Discovery Princess thoughts...

[1sttimeAlaska]

We were just on the Discovery Princess for an Alaskan cruise July 2-9 RT Seattle.  I have a few notes about the ship itself that others may find helpful.

 

1.  The lights in the mini-suite.  There are four switches as soon as you walk in the room.  We found that there was one switch that controlled BOTH the light over the bed and the light in the closet area.  No way to turn on the closet area light without also turning on the light over the bed.  Oh, sure, you can open the door to the bathroom and use that light, but then you don't have access to the shelves and safe, which are directly behind the bathroom door if it is open.  I don't know if the lights are the same in other types of rooms, but if traveling on the Discovery, you may want to bring some kind of portable light for the closet area if you go to bed at a different time than your cabinmate!

2.  The elevators.  There are anywhere from 4 to 8 elevators in a bay.  The forward elevator bay has four elevators, and all four are controlled by the up/down buttons.  I think the Aft elevators are the same.  No problem here.  However, the mid-ship elevators have 6 (or maybe 8, I'm not sure) elevators.  And they are on different controls from each other.  The two (or 3) on the back left have their own buttons.  The two (or 3) on the back right have their own buttons.  The 1 on the forward left has its own button, and the one of the forward right has its own button.  So when a person walks into the bay to request an elevator, they will walk around and hit all the buttons, to get the quickest elevator.  It comes, and the call for that particular elevator(s) is fulfilled.  But the other 3 buttons in the bay still have a request for an elevator.  So this means whenever you get on an elevator, you can be sure to be stopping at almost every floor, because the button has been pressed, but the person needing it is already long gone, going on another elevator.  Very poor design.

3.  Make sure you make dinner reservations to the MDR as soon as you can (when the app opens this up before the cruise) especially if you have a party greater than 4.  We had six, and made the mistake of not doing this.  Getting a table for 5 or larger is harder, so it takes longer.  Even with reservations, the line could be very long and take a while. 

4.  ALL the staff was fantastic.  Not ONE single problem.  All enjoyed our 2 grandchildren (7 and 3), and made them (and us) feel special.

5.  The entertainment was also wonderful.  I wish I could have cloned myself to see more of the shows, and just sit and listen to the performers. 

6.  The captain and the cruise director have a fun love/hate relationship that was entertaining.

Edited July 14, 2023 by 1sttimeAlaska

[Auntiejo]

We were on the Discovery in Dec/Jan in Mexico and it was one of our favorite cruises ever! Can't wait to sail her again - and we're so grateful she sails out of our homeport for most of the year.

[memoak]

12 hours ago, Auntiejo said:

We were on the Discovery in Dec/Jan in Mexico and it was one of our favorite cruises ever! Can't wait to sail her again - and we're so grateful she sails out of our homeport for most of the year.

I will agree that the Royal class ships were great a year ago but after experiencing the Discovery in June with at least 100% capacity and kids running rampant all over the ship and the noise in the piazza being deafening we will opt for Grand class ships from now on

[startedwithamouse]

20 hours ago, 1sttimeAlaska said:

We were just on the Discovery Princess for an Alaskan cruise July 2-9 RT Seattle.  I have a few notes about the ship itself that others may find helpful.

 

1.  The lights in the mini-suite.  There are four switches as soon as you walk in the room.  We found that there was one switch that controlled BOTH the light over the bed and the light in the closet area.  No way to turn on the closet area light without also turning on the light over the bed.  Oh, sure, you can open the door to the bathroom and use that light, but then you don't have access to the shelves and safe, which are directly behind the bathroom door if it is open.  I don't know if the lights are the same in other types of rooms, but if traveling on the Discovery, you may want to bring some kind of portable light for the closet area if you go to bed at a different time than your cabinmate!

2.  The elevators.  There are anywhere from 4 to 8 elevators in a bay.  The forward elevator bay has four elevators, and all four are controlled by the up/down buttons.  I think the Aft elevators are the same.  No problem here.  However, the mid-ship elevators have 6 (or maybe 8, I'm not sure) elevators.  And they are on different controls from each other.  The two (or 3) on the back left have their own buttons.  The two (or 3) on the back right have their own buttons.  The 1 on the forward left has its own button, and the one of the forward right has its own button.  So when a person walks into the bay to request an elevator, they will walk around and hit all the buttons, to get the quickest elevator.  It comes, and the call for that particular elevator(s) is fulfilled.  But the other 3 buttons in the bay still have a request for an elevator.  So this means whenever you get on an elevator, you can be sure to be stopping at almost every floor, because the button has been pressed, but the person needing it is already long gone, going on another elevator.  Very poor design.

3.  Make sure you make dinner reservations to the MDR as soon as you can (when the app opens this up before the cruise) especially if you have a party greater than 4.  We had six, and made the mistake of not doing this.  Getting a table for 5 or larger is harder, so it takes longer.  Even with reservations, the line could be very long and take a while. 

4.  ALL the staff was fantastic.  Not ONE single problem.  All enjoyed our 2 grandchildren (7 and 3), and made them (and us) feel special.

5.  The entertainment was also wonderful.  I wish I could have cloned myself to see more of the shows, and just sit and listen to the performers. 

6.  The captain and the cruise director have a fun love/hate relationship that was entertaining.

 2. The elevators - we haven't been on a Princess ship that doesn't have this design for mid-ship elevators. There must be a reason for it.

[Steelers36]

21 hours ago, 1sttimeAlaska said:

2.  The elevators.  There are anywhere from 4 to 8 elevators in a bay.  The forward elevator bay has four elevators, and all four are controlled by the up/down buttons.  I think the Aft elevators are the same.  No problem here.  However, the mid-ship elevators have 6 (or maybe 8, I'm not sure) elevators.  And they are on different controls from each other.  The two (or 3) on the back left have their own buttons.  The two (or 3) on the back right have their own buttons.  The 1 on the forward left has its own button, and the one of the forward right has its own button.  So when a person walks into the bay to request an elevator, they will walk around and hit all the buttons, to get the quickest elevator.  It comes, and the call for that particular elevator(s) is fulfilled.  But the other 3 buttons in the bay still have a request for an elevator.  So this means whenever you get on an elevator, you can be sure to be stopping at almost every floor, because the button has been pressed, but the person needing it is already long gone, going on another elevator.  Very poor design.

All of the ships are like this.  I believe they did it so that guests who specifically want to ride the 'panoramic' elevators can do so.  The view of the Atrium/Piazza is only for three levels.  But yes, it is a typical thing and I often hit both because I don't care which one comes.  BTW, both panoramics are connected such that the button on either side works to call both sides.