This was my 23rd Princess cruise - a get away - just to check the Discovery out prior to our August Alaska Cruise. Generally, everything went well - The Medallion App seemed to be universally troublesome to everyone. After about three days, it started functioning better - still had times where it would freeze and we had to reboot the phone system. However, we could never get the Dining Reservation system to work on the App. The Princess Staff were Top Notch! The ship appeared to be understaffed but they coped with it well.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
We had the Princess Transfer option from Los Angeles -- Wait time for the bus was three hours! Other than that, the Embarkation went very smooth.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The Medallion App was not very "Friendly". We could not get reservations in any of the Specialty Dining Rooms. The dining that we scheduled on the Medallion App prior to embarkation disappeared and we had difficulty getting into dining rooms. Finally managed to reserve a table for four in the Ketchikan Dining room for the last two nights at 8PM... Staffing in the dining areas appeared to be a little low - this may be part of the reason passengers had troubles with getting reservations. By the way -- we prefer the old system with Early and Late Dining Hours. Reservation system seems to create additional problems for the dining staff...
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Bingo was fun and well organized. Comedy show was very enjoyable. Easy to get seating in the Theater for the main show. Pool areas were well maintained. One issue is that towels no longer are required to be signed out. That means passengers left them on the recliners and it was hard to tell if the spot was taken or it was just a left over towel.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Whitney Houston Tribute Show and Comedy Show was excellent! General music in bars and other venues was very good.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Despite the appearance of the ship being generally understaffed, the existing staff did an remarkable job. Our room steward was very attentive.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
New ship -- very clean and well maintained. One complaint on design from our companion cruise partners in Cabin Riviera 436. Toilet paper hanger is impossible to reach from the toilet...
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Cabin was very comfortable with plenty of space and a large bathroom with tub. Our Steward kept the room in top shape. The only issue with the room was that there were no electric outlets on the bedside tables. All electric outlets are on the desk area. We needed to run an extension cord (provided by Steward) from the desk to the bedside table (required to power personal CPAP machine).
Ship tip
Book your dinner and specialty dining on the Medallion App well before embarkation date and double check to ensure it is on the app...
Walked around and did a little shopping -- most of our party had previously visited Cabo. Went to dinner at the Sunset Mona Lisa Restaurant (15 minute taxi ride from the ship). Restaurant was very expensive - easily a Five Star on expense but also a Five Star on Food Quality and Service. The view and ceremony at sunset was spectacular! Reservation required months in advance!
23 Total Cruises Sailed on Princess plus lots of others on varied cruise lines - This was the easiest disembarkation I have ever experienced! Facial recognition system used by Homeland Security was a new option and made the disembarkation very fast.
Sounds about right. I recently received a Princess “happiness” survey and told Princess that I (elite) was now booking other lines because of the draconian cell phone requirements from booking to finish. Other lines let me do the paperwork on a computer, so I mostly book them now.
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