LAX-HKG

On the first week of April we took a land taxi from the marina area to the parking lot of “The Office” (Medano Beach) for USD 15 on the way there and USD 18 on the way back. There were 6 of us. I paid with USD and confirmed the price before getting onto the taxi.

They were not wrapped on my recent cruise on Discovery. My daughter was actually more interested in those lollipops than the gelato. 😆

It didn’t seem to me that it was very busy. We enjoyed the ziplines portion of the excursion. It was the scheming afterwards that really turned me off. Make money off me by doing a good job at tequila tasting and convinced me to buy a bottle. Or show me how great the photos are. Don’t bait and switch.

Just sailed on the Discovery last week and had the “Plus” package. Loved the fact that gratuity was included. Wifi was terrible. Could not even download my emails. Gelato was good. I was allowed to get the gelato “only” without all of the extra toppings. Although I did “share” a couple of those premium desserts with my 10 years old daughter. Even with her help we couldn’t finish it on one setting. Like a couple other people mentioned the Gelato counter was grossly understaffed. The line for gelato would often grow to 10-15 people. I am a huge fan of coffee and wine. Those beverages were the primary reasons for getting the plus package. Almost every day my wife and I would get a couple drinks from the juice bar in the morning. We would order a couple cocktails when we were lounging by the pool. A couple glasses of wine to pair with the food during dinner. I would also get a nightcap whenever I was at the Take Five jazz lounge. As for coffee I would get 4-5 cappuccino throughout the day. The quality of the drinks in general were disappointing. The best cappuccino I had was the one I got while I was touring Mazatlan; the espresso drinks tasted “bland” even when I ordered double shots. The concoctions from the juice bar were actually quite good. The wines, though, were disappointing on the “plus” package. I did pay the up charge several times to get wines from the premier list. A couple whites were pretty good but the reds were mostly “meh”. Most of the cocktails we got were average at best. The ones ordered through the app were literally “water down” from the melting of the ice because it would take 20-30 minutes for delivery. Even the ones we got directly from the bar weren’t that much better. There were a couple good ones from the Good Spirits and the bar by the retreat pool but that’s about it. I certainly got my money’s worth. Just wish that the quality of the beverages would be better.

Ship - Discovery Princess Class - Royal Deck - 9/Dolphin Cabin # - D519 Category - balcony Port/Starboard/Bow/Stern - starboard Connects With Cabin # - n/a Accessible - no Quiet - yes, very Balcony Size - average View - “unobstructed”, though can also see the lifeboats while sitting down Privacy Issues - none Wind - some but not terrible Soot - none Problems - No access to the balcony when the bunk bed is deployed Comments - Didn’t really had many choices of cabins when I booked. It was during the spring break of LAUSD so it was fully booked. Really surprised with the layout of the bunk bed; no balcony access when my kids were sleeping in the morning. The lifeboats are very visible. They would show up on many pictures taken from the balcony. Very small for 4 people. I would not recommend this cabin if there other options available.

If you are interested in a tour of Mazatlan I would highly recommend doing one with the City Tours of Pulmonia. They have a general route but can change to fit the interest of your party. This was hands down the best excursion we took among the three we experienced on the Mexican Riviera cruise. https://www.facebook.com/freddybtours/

Just to report back my experience with this company. We booked online directly with the company. It was a package of ziplines, mule ride, suspension bridge, tequila tasting, and infinity pool. It started out well, even after taking almost an hour on the back of a bumpy truck. The guides were friendly, professional, and helpful. The ziplines were fun and felt safe. Even the mule rides were enjoyable, despite the fact that no instructions were given on how to ride one and the trail was steep and narrow. The experience turned bad for us after the mule ride was over. My original plan after the ziplines was to eat at the restaurant, had a tequila tasting, walked the suspension bridge, then enjoyed the infinity pool before taking a shuttle back to our cruise. (All of these were sold to us as a package.) We took the 11am tour, so after the mule ride we got back to the reception area/restaurant around 1:15. We were then told that the infinity pool was “reserved” and would require extra charge for usage. Tequila tasting was available but only at 2pm. At the same time a person was going around checking on visitors’ shuttle time, the only times available to go back to the cruise was at either 1:20, 2:20 or 4:20. Interestingly the “hourly” shuttle that was promised does not offer one at 3:20. So I felt like this company is running a scheme on us. After the ziplines (with a few uphill hikes), we would be hungry (and we were) but would have no other option but to eat there. (A 1:20pm shuttle would be very rushed and left us hungry for an hour going back.) The restaurant servers were slow to take orders and even slower to deliver the drinks and the food. (Drinks did not arrive until around 1:40pm.) Since we were on a cruise ship and could not afford to take a chance of missing the ship we would have to take the 2:20 shuttle. This way they made more money off us at the restaurant, but spared the cost of extra maintenance because we wouldn’t have time to tour the suspension bridge or to use the infinity pool. In the event that we brought our own food and wanted to eat by the pool, the pool would be “reserved” and would require extra charge. A person in a teal colored shirt, whom seems to be in charge, gave me an indifferent attitude when I inquired, and expressed my displeasure, of the shuttle time. I am guessing I wasn’t the first one with that complaint. Another person who was “in charge” of the restaurant also came to talk to me, but was only offering access to the pool for a “discount” for the “misunderstanding”. My recommendation is definitely choose another ziplines company if you are on a cruise.

I called the dine line the minute that I got to my room and inquired about both the Chef’s Table and the winemaker dinner. I was told I would be informed of the availability. After not hearing from them for a couple days, I called again on Day 3. Once again I was told to wait for their response. Well, I am now off the ship and did not get an invitation to either dinner….

We just came off Discovery today. All of the shows were at 7:30 or 9:30. Dinner service was very slow. There were two nights where we were seated at 7 but had to skip dessert in order to make it to the 9:30 show on time.

Are you flying domestic or international?

Just want to report that I had no trouble using those gift cards. I gave the Guest Service a printout and the cards were applied to my account. One surprise though. The specialty restaurant that I had reserved prior to the cruise was charged directly to my credit card. I thought the credit card was just to hold my reservation and the actual charge would show up to my onboard account after dining at the restaurant. Now I have a surplus of the credit that I hope would be going back to a gift card. Since I used 3 gift cards, how do I know which one is the credit going back to?

That was the first thing I did, to call for a reservation, when I got into my room. I am on a “waitlist”. We will see if we get “invited “.😉

Thanks! I can now just order the Princess Plus once onboard, start enjoying it, and worry about the gift cards later.

That’s fantastic news! Thanks julie3fan.

My cruise starts tomorrow….😅 That’s why I want to find out if I need to queue in a long line to apply my gift cards tomorrow or I can wait till later in the cruise.