10/23/23: Discovery Princess to Call Sydney Home for 2025/2026 Season

[LACruiser88]

October 23, 2023 8:08 PM EDT Discovery Princess to Call Sydney Home for the 2025/26 Australian Summer Season

Discovery Princess will be the biggest Princess ship to sail from Australia in its 50-year history cruising from Down Under     Link to 2025/26 Summer Program Preview Video Link to Discovery Princess Imagery   Princess Cruises yesterday announced that its current flagship vessel – Discovery Princess – will make Sydney its home port in the 2025/26 summer Australia season.   Built in 2022, the 145,000-ton ship measuring 330 metres in length, and 19 decks high will be the biggest ship Princess Cruises has ever homeported in Australia in its 50-year history of cruising down under. The 3,660-guest, ship will debut in her home port of Sydney in October 2025, offering a number of itineraries from Australia.   Princess Cruises’ President John Padgett in Sydney yesterday to officially welcome Royal Princess on her debut summer season in Australia shared the news in an early reveal of the line’s 2025/26 program.   “Nearly half a century has passed since Princess Cruises introduced the Pacific Princess ship to Sydney’s shores. In commemoration of this milestone, we are delighted to unveil the future deployment of the Discovery Princess today, further solidifying our belief in the Australian market,” said Padgett.  “We are confident that both our international and Australian guests will be excited about the spectacular experience aboard Discovery Princess as she sails from Sydney in late 2025."   Discovery Princess, the third vessel designed from the ground up with Princess MedallionClass and the sixth Royal-Class ship to be built shares all the spectacular style and luxury of her sister ships – Enchanted Princess, Sky Princess, Majestic Princess, Regal Princess and Royal Princess.   With an array of spectacular features, guests will enjoy 270-degree sweeping views from the largest balconies in the Princess fleet with the Sky Suites, unwind in the ultimate comfort at the Sanctuary and indulge the senses with world-class dining options including new to Australia 360: An Extraordinary Experience now available for all guests sailing on Discovery Princess.   The Award-winning 360: An Extraordinary Experience is exclusively offered on Discovery Princess and Enchanted Princess taking guests on a sensory journey through world-class cuisine with a fusion of master story-telling and visual entertainment.   In addition, Discovery Princess elevates the guest experience with an abundance of amenities including 14 restaurants, 10 bars and additional lounges, and entertainment options. Among its dining options is The Catch by Rudi, Crown Grill, Sabatini’s Trattoria and Gigi’s Pizzeria.    Other features include the SeaWalk, a breathtaking glass-bottomed enclosed walkway that extends nearly 9 metres beyond the ship's edge, treating guests to awe-inspiring views while suspended 39 metres above the sea.   Other notable features include private poolside cabanas, four main pools including two top deck pools, Retreat Pool and Wakeview Pool, 10 hot Tub spas, the Enclave and Lotus Spa featuring Princess’ largest-ever thermal suite, and an exquisite Chef’s Table Lumiere dining option, where guests are magically surrounded by a curtain of light.   Meanwhile, more than 82 per cent of the ship’s staterooms offer a private balcony. In addition to the incredible amenities aboard Discovery Princess, guests also enjoy the Princess exclusive MedallionClass experience, offering a level of service personalisation previously only available on small ships now delivered on a large ship, amenity-rich platform.   The connected guest experience maximises guests’ time by delivering a host of onboard conveniences including contactless payment for anything on board; expedited embarkation; keyless stateroom entry; muster anywhere; friends and family locator; and ordering food, drinks, retail items or requesting service from their smart device or a crew member and having their order delivered directly to them…even if they move.   Padgett added the cruise line is thrilled to announce the addition of Discovery Princess to its Australian fleet for the 2025/26 summer season. The ship will sail in local waters with other Princess ships Crown Princess and Grand Princess as part of the summer program to be revealed in full next month including the longest World Cruise yet.   “Discovery Princess will continue to set new standards for premium cruising when she sails from Australia in the 2025/26 summer season.  She’s an incredible ship with many wonderful features for our guests, from superb cuisine to world-class entertainment and facilities.”   The program will be announced in full on 15 November, 2023 and on sale 29 November, 2023.

[1emerald1]

Ughhh, bad news for me.  I love the Discovery and San Pedro is my home port.  Wonder what ship will take its place?

[snoozecrooze]

26 minutes ago, 1emerald1 said:

Ughhh, bad news for me.  I love the Discovery and San Pedro is my home port.  Wonder what ship will take its place?

Likely the Royal. I've done the future deployment permutations in my head and I'm pretty sure it means Royal simply returns to Los Angeles since the other four Royal-class ships would be all on the Atlantic side, and Princess would never leave Los Angeles to be scarfed up by the others like that.

