How are the Magic's repairs coming??

[kritters4]

Can anyone report on the Magic and her repairs from the fire?? How does the ship look now and are they still working on her??

[DreamsDoComeTrue]

I took a peek at the web cam last Sat. and didn't see any cranes in use. (Hazy picture though)

[*Huey*]

I drive home from work on the beeline and see the ships all the time when they're in port... What happened to the Magic? Have I been in a cave? :D

[mmouse37]

Huey...in the beginning of March the Disney Magic had a fire onboard that damaged one of the funnels. It was crumpled and in need of a new paint job.

MJ

[bweppner]

Hey kritters4!

I just got back from the Magic 4/6 - 4/13 cruise and the repairs don't really seem to be coming along. Around the damaged funnel they have a bunch of scaffolding ready to be set up, but that is it. They may have been planning do to work on our voyage, but we had 8-13ft. seas for most of the trip with a strong crosswind which would have made the work dangerous. Other than the funnel damage, the ship is in great shape and all sorts of other maintenance was being done during our cruise.

:earsboy:

[stormkrow]

Do they still restrict access to the one pool, or is that back to normal?

[bweppner]

stromkrow,

All the pools are open and there is free access to the public areas of the ship. Again, it looked like they were ready to start repairs at any time, but I'm sure the weather for our trip delayed the start.

:earsboy:

[iluvorlando]

From what I heard on the cruise from staff, was that a new "red" funnel cover was ordered. They will only replace it when it comes in and I would assume they would have to do that in a port. Don't know how long it takes to get that part!:rolleyes: She is still magnificent!:D

[MarkRG]

I work with Italian companies for equipment. I'd guess a month, possibly two for them to fabricate a new one from the desgin drawings and ship it here. That's just a guess based on big items shipped in the past.

[Pugdog007]

What other type of maintenance were being done when you were on the MAGIC? The damaged funnel doesn't take away from the cruise experience, I hope.

[bweppner]

PugDog007,

First, the funnel should not take away from your cruise experience at all. It's only visible if you are on one side of Deck 10 or off the ship. The other maintenance was what you would expect Disney to do to keep the ship beautiful. Sanding down and refinishing of wood railings, painting, washing off salt spray, etc. The ship looks great for all the wear and tear it must get hauling around 2,400 passengers and 900 crew every week for four years...

[mikeymars]

>>The ship looks great for all the wear and tear it must get hauling around 2,400 passengers and 900 crew every week for four years...<<

I have to politely but strongly disagree with this. We were on a recent (3/23/02) Magic sailing, which was our first trip on DCL but not our first time cruising (we've previously cruised on RCCL, Carnival, Holland American and Celebrity). One of our few "complaints" was the condition of the ship.

Compared to the ships on other lines we've cruised, the Magic was not in particularly great shape given it is only four years old. We saw plenty of rust (including a huge amount on the railings on our veranda, which I found unacceptable) and outside woodwork that desperately needed refinishing (all around the Mickey pool as example). Lots of trash in the pools, too - even during the quiet hours.

While I saw a little bit of repair/maintenance work going on (an occasional single crew member doing some painting), it was nothing compared to the levels I've seen on other ships, particularly the Celebrity ones. They wrote the textbook on how to keep a ship looking new, you can't walk around a single deck on a Celebrity ship at any hour without running into 10-12 crew members busy painting, refinishing, etc. ;)

[kellyb2000]

DreamsDoComeTrue - What web cam? I would love to see it.

[I Luv Disney Cruise]

Not to create an argument, but we have been on 3 other cruises with them and everytime we looked they were doing some type of work and there would be several crew members working. I saw refinishing going on at the Quiet Cove Pool, repainting of some of the outside of the boat, refinishing of some of the railings on Deck 10. :) Plus, it doesn't bother me to much that there is some rust, I know that they are trying their best to keep the ship up. How can they do 100% improvement without stopping cruises? :confused: Also, how can they take care of the verandahs of staterooms during the actual cruise without imposing on cruisers?:confused: I say give them a little break, they are trying their best. ;) :)

[mikeymars]

>>we have been on 3 other cruises with them and everytime we looked they were doing some type of work <<

Granted, and my point was not imply that no maintenance is ever done or that the Magic is in horrible shape (which it is not). Rather, it was to compare the level of maintenance on it to those of ships on other cruise lines, ones we have actually sailed on. That is because -- irrespective of how many times one has been on DCL -- one can't give a meaningful grade to anything (in this case, the condition of the Magic) without comparing it to something else.

