender (one of Discovery’s lifeboats).  But then we sat while they then decided to fill up the tender with non-excursion people.  Sorry but those of us who paid for an excursion should have priority over people without paid excursions for getting on tenders.  We didn’t get on shore until 1:50.  Then we had to queue to fill out the tour operator’s waiver form and be escorted down to where the catamaran boarded.  We finally got underway on our excursion at 2pm.  The excursion itself was good - we got to see 2 adults and 1 calf with spouting, splashing, and the calf frequently breaching.  But the logistics surrounding the excursion were definitely a cluster.  

[MsSoCalCruiser]

@macusrugh, that’s terrible.  

[caribill]

1 hour ago, macusr said:

We had booked the whale watching excursion 12:30-2:30.  First indication of concern was our tour tickets said to meet in the Princess theater at 12:45.

 

We finally got underway on our excursion at 2pm.

 

So what time did the excursion really end?

[Fletch1]

19 hours ago, CruisingJs said:

I also found the bed to be very hard.  My room steward was nice enough to put a mattress topper on it for me yesterday like we used to get before they changed to the new mattresses.

 

That's fortunate. 

[Fletch1]

2 hours ago, macusr said:

Appears no one else has commented on today's logistics meltdown for excursions and tendering.  We had booked the whale watching excursion 12:30-2:30.  First indication of concern was our tour tickets said to meet in the Princess theater at 12:45.  Ok well fine.  Our excursion was assigned Yellow 8.  We waited and waited and finally at 1:15 they had Yellow 8 go down to Deck 4 and we boarded our tender (one of Discovery’s lifeboats).  But then we sat while they then decided to fill up the tender with non-excursion people.  Sorry but those of us who paid for an excursion should have priority over people without paid excursions for getting on tenders.  We didn’t get on shore until 1:50.  Then we had to queue to fill out the tour operator’s waiver form and be escorted down to where the catamaran boarded.  We finally got underway on our excursion at 2pm.  The excursion itself was good - we got to see 2 adults and 1 calf with spouting, splashing, and the calf frequently breaching.  But the logistics surrounding the excursion were definitely a cluster.  

 

I agree....paid up excursion participants should get priority. 

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

7 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

I thought he passed away just over a year ago.

He was on our cruise in December on the Sky. And if he’s singing on Discovery this week, then he’s still alive. Unless that’s a WAY better show than previously. 🤪