LIVE * Discovery * 4-day West Coast Getaway

[startedwithamouse]

45 minutes ago, TheMichael said:

 

We had a double chocolate "premium" cake recently and it was incredible, moist and rich and just the right amount of cocoa, we almost went back and got another one immediately, it was so good. So YMMV depending on the type of cake and personal taste...? 

 

(Edit: just remembered the reason we got the double chocolate was that the red velvet had sold out, so maybe the dessert chef was exceptionally good that day, or hadn't run out of "real ingredients" yet? 😁)

The cakes are pretty new though, so maybe they're still dialing it in and experimenting - guess they needed to add something for people who take one look at the premium gelato desserts and go into sugar shock just from the photos.

 

 Also, If I had a dime for every person on CC who declared some sort of fake ingredient was in use because the flavor or texture was not to their taste, I'd have enough dimes to go to culinary school and become as much of an expert as they are. 😁

 

Tell me what ship?

 

We go to Bottega Louie, Republique, Sweet Lady Jane (they just closed), Bouchon and Claudine. We know quality and good taste. 

 

Dialing in and experimenting? No, test kitchens are for that. These are either missing ingredients or substitutions are way off. 

[startedwithamouse]

2 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

I am glad your cabin attendant was good to you. I agree, the bartenders and wait staff were overworked.  I forgot to mention that for some reason we were never added to Princess Prizes. Our App kept saying that we had to register, and our door never recognized that we had it. Did you have that issue as well? 

This is ridiculous!  

 

You were in a suite!  Reading how the concierge couldn't take care of things means they are probably overwhelmed with issues. 

 

We didn't see our room steward until day two, the couple we knew onboard didn't see theirs either on the first day. No introduction, nothing. 

 

We're worried about Discovery Princess. She's less than two years old. Looking very worn, things aren't working like they used to. All the bugs should be worked out by now. 

[suzyluvs2cruise]

We board Discovery on Saturday for 7 nights. Our last Princess cruise was in 2007 but we're regulars on RCI and Celebrity. It will be interesting to see the comparisons and I hope we're not disappointed. We'll be in a Reserve Mini-Suite w/Premium pkg. Not sure if I'll do a "live from" thread but may think about it. Any questions....please let me know and I'll try to get answers. 

[oteixeira]

@HBCcruiser This is not making me confident.....  They need to get their ducks in a row.

[startedwithamouse]

32 minutes ago, chubbypiggy said:

Do you know the name of the new hotel GM?   TIA.

I don't.  She replaced a male. 

[chubbypiggy]

8 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

I don't.  She replaced a male. 

Thank you.  

[Host CJSKIDS]

Thanks for taking us along.  Looks like a wonderful time.

 

Sorry to for the issues you had.  Hopefully they don't happen again.

[BigWaveDave87]

Just now, startedwithamouse said:

I don't.  She replaced a male. 

Terri Cybullak

Hotel General Manager 

 

Happy Trails 

 

Photo taken on 02/18/24

Edited February 21 by BigWaveDave87

[HBCcruiser]

51 minutes ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

We board Discovery on Saturday for 7 nights. Our last Princess cruise was in 2007 but we're regulars on RCI and Celebrity. It will be interesting to see the comparisons and I hope we're not disappointed. We'll be in a Reserve Mini-Suite w/Premium pkg. Not sure if I'll do a "live from" thread but may think about it. Any questions....please let me know and I'll try to get answers. 

Keep us posted on how things go. We thought the staff in the Reserve Class dining were excellent but only used it once. We had the included specialty dining the other nights which had great service and food too. I left a very honest and detailed survey. Hopefully things will improve. I’m not back on Princess (if we go) until November so that gives them time to fix things. 

[HBCcruiser]

6 minutes ago, BigWaveDave87 said:

Terri Cybullak

Hotel General Manager 

 

Happy Trails 

 

Photo taken on 02/18/24

 

That’s who my TA was referring to. She said that she is very good and runs a tight ship so to speak. She holds staff accountable for providing good service. 👍

[BigWaveDave87]

Just now, startedwithamouse said:

 

 

We didn't see our room steward until day two, the couple we knew onboard didn't see theirs either on the first day. No introduction, nothing. 

 

I didn't meet our steward until the final night of the cruise. I had returned to our cabin to put our luggage out to be picked up. In the cabin I found his card on the bed. As I was putting out the luggage he showed up. He did apologize for not seeing us sooner. He explained that he had not only the cabins on the port side but also four on the starboard side, (deck 16 forward). I will say that even though we never met in person he did a fantastic job of having the room ready both in the morning and after we returned from dinner. We put post-it notes up if we needed ice or other items and requests were taken care of. 

 

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, memoak said:

You paid for special desserts and you got special desserts so what is the issue. Personally I cannot stand the so called premium desserts but they are what they are I saw tons of people gobbling them down on my last several cruises. Not everyone wants every item on any plan

I'm not sure.  I have not seen them nor eaten them.  Taste is often in the mouth of the beholder.  No doubt lots of people want to get the advantage of all their inclusions.

[karatemom2]

We were on Discovery over New Year’s and while many things were great, we did note the service level a bit lacking compared to our other Princess cruises, particularly in the MDR, buffet and bars. Our room steward was fine. The 360 Experience was the highlight of our cruise. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! 
 

We did not experience any issue with our onboard account but we didn’t have the package so maybe that’s why. The ship did seem understaffed and some of the crew seemed new. We just figured a lot of it had to do with it being a very full cruise. 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

4 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

This is ridiculous!  

