This review is based on a November 2023 sailing on the Discovery Princess, roundtrip from Los Angeles/San Pedro. I am not going to focus on the ports of call, but instead try to give an overview of our experience onboard. 

Basic Statistics:

Ship design: Royal-class; In service since March 2022; Class of Service: Premium Cruise Line 

Capacity: 3,660 (double occupancy); Crew: 1,550 

Note about stated capacity: this number posted by the cruise line is based on double occupancy only; on our Thanksgiving week cruise, there were over 4,100 guests, including almost 900 children. Whew! This impacted the cruise experience as the ship very often felt crowded and there was a change in the atmosphere in the dining rooms as large groups assembled. 

Layout/Design: Royal-class ships have an open atrium (three levels) at the heart of the ship, centered around the Piazza on Deck 5, with two additional decks with a variety of bars and restaurants overlooking that. This ship has a modern design and is visually stunning. The “salmon ladders” of blue glass, bordering the modern chandelier, evoke the Alaska cruising available on the ship at this time during the summer season.  It’s beautiful. 

Cabin: We had a balcony cabin this time, and I love the logical layout of the Princess cabins. The closet forms a wall between the bed and the bathroom, which works well when one person has to get up and doesn’t want to disturb the other one. The balcony is rather narrow, and this cruise was in November when it was not very warm, so we did not use it much. We usually do not spend too much time in the cabin, and have booked inside cabins before on the Ruby Princess, and we were fine with that.

Main Dining (included, no fee): There are three main dining rooms with an identical menu, although the decor is slightly different.  We chose to stay in one dining room for the evening meals. It was hard for us to reserve a set time for dining in advance, (mainly because we had some specialty dining credit, and so weren’t sure how to reserve a set table for the other nights) but on the first night, our attentive waiter asked us if we wanted to keep our table for the rest of the week, slightly shifting our time.  That was welcome as we enjoy the consistency of service that’s possible when waitstaff learns your preferences (yes, indeed, we do want to start with champagne. Thanks for asking!).  Early in the week, we got stuck in a long line even though we had our reservation, and were in the proper line. After waiting twenty minutes to go to our table that was definitely open and ready for us (there was chaos caused by large groups dining – have you tried to make sure that ten people all arrive on time?) The maitre d’ was very aware of our long wait, and specifically directed us to go straight to our table each night.  This shows attention to our reserved time, and we appreciated it. 

Food in the main dining room was consistently good. The creme brulée was terrific.

Specialty (fee) dining:  Princess has both traditional specialty dining, and “casual dining” venues that are also added-fee. We had a premier package that included two specialty dining and unlimited casual dining. Yes, the terminology is confusing. Still, I think Princess Premier is one of the best values out there in the world of cruising.

Crown Grill is a favorite, and you will want to be proactive about getting your reservation made ahead of time for that.  I saw sad people trying to make reservations on board. We had made ours ahead of time using the app. I am already looking forward to eating there again. It was an excellent dining experience.  The scallops with caviar were outstanding. Amazingly, I could not finish my ribeye, and I did not have room for dessert. Not even for creme brulée, alas!

Casual (fee) dining: Gigi’s pizza was pretty good, although my pizza was not fully cooked through in the center. There was plenty of it, so I did not need to eat the center, though.  🙂 I appreciated the server suggesting that I do a half-and-half pizza, thus trying two different menu items.

We also ate at Ocean Terrace, and while the menu item included with our Premium package included a lovely plate of sushi and sashimi, we found that the sushi roll was far too covered in sauce. The Ocean Terrace was consistently busy, and seems to be getting loyal customers.   

Note that in this case, if you are using casual dining as part of a package, you are limited to specific items, but this is especially true at Ocean Terrace, so listing it as “included” casual dining is not exactly accurate.  You have ONE choice at Ocean Terrace, but several at Gigi’s. 

Buffet/World Fresh Marketplace:  We enjoy the service and experience of being served in the evenings, so we used this venue only for breakfast or lunch.  To be honest, I would not rate the buffet experience as more than a 6/10.  The layout is huge but ultimately annoying, with stations that run across the ship and so you have to walk back and forth a lot in this confusing space in order to survey the offerings (something you should surely do in a buffet before you begin loading a plate) and yet there was also a lot of repetition of offerings, so I am unsure what the point was of having the multiple stations. There was nothing relaxing about trying to dine in this way.  Again, we did not use the buffet at night, and there may have been more options at that time.  I found identical menu items each morning at breakfast, and of course, it makes sense to offer some highly desired items. I love eggs at breakfast, and yet I wanted more variety than the fried or scrambled eggs on offer. 

We tried the omelet to order one day, and it was um, not good. I know better than to cook eggs until they are brown.

