Discovery Princess: the last Royal-class ship

How big is Discovery Princess, really?

Discovery Princess measures roughly 145,000 GT, 330 m long and 38.38 m wide, across 19 numbered decks with 15 open to guests and 10 carrying cabins. She sleeps 3,660 guests at double occupancy in 1,830 cabins, 81% of them with a balcony, with a crew of 1,346. She is the exact hull of Sky Princess and Enchanted Princess, fifty cabins more than the 2013 Royal Princess over the same 330 metres. Sources disagree to the ton: 145,000 GT on the ship's own Wikipedia entry, 144,650 in the class table, 145,281 at CruiseMapper.

Does Discovery Princess carry 3,660 guests, 4,400 or 5,800?

Three numbers circulate and two of them get misused. The 3,660 figure is double occupancy, two people per cabin, and it is the only honest basis for comparing one ship with another. The roughly 4,400 counts every upper berth and sofa bed in use, which happens in July, over March break and at Christmas; that figure comes from CruiseMapper and Princess does not publish it. The 5,800 you sometimes see adds guests and crew together and tells you nothing about the buffet line. On an 8-day Alaska sailing in August you travel close to the upper figure.

What sets Discovery Princess apart from her sisters?

She is the sixth and final Royal-class ship, delivered on 28 January 2022, which makes her the least-worn hull of the six. She follows the Sky Princess and Enchanted Princess layout exactly, so no SeaWalk, and two Sky Suites on deck 18 where the glass walkway used to be. Her naming was unusual: 29 April 2022 at the Port of Los Angeles, with four television godparents rather than a single sponsor, Randy Fenoli, Alex Guarnaschelli, Adam Savage and Page Turner. And since she entered service she has worked the west coast of North America and nothing else, which no other ship in the class can say.

Where does Discovery Princess sail in 2026?

Alaska for the summer, and not out of Seattle as several listings still claim. Her summer 2026 home ports are Vancouver and Whittier, the seaport for Anchorage: 8-day round trips from Vancouver, 7- and 8-day one-ways between Vancouver and Whittier across the Gulf of Alaska, plus a few 14- and 15-day sailings. The ports of call showing on the schedule are Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Glacier Bay. She leaves Alaska on 26 September 2026 on an 8-day run down to Los Angeles, then works 8-day round trips out of Los Angeles from 3 October to 26 December.

Where does she sail in 2027, and what flight should I book from Montréal?

She stays based in Los Angeles through winter and early spring 2027, returns to Vancouver and Whittier for the Alaska season from May to September, then comes back to Los Angeles for the end of the year. The 2027 calendar is not yet published departure by departure, so have your dates confirmed before you buy an air ticket. From Montréal, both Vancouver and Los Angeles are nonstop, roughly five and a half hours to one and six to the other, with three hours of time change to absorb. Whittier is a different exercise: you land in Anchorage with at least one connection, then face about two hours by road or rail to the pier, which is not something to attempt on embarkation morning.

Which cabin should I book on Discovery Princess?

In Alaska a balcony genuinely earns its keep, because the glaciers slide past early in the morning and you do not want to watch them over someone's shoulder on deck 16. Aim midship, deck 10 Caribe or deck 11 Baja, in categories BA or BB, or a Deluxe Balcony for the two indoor armchairs, codes D4, DA, DB or DC. For a family of five, only Sky Suites S309 and S310 on deck 18 will do: they are the only cabins aboard that sleep five, and every other category tops out at four. One step above a balcony, an MA or MB mini-suite gives you a real sitting area, which matters when it rains three days running in the Inside Passage.

What are the restaurants, bars and attractions on Discovery Princess?

Included: the main dining rooms on deck 6, the World Fresh Marketplace buffet on deck 16, the 24-hour International Café in the Piazza, Alfredo's pizzeria on deck 7, the Salty Dog Grill and its gastropub on deck 5, gelato and the pool-deck counters. Extra-charge: Crown Grill for steak, Sabatini's for Italian, The Catch by Rudi for seafood, OceanFront and Ocean Terrace. Bars include Bellini's, the Take Five jazz lounge, Churchill's Lounge and the deck 16 bars. For attractions: the adults-only Sanctuary, the aft Wakeview pool, the Retreat Pool, The Enclave at Lotus Spa, the Princess Theater, the Princess Live studio, Vista Lounge, Movies Under the Stars, and on deck 18 Princess Sports Central with its laser shooting range and the Phantom Bridge escape room.

What disappoints people on Discovery Princess?

The glass walkway, first of all. The SeaWalk that illustrates every Royal-class advertisement belongs to Royal, Regal and Majestic; there is none here, just as there is none on Sky or Enchanted. Deck 7 is named Promenade without offering a single full outdoor lap of the ship, and the walking track has been pushed up to deck 18 at seven laps to the mile. Balconies are narrower than on the Grand class, and the aft staterooms are stepped, so the guest on the deck above looks down onto yours, which you notice on a clear Alaskan morning. On glacier days and sea days the pool deck fills early: The Sanctuary is the genuine answer to that density, and it carries a fee.

