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Editorial Cruise Ship Wiki's take on Discovery Princess
Discovery Princess is the sixth and last of Princess Cruises' Royal class ships, delivered by Fincantieri in January 2022 at 145,281 tons and carrying roughly 3,660 guests. She is the most refined version of a hull the line had already built five times, though the refinement is correction rather than reinvention. The one design decision worth knowing is a subtraction. The class was sold on two signatures, the Piazza atrium and the SeaWalk, a glass floored walkway cantilevered out over the ship's side. The Piazza survives here and still works as the social spine of the ship. The SeaWalk does not. Princess scaled it back after Regal Princess, and Discovery instead carries a larger top deck pool area and top deck suites in that space. Deployment for the 2026 season is seven night one way Alaska sailings between Vancouver and Whittier, switching from October to round trip West Coast and Mexican Riviera itineraries out of Los Angeles.
What she does well is breadth of dining and a generally settled, adult atmosphere. Crown Grill and Sabatini's are the reliable specialty rooms, The Catch by Rudi handles seafood, Bistro Sur La Mer covers French, and Gigi's Pizzeria and the International Cafe do the quiet daily work that keeps a ship of this size civil. The Salty Dog Gastropub and O'Malley's give the bar programme character, and the Sanctuary on Deck 18 is one of the better paid retreats at this price point. A November 2025 dry dock brought accessibility improvements.
The criticism is consistent enough to take seriously. Cruise Critic's editors rate her 4.5 out of 5 while noting that the specialty roster is narrower than rivals and that noise from the Piazza carries into nearby dining. The Points Guy found her oddly loud and hard to navigate, with a Deck 6 dining room blocking a clean forward to aft walk. Eat Sleep Cruise reported two hour main dining room service and cabins that felt small against contemporary competitors. Member reviews return often to crowding and a shortage of seating in the entertainment venues.
She suits the Princess constituency squarely: contemporary premium, pitched between Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, itinerary led, popular with older North American travellers who want Alaska or Mexico done comfortably. She is a poor fit for anyone wanting waterslides, a serious children's programme, or a small ship feel.
Cabin choice matters more here than on most ships. Standard balconies are shallow, around 40 square feet, with no proper sitting area, a genuine and well documented Royal class complaint rather than a quibble. The larger balconies on Dolphin, Deck 9, are overlooked from above and offer little privacy. Much of Deck 8 has lifeboat obstruction. Marina, Deck 15, sits directly beneath the Lido pool deck and picks up lounger scrape early in the morning. Forward facing balconies high up are effectively unusable underway. Mini suites are the sensible upgrade. Our per cabin quiet and convenience scores are not yet published for this ship.
Read the deck plan before you book. On this ship it tells you more than the brochure does.
Sources
This is Cruise Ship Wiki's own editorial summary of published reviews and reference sources. It is not a guest review and does not describe a stay aboard. Member reviews appear separately below.
Photo: Blake Handley (CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons
Discovery Princess is the sixth and final ship of Princess Cruises' Royal class, closing out a nearly decade-long series before the line moved on to its larger, LNG-ready Sphere class. She was ordered in January 2017 as part of Carnival Corporation's building programme with Fincantieri and constructed in Italy under yard number 6290, with block fabrication at Castellammare di Stabia and final assembly at Monfalcone. Steel cutting took place on 14 February 2019; the pandemic delayed the launch of her bow section to 31 July 2020, she was floated out of the building dock on 18 March 2021, completed sea trials in December 2021, and was delivered to Princess on 28 January 2022 as the yard's first cruise ship handover of that year.
Her maiden voyage departed Los Angeles on 27 March 2022, a seven-day Mexican Riviera cruise, and she was formally christened on 29 April 2022 at the Port of Los Angeles. As the last Royal-class ship, she embodies the fully developed version of the design, incorporating every refinement the class accumulated over its production run, and Fincantieri marked her as the 75th of its vessels classified by Lloyd's Register.
