MV Discovery - ship's layout

MV Discovery is a smaller, older ship serving approximately 650 passengers. There are no balcony rooms and a limited variety of room size choices. We were on Deck Three - the lowest category rooms with a port hole.

The standard rooms on all decks are very small in comparison to mainline cruise ships today, but occasionally due to the configuration of the ship some of the rooms on Deck 3 can be much longer and provide very adequate space extra cabin space. Check the ship deck plan to view this possibility. We felt our choice was excellent, but we also added an extra clothes rack and drying rack and used the tiered coffee table as an additional clothes storage space. Bathroom very small and badly appointed, but with a great shower and endless hot water.

Rooms are inside, port-hole or window. Deck 3 and 4 port holes have to be covered up creating a de facto "inside" cabin during rough seas and when traversing the East Indian Ocean pirate zones. Always dreaded hearing the squeak of the closing of these windows next door and loved coming back to finding them re-opened.

Took us a while but we learned all activities take place primarily on Deck Six, Lido dining on Deck Nine and the red stair railing were the front of the ship and the gold ones were towards the back of the ship. We needed to orient around the red railings to get to our cabin and all the other activities we liked to attend (Lido dining and Carousel Lounge shows and lectures.

Our favorite outdoor decks were the forward Deck 8 sun decks which you had to enter from the red stair cases in the front of the ship. There were no wrap around decks so you had to learn which stair case to use to get to the partial decks you like to visit.

Deck 8 also provided the best viewing spots for all the docking and undocking and pilot boat activities because you could look directly down the sides of the ship to the water. The main promenade deck on Deck 7 was set back from the ships side (don't ask me how) so you did not get this direct view down to the water and the dock or the pilot's activities.

There were "flying bridges" sticking out from Deck 8 where the captain would be present at dockings and undockings so you could hear and see the real operations of the ship during this time.

The main forward viewing deck was on Deck 9 but you could not access it from Deck nine -- you had to go down to deck 8 forward and then take the forward outside staircase up to this forward viewing deck on Deck 9, which overlooked all the captain's docking activities. There was always a friendly gathering here and some fun chat back and forth with the captain at times.

This is a ship where the passengers are very engaged in all these docking activities and quite a crowd always gathered to witness the arrival and departure of the pilot.

Ship gangway exits typically took place on Deck 4, forward. (Red staircase). Once we figured out the red and gold staircases, it was a lot easier to know which way we needed to go on the ship. Signage on each floor was not as good as it should be or easy to find. Sometimes you had to know the name of the deck (Coral, Riviera, etc) or sometimes the number (3-10).

And how the ship was chopped up, sometimes you could not get from forward to aft on the wrong staircase. An annoyance at first, but because it is a small ship with limited activity venues it is fairly easy to learn where and how to get where you want. Though even after 42 days we still kept taking the wrong turn out of the elevators. Which is a good thing - keeps an air of mystery to this small but complex space.

We were on her sister, the former Pacific Princess, 3 times. In their day, both were lovely ships.

We were on her sister, the former Pacific Princess, 3 times. In their day, both were lovely ships.

I wonder how much the interior configurations were changed on these two ships over time. Did all the cabins have baths in those days. My early cruising days in the 1970's had bathrooms down the hall and bunk beds. Now that would be unheard of.

I understand your ship is still plying the islands off Spain these days. The Discovery shows its age, but does not lack in tender loving care. Primarily in the build up of paint jobs and that crusty invasive rust that will in time have the final say.

But she was brightly painted and and crews were keeping deck boards in good repair and always clean and orderly.

There had been recent decor refurbishments in the public rooms and very successful with a very pleasing sense of traditional elegance, the main dining room particularly. The cabins got brightened up and I think the higher decks had more bathroom refurbishments than our lower Deck 3 - but it all worked. No complaints and we learned how to work around it.

Our best extra purchase in Singapore was a folding clothes drying rack the sent up like a two tiered umbrella of plastic rods and clothes pin racks.

I was perfect and we wished we could have packed it up and taken it home and we would have had we not already packed to our luggage limit getting there and had to discard a lot to make room for our souvenier purchases. I donated it to the staff who were very eager to get these things so I hope it finds a happy home for a long time on this ship.

