Discovery Princess Mexican Riviera

[Warrenf186]

We’re traveling on Discovery on 10/28/23 to Mexican riviera.  First time on Princess in about 20 years.  Booked in a mini suite on Emerald deck port/aft.  Any thoughts on staterooms, food and overall experience would be most appreciated.  Also, any weird dress codes.

 

thanks for any help.

[mrmarklin]

I’m on exact same cruise now. Everything is fine and I would rate the food excellent. 

[Coffeeluvr05]

The Discovery is a beautiful ship.  We just sailed on her last month for the first time in a mini-suite.  If you haven't sailed in 20 years then you will be introduced to the new MedallionClass system.  No cruise card to open your door or show for purchases.  We enjoyed the food and the entertainment.  You will enjoy the mini-suite accommodations which are a little larger than the normal balcony cabins and have a little larger bathroom.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

We find dress on the Mexican Riviera cruises more relaxed. There are fewer tuxedos on Formal Night, some men in suits/sports coats and some just in dress shirt and slacks.

 

Food is good to very good and if you are a Smartphone user, I love the Medallion app and I was a major skeptic/critic before using it on ship.

[tonit964]

21 hours ago, mrmarklin said:

I’m on exact same cruise now. Everything is fine and I would rate the food excellent. 

If you don’t mind, who is the cruise director?

I’ll be boarding her on Saturday.

I hope you’re having a great cruise and thank you!

[cruzsnooze]

   I was on the Discovery earlier this month. I was in a full suite. The concierge lounge was a lovely place that had complimentary soft drinks and some snack.

     I cancelled my next cruise on the Discovery because I didn't care for the ship. It is way to large for my taste. Although it is pretty it is a hike from aft to forward. Because of the quantity of people there are lines and waits every where. Get to the early show a good half hour early if you want a seat, late show was easier to find seats. Forget the Vista lounge since the shows there were 15 minutes after the show in the main theatre and by the time you walked from bow to stern the lounge was over flowing. The grill on the pool deck was always 10 people deep and the service slow. I found the menu items to be cheap fish and meatloaf and turkey and hamburgers with a few exceptions. One of my favorite appetizers was the goat cheese suffle which they took out of an au gratin dish and diluted with something else on a flat plate. The flavor of the goat cheese was gone. 

  Obviously some people will like the size. It was not what I like for a stress free not to be rushed cruise experience. 

[avonlady6390]

I like the royal class ships yes they are larger but a little extra walking is good after all the food especially dessert.  The discovery has gigis an Italian pizziaria for no extra charge.  You will all find the international cafe on deck 5 with small bites and treats.  Next to that is a coffee station it is extra charge if you don't have plus or premium packages with good lattes.  You will need to down load the ocean app to input most info you will not need a boarding pass as in the past.

 

[cruzin4us]

57 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

   I was on the Discovery earlier this month. I was in a full suite. The concierge lounge was a lovely place that had complimentary soft drinks and some snack.

     I cancelled my next cruise on the Discovery because I didn't care for the ship. It is way to large for my taste. Although it is pretty it is a hike from aft to forward. Because of the quantity of people there are lines and waits every where. Get to the early show a good half hour early if you want a seat, late show was easier to find seats. Forget the Vista lounge since the shows there were 15 minutes after the show in the main theatre and by the time you walked from bow to stern the lounge was over flowing. The grill on the pool deck was always 10 people deep and the service slow. I found the menu items to be cheap fish and meatloaf and turkey and hamburgers with a few exceptions. One of my favorite appetizers was the goat cheese suffle which they took out of an au gratin dish and diluted with something else on a flat plate. The flavor of the goat cheese was gone. 

  Obviously some people will like the size. It was not what I like for a stress free not to be rushed cruise experience. 

 

You summed up my opinion as well, all the way to the goat cheese souffle 

 

They also did away with the salads at the International Cafe, but the sandwiches (bread & variety) were much better.

[startedwithamouse]

DuVaul is still here. Corinne was supposed to replace him. But not now. DuVaul is still hoping to leave for Christmas. 

 

Emma, Asst CD, leaves mid December.  

 

The food is subpar to our three prior Discovery cruises. They changed CHEESE vendor quality and it really shows. Pizza went from delicious to mediocre. 

 

[cr8tiv1]

And now the current voyage has norovirus cases (reported to me by a current passenger).  
 

if it’s not one thing, it is another.

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, cr8tiv1 said:

And now the current voyage has norovirus cases (reported to me by a current passenger).  
 

if it’s not one thing, it is another.

We got another announcement this morning from the captain regarding Norovirus.  Everything has gone from self serve to being served by crew. 

[jakobj11]

On 11/24/2022 at 4:44 PM, cruzin4us said:

 

You summed up my opinion as well, all the way to the goat cheese souffle 

 

They also did away with the salads at the International Cafe, but the sandwiches (bread & variety) were much better.

We we're recently on the Crown Princess and were amazed and disappointed at the changes since our last Princess cruise pre pandemic. Food quality and selections were worse and drinks more expensive but not surprising really as Carnival which owns Princess are struggling to return to profitability so are cutting expenses where they can and trying to increase revenue at the same time, in all areas they can impact. One of the big costs for them is the price of fuel that they can't do anything about, so they have to look at other areas for cost reductions. The balancing act for them is not to seriously impact the cruise experience that they lose passengers while they make these changes. On our Crown Princess cruise we had so many issues that I sent a letter to their customer relations department including the many issues but also noting some of the areas which were great including the wonderful staff. After 5 weeks they finally called to apologize and offered me a package of future cruise discounts and extra on-board spending credits, which I accepted.  While it took a while to get their response (my Princess vacation planner said they get so many complaints it can take 2 to 3 months on average to get a response), it was a generous offer which I appreciated. We've used the discounts to book two back-to-back cruises on Discovery this coming Spring. The Crown was an older ship which caused some of the issues, engine problems, 3 separate fires, and a broker water pipe which flooded several cabins, so I'm hoping that our experience on Discovery as it's a newer ship which will be much better.

[sirclean]

We were on Discovery over Thanksgiving week.  It was above capacity with all the kids out for the week.  Very busy, long lines, but people seemed happy.

 

We did have a norovirus outbreak.  Are they having issues this week?
 

(I was disappointed in the lack of required sanitation.  My last cruise was pre Covid, and then you could not enter any dining room without either washing your hands or using the gel. In the buffet, they would not hand you a plate until after you did another round of gel.  But on this past week's trip, until the virus struck about Wednesday, none of these precautions were taken.  Even after it hit, they did not enforce hand washing, but they only allowed the crew to handle the spoons and such). 

Has it improved this week?