Review of the TSE cruise on the Discovery

[rodndonna]

On 4/16/2024 at 5:29 PM, Captain-John said:

 

Crikey, I did not think a mass-market cruise ship would be favoured by a centimillionaire. Makes me feel even better about my choice to sail Discovery next year.

 

Thanks everyone for relaying your experience on the ship, great insight. Interesting O'Malley's is being installed. Also keen to try the UBD.

 

At the end of the cruise, Cole (the CD) said they had been working for 3 months prior to bring Woz onto the cruise. Just another example of how much effort went into making this cruise above and beyond the norm. 

 

I do now get to forever casually work in the phrase  "....I was on a cruise with Steve Wozniak....."

 

 

 

 

[CruisingSandgroper]

On 4/16/2024 at 2:29 PM, Captain-John said:

 

Crikey, I did not think a mass-market cruise ship would be favoured by a centimillionaire. Makes me feel even better about my choice to sail Discovery next year.

 

It's not the first time Woz has been on a Princess ship. We did a Bon Voyage Experience in San Francisco a number of years ago and he was on the ship. He very graciously allowed my husband to have his picture taken with him.

 

Thanks Cruise Raider for a great review it makes me want to make sure we are on a ship in 2026. 

[Cruise Raider]

Now that we’ve been home from the perfect cruise experience, I have a couple of issues we’ve learned about since returning home.  I will definitely keep my focus on all the positives and won’t let these couple issues color my experience in a negative light .. but here goes!  
 

We found out our CVP sent us an ultimate balcony breakfast but not until after the cruise.  Our first room steward was so very good, so not sure it was him that dropped the ball.  We never knew about it until we got back home as there was no card sent to our cabin to let us know about it.  
 

Also, we won on the Princess Prizes but no instructions on how to collect this and no notification from the Princess concierge as noted under ‘Prizes’ in our app.  it’s been nearly a week since we’ve been home and hoping my research on how to collect our prize will pan out.  I don’t think they are trying to renege on the prize, it’s just not been handled very well.  I’m still not sure if my efforts on how to collect it has worked as I left a message and later, sent in a form and haven’t heard anything back as of yet.  I will give it a couple of weeks before I see if my efforts paid off.  

Lastly, we never received a post cruise folio in our email post cruise, nor has anyone else that we know of.  I did take a screen shot on the last morning but, have had changes after the fact on that on previous cruises.  I want to make sure that what we saw on our folio via the app is final.  
 

[Hulagirl]

No post cruise folio either.  Wonder if they just aren't sending them out anymore?  Can't remember if we got one from our Crown Princess cruise last fall.  Usually put them in the cruise folder but looked and don't have one from that cruise.

 

Hope you get your prize. 

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, Hulagirl said:

No post cruise folio either.  Wonder if they just aren't sending them out anymore?  Can't remember if we got one from our Crown Princess cruise last fall.  Usually put them in the cruise folder but looked and don't have one from that cruise.

 

Hope you get your prize. 

I sure hope so, too!  I can’t imagine they would just take it away.  
We cruised on 3 cruises before this one so far this year and have always gotten our folios sent back by email within a day or two of disembarkation.  I know they were having some system issues on this cruise as evidenced by all the in transit passengers getting charged for using their package on April 3rd.  Perhaps that is the issue.  Guest services got them all removed but they all had to be done manually .. on our bill, it was quite the chore as we were definitely in a celebratory mood.  😆 

[Hulagirl]

Yes we got charged also on April 3rd for having a drink in Crooners.  Had to have that removed which did take a bit of time.  We had to go and have it taken care of manually also.  Glad we watch our bill daily to double check it is right.

 

Our last cruise with them was last fall and I don't have a copy of that folio.  I always keep those for a while in the cruise folder but wonder now if we ever got it.  It was down to almost nothing left so I didn't think much about it.  Now you have me wondering!!!

 

Do let us know if you get the prize resolved.  Will be curious and hope it turns out that you get it without much problem.

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, Hulagirl said:

Yes we got charged also on April 3rd for having a drink in Crooners.  Had to have that removed which did take a bit of time.  We had to go and have it taken care of manually also.  Glad we watch our bill daily to double check it is right.

 

Our last cruise with them was last fall and I don't have a copy of that folio.  I always keep those for a while in the cruise folder but wonder now if we ever got it.  It was down to almost nothing left so I didn't think much about it.  Now you have me wondering!!!

 

Do let us know if you get the prize resolved.  Will be curious and hope it turns out that you get it without much problem.