We never used the ship laundry and did everything for 42 days in the sink. Because our cabin was so long, there was plenty of room to stick this in a nice corner and out of the way. Not sure how much space would be available in other cabins, but its real virtue was the extension rods folded up so it stored like a pole on its tripod legs. (Like an old home movie screen)

We found it in the equivalent of a "dollar store" in the working class neighborhood department store in Singapore. We also added a lot of cheap plastic drawer organizers and baskets for storage and easy retrieval. And a great hanging shoe rack that hung in the closet facing out on velcro loop. That did make it home as it was lightweight and collapsable and unlike anything I have seen in the states.

We will be in a standard 135 square foot outside cabin midship on the Bali deck when we sail in April 2010. Any idea just what the storage will be? Closet size? Number and sizes of drawers? Luggage storage? Counter space? Door or wall hooks for coats, etc.?

Glad you asked. I measured everything and once I get my notes unpacked, I will pass this on. You will have a 3-4 drawer night stand. 4 drawers under the desk and a two shelf cabinet in the room. I counted the number of coat hangers that fit the closet but can't remember right now.

The closet also has an upper shelf and a lower shelf for shoes. It is a two door closet but is not much bigger than a standard utility closet. We bought extra hangers as the ship only provided a few. We did not ask for more because I would rather use the smaller plastic hangers than the larger wooden ones they had to be able to fit in more clothes.

Never enough, which is why we added a portable hanging rack which saved it for us on the 42 day cruise. You will most likely be able to handle a shorter cruise without the extras we felt really helped us survive the small storage available.

There are two plugs at the desk: one 110 US outlet and one with EU type outlet 220. The hair dryer included in the room plugs into the EU 220 socket and was very adequate.

There is an additional 220 socket for the TV which we rarely watched so we plugged in all our electronic chargers and left them on top of the TV cabinet so it freed up the other sockets at the desk/mirror for personal appliances.

If we wanted to watch the TV (closed circuit offerings only) we just plugged it back in.

You can store your life jackets and suitcases under the bed easily. And you can also have room under the bed to store items you don't have daily need for.

The bathroom in our room was pretty sad. Very poor lighting, a broken vanity that only provided a little shelf space. Best to bring a hanging vanity bag for more essentials and your own plastic cup. We also bought a hanging rack and extra suction soap dish for the shower because there was only a single soap dish.

There were two hooks in the bathroom and one in the room. We added several more removeable suction ones and just left them as they looked pretty benign. Others put extra suction hooks on the full length mirror that was also in the room.

We brought too much and about one quarter I never even wore as I settled into washing out a few favorites. Dress during the day on deck and at lectures and Lido buffet was very casual - tee shirts (logo of travel destinations was the favorite chioce) and shorts mainly.

But women really did dress up every night at dinner and men even on casual night often were wearing a sport jacket, but just long sleeve shirts were fine too. The feeling was most felt this was a pretty special time and dressed accordingly. And there were no more casual dining options. So pack accordingly. It does make is special for everyone.

I'll get back with more details later. Glad you have questions. I had plenty too and no one had the answers so I tried to cover as much as I could and will have some photos later too to link to for ship board life.

Closet has room for 50 small size plastic hangers. Ship provides a few heavy wooden ones. There is also a tie rack on the closet door but we needed some clothes pins to keep the ties in place on the rod.

Night stand: 3 drawers - 14x14x3.5 (inches)

Desk: one shallow letter drawer and 4 16.5x12.5x4.5 drawers

Cabinet:Two 16.5x25 shelves

Two 15 inch diameter portholes.

Coral deck cabins has 20 inch plus deep shelf above the bed extending to the porthole wall that is carpeted for additional storage, but be sure nothing falls on your head in rough seas (seas got rough but nothing moved or fell)

Each room has a safe in the cabinet which we moved out to the porthole wall shelf because we could not see inside the cabinet to use the code - you set it with your own 4 number PIN. It was heavy and made a good book end for our travel books at the far end of the shelf -- well away from the bed. (!)

