LIVE * Discovery * 4-day West Coast Getaway

[HBCcruiser]

 

 

[HBCcruiser]

Bruma;

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HBCcruiser]

Bruma Wine Garden. These are separate places so keep that in mind when you book! The wine tasting is different from the restaurant.

 

  

 

 

 

 

[HBCcruiser]

 

 

 

 

[HBCcruiser]

Wine tasting in Valle De Guadalupe is still a hidden gem! Enjoy it while it’s still an unknown.

There are so many small boutique wineries here - 150 in this area.

 

 

[Sailing12Away]

2 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

Took me a while to see that little fine print at the bottom that the prices were in pesos. I was saying 'dang, I knew she had expensive taste in wine but jolly gee wilickers that is out of my everyday price range'.

[HBCcruiser]

Last stop Magoni.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BigWaveDave87]

We had been on one the wine tours years years ago when I was buying a few bottles wine and the price was rung up in dollars. At the bottom of the screen was the peso total. The conversion rate was way in the shops favor.  I pulled at a bundle of pesos to pay and the young lady who rung me up says "your paying in pesos?" and my reply was that is your money here right! I guess that most of the tourists pay in dollars.  In any case the wine was a great deal paying in pesos.

 

Happy Trails 🍷

[HaveDogWillTravel]

6 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

Wowie Zowie! Now that's a pretty generous offer. 😲

Email me.  It’s in my signature 

[HBCcruiser]

Hitchhiker-

 

 

[arizonaperson]

@HBCcruiser great & beautiful photos of the wineries. Love the Guadalupe Valley wineries 

[HBCcruiser]

need a pick me up. 
 

[BigWaveDave87]

I checked with our server when I was ordering our last drinks yesterday see what our numbers were I was surprised at what the total was at that point.  I hit 14 "Pick me ups" by about midnight and the DW at 9. She says she doesn't remember having that many drinks.  

 

Definitely Happy Trails 🍹🍹🍺🥃🥃🥃🍷🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸  

 

Here's to numbers 14 and 9

 

 

[HBCcruiser]

Dinner was at Sabatini’s. After such a wonderful day neither one of us was very hungry. I had the burrata and lobster pasta. Both were delicious.

 

 

 

 

[HBCcruiser]

Time to get ready to disembark. I’ll do a final reflection on this cruise when I get home later this morning. 

[LACruiser88]

Thanks for the journey!  Have a safe "ride" home!

[HBCcruiser]

It’s raining and cloudy LA. We are culling in the suite lounge trying to wait until most pax have left the ship and parking area before leaving. 
 

All guests are asked to vacate cabins by 8:00 AM. The concierge will escort suite guests off of the ship to the gangway when they are  ready to disembark. Similar to the Haven. 

 

 

[Cruise Raider]

3 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

It’s raining and cloudy LA. We are culling in the suite lounge trying to wait until most pax have left the ship and parking area before leaving. 
 

All guests are asked to vacate cabins by 8:00 AM. The concierge will escort suite guests off of the ship to the gangway when they are  ready to disembark. Similar to the Haven. 

 

 

Thank you for taking us along on your fabulous vacation !  

[cruisingpeople]

Thanks for the "Ride-Along" Tiff.

It was great.

[Thrak]

18 hours ago, BigWaveDave87 said:

I checked with our server when I was ordering our last drinks yesterday see what our numbers were I was surprised at what the total was at that point.  I hit 14 "Pick me ups" by about midnight and the DW at 9. She says she doesn't remember having that many drinks.  

 

Definitely Happy Trails 🍹🍹🍺🥃🥃🥃🍷🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸  

 

Here's to numbers 14 and 9

 

I always just check the app on my phone. I actually check it periodically to see if any "random" drinks have been charged to my account.

[Thrak]

20 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Email me.  It’s in my signature 

Message sent...😉

[Thrak]

@HaveDogWillTravel Tried the address in your signature and a variation on it as well but both came back as undeliverable. Trying yet another variation but...

