Discovery - Glad To Be Off

[travelhound]

On 4/18/2022 at 10:47 PM, Myrtle Ave. Mayhem said:

Hello everyone. Have you ever come home from a cruise & not missed it AT ALL? 

 

I've been sailing with Princess 30 years & have seen the changes from being a distinctly upscale British & Italian experience under P & O to the watered down version under Carnival. Princess always held a warm spot in my heart, having sailed aboard the original Pacific Princess & former Sitmar Fairwind as Dawn Princess. The truth is today's Princess is a mass market line & within thier price point offer a good value for the money. 

 

In disclosure I'll admit I'm on the persnickity side & definitely old school in my cruising preferences. My last six cruises were on Viking Ocean. I haven't sailed Princess since 2018. This summary is based on my experience of the April 10 Discovery Princess cruise. My views & preferences are mine, filtered through my perceptions & expectations. Others may have been aboard the same cruise & may disagree with me on some things or completely. Knowing that it would be unfair to compare Princess to Viking because they are different products at different price points, I boarded Discovery with an open mind & optimistic attitude.

 

Personally the ship feels way to big & high density. It felt like vacationing in an urban mall. There seemed to be lots of people everywhere all the time. So many of the small details that make Crown class ships enjoyable are missing from Discovery Princess. Why & how Princess would build ships without fully encircling wrap around promenade decks & observation lounges with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out to the sea is a mystery. The upper deck above the bridge with the bridge wings for forward & side views on the Crown class is absent. It's a shame there is no open forward deck on Discovery. The Vista Lounge is one example of a few lost opportunities from a design & passenger experience factor. With the stage facing aft, there is no wake view. Imagine how stunning that lounge would be with wraparound & aft floor-to-ceiling windows a la the original Pacific Princess! Most of the lounges & bars seemed too small for the number of passengers. The Princess Theater, MDR's, & Market Place/Horizon Court were just kinda there decor wise, a little plain. I know Princess doesn't do the over the top decor like Carnival or Royal Caribbean, but they could have punched it up just a little & taken the visual to the next level. While I loved the blues used in Princess Live, Vista Lounge, & Crown Grill Bar, rest of the ship done up in brown, taupe, & silver looked bland & not a color scheme I associate with cruise ships. The passageway, stairwell, & cabin decor looked like something from the discount bin at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. I tried to spend time in Take Five, but the seating was brutal. 

 

My biggest disappointment was the pool situation. On every cruise I'm a pool guy. Not possible on Discovery Princess. The Wake View & Retreat pools were too small & shallow. Thier adjacent deck space completely uninviting & lacking in atmosphere. Why do cruise lines think adults only want a shallow pool? Just please give us a full sized, full depth pool. The two main pools were stunning to look at with their teal mosaic & appropriately large & deep. The problem was the constant MUTS & pop/latin/reggeton/rock music played at obnoxious decibels. Really Princess, you need to go the QuietVox route used aboard Viking. I tried going to the Elite/Platinum Happy Hour in the Vista Lounge on embarkation day but the music was auto tune pop playing way to loud. For all the years Princess has been in the business shame on them for not matching appropriate music to the setting. The room was empty. On a positive note, the live performances of the production team, individual singers & musicians was exceptional. I didn't like the two comedians with body function bathroom humor. Can't we keep the comedy classy? 

 

The best service on the ship was in the MDR's. I enjoyed the menus, variety, & plated presentation. The servers were uniformly attentive & gracious. The dining room managers really only sat passengers at the table. Gone are the days when they placed your napkin on your lap. I know that may seem outdated for some, but coming from a hospitality background I notice those little details. Our cabin steward made it clear that the room was serviced once daily, unless requested otherwise. Again it may not matter to some, but a detail in the product presentation I felt lacking. Bar & drink service were the other weak link of service. I don't use my phone on vacation except for taking pictures. For all my years of cruising I never had an issue ordering drinks. It seemed clear that they really expect people to order drinks through the app. Usually I'd have to flag down a server to take my order. Often a server would pass my table, see I didn't have a drink & just pass by, not proactively taking my order. Usually once my order was taken, then it would be delivered by a different server. Then that would be it, no checking back later for refills, ect. This new system seems impersonal. 