Thanks for the many very interseting comments on the Discovery. I have not cruised on her since she was Island Princess but am now looking at the 77 day Circumnaviation of Sth America in Jan 2011.

In the past I have cruised for 54 days ( half round world)with Saga Rose which was fantastic, lost of great guest speakers and lecturers, I would like to know about that side of cruising on Discovery. This time I will be solo but from the comments I have read that is no a problem. Otway

The lecturers were superb and I have posted other threads about the Discovery on this forum so you can get a little more information if you can find those other MV Discovery threads.

This is one of the big draws for Discovery, though as I explained in one of my other threads the primary passengers remain British, UK or Commonwealth passengers so the lecture orientation assumes you know British cultural and historical events.

That added to the fun because it was a good conversational ice breaker to ask about things we as American did not understand, or words or jokes we did not get.

There were many solos travelling, primarily women and it is that kind of ship that is welcome and open if you want to mix and meet. They had special provisions for solo travellers, events and meet ups for going ashore if you wanted to join a group. And they do have about 4 gentleman dance hosts as well who did their best to keep ladies dancing who wished to participate. They filled in as shore excursion hosts as well for the group tours.

There are some organized group activities that allow you to meet others as well such as the daily trivia contests and even a group choir. Informal Lido dining always lets you share a table with someone new and we found certain groups would come together as friends after a few days when before they were all strangers. The ship excursions also offer a chance to mix and mingle with a lot of new people too as they are usually small groups.

This is a very well-seasoned group of travellers. They do show a lot of British restraint and often do not speak first but we found them very engaging when we broke the ice .... and perhaps the British reserve a bit but never with the typical overly pushy American let's all be best friends right away, though the Australians tended to be a lot more open than the UK ones.

We miss her after our 42 days. We miss our little routines and the familiar faces that took care of us for so long. I wish you well and every happiness on your cruise.

Many thanks for your thoughts on the lectures and solo travel. I shouldn't have a problem with the British as I am a third generation Aussie. I will look for some more threads on Discovery's lecture and guest speaker programs. Otway:)

Bump to keep MV Discovery posts clustered for new passengers.

Yes, they were both quite modern - all cabins had "facilities"!

No more trekking down the companionway in the middle of the night to the loo.

Although they were marketed as "The Love Boats", most cabins had twin beds that could not be put together to make a double.

Being new to CC ihave not yet been able to locate your new thread with information on Discovery's lecture program. Otway

Many thanks for your thoughts on the lectures and solo travel. I shouldn't have a problem with the British as I am a third generation Aussie. I will look for some more threads on Discovery's lecture and guest speaker programs. Otway:)

I added a sample of the lecture program on the "MV Discovery - Onboard Activities" thread for the leg between Singapore and Mauritius - Jan 2010. It was superb. But geared more for those with British history and culture than for Americans, but we appreciated each and every one of the new insights and perspectives we gained.

There was also a group from Exploritas (former Elderhostel) on our ship and they had their own lectures but shared one of theirs with the ship's program - the excellent insights we got on Zimbabwe which was particularly interesting for those of us going on to South Africa on the rest of the Grand Voyage, and down right interesting even for those who were not.

Thanks for all this information SwissMyst, working my way through all your various (very useful and interesting) threads!

Will be cruising on MV Discovery at the end of July "In The Wake of The Vikings". First time cruising so looking forward to it... think I may be one of the younger passengers :p

Thanks for all this information SwissMyst, working my way through all your various (very useful and interesting) threads!

 

Will be cruising on MV Discovery at the end of July "In The Wake of The Vikings". First time cruising so looking forward to it... think I may be one of the younger passengers :p

"Young" is under 70 on this ship but I was amazed how fit and active everyone was. In Brunei we had a climb of 700 steps climb straight up stair cases and wet, steep, slippery trails requiring hoisting on ropes up to a rainforest canopy track that added another 250 steps once you got there.

I thought I was "younger" and in pretty good shape, but all those other passengers older and looking far less fit ran circles around me and I was almost the last person up there. They were mainly non-US passengers and are used to taking stairs where we typically tend to look for the nearest elevator when it requires more than 2-3 flights.

