Wine Country Coastal Cruise on Discovery Princess
April 27, 2024 - Saturday
This was an unexpected cruise that we did not plan on but after seeing the itinerary and the price, we decided to jump on and enjoy a week's worth of cruising on this newer ship. We also wanted to take this opportunity to visit family in the Seattle area at the end, making this a even better trip for us. We will be traveling from Los Angeles, with ports of call in San Diego, San Francisco, Astoria, and Victoria before debarking in Vancouver.
A sunny day on embarkation is always welcoming. The best part of this cruise is that we did not have to fly anywhere. Just a less than an hour drive from home to the port made it a pleasant start of this wonderful journey. Thanks to my brother who sacrificed his Saturday morning and took us safely to San Pedro.
Long Beach International Gateway
Vincent Thomas Bridge
Getting close!
Entering the cruise terminal area.
It was surprisingly busy even that early!
Good thing we have done the on-line check-in and received the medallions through the mail, so we were all set to go. Just a few minutes checking travel documents through the very short 'Green' line and waited to be on board.
Waiting to board at the Green Line check-ins.
Seemed like the Platinum Lounge area was filled with other Green Line passengers waiting to be boarded.
The Blue line was quite long on this day.
After waiting for a few minutes, platinum passengers were called together with Elite to board. We were not sure at first because people sitting in the area were not moving and we couldn't hear the announcement clearly. When asked the other passengers and they confirmed that platinum passengers were called to board so we went ahead. What an easy boarding process!
Always exciting walking the gangway on embarkation day!
We were early with time enough to check-in with the muster station and watched the emergency video on our cell phones. Even after that, the main dining room was not even opened for lunch so we had to wait at one of the lounges to get ready for a relaxing lunch.
Then the long line was formed when we got back to the dining room but it went fast since it was opened on time and everyone eventually got in.
Lunch menu
Loved their freshly baked bread.
We ordered these between the three of us. Great lunch to start this cruise!
After lunch, the cabins were ready and we went to check out our mini-suite for this 7-day cruise on deck 15. This cabin is between the mid and aft of the ship, closer to the mid-ship elevator bank, starboard side.
Definitely a little bigger than a regular balcony cabin. The full size couch turned into a comfortable bed for son with his own night stand with storage. We found we had more than enough storage space on this sailing in this cabin than any of our 50 other sailings on various ships. Well, other than the 2-room suite that we had on NCL Jade in 2012.
Really comfortable bed and I really liked the color scheme of the room.
Night stand with USB plugs.
The curtain made for a little privacy for son on the other side.
Nice size bathroom...
with a tub, a nice addition.
One thing we liked about our balcony was the hanging cover that protected us from sun and rain when we were out there.
Ready for the sail-away!
Pier 92 Los Angeles Cruise Terminal in San Pedro.
The party is on as we were leaving port at 3:00.
Passing USS Iowa that was docked behind us.
That's very close!
Getting out of the harbor.
Dinner menu
First dinner in the main dining room was wonderful!
We had made reservations through the App for dinner same time everyday. I assumed that they considered that as Anytime dining because we still had to get in line and wait for tables. Not same table, same servers as traditional dining. I guess we could have requested for same server, same table right at the beginning because by the time we realized who the servers we liked, they told us that his area is filled. There are some areas that are quieter than others, for example, on the sides of the dining room that have smaller 'rooms' with more privacy instead of the noisy main area. Next time!
Piazza at night.
walking by the theater before heading back to our cabin for the night.
Video on our embarkation day experience, please click here.
"Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." -- Proverbs 16:24