MV Discovery - Grand America Cruise Jan 1, 2007

[patkusps]

Cruising on Discovery for the first time. Panama, Galapagos, Chilean Fjords, Antartica. Any info would be appreciated!:)

[snoopyontrinity]

See my comments a few posts down. MV Discovery has a great itinerary but as far as a cruising experience goes it is abysmal. Go along expecting a low standard and it will be fine - but try not to think about the 4.5 star price you paid!

[magicnelly]

We just booked the 48 day- rand South America and Antarctica cruise on Discovery for Feb 7, 2008. We really hesitated after reading some of the negative posts on this board but there were enough good reviews to make us go ahead and do it. We researched other lines but this ship had the best itinerary at the best price. That's what we're going for...to visit the places we couldn't get to otherwise. We're not looking for fine food, lavish entertainment or luxury accomodations. Just a clean cabin, friendly folks, incredible ports and safe travels.

 

A few years ago when we were newbies to cruising, I booked a Caribbean cruise with Costa. Then I read on the board how AWFUL Costa was and I came very, very close to cancelling. It turned out to be one of the best cruises we've every had! The service was wonderful, the ship beautiful, the entertainment outstanding and the food better than most other lines we've sailed on since.

 

So I decided then that I would rely on this board for information but weigh everything carefully before deciding something based on negative reviews posted here. I do appreciate all of the input posted in helping make my decision, negative or positive.

[patkusps]

We just booked the 48 day- rand South America and Antarctica cruise on Discovery for Feb 7, 2008. We really hesitated after reading some of the negative posts on this board but there were enough good reviews to make us go ahead and do it. We researched other lines but this ship had the best itinerary at the best price. That's what we're going for...to visit the places we couldn't get to otherwise. We're not looking for fine food, lavish entertainment or luxury accomodations. Just a clean cabin, friendly folks, incredible ports and safe travels.

 

A few years ago when we were newbies to cruising, I booked a Caribbean cruise with Costa. Then I read on the board how AWFUL Costa was and I came very, very close to cancelling. It turned out to be one of the best cruises we've every had! The service was wonderful, the ship beautiful, the entertainment outstanding and the food better than most other lines we've sailed on since.

 

So I decided then that I would rely on this board for information but weigh everything carefully before deciding something based on negative reviews posted here. I do appreciate all of the input posted in helping make my decision, negative or positive.

 

Thanks for the Post. I will try to give you some comments from my trip before you leave on Feb 8.

[annski]

We are doing this cruise :cool: Next year so any information will be great rather than relying on information that can be quite old. thanks ann

[annski]

We are doing this cruise :cool: Next year so any information will be great rather than relying on information that can be quite old. thanks ann

[annski]

We join this cruise in Ushaiha for the Antartica and Chilean Fjords section in Feb 2008 also ... Hoping to find some advice re the "boots" for antarctic landings on some of these boards Ann and Lindsay

[Woof603]

My wife and I spent 104 days on Discovery..Feb to May 2006...Antarctica, Pacific to New Zealand and return to Nassau. Please ignore the naysayers. We had a wonderful time on a wonderful ship. Discovery is not a floating shopping mall...it is a real ship with plenty of deck space, large windows and a great library. There is never a doubt you are at sea on Discovery. True, it's not five star cruising but the old fashioned ship appeal and the truly friendly and efficient staff make for a great experience. We have been on many cruises and this was, without a doubt, the very best.

We took our own gumboots to the Antarctic but discovered later that the room stewards had a supply left by previous passengers. Maybe a bit of a gamble, however. And you do need the boots if you want to go ashore.

[Enjoyin' Life]

THANK YOU so much for posting your experience. We've been waffling between the MV Discovery and Nordkapp for next year and your post just helped tip to scales in their direction ! We'll be booking the Feb 2008 trip in the morning. :p

 

Is the parka they pass out truly warm or should we plan on packing our own?

 

Is it time for those of us booking next February 2008 cruise to start a thread on Roll Call?

[Woof603]

The parkas were excellent, very warm, but I did wear a heavy shirt and jeans jacket under mine...maybe a little overkill. The best thing you can buy, however, is a good quality wool watchcap.

[patkusps]

We just returned from a 39 day Grand America and Antartica Cruise on MV Discovery. We had a fabulous time. It is a small, older ship. The staff are friendly and very accomdating and approachable including the Captain. A new Chef has recently joined the staff and from speaking to many of the previous Discovery cruisers we spoke to (one lady was on her 45th Discovery cruise) the food quality has improved considerably. We only had two or three days that we had repeat menus. Antartica can not be described with words on a paper. You need to experience it in person to understand. We bought cheap boots at Walmart (19.99) and left them on board. Boots are definetely needed as you will experience wet landings. The parkas are very warm. I wore thermal underwear and a sweater and it was more than adequate. The lectures were all superb. There is no glitz or glamour but a very relaxing and enjoyable cruising experience. We already booked the Grand Amazon cruise for next April. ENJOY!!!