They were a tough, resilient group and I was constantly impressed with their non-complaining, can do attitude when faced with the sometimes challenges of tender entries and port facilities that might include climbing ladders and jumping on to waiting water taxis.

Overall, a really great group of fellow passengers. No prima donnas. And plenty of really good travel adventure stories to tell, plus lots of overseas living experiences that brought a whole different perspective about the many places we visited that were former parts of the British foreign departments.

Only complaint is they were sun deck chair hoggers -- but they always left really fascinating reading materiel when they staked their selfish claims on their deck chairs. However, it was rare you could not find something somewhere on the outside decks.

This was only show of bad manners I found. Staff needs to enforce this better. Or one simply needs to collect their things and put them aside and take over the abandoned spot if left unused for more than 30 minutes - always a tough alternative to do on one's own. But that was selfishness to hog the spot so who in fact was really being the bad actor in this circumstance. Maybe they could put in carrels where these items could be stored by the staff once one left the deck chair, or giving permission for others to clear out the items left behind after that 30 minute abandonment had been exceeded.

"Young" is under 70 on this ship

Well as I am 40 years under this age I hope I can keep up!!

Here is some more MV Discovery information

Dear SwissMyst: Many thanks for your extremly thorough briefing on the Discovery. You certainly covered all aspects of the trip so all I have to do now is sign up. How did you find the air arrangements in the beginning and at the end of the trip?

Thanks again. Terrypilot

Dear SwissMyst: Many thanks for your extremly thorough briefing on the Discovery. You certainly covered all aspects of the trip so all I have to do now is sign up. How did you find the air arrangements in the beginning and at the end of the trip?

Thanks again. Terrypilot

Absolutely superb for us:

1. Non-stop Cathay Pacific LAX to Hong Kong

2. Emirates Air Capetown to Dubai and non-stop 16 hours of the most pleasant non-stop time ever spent on a plane, Dubai to LAX with one of the most spectacular flights ever taken directly over the pole, with 100% visibility over this incredible route past Iran, Capsian Sea, Uzbekistan, Siberia and finally the north pole which we could view through in seat closed circuit TV.

Of course past performance is no gaurantee of future benefits ........:o

We also thought the shore excursions were excellent except for a major screw up in the Maldives which may have been out of Discoveries control.

We are considering a long (30-60 day) itinerary.

Could you comment on some of the negatives I have read about this line please?

1) Ship is old with numerous breakdowns, missed ports, rumbling/vibration/loud noises.

2) Many regular/long-term guests think they own the ship & hog deck chairs, skip lines & are generally rude etc.

3) Captain/staff don't "go out of their way" to help...many have been with the ship for years & have become complacent.

Also, is it possible to get a table for 2 if we desire? I don't mean a long table with many guests sitting in rows, across from each other, but rather an actual separate table that seats 2 ony.

We are considering a long (30-60 day) itinerary.

Could you comment on some of the negatives I have read about this line please?

 

1) Ship is old with numerous breakdowns, missed ports, rumbling/vibration/loud noises.

2) Many regular/long-term guests think they own the ship & hog deck chairs, skip lines & are generally rude etc.

3) Captain/staff don't "go out of their way" to help...many have been with the ship for years & have become complacent.

 

Also, is it possible to get a table for 2 if we desire? I don't mean a long table with many guests sitting in rows, across from each other, but rather an actual separate table that seats 2 ony.

In Jan 2009, we had no breakdowns or missed ports or interfering noises. Passengers were delightful. Never noticed rudeness at all. Just the opposite. Being mainly British, they may not be the first ones to greet you, but were always engaging and welcoming when contact was made. When there were mainly Australians on the ship during other segments, they were a bit more open and lively.

But due to the itinerary we were on (Hong Kong to Capetown across the Indian Ocean) there was deck chair hogging only because there were so few chairs in the shade and the majority of the ones out in the open were just too hot for our itinerary that hugged the equator for most of the time. People leaving their things on the chaises was the only down note we noticed, but I know this is a complaint on many ships.

