Semi-Live Discovery Princess Dec19-23

[CynCyn]

My entree was the Triple S- shrimp, Scottish salmon, and scallops. I did not like the salmon as much as the smoked salmon appetizer but loved the rest, especially the langostine.  

[CynCyn]

Finally, I ordered the Chantilly Lace and Sudesh also brought the crepes Suzette.  The Chantilly Lace was not what I expected and was ok, but the crepes were DIVINE!

 

I love this restaurant and could eat here every night.  The decor and theme are amazing and the whimsy of the preparation of the dishes is outstanding.  

[CynCyn]

I enjoyed myself for the most part.  I went to read, relax, and gamble and did all three.  I’m not a big gambled- I played for 3 days on their $100 free play and ended up losing $200.  I got chocolate covered strawberries delivered to the room and an offer for a free interior with $250 in free play (so I did a little better in their eyes to upgrade to $250 instead of $100).

 

The Catch was the highlight for me.  The stateroom situation was the lowlight.  I’ll cruise again 😂🤣

[Amy G]

We had a wonderful waiter in the Ketchikan dining room, Edward.  He brought us extra food each meal, which we have not had done in quite some time.  We did find that the fettuccini did not seem like the same recipe, it was much more bland.  

 

Our room steward was just ok, nothing great.  I never received my robe, and he only gave us 3 towels for the 3 of us, no extras.  

 

We were given "walk-off" luggage tags, even though we did not ask for walk-off.  We went to Guest Services immediately and switched to the last group to disembark.  

 

We turned Elite at the end of this cruise, but we never received a letter stating so.  😞

 

We really lucked out with the weather too, as it seemed to rain after we left each area. We did the Folkorico show in Ensenada and we found it to be excellent.  We rented a car in San Diego to visit our favorite places.  We had a great. cruise, it was just what we needed! 

[CynCyn]

Sounds like we had the same experiences- great dining, so-so rooms.  I noticed how they were controlling linens as well.  I used one washcloth for my toothbrush and it was not replaced.  Only had 1! 

Still had a great time.  Hope next time is better with service.  

[VersaliusPrimus]

Glad to see others enjoying the Catch!  We dined there three times on our B2B on the Sky this past summer, trying out different combinations of appetizers and entrees.  We agreed later that the presence of the Catch on a ship would mean we never set foot in Crown Grill since we love seafood and can get surf and turf at the Catch without an additional fee.  

 

One question:  I've heard from a neighbor who just disembarked from the Hawaii cruise previous to yours that the Discovery is not yet using Starlink, but it looks like you had no trouble posting from the ship, including quite a few photos.  Is Starlink available onboard or were you making do with the older service?

 

Thank you again for your posts and report!

[CynCyn]

7 minutes ago, VersaliusPrimus said:

Glad to see others enjoying the Catch!  We dined there three times on our B2B on the Sky this past summer, trying out different combinations of appetizers and entrees.  We agreed later that the presence of the Catch on a ship would mean we never set foot in Crown Grill since we love seafood and can get surf and turf at the Catch without an additional fee.  

 

One question:  I've heard from a neighbor who just disembarked from the Hawaii cruise previous to yours that the Discovery is not yet using Starlink, but it looks like you had no trouble posting from the ship, including quite a few photos.  Is Starlink available onboard or were you making do with the older service?

 

Thank you again for your posts and report!

Thank you for reading!
 

I do not know what service Discovery used.  I never had trouble but I am sure that we only went far enough away from the coast for the Casino to open 😂.

[New2cruise2022]

@CynCyn Great report and pics. Thanks for taking time to share for the rest of us. Just under 60 days until we board the Discovery for a week. 
 

How did the self serve soda work in the buffet? Was it activated by the Medallion for people with a package?

[CynCyn]

1 hour ago, New2cruise2022 said:

@CynCyn Great report and pics. Thanks for taking time to share for the rest of us. Just under 60 days until we board the Discovery for a week. 
 

How did the self serve soda work in the buffet? Was it activated by the Medallion for people with a package?

Thank you.