 

You were in a suite!  Reading how the concierge couldn't take care of things means they are probably overwhelmed with issues. 

 

We didn't see our room steward until day two, the couple we knew onboard didn't see theirs either on the first day. No introduction, nothing. 

 

We're worried about Discovery Princess. She's less than two years old. Looking very worn, things aren't working like they used to. All the bugs should be worked out by now. 

What areas are looking worn? We were on less than a year ago and didn’t notice any worn areas. What could have happened since last April?

[TheMichael]

7 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

Tell me what ship?

 

We go to Bottega Louie, Republique, Sweet Lady Jane (they just closed), Bouchon and Claudine. We know quality and good taste. 

 

Dialing in and experimenting? No, test kitchens are for that. These are either missing ingredients or substitutions are way off. 

 

Not gonna debate who's the cake expert. Most people have eaten a ton of cake from a lot of different restaurants, they've all learned what they like, and that's all that counts. Suffice to say my cake (on the Regal) was incredibly yummy, and the GF agreed. That's all we need to know, just like your cake wasn't to your taste, which is also fine. 

 

And restaurants put new flavors and/or varieties on their menus, many that subsequently come back off the menu again, all the time. 

[Thrak]

5 minutes ago, TheMichael said:

Not gonna debate who's the cake expert.

 

The cake is a lie.

 

(If you know you know. Otherwise it really doesn't matter.)

[startedwithamouse]

10 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

What areas are looking worn? We were on less than a year ago and didn’t notice any worn areas. What could have happened since last April?

A year makes a big difference.  Wevw been on Discovery probabaly seven or eight times? Guest hallway, the light colored carpet is looking really bad. Stairwells too. Pool towels, many have holes. The Salty Dog is very run down, tables, chairs, etc. If an overhaul is done, they need to use different materials. 

Not complaining, just a general observation. 

Edited February 21 by startedwithamouse

[lakegirl16]

21 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

What a bumner about the service you received.  Sounds like this crew is a bit burned-out?  As far as towel animals, they are still alive on Princess.  Below are photos from a recent Sapphire cruise in South America 

 

 

 

 

We were on this cruise and have sailed Princess many times.  I’ve never had a towel animal.  🥲

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, startedwithamouse said:

A year makes a big difference.  Wevw been on Discovery probabaly seven or eight times? Guest hallway, the light colored carpet is looking really bad. Stairwells too. Pool towels, many have holes. The Salty Dog is very run down, tables, chairs, etc. If an overhaul is done, they need to use different materials. 

Not complaining, just a general observation. 

We’ve been on the Discovery several times over the last few months and never noticed anything that looked worn.  We were on deck 8 and deck 10, so can’t speak to any of the other passenger decks.  Of note, though one side of the hallway on deck 8 has a decline / incline which I never noticed when we cruised on her when she was brand new.  Even the handrail sits slightly crooked now.  Maybe that was by design and I just never noticed it before .. that is possible.  I’ve just never noticed that on any other ship.  


 

[mamafun]

8 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

The cake is a lie.

 

(If you know you know. Otherwise it really doesn't matter.)

 

[Cruise Raider]

7 minutes ago, lakegirl16 said:

We were on this cruise and have sailed Princess many times.  I’ve never had a towel animal.  🥲

Since the restart, we’ve had towel animals nearly every cruise.  This is our most recent one.  We’ve even had a whole zoo one some cruises.  

[HaveDogWillTravel]

14 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

That’s who my TA was referring to. She said that she is very good and runs a tight ship so to speak. She holds staff accountable for providing good service. 👍

I really hope she turns things around. I’m on for 13 days starting March 31 (in suites).  I really abhor complaining. I hate spending any energy on it. That said I will go up the ladder as needed and ask for whatever issue I’m having to be taken care of. But if it doesn’t happen I just move on.  After my less than experience in the Grand Suite on Diamond last year if this sailing is also less than I’ll save my suite money for other lines and stick to balconies on Princess. 
 

It looks like you had a great time regardless, but I am sorry Princess fell so short on this sailing for you. Thanks for all the great posts!  

[HBCcruiser]

6 minutes ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

 I really abhor complaining. I hate spending any energy on it. That said I will go up the ladder as needed and ask for whatever issue I’m having to be taken care of. But if it doesn’t happen I just move on.  After my less than experience in the Grand Suite on Diamond last year if this sailing is also less than I’ll save my suite money for other lines and stick to balconies on Princess. 

My thoughts exactly. I do not want to spend my vacation complaining or in the GS line trying to get refunded for items that I have already paid for. That is time away from getting another drink! 😜

[laudergayle]

Just stumbled on your LIVE.  Thanks.  I just convinced DH that we need to give Princess a try.  There is a LA-Catalina Island-SFO-Ensenada-San Diego-LA next April.  Your review answered so many of my questions?  Thanks.

 

p.s. I loved your Blue Moon pic. ❤️🐀

[HBCcruiser]

19 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

Just stumbled on your LIVE.  Thanks.  I just convinced DH that we need to give Princess a try.  There is a LA-Catalina Island-SFO-Ensenada-San Diego-LA next April.  Your review answered so many of my questions?  Thanks.

 

p.s. I loved your Blue Moon pic. ❤️🐀

I love Catalina! We hit up Desconso's each time. A ten minute walk to the right from where the tender drops you off. Hmm perhaps a 🐀P cruise?

Edited February 21 by HBCcruiser