I will .. am waiting patiently for now.  
I have quite a bit of refundable OBC coming back to me so, am hoping if I don’t get the folio, I will soon get my check from Bottomline.  
 

[Thrak]

54 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

I will .. am waiting patiently for now.  
I have quite a bit of refundable OBC coming back to me so, am hoping if I don’t get the folio, I will soon get my check from Bottomline.  
 

 

I can't remember for sure but I "think" we had something like $89 refundable OBC left. Hopefully it will show up in the mail. We didn't get a copy of the folio either. I had intended to print it out at the kiosk the next to last day but forgot to do so. D'Oh!

[Astro Flyer]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

I will .. am waiting patiently for now.  
I have quite a bit of refundable OBC coming back to me so, am hoping if I don’t get the folio, I will soon get my check from Bottomline.  
 

No emailed folio for us either & no charge yet for our small amount due.
 

As I recall on disembarkation morning could not view our folio on their app but do have a printed copy from the last evening which is accurate. However until receiving the final folio or seeing a charge on our c/c won’t know about the accuracy of our final bill.

 

Edited April 19 by Astro Flyer

[Cruise Raider]

6 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

I can't remember for sure but I "think" we had something like $89 refundable OBC left. Hopefully it will show up in the mail. We didn't get a copy of the folio either. I had intended to print it out at the kiosk the next to last day but forgot to do so. D'Oh!

 

2 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

No emailed folio for us either & no charge yet for our small amount due.
 

As I recall on disembarkation morning could not view our folio on their app but do have a printed copy from the last evening which is accurate. However until receiving the final folio or seeing a charge on our c/c won’t know about our final bill’s accuracy.

 

I may contact Princess to find out what happened to our final folio.  It seems to be in order to at least find out why nobody received theirs.  

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

I may contact Princess to find out what happened to our final folio.  It seems to be in order to at least find out why nobody received theirs.  

So, you all got me wondering and I sent in a post cruise request for my folio.  I’m sure hoping that this isn’t the new noraml that don’t send one out.  As mentioned before, we’ve had invalid charges added on to our folio after we’ve disembarked and have gotten them refunded because of the post cruise folio brought our attention to them.  
I mentioned that others seemed to failed to get their post cruise folio on this sailing as well.  I will let you all know if I get anything back from Princess on this thread.  
 

As mentioned before, I will not let these issues take away from the fabulous experience we had onboard during this cruise.  
 

[Astro Flyer]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

I may contact Princess to find out what happened to our final folio.  It seems to be in order to at least find out why nobody received theirs.  

Maybe they’ll blame the delay on the total solar eclipse affecting their folio accounting system. 😉

 

I don’t recall if they were still providing the cards in cabin for gifts, etc on our previous Discovery cruise in Spring 2022 or not. As I recall they said that by not providing a final folio it was a way to conserve resources. However with the number of passengers (including my son & DIL in February on Discovery…their first PCL cruise) reporting incorrect last minute charges by not providing a checkout folio that results in Princess receiving more income due to improper charges.

 

Edited April 19 by Astro Flyer

[Cruise Raider]

40 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Maybe they’ll blame the delay on the total solar eclipse affecting their folio accounting system. 😉

 

I don’t recall if they were still providing the cards in cabin for gifts, etc on our previous Discovery cruise in Spring 2022 or not. As I recall they said that by not providing a final folio it was a way to conserve resources. However with the number of passengers (including my son & DIL in February on Discovery…their first PCL cruise) reporting incorrect last minute charges by not providing a checkout folio that results in Princess receiving more income due to improper charges.

 

I would have been ok if they notified me by email to save resources and a friend did send us a beautiful arrangements of roses and there was a card with that.  
We area but disappointed that we were not notified of our balcony breakfast, which is something we would have really enjoyed.  
Your last comment as spot on but we’ve cruise as recently as a month ago and received an email with our final post cruise folio.  This decision, if that is what is in, is new.  I am pretty sure I don’t approve.  

[beg3yrs]

I have to agree with everyone that this cruise was amazing. The crew was fantastic but I've got to say this time it was the passengers! Everyone was so excited and in lock-step to see the eclipse that there was a real sense of camaraderie from the minute we boarded. It was also very special as so many of the best posting Cruise Critic members were on board. At the M&G we finally got to put faces and voices to the cream of the Cruise Critic community.

 

We did have two not so great experiences.