 

The whole experience in general felt like staying at a corporate chain hotel, not a cruise line I used to love & cherish. Princess Cruises as a product sermed annoyingly anonymous & impersonal on this cruise.

Thanks for your review.  We plan to be this ship for an Alaskan cruise.  Unfortunately I think many of your observations just reflect what is happening with all the major cruise lines.

[atexsix]

20 hours ago, cruisingrob21 said:

I agree with OP about the ambient music - Princess used to only have it in certain areas and it was more of an instrumental version (I think they used Acoustic Alchemy a lot which is a pretty decent fusion group) but it seemed to fit in most places and wasn't distracting.  Now it seems like I'm in a vegas hotel with the upbeat ambient top 40 music being played pretty much in every venue on board.

 

On the Majestic most recently, in the Conservatory, I found it really hard to read a book when music with lyrics was being played.  Maybe that's just me, but its kind of annoying.  Oh well, I submitted my feedback in the post cruise survey and will continue to evaluate if I need to take my business elsewhere to accommodate my style of cruising.

Anything is an improvement over the Holland America piped in music, eclectic would be an understatement, songs would go from bluegrass to soft rock to dentist office in a matter of minutes. 

[atexsix]

4 hours ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

We were on the inaugural voyage.  While I wouldn't say I'd never sail on Discovery again, it certainly was one of my least favorite ships/experiences.  The layout if very strange, to say the least.

 

Some of this was because of it being a brand new ship (we expected some glitches along the way) and some of it related to Covid protocols--although there wasn't much that bothered us--but some was just the design of the ship and other issues.

 

Embarkation was something of a mess, taking way too long, but we made it.

 

The crew was wonderful, but understaffed, especially in the buffet.  Portions were fine, but there were a few nights in the MDR that I had trouble finding something I really wanted.  I thought the buffet selection was unappealing most of the time too, with many cutbacks in both venues.

 

I don't really get the Dine My Way aspect, but since we almost always eat after the first show, we didn't have a problem just getting in without a reservation.  Five minute wait, tops.  

 

Didn't really use the Medallion except to get in and out of the room, which was fine.  

 

We enjoyed the music around the ship and in the Vista Lounge, especially the Abba tribute night but at times ambiant music was too loud.  Of course we don't like every genre of music, but there seemed to be a selection for most tastes.

 

Hated that there was only one production show, although Rock Opera was great, and that the other acts were just so-so.  Movies Under the Stars, which we usually enjoy, was awful, with a terrible selection of mostly old or unknown movies.

 

The tv selection in the cabin was great, with many offerings.

 

The cabin was fine, our steward was great, we really prefer not to have twice a day service, so that didn't bother us.

 

I found the decor kind of boring and hate the lack of areas that actually look at or face the ocean.  Miss a 'real' promenade deck a lot--few if any new builds have this--and the walking track on deck 17? was often too windy or cold to use.

 

The best thing was the price (very cheap) and spending time in ports and with my sister, who cruised with us.

One thing I noticed on some of the ship reviews on youtube is that there doesn't seem to be all that many indoor places to just sit and read/relax unless it's in a lounge.  Were any lounges open during the daytime for such an activity?  

[startedwithamouse]

There's a ton of room inside to sit and relax during the day. 

[JF - retired RRT]

On 4/19/2022 at 11:55 AM, PrincessLuver said:

 

The Majestic does not have a Sanctuary but the Hollywood Beach Club which people can use at no extra costs.

One of these days, I want to try the Majestic just for the Hollywood BC.

[atexsix]

59 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

There's a ton of room inside to sit and relax during the day. 

Great, thanks!

[Chelly]

I am riveted to this thread of posters' disappointing experiences on Discovery.   I am  booked on Discovery's Oct 8 sailing to Mexico.   This is the first time I've had troubling concerns about an upcoming cruise.

 

I've cruised more than 35 times; mostly on HAL, Celeb and Princess... with a few RCL, Carnival, NCL and Viking tossed in.  

