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Cruise NewsPrincess CruisesFirst Impressions of the World's Newest Cruise Ship, Discovery Princess

First Impressions of the World’s Newest Cruise Ship, Discovery Princess

This week, Princess Cruises’ newest and sixth Royal class cruise ship, Discovery Princess, is sailing her maiden voyage.  This seven night cruise from Los Angeles is sailing to the Mexican Riviera with port stops in Cabo, Mazatlán, and Puerto Vallarta.

I am currently sailing on this maiden cruise on Discovery Princess with a group of media exploring everything that this new cruise ship has to offer. After several days on board, here are my first impressions of the ship.

Princess’ Royal class ships are one of my favorites to sail on. I’ve now cruised on five out of the six ships and love the overall design and layout of the vessels. The ship is just gorgeous and love the Piazza, it’s my favorite part of them.

Since this is the maiden cruise on the ship, there are the usually hiccups that come with sailing on a very first cruise. I’ve sailed on several maiden voyages recently on different cruise lines and it’s a common theme on all of them.  I’ve found that is normally takes a few weeks to get all the kinks out and for things to run at 100% proficiency.

With that being said, the crew have been a highlight of the cruise so far. I can’t say enough good things about them and the service that they have delivered so far.  From my room steward to servers at restaurants to the awesome group at the International Cafe, they have done a phenomenal job on this cruise.

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A few things that have been rough around the edges on this cruise were the embarkation process and the OceanMedallion.  I love the OceanMedallion how it replaces your keycard and how you can even use it when in port. I will have more that when I get home from this cruise and explain how I was able to use my OceanMedallion in restaurants and stores in port.

However, mine hasn’t worked exactly as it should on the ship. On other Princess cruise ships, my door would automatically unlock when I got within five to eight feet of my cabin.  On this cruise, I have to hold up my OceanMedallion to the sensor for a full three seconds for the door to unlock.  I have talked to others and they don’t have this problem so it just may be my OceanMedallion. I will ask for a replacement later and see if that fixes this small issue.

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The OceanMedallion app has worked great except for the Activities Timeline. It has been blank for the entire cruise.  However, they are still delivering a Princess Patter to staterooms for those of us who like the old school paper copy of the daily activities.  There are also interactive TVs all around the ship where you can see what is going on around the ship.

Update Regarding the Above Issues: I can now view the Activities Timeline on both of my mobile devices. Also, they fixed the sensor in my door so it now automatically unlocks as I walk up to it.

Other parts of the app have worked pretty good, I have been able to check my onboard account and even test out the sports betting feature just to see how it worked.  Unfortunately, the Celtics let me down the other night but it was super easy on the app and they gave me a free $5 for trying it out.

You can also order drinks and food and have them delivered to wherever you are on the ship. So far, it has been hit or miss. One drink arrived in 15 minutes while it took nearly 40 minutes for a can of Coke to arrive. I plan on trying it out a few more times to see how efficiently it works.

I am staying in a balcony cabin on Deck 12. You can watch a short two minute video tour of my cabin below to see the features that it offers.

The food has been great so far. I have dined at Sabatini’s, Crown Grill, GiGi’s, Slice, The Salty Dog Grill, International Cafe, and World Fresh Marketplace (buffet). I look forward to eating at other dining venues over the next few days.

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The WiFi has been great and probably the best I’ve yet to experience on a cruise ship. Princess Cruises brags about having the best WiFi at sea and it’s living up to the hype on this ship.  While I haven’t tried to stream anything, I’ve been able to do all of my normal work on my laptop.  I’m extremely satisfied with it.

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The entertainment has been good so far.  They have brought on a few comedians who have done family friendly shows in the theater.   Both of them were excellent and really funny.

There seems to be a good amount of live music around the ship at night in different venues. There’s a little something for everyone and it’s a nice mix.

I will have a complete review after this cruise is over.  You can follow along on my cruise on our social media channels on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok (@CruiseFever for all of them).

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Ben Souza
Ben Souza
Ben is a world traveler who has visited 40+ countries, taken over 70 cruises. He is one of USA TODAY's experts for their 10Best Readers' Choice Awards. His writings have appeared and been cited in various media outlets such as Yahoo News, MSN, NPR, CNN, Fox, and ABC News. Ben currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio. Follow Ben on Instagram. Visit Ben Souza on Linkedin. You may email Ben at [email protected].
Cruise NewsPrincess CruisesFirst Impressions of the World's Newest Cruise Ship, Discovery Princess
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