[Tarheelbelle]

patkusps,

I am planning to book a January 2008 cruise on MV Discovery. A couple of questions for you: 1]On some of the smaller expedition vessels, all shore excursions on the Zodiacs are at no additional charge. Is that the case with this ship? 2]What type of boots did you take? [over the shoe or wellies or what exactly?

Thanks for the info!

[patkusps]

patkusps,

I am planning to book a January 2008 cruise on MV Discovery. A couple of questions for you: 1]On some of the smaller expedition vessels, all shore excursions on the Zodiacs are at no additional charge. Is that the case with this ship? 2]What type of boots did you take? [over the shoe or wellies or what exactly?

Thanks for the info!

 

Yes, all the shore excursions on the Zodiacs were at no extra charge. We bought knee high rubber fishing boots at Wal-mart (19.99). With thermal socks they were quite warm and they were surely needed as we experienced two wet landings. We left them on the ship when we departed, the cabin steward said they donate them to the fishermen when they go to the South Pacific. Antartica was awesome!!:) We had a great time and have already booked the Grand Amazon cruise for April 2008.

[librarian]

The boots I have looked at run about 15-18 inches. They are sold at a farm supply store and are rubber. Will wool socks be enough underneath? I was planning on buying a size or 2 bigger and having shoes on underneath for warmth. We will be on the first cruise Jan 2008 - I believe Jan 7th. WAlmart here does not sell those boots. Thanks

[2552phxcrzr]

When we tried on boots (just for sizing), I tried them on with two pairs of socks and provided the size information to Quark (they provided boots on loan). We took wool insoles (available very inexpensively from Army/Navy Surplus stores) and gel ergonomic insoles with us. The wool insoles helped with cold and the ergonomic ones made the boots more comfortable - had no problem trekking 1-2 miles over grass covered land and hard packed beaches.

 

We wore a thin liner sock and a thicker wool sock - found this combination to be more comfortable than two thick socks. I have cold feet all the time, so I took toe warmers (not full size foot warmers), which I placed between the liner and the wool sock - it was just enough warmth to keep me very comfortable, especially on zodiac cruises and on those occasions when we did not do too much walking.

 

Rubber boots tend to be pretty heavy, so I am not sure how comfortable it would be to also have shoes on inside them.

 

Have a great time; we loved our visit to Antarctica and can't wait to go back.

[Tarheelbelle]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I will check Campmor and see what they have in the way of boots.

[sable1]

Were on the 32 day Ushuaia to Papeete.

The ship was fine, had some ripped carpets, but was very clean.

Staff were very professional, helpful & we had no negatives with them.

We borrowed boots from the ship and they were very nice ones. I wore 5 pairs of socks because if my feet are cold I'm miserable. They were toasty. The parka was very cozy, I also wore a furry hat, insulated gloves, scarf wrapped around my neck twice. On the bottom I wore insulated ski pants over nylon thermals. On top I wore nylon thermal under a turtleneck. I looked like a red & black Pillsbury dough boy but was very warm.

We were very lucky with the weather, mostly sunny and clear. It rained one day which wasn't one of the scheduled Zodiak landing days so we were able to go ashore twice.

The evening shows were mostly repeats on the second part of the cruise.

Also, the menus were mostly repeated.

Now my biggest complaint is the food. The passenger mix was the majority were Brits & Aussies. Americans in the minority. Therefore, we felt that the food was prepared for the Brits taste, welldone meats. Leg of Lamb was overcooked, tough and dry both nights it was served. The pork was also tough & dry. I did finally get a rare sirloin steak that was edible. A couple of nights I just had the cheese platter. I did not go hungry. They did have a couple of great desserts like the chocolate mousse at dinner and a bread pudding at lunch in the dining room. Took an extra one for breakfast the next morning. Yummy!

Normallly on a cruise this long I gain about 15 pounds, I only gained 5, so that gives you an idea of the food quality.

But we went for the Antarctica & Easter Island experiences and they were everything I expected. Just amazing.

The lady who met the plane in Buenos Aires kept us all in the airport waiting for 6 people who were not on our flight. She kept saying they were coming. After an hour wait and the long flight, I and another lady complained for the third time, she took us to the bus for the hotel.

The hotel Melia was just wonderful. Right by Florida St. And they had an excellent buffet breakfast.

When they took us to Papeete airport, the checkin people weren't even there. We (about 300 people) waited about one hour in the heat for them to bring staff to check us in. It was a miserable way to end a nice cruise.

If you have any more specific questions I'd be glad to try to answer.