 

I usually travel solo in a well situated balcony cabin.   This time I booked an additional balcony cabin as a gift for my adult son.  It will be his first cruise.   I've always managed to "survive" a disappointing cruise by maintaining a good attitude and by avoiding difficult areas, sticking with what works for me.  

 

However, now that I've involved another person in my cruise, I'm troubled by so many bad reviews of Discovery.   For months, I've hyped to my son all the wonderful experiences I've had on Princess and have been excited about the new Discovery.   Based on what I'm reading, I fear this cruise will be a huge disappointment to a newbie cruiser.    Hoping in upcoming months Discovery's travel experience will improve, but have come to the point of cancelling and booking with HAL or Celebrity.  Really feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.

[VibeGuy]

A very close friend is currently on Discovery and is *raving* about the experience.  He’s sailed all the Princess classes and subclasses with me, and is an experienced business and leisure traveler.  YMMV,  but I suspect that staffing mismatches and early launch glitches will resolve pretty quickly.  
 

 

[Astro Flyer]

11 minutes ago, Chelly said:

Hoping in upcoming months Discovery's travel experience will improve, but have come to the point of cancelling and booking with HAL or Celebrity.  Really feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I feel that many of the issues are supply & crew shortages which will affect most cruise lines. My most disappointing experience was with DMW but have greatly enjoyed several months on Royal-class ships including Discovery’s first two cruises,

 

Edited April 20, 2022 by Astro Flyer

[VibeGuy]

I’m mystified by the comment about not finding something one wants to eat on the MDR dinner menus and how that’s a Discovery issue. 
 

I’m admittedly pretty omnivorous, but the menus are essentially common fleetwide, with some (very) minor regional and seasonal variations.  Seems like if you don’t like the Discovery menus, you’re not going to like Ruby, Island or Grand, either.  I honestly cannot think of any of the 15 shared dinner menus where there aren’t at least two entrees I’m torn between.   I see zero evidence Discovery is an outlier. 
 

 

[startedwithamouse]

25 minutes ago, Chelly said:

I am riveted to this thread of posters' disappointing experiences on Discovery.   I am  booked on Discovery's Oct 8 sailing to Mexico.   This is the first time I've had troubling concerns about an upcoming cruise.

 

I've cruised more than 35 times; mostly on HAL, Celeb and Princess... with a few RCL, Carnival, NCL and Viking tossed in.  

 

I usually travel solo in a well situated balcony cabin.   This time I booked an additional balcony cabin as a gift for my adult son.  It will be his first cruise.   I've always managed to "survive" a disappointing cruise by maintaining a good attitude and by avoiding difficult areas, sticking with what works for me.  

 

However, now that I've involved another person in my cruise, I'm troubled by so many bad reviews of Discovery.   For months, I've hyped to my son all the wonderful experiences I've had on Princess and have been excited about the new Discovery.   Based on what I'm reading, I fear this cruise will be a huge disappointment to a newbie cruiser.    Hoping in upcoming months Discovery's travel experience will improve, but have come to the point of cancelling and booking with HAL or Celebrity.  Really feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Read ALL the comments.  

[julia]

15 minutes ago, Chelly said:

 

 

I usually travel solo in a well situated balcony cabin.   This time I booked an additional balcony cabin as a gift for my adult son.  It will be his first cruise.     

 

 Based on what I'm reading, I fear this cruise will be a huge disappointment to a newbie cruiser.    

Respectfully...  how on earth could your adult son, who is being TREATED to his first cruise, in a balcony no less, and who has no basis of comparison, possibly be disappointed??   That is rather mind boggling.

 

Just go, relax, and do not point out what YOU may perceive as shortfalls or cutbacks to a new cruiser. After all, it is YOUR cruise.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

We were onboard the first two weeks and had a wonderful experience. I don’t know if that’s because we packed our patience but we felt like almost everything was perfect for us. We got lucky with our dining reservation and had the same table for 14 days but that may have had something to do with my food allergies.  We felt that the food was really tasty.  We both loved the Discovery Princess and her crew.  We felt that the service was wonderful.  I think that the Sky Suites took away some real estate that we all used to enjoy.  I do realize that not everyone has the same experience that I have and we don’t all like the same things.  It is a bummer when you are disappointed which is the experience that I have at the international café, lol.

