Not bad at all.

Discovery Princess Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

BatDog

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 27

Overall rating:

3.3 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Alaska Inside Passage (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 26, 2022

Ship: Discovery Princess

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

Starting with the ship itself. The ship is great, being very new, just a couple of months old on the date of our trip, the ship is and should be in great shape. The updated design by Princess is great, the color are pleasant, and the layout if much improved from other Princess boats. Cabins-We had a Mini-Suite which is compatible to other Mini-Suites we have had on other Princess cruises, with a little improved layout. However, the balcony is much smaller than in the past. you can barely fit two persons on the balcony, and even then it is a very tight and cramped space. Internet / Medallion App - Princess promotes the Internet and their Medallion app a ton. This should be almost criminal. The internet is nearly non-existent. To charge persons for a service you cannot utilize is criminal in my opinion, I am awaiting for a class action suit on this, maybe I will will do just that. The Medallion App, when it works is great. When it works. Likely the issue is the related to the non-existent internet. The Internet issue is not unique to this boat, it is the same across the entire Princess fleet from what I know. I was in the Caribbean just a short time prior to this trip and had the same issue. A Princess employee on the ship, even said that he was going to try and get money back due to the non-existent internet to which he had to pay. Best advice, if you are doing the Alaska cruise, do not pay for the internet, you can get service at each port and often under way on your cell phone carrier. Crew/Service - The crew were generally very nice and genuinely wished to be helpful. There is always one or two who disappoint, but that is just humans being humans. Our cabin steward for instance was generally great, but there were a few minor hiccups. We requested extra towels, instead of getting extra towels he simply replaced the towels we had. It took a couple of days to sort it out, then all was fine. Likely a language issue. The on one day we received no service in our cabin at all. We learned at the end of the night that because we left a medallion in our cabin the steward thought we were in the cabin and did not wish to disturb us. Which was contrary to when coming out of the restroom the cabin steward was in the room. So not sure what changed. Some of the Casino staff were not very outgoing or happy. Unsure why, how, or any details, but it was strange. The wait staff at and around bars were great. Food - Food is a mainstay of cruises, and very subjective. I have read reviews by persons who were not happy with the food. I would not agree. The food we experienced was fine. Was it Michelin Star rated food? No but let's be realistic, they are cooking for 3300 plus persons. The food in the dining room was good, had plenty of variety, which was at least a fish, a beef, a chicken and a vegetarian item on the menu each night. There are plenty of other restaurants to eat at, to include Salty Dog, by the pool, which has burgers, hots dogs, and tacos. All great. Circus Pizza, also by the pool is also fantastic. The Buffet is also great. On this ship it is huge, and has plenty of variety. The specialty restaurants are a touch of a let down, but they are fine nonetheless. I just don't think they are worth the upcharge when you compare them with what you get at other ship locations for free. Entertainment-Again a highly subjective opinion. I personally did not think much of the entertainment, but others with me loved it. To each their own. We all agreed however that the Magician was pretty much the worse ever. The Cruise Director Duvaul was the best Cruise Director I have seen. In fact I never have been on a cruise where I did not think the Cruise Director was a total tool, so good for Duvaul. That pretty much sums up the details of the ship, anything else is port or excursion specific, and for other posts.