Linda's trip on Discovery

Discovery 2 looks good in May, but wondering if it is a good idea to go on a maiden voyage :eek:

 

My TA suggested I try Discovery 2 but no thanks I said until the deck plans are finalised. They told me it will be the same as '1' apart from the snack shack being moved. Maybe it needs to be larger. The '2' deck plans don't show a snack shack.

 

The deck plans are often wrong anyway, on Discovery the show lounge is actually a theatre with a different seating plan. The Live room layout is wrong and the casino does not have a proper roulette table, only an electronic one. Lots of people were disappointed with this. The glass house plans are all wrong as well plus access to the terrace is actually through the gym if you don't want to run the gauntlet of the spa.

 

The plans should be correct, it is only a couple of hours work to change them but that is HQ for you :rolleyes:

I must agree with Linda as to how good Discovery is. We returned yesterday.

 

The atrium covers 5 decks and is stunning, with glass lifts that go through the roof to Deck 11 where the 2 a la carte restaurants are.

 

We had a standard balcony cabin on deck 6 which was a little compact but very comfortable. the bathroom as Linda described. The balcony was fine with 2 comfortable chairs and a small table. Very good bedside lights with spotlight facility to avoid disturbing your partner. Comfortable bed and nice flat screen tv opposite, on the wall. Soundproofing excellent. All in good condition. Tea & Coffee and safe all included.

 

We ate mainly in the MDR for breakfast and dinner. The MDR is a beautiful light room with enormous windows that go up 2 decks to the Italian Gallery restaurant above. The amount of natural light is incredible during daylight hours, no wonder these ships are called Vision Class. The food is extremely good in quality and quantity. Service could be a bit hit and miss, but new staff are being trained by waiters from other ships so that is understandable. Another stunning place to dine is the Glass House, which is quiet and peaceful. It also is the solarium and houses the indoor pool.

 

We tried the Surf & Turf and the Asian Kora La. Both are exceptional but the supplements are £24.95 and £19.95 respectively.

 

The main theatre (Broadway) is one of the best we have encountered as the seating is extremely comfortable, nicely tiered, with plenty of leg room, and we never had a problem finding a seat, even though we arrived only 2 mins before the start of one main performance. The Venue is the cabaret lounge and is also a great 'venue'.

 

There is so much open deck space no one needs to hunt for somewhere to sunbathe.

 

We really enjoyed Discovery and so its goodbye P&O, hello Discovery 1 & 2 (we went on Discovery 2 as the Legend of the Seas a few years ago and loved it, also a Vision Class ship).

Ah yes I forgot to say the theatre is very good. Comfy seating and holders for your drink, though strangely only 3 holders to 4 seats :rolleyes:

 

There is a lot of moaning on fb about the ship at the moment, but hey ho we know different!

Edited October 16, 2016 by CRUISIN LINDA

Great to read these positive reviews. Considering either The Dream or Discovery 1 for May.

 

Linda, the itinerary sounds similar to what I was looking at. What was Messina like? What could you do there? Was there access to Mt Etna? Is it easy to visit most places independantly of paying for shore excursion or were they far from port? As you can tell this will be my first cruise.

Thank you for the great review Linda. We are off on Saturday to join her, and really looking forward to exploring the "new" ship. We will take deck plans out of the brochure with us as I tend to get very lost for the first few days.

 

Gill

Thank you for the great review Linda. We are off on Saturday to join her, and really looking forward to exploring the "new" ship. We will take deck plans out of the brochure with us as I tend to get very lost for the first few days.

 

Gill

 

Have a great time Gill & Ray. Looking forward to hearing all about it. xx

Edited October 24, 2016 by CRUISIN LINDA

Great to read these positive reviews. Considering either The Dream or Discovery 1 for May.

 

Linda, the itinerary sounds similar to what I was looking at. What was Messina like? What could you do there? Was there access to Mt Etna? Is it easy to visit most places independantly of paying for shore excursion or were they far from port? As you can tell this will be my first cruise.

