Discovery Princess

The 2021-built / 2022-inaugurated Discovery Princess cruise ship is the sixth Royal-Class vessel in the Princess Cruises fleet, joining her sisterships Royal Princess (2013), Regal Princess (2014), Majestic Princess (2017), Sky Princess (2019), and Enchanted Princess (2020). Also part of the same series is the P&O UK liner Britannia (2015).

The vessel (IMO number 9837468) is currently Bermuda-flagged (MMSI 310812000) and registered in Hamilton.

History - Construction and Ownership

Princess Cruises is a US-based passenger shipping company headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. Formerly a subsidiary of P&O Princess Cruises (founded in 1977), the company merged with Carnival Corporation in 2003, becoming part of the world's largest cruise shipowner. Among Princess Cruises' assets is the private island resort Princess Cays, located on the southern end of Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas, approximately 80 km (50 mi) from Nassau.

With a capacity for 3,600 passengers, Discovery Princess ranks among the world’s largest cruise liners. Built at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy, she has 19 decks and offers 16 bars and restaurants, a luxury spa, and unique features like the glass-enclosed SeaWalk, which extends over the ocean.

Decks and Cabins

Most Discovery Princess staterooms (1,834 total in 38 categories) include 1,438 with step-out balconies (80% of all). The ship has 36 wheelchair-accessible cabins and no Oceanview-category staterooms. The largest accommodations are the 2-Room Sky Suites, measuring 950–1,010 ft² (88–94 m²) with a 700 ft² (65 m²) terrace.

The vessel has 19 decks, including 15 accessible to passengers and 8 with cabins.

Sky Suites are Princess Cruises’ first staterooms designed for up to five guests and feature 270-degree top-deck views. These are the largest cabins in the fleet, each with a wraparound terrace and private viewing access to the "Movies Under the Stars" outdoor theater (featuring the fleet’s largest LED screen).

Shipboard Dining Options - Food and Drinks

While Discovery Princess offers many specialty dining options for an additional fee, complimentary venues provide plenty of variety and quality. Traditional dining is available in the three main restaurants: Allegro, Concerto, and Symphony.

Casual dining options include Horizon Court and Horizon Bistro (buffets), Trident Grill (burgers), Prego Pizzeria (pizza), and Alfredo’s (serving calzones, salads, and thin-crust pizza).

Allegro Dining Room is the only complimentary venue offering traditional set-time dinner (5:45 p.m. or 8:15 p.m.). Meals include multiple courses with varied daily menus and a dedicated dessert selection.

Discovery Princess restaurants and food bars include:

• Symphony Restaurant – midship, offers "Anytime Dining"; features Wine Cellar area for "Wine Maker’s Dinner" (US$40, 12 guests)
• Alfredo’s Pizzeria – 121 seats, the largest complimentary pizzeria at sea
• Concerto Restaurant – forward, "Anytime Dining" 5:30–10 p.m.; offers "Wine Maker’s Dinner" (US$40)
• Allegro Restaurant – aft, formal dining with fixed seatings at 6:00 or 8:15 p.m.; includes “Chef’s Table Lumiere” (US$115, 12 guests)
• OceanFront – specialty seafood bar (a la carte menu with sushi and sashimi)
• Crown Grill – 160-seat steakhouse/seafood venue (reservations recommended); occasionally serves complimentary British Pub Lunch
• Salty Dog Grill and Alfredo’s Pizzeria – self-service complimentary fast food
• Salty Dog Gastropub – serves small bites and drinks, offers Ernesto Burger by Chef Ernesto Uchimura
• Calypso Cabana – serves picnic baskets, desserts, wine and champagne packages
• World Fresh Marketplace – complimentary buffet dining (indoor: Horizon Buffet; outdoor: Horizon Terrace)
• Swirls Bar – ice cream station

Sabatini’s Trattoria (Deck 7, a la carte) serves three-course Italian and seafood meals, with pasta handmade daily in collaboration with Chef Angelo Auriana. “Sabatini’s Bites” are available during wine tastings.

Bistro Sur La Mer (previously US$35 pp) was replaced in 2023 with “The Catch by Rudi”—Princess Cruises’ first seafood-dedicated restaurant, created in partnership with Chef Rudi Sodamin. It offers a seafood-forward menu, surf-and-turf options, vegetarian dishes, and premium wine pairings, with a cover charge of US$39 (included in the Princess Premier package).

In 2024, fleetwide were introduced three distinct dining styles: Traditional (early/late seating), Reservable, and Walk-in Anytime (open seating). Each ship designates three separate dining rooms to accommodate these new options, which are integrated with the OceanNow service, allowing guests to order anything, anytime, and delivered anywhere on board.

