Reviews of Discovery Princess?

[latebuyer]

I’m looking at going on a mexican riviera cruise on the discovery princess. Just interested on what people thought of the ship? I haven’t sailed princess before. If you took a mexican riviera cruise did you enjoy it? Th ship seems quite large.

[LACruiser88]

You should read thru some of the recent "Live" threads from the Discovery.  There is one that will be boarding today.

[Arizona Wildcat]

Suggest going to the ships section on the website or Princess.  Lots of reviews.

We stopped cruising the Mexican Riviera.  Too many men guarding stores armed with machine guns and always being hassled by begging.

[JeffT237]

12 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

I’m looking at going on a mexican riviera cruise on the discovery princess. Just interested on what people thought of the ship?

We really enjoyed the Discovery Princess, we sailed on the Discovery in October of 2022 on the California Coastal itinerary.  It was nice sailing out of our home port which we rarely do anymore, we're mostly Caribbean and Alaska now.  We have also starting skipping the Mexican Rivera cruises, just not what we enjoy anymore.  Our itinerary was San Pedro to SF, Santa Barbara, SD and Ensenada. We stayed on the ship in Ensenada.  We will sail this itinerary again on the Discovery.  This itinerary was a more laid back cruise, hardly any kids and less of the party atmosphere, not sure what your interests are.  But it  did not feel too big for us, but we typically sail Royal Caribbean on Oasis class ships which are much bigger.

 

Plenty of resources on CC and YouTube, but we really enjoyed the ship. Quiet, great crew and service. No complaints with the dining, both complimentary and speciality.  Bar services were all good for us. Did not attend any theater shows, just enjoyed the live music.  We're both in our mid 50's. Enjoy!

[latebuyer]

Thanks all. So are mexican cruises more party cruises? To add, i’m not a partier or drinker. I will check out the live posts.

Edited February 24 by latebuyer

[JeffT237]

1 minute ago, latebuyer said:

Thanks all. So are mexican cruises more party cruises?

 

I feel they are, especially during certain times of the year but we have not done a Mexican Rivera on Princess, just the other lines.  I'm just speculating that a 7 day Princess cruise on the Discovery would be a less party atmosphere than a short Carnival or Royal Caribbean cruise. We're in SoCal and have grown up visiting the Pacific side of Mexico and it's just not our interest anymore. Safety is certainly and issue but we also don't find much to do there anymore.  The party atmosphere is not a deterrent for us, especially on a newer bigger ship. We've found plenty of places to partake or have quiet time which I feel the Discovery has to offer.  Plus the Discovery does not have any of the kid  activities like water slides, zip lines, roller coasters etc. so I'm guessing that attracts an older crowd and younger adults.  

[lahlah57]

41 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Suggest going to the ships section on the website or Princess.  Lots of reviews.

We stopped cruising the Mexican Riviera.  Too many men guarding stores armed with machine guns and always being hassled by begging.

Amen.....just not interested in mexico.

Been there done that!

[Sea Hag]

1 hour ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Suggest going to the ships section on the website or Princess.  Lots of reviews.

We stopped cruising the Mexican Riviera.  Too many men guarding stores armed with machine guns and always being hassled by begging.

We solved those problems by simply never going ashore in Mexico. We enjoy the ship while the crowds are gone.

[Cruise Raider]

6 minutes ago, Sea Hag said:

We solved those problems by simply never going ashore in Mexico. We enjoy the ship while the crowds are gone.

That’s exactly what we do now, too.  I love cruising from the west coast and we give up on tender ports a long time ago, with the exception of Loreto, but that leaves Cabo out.  We don’t bother going out in Mazatlan or in Puerto Vallarta unless it is to run to the store to get some gifts for the crew.  We still love our cruises to Mexico but we stay onboard for the most part.  

And for the OP, the Discovery is an incredible ship .. one of my all time favorites!  The only con I can think of is the amount of smoke emitted from the casino.  
Some will also complain that the mattresses are too firm but we didn’t mind them at all.  

Edited February 24 by Cruise Raider

[deultgen]

My own review from earlier this month

 

 

 

[AVCruzers]

We love the DISCOVERY PRINCESS and look forward to being on for the 10th time when it goes to Hawaii on March 16.  We live in southern Calif. so it is an easy drive to the port. We really don't like to fly so San Pedro has become our favorite port.  We have absolutely no complaints about staff on the DISCOVERY!   Cruise director and staff plan lots of fun activities.  We do look forward to the CATCH restaurant which we were unable to book last cruise.  We have never used the Sanctuary as we usually travel with friends who keep us busy,  

Edited February 24 by AVCruzers
Added sentence

[Wonders By Wallis]

I was on Discovery Princess recently (October and January). The January cruise was your itinerary. I enjoyed the ship both times. It is not a party ship but it does have a lot of things going on (so you should find something to interest you). I hadn't been to any of the ports so I booked an excursion in each one. I enjoyed each excursion but I especially liked horseback riding on the beach in Cabo San Lucas. 

On board I ate at two of the specialty restaurants as I had Princess Premier and any two of the three restaurants were included. I recommend all three of them but my favorite was The Catch by Rudi. It was the best. I also ate at 360 and the Chef's Table Lumiere. They were both very expensive but worth it (especially 360). 

The musicals in the Princess Theater were fine but I wish Rock Opera had a plot. I especially liked the cruise magician, Elliott Hunter. He performed a stage show in the Princess Theater and a close-up show in the Vista Lounge; both were great (and I see magicians all the time at the Magic Castle). 

 

I found the crew to be first rate and have no complaints at all. Several of them remembered me from my October cruise. I also found the ship photography to be excellent (digital downloads of all the photos and printing three 8x10s is included in the Princess Premiere package). One of the photos turned out so good I'm going to use it as my head shot. 

If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.

[latebuyer]

Thank you. I am glad to hear its not a party cruise.  I was also looking at a norwegian cruise in march and i’m thinking that would be more likely to be a party cruise due to spring break. Right now i’m trying to decide between a pacific coastal on sapphire princess or mexican cruise on discovery. They are very different ships and i am happy to hear positive feedback on this one. It would be nice to get some sun in the winter in mexico.

Edited February 24 by latebuyer

[ChristiCruising]

Just off Discovery for the third time on 02/19 and headed back on her in March.

Discovery is a great ship. There is plenty to do in the way of activities but the crowds IMO are not rowdy. I like their game show location, Princess Live better than the alternative on some of the other ships like Royal Princess which is too cramped to enjoy the trivia and games. We’ve had excellent service aboard Discovery as well. 
Definitely recommend Discovery if you’re looking to sail out of the San Pedro area. 

[JeffT237]

9 minutes ago, ChristiCruising said:

Definitely recommend Discovery if you’re looking to sail out of the San Pedro area. 

We ended up taking this cruise, 45 minutes from our home because we had some FCCs we received after the Crown Alaska issues . We really took it because it was a new ship, local and not expecting much from the California Coastal Itinerary and we absolutely loved the ship and itinerary. As native Californians we've been to all of these places but it felt different on a cruise. Cruising under the Golden Gate bridge was awesome, taking a van day trip to Sonoma/Napa for wine tasting was one of my favorite excursions as we had a great group of guests who all hit it off tons of fun, lunch and shopping in Santa Barbara, San Diego we have family there that we met for dinner and as I said Ensenada stayed on the ship to enjoy.

 

We will sail this again, we still enjoy our other lines and Caribbean & Alaska itineraries, but this really was one of our favorite cruises and it's local!