 

The self serve was located beside the aft bar behind the Buffett.  It used to be a water station.  You scan your medallion and then it gives you about 20 seconds to pour- more than enough time.  I loved it because I didn’t have to wait at the bar and ask! I thought I got a picture,  but can’t find it- sorry!

[nini]

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us. We have always experienced good cabin stewards except one  on the Sky last June. Everything else about the Sky was fantastic! Current reports are not reflecting well on the Sky. I hope that improves soon.

[Shippy]

On 12/24/2023 at 1:03 PM, CynCyn said:

Sorry for the absence-I was having too much fun! Update from the bag saga…… Stewart came to my room and asked me about the report that he yelled at me.  I told him I was unsure who it was- just someone who said I couldn’t drop my bag.  He was a little assertive in saying that he was here to work and not have drama and that his supervisor needed to know it wasn’t him.  I sent a crew chat and then told him.  He then BROUGHT the supervisor to my room while I was getting ready.  Supervisor apologized and said they should have let me drop the bag.

 

i think he was new.  He tried to do his job but was intrusive and missed things.  The bedside lamps were dusty when I got there and dusty when I left.  I wrote HI to the people coming onboard for the next cruise 😂. He seemed rushed and took my breakfast before I had eaten anything.  I saw it in the hall and asked for it back.  Then, he never took anything. He would run in to service the room in the morning when I’d go get coffee and I’d be left without a place to go.  The last morning he was stripping my bed before 7 because I had left the room!  That left me without a bed to use for packing because I didn’t want to mess it up!!

 

 I got the wrong disembarkation information and never got any information about Captain’s Circle or Platinum/Elite events.  Note on that- went to guest services to ask about my transfer.  They told me I would have to see shore excursions who was closed.  Made it to shore excursions the next day and they sent me BACK to guest services.  When I got in the transfer- no one even asked our names!

I felt like the crew was stressed.  I even heard 2 talking about passengers from the past cruise in Churchill’s.  I am going to chalk it up to fatigue from a 15 day and give them the benefit of the doubt on this one.  It didn’t ruin my vacation but I am one of those people who expects everyone to do their job with pride (insert Jimmy Buffett’s It’s My Job here).  Dealing with him was uncomfortable and if that ever happened again I would raise a stink.  
 

Now, on to the great stuff in the next post!

 

 

did you hit the privacy button outside your door ???

if not they do the room

[CynCyn]

 

On 12/28/2023 at 2:51 PM, Shippy said:

did you hit the privacy button outside your door ???

if not they do the room

Not sure.  Guess it’s all my fault 😂

Edited December 30, 2023 by CynCyn
Double quote

[Shippy]

8 hours ago, CynCyn said:

 

Not sure.  Guess it’s all my fault 😂

That's ok. I didn't notice it at first.

Once when we were leaving the cabin, I asked the steward how he knew when to make up the cabin since there was no tag to hang on the door. He showed me the 2 buttons outside the door....small & easy to overlook.

One for privacy & one for make up the room.

BUT....he said with the medallion you have, they ALWAYS know when you are not in the room & assume it is ok to enter..

So, it is VERY important if you leave the room & do not want them in, that you hit the privacy button.

[JF - retired RRT]

On 12/24/2023 at 12:42 PM, CynCyn said:

My mattress was a little hard and my pillows were too squishy! I’ve never had that before and been on the Discover several times.  I really think they skipped a pad on my bed.  First night, two twins.  Asked Stewart to switch and he said wait till tomorrow.  Had a Queen the 2nd night.  Still a little hard.

Your steward needs a different job.

[JF - retired RRT]

On 12/24/2023 at 12:45 PM, CynCyn said:

M425.  Name was Roland.

Thanks for that. We'll be on the ship in 28 days. Different deck, but they do move around. Now we're forewarned.

[JF - retired RRT]

On 12/24/2023 at 1:15 PM, CynCyn said:

I ordered a Tale of Citrus as my appetizer.  Sudesh also brought the Shrimp Ole.  They were both outstanding.  I think the Tale of Citrus was my favorite dish overall due to the contrast between the grapefruit and lobster.