Shipboard Entertainment Options - Fun and Sport

The two-level Princess Theater (Decks 6 and 7) hosts nightly productions and live entertainment, including musical performances, comedy acts, and guest artists.

Compared to earlier Royal-Class ships, Discovery Princess includes the new Wakeview Pool (aft), two deep-water pools, the adults-only Retreat Pool, additional Jacuzzis (including two cantilevered), and a redesigned Sanctuary with twice the cabanas. Vista Lounge and Princess Live! Café are also newly designed venues.

Entertainment and leisure venues include:

• The Piazza Atrium – three-level open space with live music and Piazza Bar
• Princess Theater – live productions, concerts, workshops
• Take 5 – jazz theater with performances, cocktails, and themed programming
• Movies Under the Stars – outdoor LED cinema screen
• Vista Lounge – redesigned for live shows and entertainment
• Princess Live! and Café – serves drinks and snacks, hosts events
• Club 6 Disco, Churchill’s Cigar Lounge, Bellini’s Bar, Crooners Lounge, Wheelhouse Bar
• Vines Wine Bar, Gelato (ice cream parlor), International Café (24/7)
• Lotus Spa & Fitness Center, Beauty Salon, Wedding Chapel
• Casino, Art Gallery, Shopping Arcade
• Youth and Teen Centers, Game Lounge, The Sanctuary (adults-only)
• SeaWalk – glass-bottom walkway over the ocean
• Princess Sports Central – volleyball, basketball, mini-golf, jogging track, laser shooting
• The Experience Center – Escape Room "Phantom Bridge" with 700+ interactive puzzle outcomes

The Princess Theater also features the "Spotlight Bar" show with musical performances of popular hits by artists such as Stevie Wonder, Sara Bareilles, Justin Timberlake, and more.

Itineraries

Originally scheduled to debut in Europe in 2021, Discovery Princess’ inaugural season was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The maiden voyage was rescheduled multiple times, with a final start in March 2022. A total of 24 departures were canceled, including Europe, Caribbean, and West Coast USA itineraries.

Discovery Princess became the first newbuild for Princess Cruises to be based on the US West Coast, with Los Angeles as her homeport.

The revised inaugural cruise was a 7-day "Mexican Riviera" itinerary starting March 1, 2022. Other itineraries included 5-day Baja getaways and the "Classic California Coast" with extended port stays in San Diego and San Francisco.

During summer 2022, the ship operated roundtrip Alaska voyages from Seattle.

In October 2023, it was announced that Discovery Princess would be deployed to Sydney NSW for the 2025–2026 Australia cruise season, joining fleetmates Crown Princess and Grand Princess.

In late January 2017, the shipowner Carnival Corporation announced two new shipbuilding orders. The new vessels were commissioned for the brands Princess Cruises (Royal-Class) and Holland America Line (Pinnacle-class). Carnival signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri to construct both ships, with scheduled deliveries in 2021 (Nieuw Rotterdam for HAL, at the Marghera yard) and 2022 (Discovery Princess, at Fincantieri's Monfalcone yard). By the time both contracts were finalized (February 2017), Carnival Corporation had 19 new ships scheduled for delivery between 2017 and 2022.

Construction of the vessel officially began with the steel-cutting ceremony on February 14, 2019. On the same day, Sky Princess was floated out from drydock, and the keel-laying ceremony was held for Enchanted Princess. The steel-cutting for Discovery Princess was broadcast live to Fincantieri’s Monfalcone yard from its Naples shipyard. The ship's name, Discovery Princess, was officially announced on October 4, 2019.

The liner’s powerplant consists of four Wartsila marine diesel engines (model 46F: 2x 12V and 2x 14V), generating a total output of 62.4 MW (83,700 hp). The propulsion system features two azipods with a combined output of 18 MW (24,000 hp).

The vessel was built at Fincantieri Monfalcone with yard/hull number 6290. It has a volume of 145,281 GT, deadweight tonnage (DWT) of 12,508 tons, length overall (LOA) of 330 m, beam of 38 m (maximum width 47 m including the bridge wings), and maximum draught of 8.6 m.

In July 2021, the name of the ship’s Captain was announced—Gennaro Arma. Known as the “Gladiator Captain,” he became widely recognized for managing the COVID-19 outbreak aboard Diamond Princess in Port Yokohama, Japan (February–March 2020).

