gardengalaz

We were expecting the interior spaces to be a refrigerator, as we've generally found on other cruises/cruiselines BUT that isn't the case on this ship. My wife still thinks it's cold, and some spaces are warmer than others, but she's happy in a sweatshirt or wearing a sweater or a pashmina when we go out in the evening. On the subject of Hawaii, my wife attended a Q&A with the Captain as well as a galley tour today and she was blown away by the preparation and orchestration a voyage to Hawaii requires. You should have a wonderful time!!

Hi, Everyone! Ah, another fine day at sea on our way to Santa Barbara, which means I'm staying in our room most of the time. Not that I really want to, but it's too cold to sit out on deck and the rest of ship is crazy crowded and LOUD. I don't want to paint things in too dark of a light, but the bottom line, in my personal opinion, is that the food, service and entertainment on board are absolutely fantastic, but I genuinely hate this ship. It's poorly designed, cramped, crowded, congested ... simply too many people crammed into too little space. I recognize and accept the fact that I am the one with the problem in this situation. In fact, if I was as outgoing and social as my wife is, this would be the ideal cruise -- but I'm introverted, reclusive and quiet and I just need some isolated little corner to sit in peaceful contemplation. We've been on a LOT of cruises and I've always been able to find someplace onboard to relax ... so far, that space on this ship eludes me. If I could put Princess' food and service onto a Celebrity ship, I'd be a VERY happy cruiser indeed. It might be a very different experience on a warmer itinerary, but the California coastline in early March is a wee bit brisk, so most of the passengers are staying indoors. All that said, we're having a very nice time ... meeting lots of very nice people ... LOVE the whole medallion thingy ... LOVE the Premiere package ... enjoying the entertainment in general -- and my wife is most definitely in her element!

Then it might be Cole, because he's always identifying himself by where he comes from. Honestly, I don't pay much attention to his announcements, nor the Captain's. Unless I hear 7 short and 1 long blasts on the ship's horn, I've got other things to do.

Just the two at the desk BUT the other couple we're traveling with both use cpap and their cabin steward brought them what they needed, including distilled water.

Seems like the commenters have already helped sort out the answer, which is great because I never pay attention to who's the CD, Captain or any other role. I vaguely remember he sounded like he was from South Africa???

Yep -- That's a very interesting variation! I'll have to go there to see how it compares to the one made in the Crown Grill Bar.

Actually, there are several places you can get one ... but the best-made are definitely in the Crown Grill Bar.

Hi, Everyone! Not much to report today. We arrived in San Francisco as scheduled ... Pier 29, so just a short walk along the Embarcadero to the tourist trap known as Pier 39. Great place for souvenirs, but we just wanted to watch the sea lions for a while ... and they never disappoint! We popped into CVS to grab a couple of things we needed and headed back to the ship. I sent a note of feedback to Guest Services about our experience at the Crown Grill (just feedback, not looking for anything) and were very pleased to get a call from the manager in charge of F&B who arranged for us to have a table as far away from the noise as possible when we dine at Rudy's tomorrow. VERY nice of him. We had lunch in Gigi's and all was fine ... nothing noteworthy one way or the other ... just good food and good service. Not sure I'd be willing to pay the upcharge if it wasn't included in our Premiere package though. Stopped by Crown Grill Bar for a Salted Watermelon Margarita before dinner and who walks up to us?? The manager I'd spoken to earlier! (That medallion is a very useful tool!) He just wanted to apologize again (unnecessary, but appreciated), said he noticed that we had no reservations anywhere for the next evening and told him our plan was to go to the Gastropub. He smiled and said, "Let me get you a table in the MDR instead" -- so we took the hint and said thank you! Within 5 minutes, he secured a table for us, even though the app said nothing was available. Behold the power of the staff!! Dinner in the MDR was very nice, except next to our table was a 6-top filled with young children whose parents were dining together at an adjacent table. For the most part, the kids were well-behaved, but they had a few moments where they got a bit loud and it was refreshing to see one of the parents step over to remind them about "inside voices". After dinner, we went to see a profoundly energetic Jerry Lee Lewis tribute performer who was excellent. Not sure how the piano survived two performances under his power and showmanship .. but it was great. Sailed out of San Francisco about 10PM and into a rather rolly-polly sea. Again, nothing beyond a 3 on a 10 scale, but people were definitely having to adjust their steps if they wanted to walk straight down a hallway ... I'm sure you all know what I'm describing. Sea day tomorrow!

I'll look for it today when I'm in the lounge.

