A few notes about the Discovery Jan 6-13

[nini]

1 minute ago, Thrak said:

 

I would trade my Dolphin Deck balcony (with a large balcony) for that cabin in a heartbeat. Aft facing, wake view, minimal issue with wind on the balcony, and a large balcony.

 

@Thrak is correct!!!

[nini]

1 minute ago, desertdwellingsailor said:

Funny. Three cruises and I never thought to look for cabins with larger balconies. The two mini suites I have been in on Caribe had narrow balconies. I see the ones aft that are larger. I guess there are some angled ones also. We could barely fit our chairs on the balcony we had and it was hard to walk around the table.

 

Exactly! We have always had a large balcony and will not even book a cruise if that is not an option.

[TheMichael]

4 hours ago, latserrof said:

OP,  thanks for all the info. We will likely be aboard in three weeks. Any observations on Covid-related factors, e.g., masks, restrictions, quarantines, etc.?

Thanks!

 

None (at least for US departures), as evidenced by all of the posts about loads of people coughing and wheezing on ships.

[karatemom2]

4 hours ago, latserrof said:

OP,  thanks for all the info. We will likely be aboard in three weeks. Any observations on Covid-related factors, e.g., masks, restrictions, quarantines, etc.?

Thanks!

 

Not the OP, but we were on Discovery last week. We saw a few passengers wearing masks and some of the staff, it seemed to increase as the week went on, probably due to the amount of people coughing everywhere. My son and husband both tested positive on the last day of our cruise. They ended up staying isolated in our cabin for the day and evening and we masked up and walked off first thing the next morning so as to try to avoid exposing anyone else. But honestly, it is everywhere right now. I work in healthcare and our census of positive patients is quite high - also the Flu and RSV. Several people in our Facebook group have similarly reported positive tests since coming home. So, you just have to do the best you can to protect yourself - anyone who is higher risk should probably consider wearing a mask, especially in elevators and crowded venues. I ended up catching it from them and tested positive a few days after we got home. Not fun - but it won't deter me from cruising. We will likely mask up a bit more and get another booster for our cruise this summer.

[Cruise Raider]

5 hours ago, New2cruise2022 said:

@Cruise Raider Does the app allow you to schedule an order? Like, could I, hypothetically of course, order a latte in the evening to be delivered to my room in the morning at a scheduled time?

Hypothetically, you can and the orders are delivered in a timely manner, too.  But, we’ve never ordered anything in advance.  
I have to say that the specialty coffees that are delivered to the cabin are probably from a machine instead of being made by a barista.  They are just not good.  Your mileage may vary. 
Even when I order a specialty coffee while in the piazza, I get some that are good and some that are made from a machine.  I think the ones from the IC coffee bar are great but the ones from Good Spirits are not great.  I love a great cappuccino with no sugar but sometimes, I get a macchiato or latte.  Yuk!  
I seriously think it might be related who I order it from. I am trying to figure out why some are undrinkable  and some are fabulous.  
 

[Cruise Raider]

So, it’s hard to believe we re nearing the end of our most fabulous cruise. 
I will post some last thoughts, more so about the new app than the cruise itself, which has been amazing!  
We attended the Life Onboard show with Cole and another Officer earlier in the day and it was so incredibly interesting. I would highly recommend it.  
We stopped by the Princess Live Bar on the way out and love they had one of my favorite Chardonnay!  Big yay!  

We ordered some printed photos that are available via the premier package.  We ended up having to order them on the old app.  It worked perfectly .. the new app is just not ready for prime time in this area. I’m sure it will get there!  
 

Again, we were on the piazza listening to Cola Sounds .. they are so great.  
They will definitely be represented in our survey.  
Now, just off the dinner athe GastroPub!  Yummmmm

[tootsiescurly]

13 hours ago, Bedruthen said:

Looking to book Discovery aft facing cabin R732, any thoughts re location, good or bad, before we take the plunge. The deck is higher than we usually go. Thanks

We were recently in R731. We enjoy the view in the aft section of the ship. It was not noisy. Access to other areas of the ship is easy.

[Cruise Raider]

8 hours ago, SmooshSmash said:

I will be on this cruise in mid-Feb. Do you guys happen to know if the pools are heated, especially the adult pool on Deck 17?

Sorry, we haven’t even been up to the pools.  Hopefully, someone else will answer,  

[Thrak]

6 hours ago, desertdwellingsailor said:

Funny. Three cruises and I never thought to look for cabins with larger balconies. The two mini suites I have been in on Caribe had narrow balconies. I see the ones aft that are larger. I guess there are some angled ones also. We could barely fit our chairs on the balcony we had and it was hard to walk around the table.

 

If you sail on any of the older, Grand Class ships, check out the Caribe Deck balconies. They are large 9'x9' and half covered. we pretty much always book a balcony on Caribe Deck on a Grand Class ship.

[Bali505]

Glad you’re having a great time. What days are formal nights and what shows were playing in the main theatres in the evenings?

[Cruise Raider]

2 hours ago, Bali505 said:

Glad you’re having a great time. What days are formal nights and what shows were playing in the main theatres in the evenings?

On these 7 night Mexico sailings, the formal nights are on the 2nd nights and the 2nd to last nights.  The production shows are Rock Opera and Spotlight Bar, both are incredible shows!  The first one highlights the talent of the singers and the other ones highlights the talent abundance hard work of the dancers.  You cannot go wrong seeing either of these shows!  They are both incredible!  

[Bali505]

Thank you so much! Have seen Rock Opera and yes it was amazing. 