Discovery Princess shares the enlarged specifications of the later Royal-class ships: 145,281 GT, 330 metres in length, a moulded beam of about 38.4 metres (extreme beam near 47.2 metres) and a draught of roughly 8.5 metres. She spans 19 decks, 16 of them for guests, and carries 3,660 passengers at double occupancy and up to 4,610 at maximum with about 1,450 crew. Her 1,830 staterooms maintain the class's high proportion of balcony cabins at roughly 81 percent.
Built as a MedallionClass ship, she is equipped throughout for the wearable OceanMedallion, supporting keyless stateroom access, location-based delivery of food and drink, touchless payment and app-based wayfinding and messaging. She carries the signature Royal-class venues, the three-deck Piazza atrium, the adults-only Sanctuary retreat, and the cantilevered glass SeaWalk and companion SeaView spaces that extend over the ship's side, together with the expanded suite offerings developed on the later ships of the class. Propulsion is diesel-electric, with four Wartsila generating sets totalling about 62.4 MW feeding two 18 MW electric propulsion motors for a service speed near 21.9 knots and a maximum of about 23 knots.
Discovery Princess was named by four celebrity godparents, wedding-dress designer Randy Fenoli, chef Alex Guarnaschelli, special-effects maker and television host Adam Savage, and real-estate personality Page Turner. Registered at Hamilton, Bermuda, under the Bermudian flag, she typically bases her seasons at Los Angeles for Mexican Riviera and West Coast sailings and at Seattle for Alaska Inside Passage cruises. She remains in active service with Princess Cruises.
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Onboard Highlights
Signature attractions, dining, bars and entertainment aboard Discovery Princess.
Top attractions
- The Piazza
A European-inspired hub featuring roving street performers, boutiques, spiral staircase, and glass-walled lifts with panoramic views. - The Sanctuary
An adults-only retreat offering tranquil relaxation and ultimate comfort. - Sky Suites
The ship's largest balconies at sea featuring 270-degree views. - Princess Theater
A state-of-the-art venue showcasing spectacular new production shows exclusive to Princess ships.
Specialty dining
- Crown Grill
A signature steakhouse serving carefully aged cuts with gourmet salts in a refined setting. - The Catch by Rudi
A seafood-focused restaurant featuring catch of the day, raw seafood bar, and various ocean-inspired preparations.
Bars and lounges
- O'Malley's Irish Pub
A warm, welcoming Irish pub with music, drinks, food, and the signature Dubliner Burger.
Entertainment
- 360: An Extraordinary Experience
An epic seven-course Mediterranean-themed production blending storytelling, visuals, music, cuisine, and immersive technology, exclusively on Discovery and Enchanted Princess.
Where She Sails
Ports of call on Discovery Princess itineraries, with a signature highlight at each.
Specifications
| Status | In service |
|---|---|
| Entered service | 2022 |
| Cruise line | Princess Cruises |
| Gross tonnage | 145,281 GT |
| Guests (double occupancy) | 3,660 |
| Guests (maximum) | 4,610 |
| Crew | 1,450 |
| Est. annual guests | ≈ 183,000 / year (estimated) · Stable |
| Length | 330 m (1,083 ft) |
| Beam | 47.2 m (155 ft) moulded · 47.2 m (155 ft) extreme |
| Draught | 8.5 m (28 ft) |
| Decks | 19 (16 guest decks) |
| Staterooms | 1,845 |
| Shipyard | Fincantieri, Monfalcone, Italy |
| Christened by | Randy Fenoli, Alex Guarnaschelli, Adam Savage and Page Turner |
| Flag | Bermuda |
| Port of registry | Hamilton |
| IMO number | 9837468 |
| Call sign | ZCEW3 |
| Home port | Los Angeles, California |
| Region | US West Coast (Mexican Riviera) and Alaska |
Ownership & loyalty
Part of Carnival Corporation & plc (CCL / CUK).
Sister brands: Carnival Cruise Line.
References
Descriptions on Cruise Ship Wiki are original write-ups paraphrased from public sources; facts are compiled from the references below and cross-checked. How we source our information.
- Discovery Princess - Wikipedia - Ordering, construction, delivery, christening, specifications, identifiers, final Royal-class ship
- Discovery Princess - Princess Cruises - Official operator page for venues, itineraries and MedallionClass features