 

• Our cabin steward constantly complained about being overworked which was kind of a downer. We know they have probably too much work but the good ones never complain.
• The Catch by Rudy: excellent food and we'll go again. But ... DW really wanted to see the Marriage Match game show at 8:30 and even though our res at TC was 6:40, we had only finished our mains by 7:50. Our server didn't want to take no for a dessert order so we reluctantly ordered the berries at 7:50 thinking that would be an easy and quick selection to serve. By 8:15 no sign of dessert or our server so we just left for the show (DW ended up signing us up as the vintage couple and we ended up on stage - quite fun). Afterwards we saw our MDR adjacent tablemates at Bellini's, next to The Catch and we stopped to chat. We were then accosted by our server and her supervisor saying the chef was disappointed and demanding to know why we left. This escalated to the point where DW finally told them to walk away. She turned back to our new friends and refused to speak to those two any more. Another downer.

 

Regardless though, overall we had an amazing trip, one of the best shorter cruises we've ever been on!

[Cruise Raider]

9 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

I have to agree with everyone that this cruise was amazing. The crew was fantastic but I've got to say this time it was the passengers! Everyone was so excited and in lock-step to see the eclipse that there was a real sense of camaraderie from the minute we boarded. It was also very special as so many of the best posting Cruise Critic members were on board. At the M&G we finally got to put faces and voices to the cream of the Cruise Critic community.

 

We did have two not so great experiences.

 

• Our cabin steward constantly complained about being overworked which was kind of a downer. We know they have probably too much work but the good ones never complain.
• The Catch by Rudy: excellent food and we'll go again. But ... DW really wanted to see the Marriage Match game show at 8:30 and even though our res at TC was 6:40, we had only finished our mains by 7:50. Our server didn't want to take no for a dessert order so we reluctantly ordered the berries at 7:50 thinking that would be an easy and quick selection to serve. By 8:15 no sign of dessert or our server so we just left for the show (DW ended up signing us up as the vintage couple and we ended up on stage - quite fun). Afterwards we saw our MDR adjacent tablemates at Bellini's, next to The Catch and we stopped to chat. We were then accosted by our server and her supervisor saying the chef was disappointed and demanding to know why we left. This escalated to the point where DW finally told them to walk away. She turned back to our new friends and refused to speak to those two any more. Another downer.

 

Regardless though, overall we had an amazing trip, one of the best shorter cruises we've ever been on!

For the Catch, that really surprises me.  We went 3 times during the cruise and the service was phenomenal.  
I try to always go to the Marriage Match game show but missed it this time as there were so many other things going on at the same time.  Hope that was fun for you both.  

 

[karatemom2]

11 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

I have to agree with everyone that this cruise was amazing. The crew was fantastic but I've got to say this time it was the passengers! Everyone was so excited and in lock-step to see the eclipse that there was a real sense of camaraderie from the minute we boarded. It was also very special as so many of the best posting Cruise Critic members were on board. At the M&G we finally got to put faces and voices to the cream of the Cruise Critic community.

 

We did have two not so great experiences.

 

• Our cabin steward constantly complained about being overworked which was kind of a downer. We know they have probably too much work but the good ones never complain.
• The Catch by Rudy: excellent food and we'll go again. But ... DW really wanted to see the Marriage Match game show at 8:30 and even though our res at TC was 6:40, we had only finished our mains by 7:50. Our server didn't want to take no for a dessert order so we reluctantly ordered the berries at 7:50 thinking that would be an easy and quick selection to serve. By 8:15 no sign of dessert or our server so we just left for the show (DW ended up signing us up as the vintage couple and we ended up on stage - quite fun). Afterwards we saw our MDR adjacent tablemates at Bellini's, next to The Catch and we stopped to chat. We were then accosted by our server and her supervisor saying the chef was disappointed and demanding to know why we left. This escalated to the point where DW finally told them to walk away. She turned back to our new friends and refused to speak to those two any more. Another downer.

 

Regardless though, overall we had an amazing trip, one of the best shorter cruises we've ever been on!

You are a brave one taking on Marriage Match! Good for you - what a fun thing to do on such an epic cruise!

 

We actually had a very similar experience at The Catch on the Sky this past September. We were very excited to try it and we were very disappointed. Like you, our service was painfully slow - our longest dinner ever clocking in at nearly 2 and half hours. The stretches between courses were so long that we bordered on asking if there was a problem. We really never complain so just didn’t say anything but by the time dessert finally arrived I just wanted to get going. I enjoy a leisurely meal but this was too long and the timing between courses was just off. I wasn’t wowed by the food either, which didn’t live up to the hype for us. But people rave about it so I’m planning to give it another try. 
 

