Cruise

Five Reasons to Cruise on the Discovery Princess

A shipboard review by Nicholas Kontis

In early September, my wife and I joined a seven-day sailing from Seattle to Alaska on the Discovery Princess, last of the Royal class ships of the Princess Cruises. Elegant and comfortable, we found it much to our liking.

Launched in the spring of 2022, the Discovery Princess features innovated technology and a streamlined blueprint with a voguish style. With its stellar service and grand Piazza Atrium, customary to all Royal-class ships, the Discovery provides an exemplary experience. These are some highlights:

The crew

I always make friends with crew members, as I’ll spend a fair amount of time mingling on the ship. At every turn on this Alaska vacation, I was greeted by happy, friendly, always-smiling staff, many from the Philippines, ready to cater to my every whim. Many of the crew would engage me with stories about their favorite journeys, hidden areas of the ship, the best times to dine, and their lives back home. The crew truly makes an onboard experience precious. The attitude and overall professionalism of all Princess associates was impeccable.

The captain

Most ship captains are friendly with guests, but few are humble celebrities. As Covid-19 infested the world in February 2020, Captain Gennaro Arma traversed uncharted waters at the helm of the Diamond Princess. Born in Sorrento, Italy, the imposing Arma has been with the Princess Cruises for 25 years.

“I go to all parts of the ship every day to see how our crew is doing,” he told me. “You will see that our crew members are happy. We have people who have worked for us as long as 40 years. We treat our team members equally. We are a family. It’s part of the Princess philosophy: They have time to relax and have their own gym, pool, bar, and even their own pizzeria.”

Epicurean delights

Speaking of pizza, the Italian culinary favorite is featured at just one of the seven onboard restaurants. I dined twice at Gigi’s Pizzeria, located midship on Deck 7. On every other occasion, it took a lot of courage for me to pass without stopping for a bubbling, wood-fired Neapolitan pizza or calzone. The open kitchen, where chefs perform through the lunch hours, is an endless temptation.

World Fresh Marketplace on Deck 16 is the buffet option, including an omelet station for breakfast. You’ll find a wide selection of lunch and dinner foods, including Indian, Middle Eastern, Asian, Mexican, fresh seafood, vegetarian, fried chicken and roast beef.

Five specialty restaurants are all reasonably priced. The Crown Grill on Deck 7 is the place for steak and lobster. The surf and turf was so good, we dined here twice at just $29 per person. Chefs prepare made-to-order dishes in an open kitchen. Succulent steaks, Maine lobster tails and New Zealand rack of lamb are served with an assortment of salts, including applewood-smoked and Hawaiian black salt. Other entrees, served family-style by request, include black tiger prawns, beef tartare, jumbo sea scallops and Chilean sea bass. Our server wisely suggested that my wife and I save room for dessert: a warm chocolate mousse trifle and salted caramel crème brûlée cheesecake.

Also on Deck 7 is a French option, Bistro Sur La Mer, where Michelin-acclaimed chef Emmanuel Renaut serves a three-course menu for $29. You might start with lobster bisque, garnished with lobster, scallops and mussels, or my favorite, crispy escargot in panko bread crumbs. As a main course, my wife chose roasted jumbo scallops, perfectly charred. I opted for seared duck breast, pink and juicy with a black currant demi-glâce and sides of butter-braised carrots and creamy polenta. We enjoyed outstanding sea views with our dessert, a yeast cake in a light rum-babas syrup, topped with vanilla whipped cream.

Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria, on Deck 5, features family-style Italian comfort food. Princess has more executive chefs hail from Italy than any other nation, and each of them brings regional family recipes from throughout Italy. A six-course meal ($25) starts with zonzelle, a rustic bread stuffed with prosciutto, roasted tomato and bell pepper. A soup or salad may be followed by grilled lamb skewers with artichoke and black olive relish. For my fresh pasta, I opted for a classic seafood linguini. Family-style mains included eggplant parmigiana, veal marsala, sole piccata and rosemary chicken scallopine. The Crema al Caffe is delectably decadent, consisting of espresso crème brûlée and a star anise biscotti.

It’s hard to beat a cultured meal at a casual gastropub like the Salty Dog. Meals here ($18) begin with crunchy bread sticks, served with beer-cheddar fondue and flaked smoked salt. The menu comprises American classics such as lobster mac-and-cheese, fried calamari, burgers, fried chicken, grilled cheese and short ribs. Sweet offerings include strawberries and cream or chocolate pot de crème.

The Ocean Terrace Seafood Bar is a pay-as-you-dine, à la carte sushi bar, nestled midship on Deck 6. Open for lunch only, the small venue fills up fast—but it is worth the wait for the freshest sashimi and hand rolls. Look for the tuna lovers roll, the yellowtail roll, scallop rolls with Sriracha, eel, crab, shrimp and more.

Spa treatment

Cruise-ship spas are always nice retreats, but the Discovery Princess takes it up a notch. Within the spacious, Asian-themed Lotus Spa on Deck 5 is the Enclave Thermal Suite: Its hydrotherapy pool has cascading showers and soothing jets to provide a deep, tissue-like massage. Other frills include three steam and sauna rooms with various infused aromas and dynamic mood lighting. One of the sauna rooms is a cozy, detoxifying Turkish Hammam. Rejuvenating acupuncture, facials, Swedish and hot-stone massages are offered a la carte. A hair salon, nail bar, teeth-whitening stations, manicures and pedicures are available.

The deck plan

This is an easy ship to maneuver. Having sailed mostly smaller ships, I wondered if I might be overwhelmed by a larger vessel with 19 decks. But learning the layout of the ship was a breeze.

Everyone gravitates to midship and Decks 5, 6 and 7. Here is the three-deck-high Piazza Atrium, the ship’s gourmet restaurants, entertainment spaces and shops. There’s live music every afternoon and evening on Deck 5, where master mixologists craft creative cocktails at the Good Spirits at Sea bar. Also popular are the International Café, on Deck 5; Crooners Bar on Deck 6, and Bellini’s, perched on an overhang to view the live music.

On Decks 16 and 17 are the aptly named Lido and Sun Decks. Here are the must-have pools, including the adults-only Retreat Pool; hot tubs, and a 300-square-foot LED screen for “Movies Under the Stars.” These are served by a trio of walk-up, fast-food walk-up eateries, serving burgers, hot dogs and pizza, and The Mix cocktail bar.

The Discovery Princess, built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, departs from ports in Seattle, Los Angeles and Vancouver, sailing to Alaska, the sun-splashed Mexican riviera, and the Hawaiian Islands. There are 1,346 crew members. Accommodating 3,660 passengers, the Discovery Princess ticks all the right boxes in creating an unforgettable sailing experience at an affordable price.

www.princess.com