We were so busy with the excellent lectures indoors during the sea days that we did not spend that much time on deck in chairs anyway, and I always found one somewhere. The top deck Lido restauant was also a daytime gathering spot that was shaded under umbrella so we would sit and read up there if we wanted to be outdoors but away from the direct sun on the open decks.

And there were plenty who loved being out in the full direct equatorial sun. So this deck chair problem may not be a problem depending on where the cruise is going since there are many of them available - ours was only a deck chair in the shade problem, and not a deck chair problem.

There are a few isolated tables for two and depending on the number of passengers you can get a table for two alone, at one of the tables for four along the banquettes.

Staff was quite wonderful and the captain was very accessible because this is a very small ship and the longer you are on, the more everyone becomes recognizable.

The biggest negative was the very small cabin space and industrial bathrooms of no ambiance or amenities. This you will have to accept and pack around. But because this is a very casual ship, one doesn't need to pack much.

Dressing for dinner was something that was just done - but also with a lot of wardrobe repetition in this too - and dressing up was just like nice business or "church" dress up -easily handled with some dressy tops on plain skirts or pants and a jacket and tie for the men.

So the other big drawback for me was not having an informal dinner dining alternative and very weak room service options - that I failed to adequately explore so it may be better than what I experienced - set meals only at the two dinner times.

People did enjoy dressing more on the few formal nights so one really special events outfit would fill out the rest of the dress expectations. The more the merrier for your own comfort level, but there is very little closet room. I did manage to count 50 hangers for the closet if you get some narrow wire ones and not use the big wooden ones, but that packs everything in there very tightly.

This is the sort of ship you can find a lot to fault if you approach it with normal cruiseline expectations because it is merely basic and functional, but as they say .....oooh, the places you will see and the people you will meet ...... that is what makes the Discovery so special and worth doing. We would sail on her again in a heart beat. Ours was 42 days. And yes, I was ready to get off but mainly because we hit two solid weeks of really rough seas going across the Mozambique Straights from Madagascar to Capetown.

Certainly sounds tolerable but I think this advice you offer is good...

"This is the sort of ship you can find a lot to fault if you approach it with normal cruiseline expectations because it is merely basic and functional"

I am seriously looking at their great itineraries but may try to combine it with a regular cruise line just in case. Maybe 25-30 on Discovery followed by 20-25 on a mainstream cruise line.

Thanks for the advice.

Certainly sounds tolerable but I think this advice you offer is good...

"This is the sort of ship you can find a lot to fault if you approach it with normal cruiseline expectations because it is merely basic and functional"

 

I am seriously looking at their great itineraries but may try to combine it with a regular cruise line just in case. Maybe 25-30 on Discovery followed by 20-25 on a mainstream cruise line.

Thanks for the advice.

You may already know the Discovery was the sister ship of the Pacific Princess of the TV series Love Boat that set the standard for cruise travel expectations for many years. Now that ships have become lavish hotels it makes the old "Love Boat" type ships seem simple and old fashioned. But they were the height of elegance, glamour and romance not all that long ago.

I also suspect since you are itinerary driven, unless that "regular" cruise can also offer a dynamite route, you may end up regretting you did not do the whole trip on the dear, dear Discovery. Nothing felt happier than knowing we were staying on through three segments, while others had to depart after only one, until it was our turn to be the ones waving good by at the gangplank instead of sitting smugly at the Lido knowing we still had weeks of adventures to go.

The best part having all those segments was the two-three day overnights in ports between segments which really allowed for in depth exploration than just the day trip stops allowed along the way. We had extra overnight stops in Hong Kong, Mauritius and Capetown - great bonus, particularly Mauritius.

Indeed, we are itinerary driven, & the overnights would be a huge bonus.

The 2nd itinerary on a "regular ship" would be for the itinereary also.

Just afraid of locking myself into 50+ days on an unknown vessel unless I am confident of at least the creature comforts. Not looking for luxury but do want comfort.

Separate bunk beds & assigned seating are also holding me back.

It really looks like exactly my style of cruising...off the beaten path stops, many overnights etc. A lot to think about.