 

Happy cruising,

Joanne, the chocoholic

[Tarheelbelle]

Sable1,

Thank you for posting. I do have a few questions.

1]How long before the cruise were you given information about shore excursions and excursions in Buenos Aires?

2] I do not eat meat, but I do eat fish/seafood. How were the offerings of these? Also, the vegetables--were they good? Were there salmon and trout at breakfast? Fresh fruits and yogurt?

3] How were the selections of wine and how were drinks prices?

4] Were the naturalists and lecturers of good quality and expertise?

 

Thank you in advance for your answers!

[sable1]

Hi,

Will try to answer your questions.

Wine & Drinks - We don't drink, but I did look at the drink prices in the lounge and they seemed less than other cruises we have been on. Also, if you are a beer drinker, Discovery has its own brand in a large can that I saw alot of people enjoying. Someone told me that the wines were mostly Chilean, Australian, others & not Californian. Never looked at the wine list.

 

Seafood - At lunch & dinner there was always one fish entree and even an appetizer . At breakfast there was smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers. I don't eat it, but it loked good.

 

Vegetables - I don't eat most vegs. They did have asparagus a couple of days and I requested a large serving of them. I did eat carrots and they were not mushy.

The soups are excellent. I always had the chilled fruit soup in a wine glass, like a milkshake.

 

Fruit - Fresh Pineapple, honeydew melon, watermelon, bananas, apples, pears, oranges. Toward the last 4-5 days they ran out of bananas.

Yogurt - I had fruit yogurt & fruit every morning. Ran out of the good individual cups on the last days, but they put out a large bowl of strawberry yogurt which wasn't as good as the cups.

 

Excursions - we didn't book any of their tours, did independent touring. In Buenos Aires on the bus going to the hotel, we were given a list of the tours available. Some went to a Tango show and enjoyed it. There was an included half day tour that gave a good overview of the city. Once onboard, the shore excursions list was in the cabin. I thought the prices were high which is why we do our own sightseeing or book private guides.

 

I thought the naturalists/lecturers were excellent. They were available for questions and really seemed to enjoy themselves.

 

I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you think of anything else. I love to talk cruisin'.

Happy cruising,

Joanne, the chocoholic

[Tarheelbelle]

Thank you, Joanne. Your answers were very helpful!

I too usually book my shore excursions individually, but since I have not cruised on this cruiseline previously, I wanted some info. I am also accustomed to being able to look at the shore excursions offered and book them online months in advance with other cruiselines, and this one doesn't seem to have anything on their website about that.

Did you do anything in Buenos Aires or Ushuaia that you would recommend?

[patkusps]

We were given excursion information two weeks before the cruise. We did a few of their excursions and they were a little pricey, but very good. In Buenos Aires we booked a Tango show with the hotel conceirge. It was less expensive and very good quality. We hired taxi drivers in a few of the ports and brought the excursion book to show them where we wanted to go. That worked out very well and we able to do it at our own pace. Taxi drivers are negotiable so don't take the first price they offer.

 

My wife ate fish almost every meal and I also ate quite a bit of fish. It was always very fresh and well prepared. The vegetarian offerings at lunch and dinner were also very good. On the breakfast menu and the buffet at the lido deck they had salmon, trout and herring every day. We ate it quite often and it was very good. Lots of fresh fruit and yoghurt.

 

The wines were very inexpensive and also quite good. Half the price we paid on Royal Caribbean last year.

 

The lecturers were excellent. It gets quite crowded so get there early for a good seat.

 

Enjoy!!!

 

Sable1,

Thank you for posting. I do have a few questions.

1]How long before the cruise were you given information about shore excursions and excursions in Buenos Aires?

2] I do not eat meat, but I do eat fish/seafood. How were the offerings of these? Also, the vegetables--were they good? Were there salmon and trout at breakfast? Fresh fruits and yogurt?

3] How were the selections of wine and how were drinks prices?

4] Were the naturalists and lecturers of good quality and expertise?

 

Thank you in advance for your answers!

[Tarheelbelle]

Thank you, patkusps! Good idea about showing the excursion book to the cab driver.

[Tarheelbelle]

Patkusps and Sable1,

What type and how many outlets were in the cabins? I have batteries to recharge for my digital camera. I have both an American and a British charger and a converter kit with plug adaptors. Will this be sufficient?

Also, does the cruieline allow passengers to carry on bottles of wine purchased in Argentina for consumption in the cabin?

Thanks!

[sable1]

There is one outlet by the desk. No idea about it's type.

And, we don't drink, so don't know about bringing wine aboard. But, all packages & bags go through the X-ray machine when coming back onboard.

Happy cruising,

Joanne

[foxrunroad]

We are considering either January or February on Discovery. Glad to share concerns and thoughts. We are particularly concerned with the crossing being rough. Is it 1 or 2 days through Drake?