Hi waterlegs (what a great name :) )

 

We went to Taormina in Messina which is well worth doing, so I don't know much about Messina itself. When I was researching the ports of call. I seem to recall someone on here saying Messina was not that special. There is a half day trip to Etna from the ship. Here is a list of ship's trips

 

http://cruiseexcursions.thomson.co.uk/ExcursionResults.aspx?mode=1&portCode=002627&cruiseAreaId=3&cuirseAreaName=Western%20Mediterranean

 

Naples is right in the town and you can walk in, although as I say we did the hoho bus, which we thought very good.

 

Marina di Cararra you can walk in or catch the shuttle bus to the main town, which by all accounts is not that special either. I would recommend staying in the port area, especially if you like beaches.

 

Villefranche is a tender port, and lovely to walk around. Also you can get the train to Nice which is quite near. I would recommend a ship's trip to Monacco, but I expect others would disagree with me :rolleyes:

 

We went to Barcelona, but that was a one off. Others on the same itinerary went to Palamos, which is also close to the ship. Barcelona is a one and a half hour coach journey away, so it depends how much you want to see it.

 

Hope this helps, any other questions - fire away :)

Thank you for your review Linda.Considering a canaries or Dubai cruise early next year with Thomson and yoir review is very reassuring. Not sure I could get ny 'casual' husband to wear a bow tie - but I can but try :D

Edited November 10, 2016 by Shazpat

Thank you for your review Linda.Considering a canaries or Dubai cruise early next year with Thomson and yoir review is very reassuring. Not sure I could get ny 'casual' husband to wear a bow tie - but I can but try :D

He doesn't need to wear a bow tie on Discovery Shazpat :) Smart Casual is not like formal night. Lots of different clothes on show. Just what you would wear for an evening out or to a nice restaurant. If you go on the other ships where they still have formal night, you still don't have to wear a bow tie, just be a bit smart or you can use the buffet :)

Nice review Linda.

 

Then they asked how many cruises people had done and the highest got a bottle of Cava

Thomsons certainly know how to reward the best of their loyal customer base !!! :rolleyes:

 

Did the runners up get two bottles ?

Nice review Linda.

 

Thomsons certainly know how to reward the best of their loyal customer base !!! :rolleyes:

 

Did the runners up get two bottles ?

 

Done over 34 cruises with Thomson and never been acknowledged on how many cruises we have done..ho hum :D

Done over 34 cruises with Thomson and never been acknowledged on how many cruises we have done..ho hum :D

 

You've certainly earned your bottle of cava !!! :D

Nice review Linda.

Thank you kind sir

 

 

 

Did the runners up get two bottles ?

 

Ha ha :D:D

Done over 34 cruises with Thomson and never been acknowledged on how many cruises we have done..ho hum :D

Did you not get a note to register at reception RR when you were on Discovery? (though for the life of me I can't see why they don't know how many cruises you have done!)

.

Did you not get a note to register at reception RR when you were on Discovery? (though for the life of me I can't see why they don't know how many cruises you have done!)

 

Isn't it about time Thomsons came up with a personal profile of customers on their website - we got one on Princess when we booked for the first time back in 2009.

 

It's updated as and when another cruise is booked.

 

Has our personal details, lists the specific cruises we've been on, total number of days at sea and Captain's Circle membership status etc.

 

We are now Platinum Members, which don't amount to a hill o' beans - except for priority embarkation, a polite name for queue jumping !!!

 

I assume other major cruise lines do likewise.

 

Mind you Thomsons are still at the basic level of computerised technology in the field of cruise reservations - and haven't even got that under control yet !!!

Edited November 15, 2016 by WeeCountyMan

Fred have a very similar system (even though they only have 4 small ships). One of the rewards is a discount off the cruise price if booked a certain time in advance, starting at 5% after your first cruise and increasing with the number of nights spent aboard.