Interestingly enough, I was following the recommended route on the app and looking at the deck maps. Unfortunately, they had closed off a section as well as an entrance to the aft lobby area on that deck. I even spoke to one of the crew who basically said that the App hadn't been updated yet and gave me a route that took me back to mid-ship before I could work my way back to the gym. I'm very accustomed to Princess in general -- this was an anomaly.

Thank you so much for your advice!!

Sadly, not on the Discovery Princess

Hi, Everyone! Day 2 of our voyage is a sea day as we're heading up to San Francisco. The sea is a tiny, wee bit roll-y and ya just have to chuckle when you hear a new cruiser express their concern and saying things like, "Please tell me it doesn't get worse than this!!" and their partner respond, reassuring them with "facts" like, "If it get's any worse than this, the Captain won't sail." Again, this ship is barely rocking. So I started my day with a trip to the gym. I saw on the Medallion App that my wife and the couple we're traveling with are seated in the World Market buffet, so I thought I'd swing by and say hello. In our many dozens of cruises, I've never encountered a more crowded and confusing buffet area. Rather than having a nice big open area for all of the food stations to be easily seen, perused and accessed, this ship has multiple little aisles and vestibules where the food can be found. There's no readily apparent system of what you're likely to find where and because of how narrow these aisles are, they get very clogged with people, who, after weaving in and out of the maze emerge to discover that they now have food but no idea where they were sitting. Once you're seated and eating, you think twice before getting up to just go and grab something else. I didn't eat, but my friends said that the food and the selection were good. They also said they're just going to go to the MDR for breakfast to avoid the chaos of the buffet. Yet again, this ship has SERIOUS design and layout issues. Anywho, I went to the gym and had a great workout. Wifey and our friends went off to attend various events happening on board and I went back to the cabin, where I remained until time to get ready for dinner. You probably should know now that I am reclusive by nature and find tremendous joy in sitting quietly on our balcony, away from the craziness. That said, the ship's schedule is jam-packed with activities, so if you are more social and curious than I am, you'll have plenty to do. I needed to iron a shirt and I was thrilled to find that Princess stills provides passenger laundromats. Definitely not something you'd ever find on Celebrity. Princess wins in this department. It's one of the fancy nights, so there are photographers everywhere. (LOT's of fancy dresses and quite a few tuxedos, we were very pleased to see! Some parents took advantage of the opportunity to teach their children how to behave in and enjoy a fancy event. The little boys in the little tuxedos gave us hope for the future of humanity.) We would normally skip all of the photo ops, but since our Premiere package includes ALL of the photos taken of us onboard, we thought we might as well let them do their thing. We stopped by the Platinum/Elite lounge for a drink and some hors d'oeuvres before heading to the Crown Grill for our first of the two specialty dining experiences included in the Premiere package. The food was fantastic (one of the best steaks I've ever had) and the service was upbeat and personable. From our previous voyages with Princess, we were expecting a more upscale sorta vibe and a more refined dining experience, but it seems like that style of dining went the way of mandatory dress codes long ago. That said, our ONLY issue with the meal/experience was where we were seated in the restaurant. It was ok ... until the band in the Crown Grill Bar started playing and then it was so loud, you couldn't talk to your companion. Had we known this was going to happen earlier in our meal, we could have asked to be moved and I'm pretty sure they would have at least tried to accommodate our request to be moved. Again, this is a design flaw and it was problematic for us. So, great food, great service .. but choose your table carefully. Specialty dining on Celebrity is considerably more expensive and far more upscale and formal in the service aspect of things, but Princess wins yet again when it comes to the food. DELICIOUS!! After dinner, we joined up with our friends to see the Rock Opera production show. Great singers and dancers and musicians ... wonderful song selections. A bit too loud for my wife, but I thought the volume was just fine. My only issue with the theatre is there's no place to set down your drinks (or your empty glasses) so you have to hold onto your beverage, making it challenging to deliver appropriate applause for the cast and crew -- and on the way out, there's no place to deposit your empties. I guess you could just leave them sitting on the floor in front of your seat, but that seems gauche. The ship was noticeably rocking and rolling throughout the night -- still barely a level 1 sea experience for people who've cruised a bunch -- but the first timers were rather weirded out. Tomorrow, we'll be passing under the Golden Gate Bridge at about 6:30AM. I shall be asleep. More later.

There is an adults only pool and bar on Deck 17 Forward. Not many people seem to know about it, since the only way you'd stumble across it is if you were lost or a passenger in one of the staterooms that surround it. Also, it's called the Retreat Pool, so a lot of people think it's only for suite holders, which is not the case. It's small, quiet with a nice bar BUT there's no views from the area since, as I said, it's surrounded by staterooms.

