Discovery was great!

[Dark Defender]

Hopefully not a terrible idea for a thread, but I wanted to let you all know that we had an amazing time on Discovery last week.

 

I wanted to say that everything is first class in advance of many of you getting close to going, as some reviews have indicated it was a bit ropey.

 

I intend to do a proper review, but I'm currently in the "stay" element of the cruise and stay, so don't know when that will be.

 

Though will try to pop in to answer any burning questions people have.

 

DD

[easyboy]

Glad it was great!

Looking forward to your review.

 

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[Dark Defender]

Hi guys, posted this on another site, but crib below. Any questions give me a shout.

 

We travelled on the TUI Discovery for 1 week from 24 June 2017 and had a fantastic time! The itinerary was "Highlights of the Mediterranean" with stops at Barcelona, St Raphael, Livorno, Civitaveccia and Ajaccio.

 

An early morning flight meant arriving at Palma port at about 12pm. As soon as we arrived Ryan from the show team boarded the bus and clearly explained the check in procedure.

 

Check in was quick and pain free. We were staying in a junior suite which TUI class as "premier". This meant we got to fast track security and check in. A nice perk, albeit one that didn't save a huge amount of time as check in was pretty quiet and efficient for everyone by the looks of it. Another perk of premier was priority delivery of cases. I can't compare with non-priority, but we had everything in our cabin within an hour and a half I'd guess. The other perks where free breakfast delivered to the cabin one morning and upto 3 items pressed within the first 24 hours on board. Again very nice and appreciated.

 

Out junior suite was 8068. It was a nice cabin with plenty of room and a decent balcony. Selected this cabin because it was under the spa, so we had no noise from above. At times there was a vibration in the room, e.g. when you were lying in bed at night and felt the ship was rocking a bit. Nothing to frighten the horses though.

 

The decor in the ship was lovely. Special mentions to the 47 restaurants and the Atrium. In the public areas I'd sat as good as any 5 star hotel I've been in (I've recently stayed in Hilton, Radisson, DeVere, Marriott and small boutique globally). The cabin probably wasn't as fresh as the public areas, but not really a complaint. It was all good.

 

Entertainment the whole week was first class. The show team put on some fantastic shows in the Broadway theatre. Difficult to pick a favourite. Definitely no bad shows, we're now in the "stay" part of our cruise and stay holiday and the entertainment on land can't compare.

 

We also caught some bands and musicians through the week and they were all good too. The other hosts were all great too, very personable and hard working. Adam Brooks the cruise director has a really good team!

 

The guest UK act was comedy magician Andre. First class show, he had the whole audience in stitches with his jokes, interactions with volunteers and did some tricks and mentalism that Derren Brown or Penn and Teller would be proud of!

 

There was plenty going on around the ship, particularly the day at sea. A great afternoon play called Breakfast for One, Ryan and Laura from the show team put on good solo shows, and Peter Pan was a blast! Daily bingo was a must for us - the big winner on the last day walked away with over 1,500! The mini golf course was good fun, we didn't try the rock climbing wall though some braver folk looked like they were having fun!

 

The food was a delight. Special mention to Gallery 47 - the Italian restaurant. The food was lovely. Viola was always a lovely hostess on the door, and a couple of times we were served by Fredy and Jorge who were first class waiters. Service very efficient with a smile and a joke, a great experience. Food was lovely, plenty of choices and quality meats etc. We also ate in 47 and echo the same. Islands was fine, decent for a buffet. Pizza was ok from the Glass House. The ice cream, coffee and cakes in the Coffee Port are lovely, worth the small supplement. Burgers and fish and chips from the Snack Shack are tasty, this venue adds a nice casual feel to the ship. Late night eating is burgers and curries and the like in the Glass House, fills a hole if you're peckish late on. Lunch in 47 is a particular treat, the Discovery burger is as good as you'll get from TGI or Hard Rock Cafe.

 

Drinks service throughout the ship was broadly very good. Waiter service in the Broadway theatre was excellent. In other areas the waiters don't seem particularly proactive at some times. But it's not a long wait if you end up going to the bar yourself.

 

For tea totallers the quality of juice varies depending on where you go. Avoid draft Coke/Fanta etc from the Glass House. Something not quite hitting the spot with their water or post mix. Islands you'll get Coke from a bottle.

 

Ports were all fantastic. We did a couple of ship excursions, I think it's good value for money if you think of it as paying a premium for getting back on the ship if something goes wrong! We did Easy Pisa and Rome on your Own (7 hr version). Easy Pisa is great - coach to Pisa, and you get off and straight on a mini tourist train that takes you round the city and drops you off yards from the famous leaning tower landmark where you get about an hour and a half to potter around as you please. Rome on your Own is great if you have your bearings with the city from previous trips. The guides on the coaches in both cases were very informative and helpful.

 

Special mention to James Byford from the excursions team who tried really hard to get us on a sold out trip (St Tropez by boat) but to no avail. The effort was appreciated!

 

I think the only minor blip to our schedule was leaving Rome about an hour and a half later than scheduled due to "a small electrical fault downstairs". This didn't seem to result in us arriving at the next port late.

 

Our cabin steward was a tiny bit irritating as he came across as a bit cheeky a couple of times. We're really amenable people but we separately noted instances of feeling like communications could be better, or stuff had been forgotten. The latter was never an issue, we're all human. But it was the attitude we got when we tried to politely rectify things that hit a nerve with us ever so slightly. Overall he did an ok job though.

 

Captain Hugh Maynard seemed very good. Not too in your face or going for jokes and laughs like previous Thomson Captains we've had (Torsten Olbrich, and "the voice from above" Roy Dearman) but a very clear speaker and on top of things.

 

As a random comment free WiFi wouldn't go amiss on the ship as it's taken as given in hotels nowadays.

 

A great week all in and we'll likely cruise again with TUI sooner rather than later. Probably the "new" Explorer for the Med again, or a Baltics route on Discovery again next year.

[Pensioncruiser]

Very informative, thank you we go in September and have booked cabin four closer to the stern so will look out for the cabin steward !!!!

 

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