Voyages of Discovery MV Discovery

Food was over-plentiful, and good. Staff were there to serve you well.

Our problems began with our room, which was on deck 7 and considered a superior room. Superior? The sink was cracked, and the carpet stained. It was NOTHING like the advertised picture.

Throughout our 8 day voyage, some of the major lounges, deck 6, and other parts of the ship stank of effluent. They were experiencing a problem with the septic tank.

'Code Niagra' meant that another pipe had burst. Often, this meant that people had to relocate rooms.

Dressed in our finest one evening, we and others were treated to a soot shower. Clothes were laundered free of charge, and well, but it points to a badly designed ship's funnel.

We understand that the ship will soon be going in to be refitted, which is badly needed - however, not all will be refurbished. It probably needs gutting.

Basic cabin with portholes,very little room and you need to be able to sleep soundly as staff still hovering and on duty all night, also you can hear other guests moving in their rooms. A wide selection of food great for those of us who do not not usually have time at home to have full meals. Do NOT go for late dinning as 8.30 too late we finished between 10.30-11 PM. No entertainment before dinning and only puzzels or a drink in a emepty bar. Yes our fellow holiday makers were elderly going to their cabins after their meal.An area for 24 hours hot drinks great only this was a area where one of 2 very small pools were. Eating late afternoon snacks and having to share with swimmers no changing rooms where one elderly Gentleman did not see why we objected him taking his trunks off to dry himself. One of the not so nice sights of our cruise. Trips very expensive not worth the money also take a snack even on days where maels are included as they are not worth stopping for. Our biggest upset was the last day our cruise coach should have left at 7 pm for our flight but did not go until 7.20 for a flight at 9.55pm. Arriving at 9pm After booking in and going through passport control at 9.30 our flight had already boarded and cruise staff were asking us to run. The delay arriving was in the ships hands as trafic in Instanbul is worst than London/India. No time even for the Ladies I was asked to use the loo aboard as the aircraft would not wait.So no time for duty free then.Overall the cruise for us was the stops which did not disapoint us at all.

We are not cruise types, but we wanted to visit the destinations included in the Black Sea Voyager and were recommended this cruise by some friends who had been on it the year before.

We liked the ship, although it was old and had seen better days. In Istanbul we were moored next to a huge German cruise ship which was like a floating retail park - right down to the dining arrangements, from what I've since read. Instead of being able to wander off the ship freely in port, as you can from a small vessel like the Discovery, the two thousand passengers had to queue for ages to get back aboard. So if you want the experience of a smaller, traditional ship, grab it before Discovery is taken out of service, which may happen in the not too distant future. Another good point of Discovery is that as nearly everything including service is included in the price, your cruise is hassle free and the helpfulness is genuine - another big plus over some of the floating gin palaces.

Our inside cabins were basic, but adequate and clean. We were pampered by the superb Philippino crew, especially when one of us was ill (lots of coughs about on this voyage). We're not foodies, but there was plenty of well- presented and good food. We had good service from the ship's doctor when one of us had an accident. We went to one port lecture which we found disappointing and didn't go again. We didn't make much use of the entertainment as we weren't always well, but some that we saw was good, and we borrowed books from the library to read in the cabin. Socially we got on well with the other passengers we met and had some interesting conversations with the crew, whom we found very approachable.

We didn't go on many excursions because they were expensive and we'd been told by our friends we could do it ourselves.In most cases the places of interest were just outside the port. In terms of the destinations, the cruise lived up to our expectations.

Before leaving the ship, we'd already booked to go on another cruise with Discovery next year. So I think that shows we were pretty satisfied. customers!

Our first cruise and what a brilliant introduction, great weather, beautiful places to visit, wonderful food, friendly staff and crew and great size ship for a first cruise.

I can't think of anything bad to say about the whole experience and I have reccomended it to friends and family. I am not sure how long the Discovery will be in service for (heard rumours that it may only be 2 years) but hope to travel on it again. Keep up the good work and thanks for a wonderful holiday.

This was our first ever cruise and we loved it! The Discovery is a small ship, personal service, easy to meet and get to know other travellers. We found the 'noisy engines' some people complain about were very soothing and we slept very well. Food was good and lots of variety. Staff were so helpful. We were among the youngest on board at 50 but loved the peaceful, easygoing atmosphere. Also enjoyed the dress up nights too! Only went on one trip, Flam railway. This was a bit disorganised but not ships fault! Could have done it ourselves but didn't want to risk missing out!

We were amazed by people saying they got seasick - we took tablets before setting sail, until we reached calmer waters and had no problems!

Last year our Voyage of Discovery Baltic Cruise was faultless,sadly we cannot say the same this year.

The general atmosphere on the ship was not as friendly,although as always the Filopino crew were delightful.

Food was also of a lower standard both in the Lido,Buffet selection very poor,smoked salmon served once.Seven Seas Restaurant was also of a much lower standard than last year.

It is still a very clean ship and the excursions were well organised.

We have no complaints about the boat Discovery. The staff are fantastic and the service is excellent. Food also very good especially the buffets.

We do have a complaint about the price of the excursions. For what they offered some of them were really not worth the money. The descriptions are wonderful but what you got on some of them was not.

For example we paid £70 each to go ashore in the Seychelles(free boat tender for anyone) spend one hour in a nature reserve and then 40 minutes on a beach. The people who just went ashore on their own paid £5 return for the coach to the beach.

Some people said they never go on organised excursions. I am not sure what the solution is, because seeing different things is part of the holiday.

Further update - 6 days from what should have been the start of our cruise Voyages of Discovery have finally decided to cancel our holiday. But we are not being offered a refund, only the option of transferring to another of their cruises next year. Since they are not doing the same cruise next year they are forcing me to go on a cruise that I'm not interested in.

The 1 star I have given is for their cheek ( ....it's the minimum this site will allow me to give)

It's a pity I had to give this a star at all. I was due to go on this cruise 4 days ago but due to the volcanic eruption I have not been able to do so. I appreciatee it is not the company's fault but at the time of writing the majority of other cruise companies are offering the option of a full refund but not so Voyages of Discovery. All they are offering is alternative flight dates to catch up with the ship but at the current time thses are totally realistic as the latest news is that there may be flight disruption for weeks. We have been told by Voyages that they are meeting their contract and 'there is no way you are getting a refund'. We have paid £4000 for a 2 week holiday which is now down to a week in the med ( if we ever manage to fly) and the company so far have no intention of offering us any alternative. I booked this holiday on the strength of all the positive reviews the ship and it's staff have received. It's a shame that the company are not as caring as it's crew. I had already booked a second cruise with this company for later in the year but I am cancelling it.

Land of Midnight Sun cruise June 2009. First class itinerary, excellent organisation marred by having to share Tromso with another cruise liner with 1200 on board meant that all tourist destinations were jam packed. Not much company could do about this. Ships company excellent in every respect, friendly patient and cheerful. Food first class for canteen style eating. Went with mr. Bridge and highly recommend doing this to spend each evening in congenial company at the bridge table.