 

The Discovery moving to Sydney has been sort of a long time coming; it should've actually been 2024-25 and there were some firm signs up until they yanked the deployment last-minute and decided to stick it in LA for that winter. Anyways, for 2025, there are also some initial signs on port schedules (e.g. overnight in Hong Kong) that the Discovery will be doing an Asia TP, just in time for a potential maiden dry dock in Singapore, before heading to Sydney (note the November 29 maiden appearance date in Sydney, which is a month later than usual, likely due to said dry dock). We'll see; things can change, yet again.

[Astro Flyer]

I agree it will likely be Royal in LA.

 

After we cruise on Crown around Australia in March 2025 we’re flying to Auckland to cruise back to LA on Royal. That cruise has 3 ending ports…Honolulu, LA & Vancouver for the Alaska season.

[pro76]

10 hours ago, 1emerald1 said:

Ughhh, bad news for me.  I love the Discovery and San Pedro is my home port.  Wonder what ship will take its place?

How about the new Star Princess?

[LACruiser88]

We were surprised that they were moving the Majestic to Europe for 2025.  I wonder if they will be changing the Chinese signage onboard and perhaps adding a Sanctuary? 

 

I guess we'll see for ourselves as we will be onboard for the Majestic's 51 day voyage, LA to Ft Lauderdale via South America in Dec '24/Jan '25.

[voljeep]

32 minutes ago, pro76 said:

How about the new Star Princess?

Homeported in Port Canaveral after Med season

 

In my dreams🦄

[Cruise Junky]

Wow. The video alludes to the World Cruise out of AU being open In November too. That’s early!    Can’t wait to see the itineraries.  

[rj59]

6 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

We were surprised that they were moving the Majestic to Europe for 2025.  I wonder if they will be changing the Chinese signage onboard and perhaps adding a Sanctuary? 

 

I guess we'll see for ourselves as we will be onboard for the Majestic's 51 day voyage, LA to Ft Lauderdale via South America in Dec '24/Jan '25.

I actually love Majestic, for the only Royal class ship with a covered pool and a forward-facing observation area, with the quirky wall map and topiary and xylophones. I sailed them 3 times in Mexico after restart, and was disappointed when I returned last year and saw that the cool Chinese murals of dragons and butterfly wings on the so-called walking track were painted over. Some of my favorite ships have been ones repurposed from China--Majestic, Ovation of the Seas, and Norwegian Joy. 

[rj59]

17 hours ago, 1emerald1 said:

Ughhh, bad news for me.  I love the Discovery and San Pedro is my home port.  Wonder what ship will take its place?

If it's Royal, I hope they keep a smaller ship in SF, for variety. I think NCL Bliss is moving away from LA too, since I saw it on a European itinerary, so perhaps the Joy will replace it. I dislike the Konigsdam for HAL out of San Diego, too large and without a wraparound promenade, so I hope HAL will also shake things up with a smaller ship. I'm going to try the new Carnival Firenze out of Long Beach next December, which will also year-round Cabo and 4-night itineraries, which will make 3 Carnival ships and hopefully keep prices lower on the ones out of San Pedro. Celebrity is already giving up on Mexico, which is a shame, because most of my cruises out of San Pedro were at under 50% occupancy, with some bargain fares, even under $250 for some 6-night ones through December, when they leave for good. 

[hokiefans]

And now for some @Coral magic!  😉

[Cruise Junky]

1 hour ago, hokiefans said:

And now for some @Coral magic!  😉

Exactly!   Say her name three times and click your heels 👠😂😂. Need a peek at that world cruise.  

[cheezenip]

Disappointing news for West Coasters. Thought we were finally getting some respect when the Discovery came here as a new ship but now any replacement is going to be older. 

[cheetosrevil]

5 hours ago, rj59 said:

If it's Royal, I hope they keep a smaller ship in SF, for variety. I think NCL Bliss is moving away from LA too, since I saw it on a European itinerary, so perhaps the Joy will replace it. I dislike the Konigsdam for HAL out of San Diego, too large and without a wraparound promenade, so I hope HAL will also shake things up with a smaller ship. I'm going to try the new Carnival Firenze out of Long Beach next December, which will also year-round Cabo and 4-night itineraries, which will make 3 Carnival ships and hopefully keep prices lower on the ones out of San Pedro. Celebrity is already giving up on Mexico, which is a shame, because most of my cruises out of San Pedro were at under 50% occupancy, with some bargain fares, even under $250 for some 6-night ones through December, when they leave for good. 

The Bliss won’t be leaving soon, if it does. I have two cruises booked out of San Pedro on it in October ‘24 and February ‘25.

[Cruise Junky]

It’s the 15th in Australia…. Impatiently waiting for those itineraries 😂😂