[Nebr.cruiser]

2 hours ago, VibeGuy said:

I’m mystified by the comment about not finding something one wants to eat on the MDR dinner menus and how that’s a Discovery issue. 
 

I’m admittedly pretty omnivorous, but the menus are essentially common fleetwide, with some (very) minor regional and seasonal variations.  Seems like if you don’t like the Discovery menus, you’re not going to like Ruby, Island or Grand, either.  I honestly cannot think of any of the 15 shared dinner menus where there aren’t at least two entrees I’m torn between.   I see zero evidence Discovery is an outlier. 
 

 

There were nights when I wasn't thrilled about anything on the dinner menu, but of course did find plenty to eat.  I doubt very much if it is a Discovery issue, probably a fleet wide issue as menus have changed somewhat, particularly with beef choices.  For instance, there is no longer steak on the always available menu.

 

A lot of this is personal taste, of course.  For instance, I don't like most fish dishes and don't like chicken, which of course narrows choices considerably.

 

Quality of beef was down, especially the prime rib, and the lobster was actually laughable.  There were many dishes we did enjoy, but I could tell cuts had been made.  We were all fine with the supposedly smaller portions.

[VibeGuy]

I noticed highly variable beef quality as well - both the best Wellington I’ve ever had at sea and a roast that was apparently cut from a Wellington boot. 

[cr8tiv1]

3 hours ago, Chelly said:

I am riveted to this thread of posters' disappointing experiences on Discovery.   I am  booked on Discovery's Oct 8 sailing to Mexico.   This is the first time I've had troubling concerns about an upcoming cruise.

 

I've cruised more than 35 times; mostly on HAL, Celeb and Princess... with a few RCL, Carnival, NCL and Viking tossed in.  

 

I usually travel solo in a well situated balcony cabin.   This time I booked an additional balcony cabin as a gift for my adult son.  It will be his first cruise.   I've always managed to "survive" a disappointing cruise by maintaining a good attitude and by avoiding difficult areas, sticking with what works for me.  

 

However, now that I've involved another person in my cruise, I'm troubled by so many bad reviews of Discovery.   For months, I've hyped to my son all the wonderful experiences I've had on Princess and have been excited a55 bout the new Discovery.   Based on what I'm reading, I fear this cruise will be a huge disappointment to a newbie cruiser.    Hoping in upcoming months Discovery's travel experience will improve, but have come to the point of cancelling and booking with HAL or Celebrity.  Really feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.

 

I had a similar experience with a booking on the Grand Princess.  Invited my sister who is a 4 or 5 star mariner on HAL.  From the get go, she was not thrilled with Princess.  Medallion App to register for her cruise and things just got worse.  She ended up having to cancel for a medical reason.  Still "hates" Princess.  Promised a 25% refund from Princess and 75%a from AON (Princess Platinum Insurance).  2 months later:  no refund and still working with AON.  I doubt I will ever be able to get her on a Princess cruise in the future.  

 

I am actually glad she (and my other sister) cancelled.  I went on the cruise as a solo passenger.  I was masked and survived 25 days without getting COVID.  But ... although my cruise was stellar, I was less than pleased with the removal of healthy protocols (casino, masking, elevators, theater, entertainment, etc).  

 

As others have chimed in, this will be his first cruise without anything to compare to.  I hope all goes well for you and your son.  There are lots of passengers out there that love the Royal Class ship.  It's just not for me.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

7 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:I was masked and survived 25 days without getting COVID.  But ... although my cruise was stellar, I was less than pleased with the removal of healthy protocols (casino, masking, elevators, theater, entertainment, etc).  

I am also less than pleased with the removal of health protocols. Especially with smoking being allowed again in the casino. I am not one that minds the smell of smoke but I am not a fan of Covid (I know, no one is).  I really think that no smoking would help and it makes no sense to me to allow it indoors.  Of course this is my  opinion.

[VibeGuy]

Moving enough air to clear the smoke would also move enough air to keep virus concentrations below the infectious threshold, but that’s a big engineering lift in systems built to the standards of 20 years ago. 
 