• Captain Gennaro Arma is supported by Senior Officers Vincenzo Alfi (Chief Engineer), Alessandro Genzo (Staff Captain), and Richard Harry (General Hotel Manager).
• The ship’s alternate Captain is John Smith, with Senior Officers Tomislav Ljoka (Chief Engineer), Petar Lesic (Staff Captain), and Jasper Wolthuis (General Hotel Manager).
• Captain Arma joined Princess Cruises in 1998 as a Cadet and was promoted to Captain in 2015 (Sea Princess).
• Captain John Smith joined Princess Cruises in 2007 as First Officer and became Captain in 2018 (Grand Princess).

Discovery Princess, the sixth Royal-Class ship in the Princess fleet, was floated out from drydock on March 18, 2021, at the Monfalcone Shipyard. Sea trials in the Adriatic Sea were conducted from December 17 to 22, 2021, and completed successfully before the vessel returned to Monfalcone for final outfitting. The official delivery ceremony took place on January 28, 2022, attended by Luigi Matarazzo (Fincantieri Merchant Ships Division General Manager), John Padgett (President of Princess Cruises), and Captain Gennaro Arma (Master).

In February 2022, it was announced that the ship’s Madrina would be Terri Cybuliak (Hotel General Manager of Sky Princess), who joined the company in 1998 as Junior Assistant Purser aboard the Crown Princess (later Pacific Jewel, scrapped in 2021 as Karnika).

The official christening ceremony was held on April 29, 2022, at Port Los Angeles. The event took place onboard at the Retreat Pool and featured participation by the ship’s Master (Captain Gennaro Arma) and godparents Randy Fenoli (bridal fashion designer and TV host), Alex Guarnaschelli (celebrity chef and TV host), Adam Whitney Savage (special effects designer and TV personality), and Page Turner (entrepreneur, broker, and owner of EGAP Real Estate Inc).

Inaugural Cruise Itineraries 2022

Maiden Voyage: 7-day "Mexican Riviera" cruise (starting from USD 700 per person, double occupancy).

Inaugural 7-day "Classic California Coast" itinerary (US$ 750 pp)

Inaugural 5-day "Cabo San Lucas Getaway" itinerary (US$ 530 pp)

(Inaugural Alaskan repositioning) 5-day from Los Angeles to Vancouver (US$ 450 pp)

(Inaugural Alaskan cruise) 7-day "Inside Passage Roundtrip from Seattle" itinerary (US$ 720 pp)

Godspeed!

Inaugural itineraries 2021 (CANCELED)

Discovery Princess ship's Inaugural Cruise (November 3, 2021) was a 7-day "Mediterranean and Aegean" itinerary from Civitavecchia-Rome to Piraeus-Athens. The originally scheduled inaugural season included 30 departures on a total of 21 unique itineraries to over 50 ports in 23 countries. The canceled Mediterranean 2021 program included 8 itineraries to 19 destinations in 8 countries, ranging in length from 7 to 21 days and 3 optional homeports (Athens, Rome, Barcelona). The canceled Caribbean 2021 program included 6 voyages (4-8-16 days) to 8 ports/islands in 7 Eastern-Southern Caribbean countries. The canceled South America 2021 program (January-February 2021) included 6 departures to 22 destinations in 11 countries, including the 50-day "South America Circumnavigation" from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles.

Next tables show the canceled inaugural season 2021 (Europe-Mediterranean) and the USA-Caribbean deployment as homeports, call ports and prices per person.

21-day Maiden Voyage (themed "Grand Mediterranean Collection") - from USD 4400 pp. The inaugural cruise (Nov 3 departure) was also available as a 14-day itinerary (Civitavecchia to Barcelona, USD 2950 pp) and 7-day itinerary (Civitavecchia to Piraeus, USD 1550 pp).

21-day Inaugural Transatlantic repositioning cruise from Europe-Mediterranean to USA-Florida (Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale) - from ~USD 2600 pp. The Transatlantic crossing was also available for booking as a 14-day itinerary (Civitavecchia to Fort Lauderdale, USD 1300 pp).

4-day Inaugural Caribbean cruise (themed "Eastern Caribbean Getaway) - from USD 500 pp.

Inaugural 16-day "Caribbean Southern Adventurer" itinerary (Christmas 2021 cruise) - from USD 2450 pp.

The 8-day itinerary (themed "Eastern Caribbean Explorer", maiden voyage prices from USD 950 pp) visits Tortola, St Kitts, Puerto Rico, and Grand Turk.

In early-January 2022 had to start the "mini-world cruise" (50-days) Around South America. The repositioning voyage was priced from ~USD 7400 pp.