Edited January 13 by Bali505

[startedwithamouse]

10 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

On these 7 night Mexico sailings, the formal nights are on the 2nd nights and the 2nd to last nights.  The production shows are Rock Opera and Spotlight Bar, both are incredible shows!  The first one highlights the talent of the singers and the other ones highlights the talent abundance hard work of the dancers.  You cannot go wrong seeing either of these shows!  They are both incredible!  

The shows also reverse order on every other cruise, to accommodate the guest tenor's 'hop on/off" schedule and the stage setup. 

 

Agree, we love both shows too!  

Edited January 13 by startedwithamouse

[tjcletzgo]

10 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

On these 7 night Mexico sailings, the formal nights are on the 2nd nights and the 2nd to last nights.  The production shows are Rock Opera and Spotlight Bar, both are incredible shows!  The first one highlights the talent of the singers and the other ones highlights the talent abundance hard work of the dancers.  You cannot go wrong seeing either of these shows!  They are both incredible!  

What time are the shows?

[startedwithamouse]

2 hours ago, tjcletzgo said:

What time are the shows?

7:30 pm and 9:30 pm. 

[tjcletzgo]

7 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

7:30 pm and 9:30 pm. 

Thank you🚢

[Bali505]

What time do you think we should reserve supper in the main dining if we want to watch the 7:30p.m. show? Would 6p.m. be too late?

[Cruise Raider]

1 minute ago, Bali505 said:

What time do you think we should reserve supper in the main dining if we want to watch the 7:30p.m. show? Would 6p.m. be too late?

The shows are wildly popular so, unless you have premier seating reservations, I’d go about 5:30 so you can get a seat for the 7:30 PM show.  We had a great time but the lines for dining were sometimes really long.  We never went to the dining room and opted for the GastroPub, sushi, GiGis or snacks at the PES lounge instead.  

[Cruise Raider]

We ate our dinner last night at the GastroPub.  It was busy in there but the waiter, Alex, kept up with the crowd,  I think they are short staffed in the kitchen there, though.  We weren’t in a huge hurry so, not a problem for us.  
We ended up taking our chicken sandwich up for breakfast for this morning.  Yummmm… that was so good.  For small plates, they sure give you a fair amount of food.  
Disembarkation this morning was a breeze!  About 8:00 AM, we walked off with our luggage and were out the door in no time at all.  We saw our favorite port worker on the way out.  She has come to know us after coming here so often.  I really miss having a Royal class ship in San Francisco.  This, we choose to fly to LA or to Seattle to hop onboard.  
The premier package is so worth it for hoping on a Royal class ship.  It probably won’t be something I will need to book on the Crown or the Ruby unless they have some pop up casual dining opportunities open for lunch.  
We are flying out of Long Beach, so much better than LAX.  And since our Uber got to the pier really quickly and we had zero traffic, we have TSA pre check and nobody was in line in front of us, we took this time at the airport to to fill out my post cruise survey!  
they all got such high marks in my book!  We had great service, food, entertainment, etc.  

 

One thing I failed to mention is that we did have two medical disembarkations on our cruise.  The team send to handle them very efficiently and the captain came on over the PA to announce the need to evacuate certain areas of the ship for the safety of everyone involved.  It was good to hear he didn’t really have to repeat these notifications too many times as we’ve seen in the past.  Hope all turned out well for these patients and their families.  
 

It was a very spectacular cruise in so many ways, but again, I think mostly because the staff is just so wonderful and the entertainment was also great!  
So much hard work from these men and women.  The ship was pretty spotless, too, especially in our cabin!  We did notice several people sounding like they were getting a cold by the end of the cruise.  Hope to everyone onboard for this next cruise will stay happy and healthy.  
There were so many nice people that we met and very few, if any, real complainers.  I hope to cruise with them all again someday!  

 

 

[enfuego4cruising]

Thank you for taking the time to post during your cruise. We appreciate your positive and upbeat style. It was fun to read along as we sailed along with you. It was even better to meet you and your DH. We look forward to seeing you on our upcoming sailings. Cheers and safe travels.

[Thrak]

We book 5:40 dining and have always managed to make it to the 7:30 shows on every ship with plenty of time to get decent seating.  Remember that the "reserved" seating for those with the Premier package open up for general use about 5 minutes before the show starts. They aren't usually all taken at that time and I've seen folks hang out next to them waiting for the announcement that they were up for grabs.

[f1jon]

Hi @Cruise Raider thanks for the great posts. What bar did you ask for the thin rimmed glasses? We'll be on Discovery Jan 27. On Regal in April 2023, I asked very nicely for the nice glasses and was told no. 

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, f1jon said:

Hi @Cruise Raider thanks for the great posts. What bar did you ask for the thin rimmed glasses? We'll be on Discovery Jan 27. On Regal in April 2023, I asked very nicely for the nice glasses and was told no. 

Not all the ships have the nicer glasses but the Discovery have them in just about every bar except for the Vista Lounge and the casino  (or at least while we were in there) if you ask nicely and promise to return them at the end of the day.  We always did and so they trusted us.  Of course, you get plastic glasses up by the pool.  
All their wine glasses used to be the nicer ones on the Discovery but they now are replacing those with the hardy wine glasses.  
 

[sfpd3000]

Glad you had a great time.  Welcome home!  to the rain.

[Cruise Raider]

Just now, sfpd3000 said:

Glad you had a great time.  Welcome home!  to the rain.

 

Thank you so much!  We must have threaded that needle so well, as it started raining just 20 seconds after the Uber driver dropped us off at our house.  Good thing because I only had sandals (I rarely take shoes) and no rain jacket or umbrella.  We really do enjoy the best weather right here in California.