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| Reviewed By: Pullen, Cambridge on 6th Nov 2006 |
| Cruise Line: Voyages of Discovery |
Times cruised before: 10+ |
| Cruise Ship: MV Discovery |
Sailed:
2005 |
| Destination: Africa |
Age: 36-45 |
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Discovery is a lovely little ship (21,000 tons - slightly bigger than Fred Olsen's Braemar, but smaller than Black Watch, and a lot smaller than most modern-day cruise ships). Back in the 1970s Discovery was known as the Island Princess (sister of the Pacific Princess) and was (together with her sister) used to film the American TV series The Love Boat. She still retains much of the charm that fans of the TV series will remember.
Voyages of Discovery (the cruise line) is well known for offering interesting itineraries on relatively old, small ships (what you might call a “classic” cruise experience). They have traditionally chartered their ships (and still do) – but they liked the old Island Princess so much that when they got the opportunity to buy her, they jumped at the chance.
Discovery (at least from my experience) tends to attract sprightly, well-travelled, older passengers - including quite a lot of widows. At the time of travelling, I was 44 – but I would estimate that that easily put me in the youngest 5% of passengers.
Entertainment was enjoyable, but relatively low key (when compared to the mega ships on which I usually cruise). The singers and dancers were lively and entertaining. Lectures on the ports of call were interesting, informative and well-attended. A lot of passengers spent every evening in organised bridge playing.
The food was perfectly adequate - although not up to the standard of the 4 & 5 star ships on which I usually travel. Personally I didn’t like the dining room décor (with its gaudy 1970s style seating) – but it’s not something that would spoil my cruise.
One mistake I made was to book second sitting for dinner. On most ships this works well for me, but on Discovery it meant that I missed quite a lot of the dancing and live music, which tended to take place mainly during the time of second sitting. None of my table companions were in the least bit upset to be missing the “entertainment”, but for me it was a disappointment – although second sitting did have the advantage of offering a leisurely meal, with lots of time for conversation.
The public rooms are comfortable and attractive, and the teak deck areas were also very pleasant. The rear deck area is particularly attractive – with a pool and Jacuzzi and a plenty of bed chairs – unlike the modern cruise ships that tend to stuff this area with cabins rather than open deck. One unusual feature was that the central pool area was not filled with deck chairs for sun worshipers, but instead contained a semi-outdoor buffet area (complete with beautiful teak tables & chairs) all under a sliding glass roof (always open on our cruise, given the beautiful sunny weather we had).
My cruise, in November 2005, began in Sharm-el-Sheikh and took in various Red Sea ports - including Safarga (for Luxor or the Red Sea coast), and a two day stop in Aqaba, Jordan (for the fabulous Petra and the surprisingly spectacular Wadi Rum). After that we spent a fascinating day transiting the Suez Canal before spending our final two days at Alexandria on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast (from where many people, including me, took one or two day excursions to see the ancient treasures in and around Cairo).
This was an unusual cruise for me. I normally travel on much bigger ships (a few of my favourites are the Millennium, Diamond Princess, Queen Mary 2, Voyager of the Seas, Century, Splendour of the Seas, QE2, and so on) – but I did this cruise mainly for the itinerary (particularly Petra, the Suez Canal and Cairo), and also to experience a 9 day cruise on a smaller ship (since in the past I had only done short cruises on such ships as the Caronia and Braemar). All in all I thoroughly enjoyed my trip on Discovery, and would go again. I met some interesting people, and visited some fabulous ports of call – including ports that it would be hard to visit on any of the big ships (except perhaps the QE2).
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| Quality of Food |  |
| The alternative restaurant was good. Other food was perfectly adequate, but nothing special. | | Entertainment | |
| Lectures were very good. The song and dance shows were also enjoyable. | | Shore Excursions |  |
| Petra was excellent. Wadi Rum (Jordan) was a surprise highlight as well. Two day Cairo was great. | | Staff | |
| The cruise director was excellent. He also gave the port and history lectures. | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities | |
| Not as much on offer as on a bigger ship - but enjoyable none the less. | | Cabins |  |
| Cabin was small but adequate. | | Overall Rating | |
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