We didn’t have anyplace to be, but generally if we do we try to let our wait team know that we need to be done by a certain time. Not sure if that would have helped in your situation. Also, if we leave before dessert we generally try to let our wait team know we are leaving and why. But regardless, there is no excuse for them confronting you like that. Absolutely unacceptable way to approach a paying customer. 

[Sea Hag]

We were also on this cruise, and we were one of the lucky ones to be able to sit on our balcony and watch the whole thing. It was spectacular!

 

I haven't received an emailed folio for at least the last two or three cruises. I look at it in the app a few times during the trip and check it the last day. We received the small charge on our credit card quickly, and it was correct.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

@Cruise Raider my dear friend, thank you for doing this review.  As always a beautiful job.  

 

I agree with everyone’s comments regarding Captain Tony.  He even graciously signed the Stanley Bear I gave the 11 year old in our group who was on her very first cruise and saw her very first eclipse.  We also had an 80 year old in our group on his first cruise & first eclipse! 

 

Renee was simply as charming and lovely as @Hulagirlsaid.  It was lovely to meet @Hulagirl @dreams_of_travel @SharB  @Fun4sure @rheathslc and @Thrak  I do wish I had been able to meet others as well.  

 

The concierge lounge on Discovery was quite nice.  They had wonderful food and the adult beverages in the evening were great quality.  They even threw @Hulagirl a birthday party with the Mariachi band and a big buffet set up in the adjoining chapel!  LOL.  Yes it really was just a coincidence that the Mexican themed party in the lounge coincided with your birthday….nice all the same.  🙂 

 

Woz gave a great talk.  As the theater was packed we were really happy to find his talk on the TV later.  Ivan said he was a very low maintenance passenger and did not want any special treatment.  After hearing his talk it became clear that it really never was about money for him.  It was always about the excitement of what technology could do and become.  He was very transparent about his abilities and the stories he told about how he used them were amusing.  As we disembarked Ivan told us that Woz had hacked into their satellite system. The gist of it was  something about a game he wanted to watch and whatever he was using to watch it was not working so he just hacked into the satellite to watch it.  That fit right in with the mischievous techy boy attitude (which btw is a compliment) I witnessed during his talk.  He is just like all of Adam’s friends in the tech industry (he’s been in that industry for 24 years now).  Just a down to earth guy who sees himself as very talented nerd.  

 

There was definitely  a palpable excitement among everyone, crew and passengers alike, leading up to the eclipse.  And the shared feelings about the experience afterwards were simply amazing. The only other experience that comes close to this would be the Inaugural sailing on the Majestic following the Pause back on July 25th 2021.  @Cruise Raider was with me on that one as well.  

Edited April 20 by HaveDogWillTravel

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Oh and no folio for me either. I last disembarked a princess ship Jan 4th of this year and the folio was in an email before I got to my hotel after the cruise.  I had a balance due at the end of this cruise and it has been correctly billed to my card (I always take a screen shot of my folio last night of the cruise).  

 

@Cruise RaiderI am sorry you are having to chase down that spectacular prize.  We have enough videos and photos to remind corporate of it though lol. They made a huge production about giving that prize!  

 

@beg3yrs We saw you at the Marriage show!  You two were adorable!  I will not tell your secrets. 😇We didn’t stay for the second half so I don’t know if you won or not.  

Edited April 20 by HaveDogWillTravel

[Cruise Raider]

34 minutes ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Oh and no folio for me either. I last disembarked a princess ship Jan 4th of this year and the folio was in an email before I got to my hotel after the cruise.  I had a balance due at the end of this cruise and it has been correctly billed to my card (I always take a screen shot of my folio last night of the cruise).  

 

@Cruise RaiderI am sorry you are having to chase down that spectacular prize.  We have enough videos and photos to remind corporate of it though lol. They made a huge production about giving that prize!   

Loved those photos and videos you all took!  I ran up there that you’d have thought I won it!  Lol

We also got a screen print from the app that said concierge would contact us shortly.  Crickets!  I am sure we will get it but it really has been longer than I thought to get a response.  I asked Maja, the future cruise consultant and she said the concierge had just gone home.  Not sure what to make of that .. back to her room or off the ship.  That was late at night on the 12th.  I’m sure our CVP will help me get to the bottom of it if we haven’t heard back within a couple of weeks. 
 