[HBCcruiser]

So some final thoughts on this cruise...

 

Caveat - over the past year and a half we have been sailing on Royal Caribbean and NCL in both Haven/Suites and non-suites. It is impossible to not compare cruise lines and the service you receive on each. 

 

Ship:

 

The ship is in great shape, clean and very pretty. There was plenty to do onboard. We found the cruise director/team and entertainment available onboard to be of high quality. We were always able to find seats either in Princess LIVE, the theatre and Crooners. Yes, you need to go early for shows and popular events, but that is common with every cruise line. I love the size and layout of the Piazza. Princess really nailed it giving passengers a large central area with lots to do and lots of space for everyone. The layout and flow on the Discovery is great! Yes, the dining rooms cut off the ability to go from deck 14 to deck 6 or 5 smoothly if you are aft, but the extra steps were a great way to get exercise! NCL misses the boat (so to speak) on their atrium designs. Too small IMO. 

 

The food was mostly great - 9/10 or 10/10 forks! Special orders were never a problem and we really loved the wait staff in the main dining room and Sabatini's. They were personable and fun! We love that.

 

Our cabin was amazing! It was very comfortable and quiet. I love how Princess designs the suite bathroom with the shower/bath sink in one room and the separate sink/toilet room. That way someone can use the toilet while the other person takes a shower. Lots of privacy!  Yes, that aft balcony was awesome. The weather mostly cooperated so we were able to sit out there to watch the sea roll by or to watch us sail in and out of port. Neither one of us felt much movement even though we were in the aft. I definitely felt more on the Prima aft suite than on the Discovery. 

 

Suite treatment:

 

Princess really misses the boat on this one - on this cruise anyway. I really did not find any suite-like treatment beyond the suite lounge and breakfast. I would have gotten the same priority boarding, mimi bar, and Elite lounge because I am Elite. In fact, the perks of being Elite are very similar to the suite perks.  Suites on Princess do not have priority theatre seating - you must purchase the Premier Package (or Sky Suite) to get that perk. As stated earlier, our cabin attendant was Meh, at best. This is the FIRST time I have encountered this. Same with the main Concierge. He did nothing, really. I had to go to Guest services to get my account squared away. This was a first for me as well. Usually we received great, friendly service from our Concierge and cabin attendant. Not so on this cruise.  Sad to say I saved about $200 in tips. We recently sailed on the Navigator of the Seas on a 3-day cruise out of LA and received better treatment from staff. Oh, and we got some amazing towel animals too!

 

 

Not so on this cruise. I think towel animals on Princess are extinct. 

 

Account hiccups:

 

We definitely had to keep a close watch on our account. We had random bar charges show up. Also, they charged us $17.90 each for our Gigi's meal which was supposed to be included, and I had to ask twice to get my refund for 360. Of course, the guest services line was often long so I am sure it was not just happening to us.

 

Service as a whole:

 

The service overall on this ship felt a litte off. It was not what we usually experience from Princess. Usually staff are engaging and fun. This time not so much. There were a few friendly and fun staff members, but usually it is close to 100%. My travel agent was also onboard with a large TA group and she said she and others felt the same. 

 

We had a fun time despite the few disappointments. The tours we went on were amazing and I highly recommend using Jorge if you need a driver in Ensenada!  

 

 

Edited February 20 by HBCcruiser

[HBCcruiser]

 I am booked right now on a November cruise on the Sun Princess but am wavering on it. I found out that the Concierge we just had on the Discovery will be moving to the Sun. I will leave it at that.

 

Next up is the Harmony of the Seas in our first Star Class suite in April. Until then - I wish you all well, and wonderful cruise experiences.😄 🚢 🥂

 

[LACruiser88]

What a bumner about the service you received.  Sounds like this crew is a bit burned-out?  As far as towel animals, they are still alive on Princess.  Below are photos from a recent Sapphire cruise in South America