What is included in the Discovery Princess fare and what costs extra?

Included: your cabin, the main dining rooms, the World Fresh Marketplace buffet, the International Café, Alfredo's pizzeria, the Salty Dog Grill, ice cream, Princess Theater productions, Movies Under the Stars, the pools including Wakeview, and the fitness centre. Extra: alcohol and specialty coffees, Wi-Fi, crew appreciation, shore excursions, valet laundry, The Sanctuary, The Enclave, plus Crown Grill, Sabatini's, The Catch by Rudi and OceanFront. Princess folds part of that list into two bundles, Princess Plus and Princess Premier. In Alaska shore excursions weigh more heavily on a budget than they do in the Caribbean, so the trade-off differs: have it worked out at 1-866-628-6241.

Are gratuities included on Discovery Princess?

The base fare does not include them. Princess posts a daily Crew Appreciation charge to your onboard account, scaled to stateroom category, and adds a service percentage to every bar order. Both are prepaid if you book Princess Plus or Princess Premier. On an 8-day Alaska round trip from Vancouver that is eight days of the charge per person, including the child in the third berth. Have the arithmetic done before you compare two fares, or the comparison is skewed from the start.

How does the drink package work on Discovery Princess?

Princess sells no standalone drink package, only two bundles. Princess Plus covers fifteen drinks a day under a per-drink ceiling, unlimited specialty coffees and teas, bottled water, one connected device, a few casual dining meals and prepaid crew appreciation. Princess Premier lifts the daily count, raises the per-drink ceiling, adds four devices, unlimited specialty dining, digital photos and a reserved Princess Theater section. On board, your natural stops are Bellini's and the International Café in the Piazza, the Take Five lounge and the deck 16 bars. In Alaska you spend far more time out on deck than at a bar, so the answer depends on what you genuinely drink: 1-866-628-6241.

What does the Medallion change on Discovery Princess, and does the Wi-Fi work?

She was built MedallionClass from the keel up, unlike Royal and Regal, which were retrofitted. The quarter-sized disc is worn on your wrist or around your neck: your door unlocks as you approach, purchases clear with photo verification, boarding at Vancouver moves noticeably faster, and an OceanNow order reaches you wherever you are, including a lounger by the Wakeview pool. MedallionNet handles video calls and streaming, and it stays chargeable outside the bundles. The irritants are real: the app and the pre-cruise steps are compulsory before you travel, the disc registers your position on board because that is what makes delivery work, having it mailed to your home is chargeable while pier pickup is not, and OceanNow delivery carries its own fee outside the bundles. Add that in Alaska the mobile signal vanishes for hours at a time in the fjords, which pushes plenty of guests toward shipboard Wi-Fi.

Is Discovery Princess a good ship with children?

She is well equipped, and her Alaska season draws real families in July and August. Camp Discovery occupies deck 17, split by age with the Treehouse for 3 to 7, the Lodge for 8 to 12, and the Beach House with its Remix Lounge & Disco for 13 to 17; up on deck 18, Princess Sports Central adds a multi-sport court, a golf cage, a laser shooting range and the Phantom Bridge escape room. Sky Suites S309 and S310 are the only cabins that sleep five, and they go early for July departures. That said, there is no water slide, no ropes course and no go-kart track, so the honest comparison with a big American family ship belongs before you choose, not on board.

Is Captain's Circle worth chasing on Discovery Princess?

It builds fairly quickly here, because she runs 8-day cruises back to back. Gold arrives with your first cruise, Ruby at three cruises or thirty cruise days, Platinum at five cruises or fifty days, Elite at fifteen cruises or a hundred and fifty, and the count takes whichever measure serves you better. Five 8-day Alaska sailings therefore reach Platinum on the cruise count long before fifty days at sea. Booking a suite or sailing solo earns double credit, which makes the two Sky Suites interesting to anyone building status. The benefits that change your week arrive at Platinum: complimentary self-service laundry, priority embarkation and disembarkation, and a better internet allowance.

Will I get seasick on Discovery Princess?

On the Vancouver round trips, very little: the Inside Passage runs in sheltered water behind the islands, and a 330 m hull with stabilizers barely registers it. The stretch to watch is the Gulf of Alaska, crossed on the one-way runs between Vancouver and Whittier, where the ship spends a night and a day in open water. The winter loops out of Los Angeles follow the Pacific coast, usually calm, with a firmer swell between December and February. If you are sensitive, choose a midship cabin on a low deck, deck 9 Dolphin or deck 10 Caribe, rather than forward on deck 15, and start the tablets the day before you board.

Discovery Princess

Question or
quote?

Ask an agent

Discovery Princess

Itineraries of the Discovery Princess

Technical specifications

History