The buffet does have very attentive staff who will do their best to bring you a beverage or help in any way they can.  And, to be fair, I have read many online comments from people who had a great experience in the buffet, so I have to acknowledge that. Since, I have also heard of people ordering Eggs Benedict both in the buffet and MDR even when they are not visible or on the menu, so I am filing that thought away for future use.

Also, there is a great salad bar with bowls that are easy to carry out to the pool deck, and I can attest that many people enjoyed a healthy lunch that way.  One day, we thoroughly enjoyed a tuna poke bowl for lunch. 

Bar Scene: Ok, so we may know more about this than we should.  We expected to hang out at Good Spirits Bar a lot based on a very fun prior cruise experience (on the Ruby Princess – Where are you, our favorite barkeep, Artem?!?!), but we were disappointed to find that their menu was not the updated one that we had seen online, and we had tried their previous menu already. As in, we had tasted the entire menu and earned the t-shirts to prove it. If you haven’t done the Good Spirits Experience before, the menu is varied and fun, and you can watch a live demonstration that teaches you how the drinks are crafted.

Our favorites on this cruise were Bellini’s, on deck 7 off the atrium, a very small place that also serves the restaurants in the area, but had a great, knowledgable and attentive staff led by Ronnie, and an interesting menu.  The view over the atrium here is outstanding, so if there are events going on that deserve your attention but not your participation, it’s the ideal, sweet spot.  

For something even more refined, we also very much enjoyed the Crown Grill Bar, which has a great menu – perhaps the best bar menu on the ship, and a classic atmosphere.  The bar staff there are very busy but attentive. There is often music playing there, and there is a great vibe – a mix of action and class. The Rosemary Sour was an amazing, special drink.  

The Crooners Bar, with occasional live music, appears to be a favorite, and I want to shout out Vishnu, who remembered from one night to the next exactly how I wanted my French 75.  We heard great things about Take Five, which we didn’t discover until too late in the cruise, on the way to bed on the last night. It’s hard to leave a great bar to find another great bar, it seems!  Discovery Princess has a great bar scene.

The bar menus mark some special cocktails created by Rob Floyd, and we tried a few that were outstanding. The Rosemary Sour was perhaps at the top of the list.  

Pool Deck(s): The main pool deck (16) has two pools with hot tubs, bars, and food options. On our cruise, there was lots of very youthful action here, including super soakers (!!) and not much peace and quiet to be found. We weren’t looking for that environment.  

Fortunately, a lovely adults-only Retreat pool (Forward on deck 17) has a dedicated bar, a good amount of loungers, and hot tubs overlooking that on deck 18.  We found it very busy one time and very empty a couple of other times, so it’s worth trying that pool, and the Mermaid Mimosa (Rob Floyd creation) from the Retreat Bar there is especially lovely.  

Sanctuary: We did not do this, but know that you can rent space here.  It looks lovely, and probably is worth the expense on this ship to buy some tranquil time and space.  Tip: You have to book your lounger or cabana onboard, and you want to do this first as a line forms.  

Spa/Enclave: A thermal suite is something we always look for on a cruise ship, and we generally like to get a weekly pass and go daily.  We’ve been on thermal suites that were much larger (Norwegian Bliss) and also a bit smaller (Ruby Princess, Celebrity Solstice), and the Enclave is in between those sizes. There are three distinct sauna rooms, four different shower experiences, and a therapy pool.  The therapy pool is key, with large jets that massage your back and neck and work out any kinks you brought onto the ship, as cruise life is generally not stress-inducing! There are twelve heated tile loungers, which are lovely for lounging on and drying off after the pool or shower.  

We purchased a weeklong pass ahead of time, which I understand saves money versus waiting until you are on ship.  We paid $149 pp. for the 7-day pass. It’s generally open from 8 am until 10 pm.

Niggle: I’m told that the ship sells a limited number of passes, (80?) but I can also tell you that there were consistently at least twice as many people using the thermal suite as there were loungers. It’s located on a lower deck (5) and therefore this thermal suite does not have a view from the loungers as you might find on some ships. Early in the morning seemed best for availability, but others got the same idea.  

Entertainment/Theater: There is a show every night on the main stage of the theater.  It’s a well-designed space with great views.  The production shows feature song and dance (no acrobatics) and those (there were two on a seven-night cruise) were terrific.  There was also a comedian, an illusionist, and some additional musical talent on the main theater stage.  In the afternoons and evenings, the bars featured musical entertainment, and there was at least one large performance in the Piazza combining the groups along with the ship’s orchestra.  It was almost always possible to find some entertainment if that were a priority.  We especially enjoyed the performances in the Crown Grill bar, and on the last night discovered the Take Five lounge, a very secluded spot that seems to focus on jazz. 

