Discovery Princess 6 – 20th December 2025
We boarded the lovely Discovery Princess in Sydney on 6th December 2025. She is the biggest and newest Princess ship ever to sail in Australian waters and she doesn’t disappoint. Only 4 years old and cruising with up to 3660 guests – the Discovery Princess feels modern, stylish and contemporary compared with some of the older Princess ships. There are 13 bars and lounges and 13 dining venues which should provide enough variety for the fussiest traveller! The Princess service is as friendly, efficient and flawless as ever and all the crew seem happy to be here . Below is a day by day account of our trip to give you an idea of life onboard. Here we are about to board and as you can see we have our littlest cruiser with us – and yes Princess is suitable for kids as well !!!
Day One – 6th December – Sydney
We arrived from Melbourne early just before 9am as we were excited to take our cruise and also didn’t want to risk being late ! It was a beautiful sunny day in Sydney and despite travelling with a 3 year old we decided to take the train into the city ( we didnt have a car seat with us this time!) . It was really very easy and even though the cost $20 each) is not much less than a taxi ( $60) it was very easy and the lifts and travellators from the airport and luggage friendly train carriages make travelling with bags light work ! There are only 6 stops and takes about 20 minutes and what a nice arrival to see your ship waiting as you approach the platform to alight ! From there it is about 10 minute walk to check in ( but there are also lifts at Circular Quay station. The other advantage is you can touch on with your credit card – so no need to buy a local Opal card ! We were early as check in didn’t open until 11ma however we could drop our bags and walk around the Rocks – there are often street craft markets there or you could take a walk around the iconic Opera House and stroll through the Botanical Gardens, We opted to go to La Renaissance Cafe – in the Rocks – 5 mins walk away – it has a lovely courtyard out the back and bathroom ( always needed when travelling!) – so a perfect spot for a weary toddler to regain energy before boarding the ship !
Once we were refreshed we headed back to the pier and started the boarding process. Given there were over 3000 people boarding the ship it was realtively painless , helped by the fact we are Elite so had priority. Our rooms were available shortly after boarding and our luggage arrived fairly promptly as well.
We had an MF Mini suite E123 and was a good size considering we were travelling as a couple, a 3 year old and my young adult son. Here are some images when we first arrived . The room can be divided in 2 for privacy or if someone is up late or sleeping in – it helps not to disturb your other roommates !
The top bunk has its own light – but not the curtain around it like on the Emerald Princess but still was ample space for my son to hang out in and my daughter loved being on the bottom bunk below her big brother !
Sail Away was a wonderful celebration as there were joint festivities – Discovery Princess’s first sailing from Australia and the 50th anniversary of Princess in Australia. The captain was there and all the Princess dancers and singers and it set the tone for a great cruise !
Day Two First Sea Day
The day started with clocks forward by one hour – but I still made Zumba – as Orlando woke up foe Scarlett – not her dad though . We all then went the buffet for breakfast – as Scarlett was desperate to get to the kids club – however I think the idea of it seemed better than the reality when she found out mummy and daddy couldn’t come too – and after 20 minutes we got the beep on the pager to come and collect her.
The ice cream was a hit for both my kids – both the soft serve and the Gelato from Piazza – with a Plus package each guest gets 3 scoops twice a day – so enough to share with the third and fourth guest in our room.