Regardless of COVID I would prefer Princess make the casino slightly negative pressure with automatic glass doors in and out, to keep guests’ and employees’ exposures to nuisance smoke to an absolute minimum.  This, combined with air exchange, would make a healthier and more pleasant cruising environment. 

[AnyMajorCruiseDude]

8 minutes ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I am also less than pleased with the removal of health protocols. Especially with smoking being allowed again in the casino. I am not one that minds the smell of smoke but I am not a fan of Covid (I know, no one is).  I really think that no smoking would help and it makes no sense to me to allow it indoors.  Of course this is my  opinion.

Us too.  Some of us actually benefited from the more stringent measures and are sad to see them go.  We had hoped Princess would adopt some permanently,  but so much for wishful thinking.

[scooter6139]

49 minutes ago, VibeGuy said:

Regardless of COVID I would prefer Princess make the casino slightly negative pressure with automatic glass doors in and out, to keep guests’ and employees’ exposures to nuisance smoke to an absolute minimum.  This, combined with air exchange, would make a healthier and more pleasant cruising environment. 

 

I like how NCL does this currently, where the "smoking section" in the Casino is a glassed in area.  Smoke still wafts out into the atrium area so you can smell it above (like sitting in the Sugarcane bar) but it is an attempt to reduce it for the other 97% of passengers.

[VibeGuy]

When they allowed smoking only in Speakeasy on Ruby, behind closed doors, and not in the casino as a whole, it was still wafting out as far as the elevators across the piazza.   They just don’t have the vent configuration to keep it from spreading 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

1 hour ago, scooter6139 said:

 

I like how NCL does this currently, where the "smoking section" in the Casino is a glassed in area.  Smoke still wafts out into the atrium area so you can smell it above (like sitting in the Sugarcane bar) but it is an attempt to reduce it for the other 97% of passengers.

I’ve sailed on the NCL Bliss and I felt that that made a huge difference.

[Thrak]

12 hours ago, travelhound said:

Thanks for your review.  We plan to be this ship for an Alaskan cruise.  Unfortunately I think many of your observations just reflect what is happening with all the major cruise lines.

 

This is my fear. We have, in the past, pretty much loved cruising with Princess. I fear that the new protocols, unbridled smoking in the casino (GAH!), and our first experience on a Royal class ship (Royal Princess) may combine to essentially "poison" cruising for us for the future. I (we) have become used to a certain level of service, quality of cruising, etc. and I'm afraid that standard will not be even close to being met. I am afraid that the things that caused us to be so very enamored of the cruise experience will simply not be there.

 

I'm hoping that I'm just being nervous due to a very small percentage of unhappy people who are posting. It's well know that unhappy people will speak up far more often than those who are happy. We will have to decide for ourselves when we sail on May 2nd. We are planning to cruise with an open mind and will, hopefully, not be unduly influenced by negative posts.

[CU64]

6 hours ago, VibeGuy said:

Moving enough air to clear the smoke would also move enough air to keep virus concentrations below the infectious threshold, but that’s a big engineering lift in systems built to the standards of 20 years ago. 
 

Regardless of COVID I would prefer Princess make the casino slightly negative pressure with automatic glass doors in and out, to keep guests’ and employees’ exposures to nuisance smoke to an absolute minimum.  This, combined with air exchange, would make a healthier and more pleasant cruising environment. 

I was on April 3-10 cruise, played at BJ tables often. No smoking at tables, only in slots. I am sensitive to smell of smoke. There was no smell at tables when I played or I would have left. If you played in slots, there was smoking. Manager also confirmed this.

 

 

[VibeGuy]

I am pleased they’ve eliminated smoking at tables and presumably at the casino bar top, but I smelled smoke *outside* of the casino on Ruby pretty much every night of thirty nights in late February and March.   It’s just jarring coming from when even tribal casinos in Washington banned smoking due to COVID.   Indoor smoking just hasn’t been a thing on the West Coast other than in tribal gaming for so long that it feels weird and it was nice while it was de facto banned onboard.  I grudgingly support provision of indoor smoking areas with exceptional ventilation, but I really don’t feel comfortable compelling workers to be exposed to cigarette smoke as a condition of employment in 2022. 
 

