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Onboard Discovery Princess

avalon1025

By avalon1025,
in Princess Cruises

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Peasy24

Peasy24

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You had a different experience than I did with the crew.  A few were great (the person behind the counter up at the Salty Dog Grill - amazing!) but most of them seemed irritated, bored, or confused. I think we actually got what we ordered once with the Room Service feature. I agree, beautiful ship and the mini suite was very nice but way, way too crowded. I really do not understand the one tiny coffee shop that is supposed to cater to everyone on the ship. Especially after 10pm.

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PMGS247

PMGS247

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28 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

Unfortunately, you will probably never have that chance as cruise capacities return to pre-covid levels.

 

I'm anxious to see how it is when I sail on April 1 on this ship.  This will only be my second experience with a royal class ship, but my first experience was immediately after cruising resumed and the Sky Princess ran at 35-40% capacity.  It was fantastic, but I knew at the time it was a special circumstance to have the ship that empty.  I've sailed the Grand class at capacity many times and never had too much of an issue, although now that someone mentions it, it's not like the IC is any larger on the Royal class but the passenger population certainly is.

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LACruiser88 "Live from...." Rare

LACruiser88

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15 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

 

I'm anxious to see how it is when I sail on April 1 on this ship.  This will only be my second experience with a royal class ship, but my first experience was immediately after cruising resumed and the Sky Princess ran at 35-40% capacity.  It was fantastic, but I knew at the time it was a special circumstance to have the ship that empty.  I've sailed the Grand class at capacity many times and never had too much of an issue, although now that someone mentions it, it's not like the IC is any larger on the Royal class but the passenger population certainly is.

I really think the "overcrowding" comments are due to the fact that post start-up we were cruising at very low passenger counts and folks grew accustomed to fairly empty ships.  Now as the world is getting back to normalcy ships are back to their "normal" passenger counts.

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PMGS247

PMGS247

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1 minute ago, LACruiser88 said:

I really think the "overcrowding" comments are due to the fact that post start-up we were cruising at very low passenger counts and folks grew accustomed to fairly empty ships.  Now as the world is getting back to normalcy ships are back to their "normal" passenger counts.

Agreed.  I can at least say for myself I was very cognizant of the fact that it was a unique scenario for the ship to be that empty and I made sure to soak up every moment of it. It's easy to get spoiled quickly though!

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californiagirl

californiagirl

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I’m sad to hear about the crowds.  Do you know the exact passenger count on the current sailing?  
 

We board her on Saturday as well.  We sailed Regal over Thanksgiving 2021 at 30% capacity…a dream!  I sailed Majestic Feb 2022 at slightly higher capacity (I can’t recall the exact number) noticeably more people.  Then Discovery last Sept at close to normal capacity.  Again noticeable difference but did not feel packed.  It looks like our upcoming sailing will be at complete capacity.  
 

The most packed ship we ever sailed on was Oasis of the Seas in Europe August 2019.  Now that was miserable.  One would think on a ship that size that the crowds would disperse throughout.  Not so!  The common areas did not compensate for the high passenger load.  The buffet was about the size of a Royal class ship’s buffet and ALWAYS felt full.  Her double/per room capacity is 5606.  Imagine 2000 more passengers in a Royal class ship buffet!  The only time I will ever sail on that class again is if we take our children and grandchildren.  There is so much more for younger people to do onboard than any Princess ship.

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Sunwanabe

Sunwanabe

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We were on a full Discovery Princess cruise to Alaska last summer. Biggest crowds for us was in the Marketplace Buffet. Plenty of other great eateries to chose from that are less crowded. Weather wasn't great so a lot of folks inside so doesn't give a complete picture. 

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sunviking90 Holiday Sharing Rare

sunviking90

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, LACruiser88 said:

Unfortunately, you will probably never have that chance as cruise capacities return to pre-covid levels.