Hi, Everyone! I've commandeered my wife's account here so I can give you a live account of our experience aboard the Discovery Princess. To set the stage, we hold Elite status on Celebrity and Platinum on Princess. It's interesting that the Platinum benefits on Princess are actually better than the Elite benefits on Celebrity. Our last cruise on Princess was a decade ago after which we abandoned Princess and moved to Celebrity. Since the re-launch of cruising post-COVID, we've been on 8 Celebrity cruises, each of which grew progressively worse to the point we thought it time to look at other options. We wanted a cruise departing from Los Angeles/Long Beach since it's a reasonable drive from our home in Phoenix -- and Princess offered this itinerary, which is a new one for us. So we thought we'd give Princess another try ... and the factor that sealed the deal for us was Princess' Premiere Package -- an astounding bargain compared to Celebrity! We arrived at the port at 10:45AM ... and the place was MOBBED. Long lines of people stretching way past the terminal building, weaving their way through the gauntlet ... but the line never stopped moving, other than one quick stop to scan our medallions and show our passports. We were on board in less than 15 minutes from our arrival at the port. No real complaints there, but it does render the whole Elite embarkation lounge and priority embarkation lines rather pointless. Once onboard, the crowd was intense ... crew members hawking whatever they were assigned to hawk ... clueless passengers about what was where and when staterooms would be ready ... elevators that simply could not handle the volume of passengers ... muster station check-ins scattered throughout. It was truly insane. I do wish the cruise lines had stuck to scheduled appointments for check-in though ... better crowd control and much more civilized. We had lunch in the Skagway MDR and it was fantastic! The service was great and the food quality, taste and presentation simply put Celebrity to shame. We shall see if that pattern continues. After lunch, we went to our stateroom, E519 on Deck 8 and our checked bags had already been delivered. We specifically chose this type of room because my wife has trouble with motion and we wanted to be as low in the ship as possible ... so the obstructed view balconies were the best choice available. We did luck out because the specific location of our stateroom includes a balcony that provides a rather open view between the lifeboats. I'll post a photo. The room itself is very nice ... seems small compared to a similar room on the Celebrity ships we've sailed, but I think that just has to do with the whole "walk-in" closet feature in Princess' staterooms. Plenty of space and storage for two people though. Comfy bed, plenty of pillows, nice little sofa and table. The bedside lamps have a USB port built-in, but no electrical outlets. The balcony has two chairs and a small table. After settling into our stateroom. I decided to go and check out the fitness center. Former bodybuilder here, so the fitness center and the food on offer throughout the ship are the primary things I care about. The fitness center is well-equipped and operates 24 hrs. Everything you need to keep up your training while on board. Finding the fitness center though was no easy feat, and that became the first general issue we have with this ship. The layout is VERY confusing ... and lots of things end up blocking routes that one would take intuitively. Public passageways are tight and constricted in places ... weird little hallways that dead end ... it's really a very poorly designed ship IMHO. In that regard, Celebrity wins. As far as service is concerned, it's been great. Our drinks come quickly (in fact, we just ordered room service and it was here, quite literally, in 10 minutes flat!) Everyone is super friendly and eager to help. We popped into the Platinum and Elite lounge for a few minutes ... VERY nice hors d'oeuvres. We had dinner in the Ketchikan MDR at the food was very good. Our waiter was excellent, even though he seemed to be working solo (his assistant wasn't around much) ... no sommelier nor manager ever stopped by our table ... our waiter was doing it ALL. Considering the last time we cruised on Princess, meals were a big and elegant production, we were rather disenchanted by the overall experience, BUT high praises to our waiter, Noel ... he did it all and did it well. The food itself was again FAR better than Celebrity's recent offerings. After dinner, the show in the main theatre was a magician. I only watched for about 15 minutes before I'd had enough. Too loud, too chaotic, too difficult to actually SEE what he was doing, even though there was a roving camera and giant screens ... it was simply far more showmanship than substance. So I went to the jazz club, Take Five, and the trio performing there were simply fantastic. The room itself is chopped up in a weird way, rendering it difficult if not impossible to see the musicians from large parts of the room, but that goes back to the odd design and layout of this ship. Three final quick points ... the Wifi isn't StarLink but it is pretty good ... the Medallion APP is very handy once you figure out how to use it ... and the Salted Watermelon Margarita is not to be missed! Comfy bed ... great night's sleep. Let's see what tomorrow holds! Let me know if you have any questions.