Photography: There were photographers available every evening except the last with varied backdrops. Especially on formal nights, I appreciate this opportunity. There were also port-themed options, and so we ended up with a nice set of photo memories.  I found it fascinating that the photographers do not require any cabin numbers or Medallion login.  It appears that they are using facial recognition technology to associate your photos into your app. That’s sort of fun, but also crazy! Tip: around 5 pm, the photographers are set up, and there are usually not lines at that time.  Don’t only use this on formal nights.  Also, although there are goofy/fun props, you can get a lovely photo without them.  I won’t be framing this one, but it is fun!

Afternoon Tea: This was a lovely experience, and you can tell that regular Princess cruisers are tuned into this opportunity.  On sea days, there is a 45-minute-long window (3:00 to 3:45) to get yourself into a main dining room for afternoon tea. Servers pour your hot, freshly brewed tea and then come around with sandwiches, scones, and pastries.  The photo does not do justice to the flavors of these delightful bites. Tip: we planned a very light lunch on those days, and got in line about ten minutes before 3:00.  

Coffee: For many of us, this is an important part of any day, whether on vacation or not. In short, they can step up their game here.  In the space of a week, I had but one specialty coffee that met my expectations of flavor and wasn’t essentially coffee-flavored milk.  The cappuccinos were actually made like a cafe au lait, and I kept asking for less milk. Specialty coffee in a mug is available in the buffet, and the International Cafe serves in paper cups for takeaway.  Again, I hope they can improve the quality. I saw that they were grinding Lavazza beans, so it’s not an issue with the espresso quality, but with their technique that relies on excessive amounts of warm (not even frothed) milk.  Tip: get very specific about how you want your specialty coffee made. 

WiFi/Medallion/OceanNow:  The WiFi on the ship worked very well.  I was disconnected a few times, but was able to rejoin the MedallionNet immediately.  

The Medallion is a magnetic disk (think AirTag size) that you can wear using a lanyard, clip, (photo shows the clip that comes with the Premier package) or bracelet. You use the Medallion to access your room and to make onboard orders and purchases; it worked quite well.  Princess has invested a lot in this technology, and I would not mind using it onboard other cruise lines. Note that you can conveniently use the app to locate Medallion-wearing companions on the ship, which is helpful if one of you wants to nap and the other wants to explore.  

OceanNow allows you to order food and drink on the app and have it brought to you wherever you are on the ship, whether in the room or on a deck lounger.  The technology allows crew to find you via your nifty Medallion. We used this once when the nearby bar had not yet opened.  Otherwise, we were always close enough to the bar to get our own order. Next time, I am going to use it to order my specialty coffee in the morning! I do like this feature, and think it’s great that there is no fee to use it with the Premium package.  At this time, there may be an activation fee with other packages. 

Niggles/Negatives: 

Smoke from Casino – Princess Cruise Lines, I beg you to fix this. Smoking is allowed in the Casino, and since many cruise lines do not allow this, I fear you attract a crowd who craves this. If the casino were closed off, then that would be less of an issue. I don’t know why this smoking area has to be near the middle of the ship, though, and open to the atrium area with lots of activities, lounges, restaurants, and where people generally want to gather. The smoke comes out into the public areas, and it can be a lot. I’m not really very sensitive to smoke, but this was a negative surprise. I think now that I know this it will be easier to manage.

Crowded/Chaotic Pool Deck – I cannot and will not blame people for bringing children on a cruise. I think that if I had known there would be nearly 1000 children on board, I would have set my expectations differently. And there’s a lesson for me. Remember that holiday sailings are likely to have lots of large groups, and include that in your vision of how the cruise will feel.

Positives: 

Cruise Director DuVaul – Omistinkingosh, the most energetic and dynamic cruise director ever! I don’t know if he will stay with Discovery, but wherever he goes, he will be bringing the fun (and his dad’s stories!)

Great staff and high-quality service – The staff on the ship are consistently friendly, helpful, professional and yet fun! Princess does a great job of including the kinds of touches that elevate your day. Having fruit-infused water as you get back on the ship, delivered with a smile, is just one example. 

Beautiful design – It’s a beautiful ship and pretty well designed, except for the one dining room that you cannot get to directly. See https://cruisedeckplans.com/ships/Discovery-Princess for deck plans to help you select a cabin. 

Embarkation/Disembarkation and Sail Away – I have never embarked or disembarked a cruise ship so easily and speedily. Well done, Princess! And the facial recognition thing at US Customs when disembarking was crazy easy! I do LOVE a great Sail Away party, and Princess knows how to do that for dang sure!

Responsible cruising – There are many misconceptions about cruising, and among them are assumptions about how cruise lines operate in terms of environmental impact. One good overview of Princess Cruise Lines practices is here: Princess Cruises Brings Sustainable Technology to Sea

WOULD I GO AGAIN? 

Yes, absolutely. I would likely not choose this ship for another holiday sailing, or in the summer, but we had a great time onboard for sure. I will look for a time and place to get back onboard. Princess delivers a great cruise product, and they can be proud of the Discovery Princess.