You’re right. I’m really glad we were able to take the cruises we did in 2022 with most at less than half capacity, while so many people “waited”. It’s good for the industry that things are closer to “normal” though.

Edited by sunviking90
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sunviking90 Holiday Sharing Rare

sunviking90

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53 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

 

I'm anxious to see how it is when I sail on April 1 on this ship.  This will only be my second experience with a royal class ship, but my first experience was immediately after cruising resumed and the Sky Princess ran at 35-40% capacity.  It was fantastic, but I knew at the time it was a special circumstance to have the ship that empty.  I've sailed the Grand class at capacity many times and never had too much of an issue, although now that someone mentions it, it's not like the IC is any larger on the Royal class but the passenger population certainly is.

IC is also busier post Covid with all the drinks package people getting coffee. I’m sure more people are getting specialty coffees now that they have it all included, and more often. 
I also think their systems really slow things down there. They should do things like Starbucks, where if you’re just getting a drip coffee they pour it right away. Instead they write everyone’s order on the cups and all are picked up at the end counter. It really holds things up, when half the people lined up are only getting brewed coffee in the morning. 
 

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Peasy24

Peasy24

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36 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

I really think the "overcrowding" comments are due to the fact that post start-up we were cruising at very low passenger counts and folks grew accustomed to fairly empty ships.  Now as the world is getting back to normalcy ships are back to their "normal" passenger counts.

I'd agree but I just sailed with friends on the Celebrity Solstice at nearly full capacity and had zero issues. We had an amazing time and never felt crowded and the crew members, service, and food were all excellent. 

 

Our experience on the Discovery left a lot to be desired.

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JimmyVWine Great Review Rare

JimmyVWine

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Posted (edited)
12 minutes ago, sunviking90 said:

IC is also busier post Covid with all the drinks package people getting coffee. I’m sure more people are getting specialty coffees now that they have it all included, and more often. 
I also think their systems really slow things down there. They should do things like Starbucks, where if you’re just getting a drip coffee they pour it right away. Instead they write everyone’s order on the cups and all are picked up at the end counter. It really holds things up, when half the people lined up are only getting brewed coffee in the morning. 
 

This is what Princess missed on when it introduced the Packages.  They market the heck out of them and want everyone to buy one.  And once people have the Packages, it is human nature to:

  • Order more Specialty Coffees since they are now unlimited
  • Order more drinks from the bars
  • Dine more often in Specialty Restaurants since these meals are included in the higher Package

 

All of this downward pressure on the finite services should have required allocating more square footage to the coffee venues, the bars and the Specialty Restaurants, and should have also necessitated allocating more crew members to meet the heightened demand.  And Princess has done neither.  It's not complicated.  If you used to sell lollipops for $1 each and on average you'd sell 100 per cruise, you'd provision the ship with 115 lollipops and have one crew member sell them in one location.  But if you start charging people $2 more for their cruise and tell them that they can now have as many "free" lollipops as they want, you had better provision the ship with way more than 115 and you had better have more than one crew member selling them in one location.  It's pretty simple stuff, but Princess seems to have overlooked this and has not adapted to the downward pressure on services that the Packages are bringing.  And it is only going to get worse now that 2/20 is upon us.    

Edited by JimmyVWine
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cr8tiv1 Holiday Sharing Rare

cr8tiv1

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Posted (edited)

I don't understand why the Discovery is having so many wi-fi problems when they sail the same route as the Crown, the Emerald, the Grand/the Diamond, (previous to deployment).  None of them had connectivity issues. (California Coastals/Mexico/Hawaii)

 

AND, AND, AND, she is the newest of the ships.

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avonlady6390

avonlady6390

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In regards to specialty coffees besides the ic there is two other locations in front of princess live shares space with the bar and in the buffet in the pastry isle.  I was on the discovery last October and it was full as well but I used the app for ordering drinks which helped some and could usually find areas that weren't crowded and having made dinner reservations for the week in the mdr before the cruise.

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