MV Discovery

[voyager-sue]

We find delightful cruises advertised on MV Discovery. We're not familiar with the cruise line so I'm wondering if any of you have sailed Discovery and what opinion you have of it. We're not fancy cruisers but we do like lectures on at sea days, freshly prepared good food, and interesting ports of call (which Discovery seems to have in abundance).

 

Some ships are better at creating a sociable environment than others. We've never been on Carnival, but we like that phrase, "fun ships".

 

Any opinions?

[Sekhmet]

We've sailed on Discovery twice, principally for the itineraries and lectures. She is a small, oldish ship and although perfectly suited for its voyages, does not have the "big ship" facilities. What I suggest you do is to go to the "Other cruise lines" forum, where you'll find a few useful threads - one fairly near the beginning launched by terrypilot contains a huge amount of detail, particularly from the Discovery fount of all knowledge, SwissMyst.

 

Hope this helps, please ask if you have specific questions.

[voyager-sue]

Thanks for the tips. I checked them out and it sounds as if Discovery will be a great trip. I actually know Terrypilot -- he and his wife were on the Star Clipper from Panama to Panama and the Caribbean with us.

 

We just got back from Holland America's 'Incan Empire' cruise and are booked up for this year, but will check when the 2012 cruises are posted.

 

Sue

[cruiser1955]

Hi Sue

 

I travelled on Discovery in 2007 in an "i" grade twin cabin towards the front of the ship. Cabin not as big as more modern ships but comfortable enough.

 

The pax mix was about 75% US, 20% UK and rest European. The cruise I did was from Chile to Tahiti via Easter Island, Bora Bora, etc. Flights were scheduled and indirect, but all south American fly cruises have been indirect. A day hotel was arranged for LA on the way back as there was a 14 hour wait.

 

Life on board was very friendly. Good lectures and quizzes were more entertaining due to the mix of nationalities. Capacity is around the 700-800 mark, but there were less than 400 when I was on board, so service was very good and tours were easy to join as not many people trying to get off at the same time.

 

There were a number of themed dinners with hats provided for pax and the vast majority joined in the fun. There were also a few formal nights and again, most pax dressed up for them.

 

What you have to look at overall is that Discovery does more "location" cruising rather than luxury. It is much more leisurely cruising than on the bigger ships. It is certainly a ship I will return to. The group now also run Swan Hellenic.

[dsrdsrdsr]

I went from Canada to the UK on Discovery about 5 years ago, but it's still run by the same company. They had 11 different lecturers, including one on whale watching, one on birds, a port lecturer, a history of ships man, Bernard Ingham (Margaret Thatcher's press secretary), an Arctic explorer, etc. You won't have any complaints there.

 

Food was fine, no complaints at all. It matched P&O, anyway.

[Gothic]

To answer the question regarding Discovery; before reading on you need to know that when it comes to cruises and cruise ships I am very difficult to please.

Quite simply, loved it! I had always been very disparaging about this ship back in the days when she was Island Princess (and also of her sister Pacific Princess). However, I have to eat my words as I had a brilliant 2 week cruise on her in Jan/Feb 2010 in the Far East. There were no missed ports, no breakdowns, no unpleasant engine noises, indeed, as far as we could tell the ship worked perfectly well. Yes, her cabins are very small but as long as you are aware of the fact when going on board that should not prove to be a problem (or a surprise). The decor of her public rooms leaves much to be desired, glamorous she is not! On the other hand she is a warm and friendly ship. The service was good, far better than found on a Fred Olsen ship for example! The food is OK, you won't starve but dining aboard her is not a gourmet experience. The formality of dress has been adequately covered in the postings above. I wholly agree that she is a ship for travellers rather than tourists. If you want all the bells and whistles of the newer cruise ships then stay away as you'll be unhappy. But if you want a smaller ship, a friendly atmosphere, interaction with your fellow passengers, fascinating ports of call and some truly brilliant shore excursions then Discovery is your ship. I'd be more than happy to sail on her again and hope that I shall.