As to the actual onboard experience:  the service has been incredible since the restart, at least on Ruby.  We weren’t really planning on any cruising this winter, but we took a chance on 20 nights around Christmas and we had what we honestly felt were our best cruises with Princess.   Everyone was happy to see guests and be back onboard and the passenger counts were so low that it was yachtlike.  I had four changes of silverware in one lunch at the Horizon Court.  It was a bit much.  We were so impressed we stayed onboard for another 20 nights without a second thought.  They were equally great.  
 

We got home and realized we had a remarkably good experience in part because the crew-passenger ratio was roughly inverse of normal and that we’d be idiots not to take advantage of the lack of demand, so we booked another month for February/March. If anything, the service was even better because so many of the same crew were still on board and knew what we liked.   
 

Despite me getting sick due, in part, I believe, to the elimination of pierside testing and an onboard test (dumb move on Princess’ part that they’ve since went back to for long sailings), we just booked the Royal sailing as well, and frankly my expectations are a little tempered given that it is her first cruise with paying guests in a long, long time.   But I’m not at all apprehensive -  our post-restart cruises have absolutely exceeded all of my expectations.  Case in point:  I have fin fish every night for dinner on board, without fail.  This marks 70 servings of fin fish in a 110 day span.  Every single one of them was cooked absolutely perfectly.  That is executional excellence.  Six perfect rare beef wellingtons with crisp pastry.  One of the best pop/rock bands we’ve *ever* had (Grace’s Secret).  A genuinely engaged CD and staff.   Yes, this has all been on one ship, but there’s nothing that has happened onboard that makes me go “Man, Princess has gone to the dogs”.    By the end of our Royal sailing, 82 of the previous 160 days will have found me on a Princess ship and I’m not there because I’m some sort of sick glutton for punishment.  The most glaring, egregious changes I’ve noticed are:

 

1) the little carafes of salty bar snacks are absent  - I’m a snacky drunk

 

2)  the dessert samplers in Crown Grill and Sabatinis not available (blamed on a lack of the particular service ware due to logistics)

 

3) the modification of the Chef’s Table to exclude the galley visit/apps (understandable)

 

4) no gelato in the IC on Ruby (blamed on low passenger count)
 

5) Magic To Do not performed (for the safety of the stagehands due to required close-quarters work)

 

6) Sprite Zero not provisioned anymore (a personal slight targeted specifically to me as revenge for something I don’t even recall doing)

 

7) a lack of green grapes (affects one menu item in Crooners that I rather enjoy, and I can literally bring my own)

 

 

8 ) no hot appetizers at the Captain’s Circle Cocktail Party 

 

9) no sparkling wine toast in the piazza (I don’t miss the crap wine but I did enjoy the cake pops)

 

10) kind of pedestrian fragrance and liquor selections in the shops (heard it’s a new vendor running them)
 

11) No Voice of the Ocean or Pop Choir

 

12) honor-system grading of trivia answers

 

13) Rolls and butter are served rather than on the table, as during Noro precautions. 

 

14) a distinct lack of popcorn at MUTS

 

15) The Wake Show seems to do fewer “on location” bits. 

16) no pub lunch 

 

17) The Chamisal “INOX” Chardonnay is off the menu at Vines. 

 

Things that are distinctly better since our pre-COVID sailings:

 

1) Good Spirits is really doing some amazing stuff and there are a few new drinks coming in for the season.  
 

2) Vines has a couple of new obscurities including perhaps the best Gewurztraminer made in California. 
 

3) We had very soft and fluffy new towels in the Lotus Spa Pool area, with a thinner pinstripe rather than the awning stripe. 
 

4) The nightly PES lounge included rotating hot hors d’oeuvre selections as well as the usual featured cold selections. This is a big win for me as we tend to dine late and it’s nice to have something substantial during the cocktail hour.
 

5) the m3 satellite internet can be spectacularly good

 

6) No gold by the inch or other sidewalk sales from the shops. 

 

You’ll note that these are really subtle changes and most of them are of a level common to every hospitality provider at the moment.   None of the absences, alone or in combination, make me consider cruising any less.   The core product is still really, really good.