 

 

 

Looks delicious, but I can't eat grapefruit🥲. I take statins for cholesterol.

[JF - retired RRT]

On 12/24/2023 at 7:58 PM, CynCyn said:

Sounds like we had the same experiences- great dining, so-so rooms.  I noticed how they were controlling linens as well.  I used one washcloth for my toothbrush and it was not replaced.  Only had 1! 

Still had a great time.  Hope next time is better with service.  

When I don't get the linens that I want/request (i.e. more towels or washcloths), when I walk by a steward's cart I help myself.

Usually, a request to the steward does it, but when you get a bad one...needs must.

[CynCyn]

2 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Looks delicious, but I can't eat grapefruit🥲. I take statins for cholesterol.

That is a bummer.  It was fabulous, but so was everything else.  You won’t miss out- I promise!

[CynCyn]

3 hours ago, Shippy said:

That's ok. I didn't notice it at first.

Once when we were leaving the cabin, I asked the steward how he knew when to make up the cabin since there was no tag to hang on the door. He showed me the 2 buttons outside the door....small & easy to overlook.

One for privacy & one for make up the room.

BUT....he said with the medallion you have, they ALWAYS know when you are not in the room & assume it is ok to enter..

So, it is VERY important if you leave the room & do not want them in, that you hit the privacy button.

That may be the way of the future but my previous stewards have been able to learn my patterns in one day without my having to hit a button.  Also, it’s just kind of disgusting that he turned the bed before I left.  What if I got back in the bed? That just grosses me out!!
 

The bottom line is that this guy was entitled and aggressive in handling my complaint and wanting to be finished with my room.  Hopefully he will learn, but I expect he will find another career.  I’m so sad that I did not get a survey to provide constructive feedback for him and praise for the wonderful staff that made my cruise special.

[New2cruise2022]

I agree. The privacy button is fine to utilize and help your steward. The problem here is customer service. The steward handled it wrong in every instance and provided no insight, help, or consideration for the passenger.

 

Kindness costs nothing and is a prudent investment with most people. 

[donswife]

53 minutes ago, CynCyn said:

That may be the way of the future but my previous stewards have been able to learn my patterns in one day without my having to hit a button.  Also, it’s just kind of disgusting that he turned the bed before I left.  What if I got back in the bed? That just grosses me out!!
 

The bottom line is that this guy was entitled and aggressive in handling my complaint and wanting to be finished with my room.  Hopefully he will learn, but I expect he will find another career.  I’m so sad that I did not get a survey to provide constructive feedback for him and praise for the wonderful staff that made my cruise special.

I'm sorry you had a lousy steward.  We have had neutral ones but never a surly one. The steward we had on Discovery a month ago was excellent.  

 

Check in your spam folder for the survey,  they sometimes end up there. My DH didn't do his and got a reminder a week or so later.

[CynCyn]

9 minutes ago, donswife said:

I'm sorry you had a lousy steward.  We have had neutral ones but never a surly one. The steward we had on Discovery a month ago was excellent.  

 

Check in your spam folder for the survey,  they sometimes end up there. My DH didn't do his and got a reminder a week or so later.

I’ve looked everywhere, but will go look for a reminder! Thanks.😊 

[CynCyn]

@donswife thanks for telling me to look again.  It was sent on 12/28.  I had given up.

[Vic The Parrot]

Hey there.

 

Thanks for the report on your experiences. Just have to say those pics of the food at Rudi's really caught my eye.

 

If only I could cook like that!  😵 

 

 

But where exactly is The Catch located? I looked on the deck plan, and can't seem to find it.

[nini]

11 minutes ago, Vic The Parrot said:

Hey there.

 

Thanks for the report on your experiences. Just have to say those pics of the food at Rudi's really caught my eye.

 

If only I could cook like that!  😵 

 

 

But where exactly is The Catch located? I looked on the deck plan, and can't seem to find it.

 

It is on the Promenade deck across from Gigi's. Bellini's is close by.