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

@Cruise Raider my dear friend, thank you for doing this review.  As always a beautiful job.  

 

I agree with everyone’s comments regarding Captain Tony.  He even graciously signed the Stanley Bear I gave the 11 year old in our group who was on her very first cruise and saw her very first eclipse.  We also had an 80 year old in our group on his first cruise & first eclipse! 

 

Renee was simply as charming and lovely as @Hulagirlsaid.  It was lovely to meet @Hulagirl @dreams_of_travel @SharB  @Fun4sure @rheathslc and @Thrak  I do wish I had been able to meet others as well.  

 

The concierge lounge on Discovery was quite nice.  They had wonderful food and the adult beverages in the evening were great quality.  They even threw @Hulagirl a birthday party with the Mariachi band and a big buffet set up in the adjoining chapel!  LOL.  Yes it really was just a coincidence that the Mexican themed party in the lounge coincided with your birthday….nice all the same.  🙂 

 

Woz gave a great talk.  As the theater was packed we were really happy to find his talk on the TV later.  Ivan said he was a very low maintenance passenger and did not want any special treatment.  After hearing his talk it became clear that it really never was about money for him.  It was always about the excitement of what technology could do and become.  He was very transparent about his abilities and the stories he told about how he used them were amusing.  As we disembarked Ivan told us that Woz had hacked into their satellite system. The gist of it was  something about a game he wanted to watch and whatever he was using to watch it was not working so he just hacked into the satellite to watch it.  That fit right in with the mischievous techy boy attitude (which btw is a compliment) I witnessed during his talk.  He is just like all of Adam’s friends in the tech industry (he’s been in that industry for 24 years now).  Just a down to earth guy who sees himself as very talented nerd.  

 

There was definitely  a palpable excitement among everyone, crew and passengers alike, leading up to the eclipse.  And the shared feelings about the experience afterwards were simply amazing. The only other experience that comes close to this would be the Inaugural sailing on the Majestic following the Pause back on July 25th 2021.  @Cruise Raider was with me on that one as well.  

We have had so much fun cruising together over the years and hopefully, many more years to come.  
That first cruise back out on the Majestic honestly felt like the day I got my life back.  But the eclipse cruise was truly something special.  
Ivan was so great at his job!  I loved getting to know him a bit during this cruise!  
And if Adam is a nerd, he’s a very lovable one, indeed!  

 

[beg3yrs]

2 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

....

 

@beg3yrs We saw you at the Marriage show!  You two were adorable!  I will not tell your secrets. 😇We didn’t stay for the second half so I don’t know if you won or not.  

Thanks for that. Old age and cunning will overcome youth and skill every day and we got lucky on a couple of the questions as we'd discussed similar subjects recently. We did win but like Little League these days, everyone gets the same prize. ShiP champagne and a bunch of Effy trinkets. The champagne we gave away and the trinkets will become stocking stuffers for very young granddaughters and great-nieces in the extended family.

[Crown Cruiser]

No folio for me from the 3/7-3/17 cruise on Enchanted Princess.  However we did receive one in December on Sky.  May they did discontinue sending them?

 

[Hulagirl]

Cruise Folio just showed up in my e-mail.  Was surprised when I saw it show up a few minutes ago.  So they are still sending it out.

 

 

[Cruise Raider]

On 4/20/2024 at 8:12 AM, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Oh and no folio for me either. I last disembarked a princess ship Jan 4th of this year and the folio was in an email before I got to my hotel after the cruise.  I had a balance due at the end of this cruise and it has been correctly billed to my card (I always take a screen shot of my folio last night of the cruise).  

 

@Cruise RaiderI am sorry you are having to chase down that spectacular prize.  We have enough videos and photos to remind corporate of it though lol. They made a huge production about giving that prize!  

 

Evidently, we were supposed to be contacted by the casino while we were onboard to fill out a tax form.  Since we are currently onboard the Crown, I am hoping they have a copy of the form in the casino so we can fill it out and get it sent in.  So, now it seems to be so logical.  Funny thing is, we actually went to the casino for a bit that evening after the party.  Wish that realization would have hit me while we were still onboard the Discovery.  
 

And, I just got a copy of my DH’s folio yesterday.  I still haven’t gotten mine but the charges look right on his copy.  Ever since we have done solo fare cruises, I can’t combine our accounts so we always have two different folios.  Oh well!  
I read that recently, it’s only been taking a couple of weeks to get our refundable OBC back by check.  Maybe we will get home to another ‘prize’ in the mail.  😂