And when one does that, the finding is the same: maintenance on the Magic is NOT up to the level of the general industry. And that isn't just my opinion. Every other post I've ever seen from experienced cruisers -- ergo, ones who have sailed on other cruise lines in addition to DCL -- on this board on this subject (and there have been several) agrees with my point - DCL just doesn't do quite as good a job in this area as competitors.

>>give them a little break, they are trying their best. <<

I'm not "after" DCL and/or the crew, but are they really "trying their best?" Again, I don't think they are, and that is surprising: Disney is known for a history of "keep it looking new and polished" at their parks, and I'd give most of their land resorts (at WDW or DL) high grades compared to the competiton, in terms of maintenance and condition.

As a result, I was surprised (and somewhat disappointed) by the condition of the Magic and don't see why DCL can't maintain it to Disney's historic property standards, much less those of the general cruise industry. Per my prior example, if Celebrity can afford put large groups of crew into regular maintenance, why can't DCL?

[I Luv Disney Cruise]

True, you do have a point there. ;) :) :D

[KMovies]

When staying on the ship, you see much maintenance going on. Everyone is off in Nassau or St. Martin or where ever and they are busy fixing up the ship.

[I Luv Disney Cruise]

DH and I would come back to the ship for lunches when at ports and would notice the little boats are at sides of the ship painting, we also couldn't walk through one of the entrance to the quiet cove pool they were refinishing the deck there, we also noticed there was a section roped off as they were repainting. I also watched them clean the sides of the ship from my verandah, they were on this neat contraption that they sat on (reminded me of tall buildings and how the window cleaners get around) anyway, it moved across and down the side of the ship.:earseek:

[DisneyKids]

What I find interesting is that I sailed in October of 1998 (inaugural season) and then again this past January. The ship looked every bit as good as it did 10 or 12 weeks into it's life. Also, when I sailed in January, there was a GREAT deal of sanding, painting, etc. going on (along with other general maintenance). Mikeymars mentioned those areas as areas needing work. It seemed that wherever I went, especially early in the morning, there was chipping and sanding of rust where needed, painting, sanding, etc. How, between January and March, so much fell apart, I don't know. And, I never saw garbage in the pools or anywhere, for that matter.

I hope, for DCL and all of us that cruise, that Mikeymars saw the exception rather than the rule.

[I Luv Disney Cruise]

I also saw on the last cruise the Mickey pool emptied twice, cleaned and filled, while we were at sea.:D

I am very impressed with Disney Wonder and Disney Magic and will continue to cruise every year. (I also hear they are in the planning process of building a 3rd ship):Pinkbounc :bounce:

[WDWLVR]

MIKEYMARS I have to disagree with you. Every other post from experienced cruisers do not agree with you. I, for one, have been cruising for 25 plus years and think that Disney is doing a great job and I've said so in a number of posts.

You are more than welcome to your opinion and if you prefer others ships than by all means cruise on them. Please do not however think that you speak for all experienced cruisers when you put Disney down.

[rcdisneyfam]

I agree with most, Disney does a great job. We were on Eastern last May and they painted the dark blue on the bottom of the ship in St Maarten one day and the other painted the other side of the ship when we were at St. Thomas. Always scraping and painting. I even said it kind of was smelly (paint smell) one day that they are always doing something to spiff up the ship. Can't wait to go on the next one.....66 days and counting!!!:bounce:

[I Luv Disney Cruise]

that there are others out there that felt as magical and impressed as I did and still do. Only 3 weeks and 3 days till I go on the first Western 7 day cruise on the Magic! :D :bounce: :Pinkbounc

[Thumper1]

We went on the Wonder in October 2000 and the Magic in December 2001 and I don't remember seeing anything amiss with the upkeep. I will say the parks aren't as spiffy as they used to be, but I thought that the ships were in great shape. Maybe there are just different levels of awareness.

[Pugdog007]

Like Mikey, I too am quite the perfectionist, ok picky. I also noticed that on the Wonder last Sep, my stateroom could use some work. Carpets/chair soiled, really dirty grout in shower, etc. I like things to be "perfect." It went into drydock the week after I sailed, so I had hoped the staterooms would have received some much-needed attention.

[Renee']

Mickeymars......Have you let anyone at DCL know of your findings? Disney has always seemed to highly regard the opinions of their guests and I think they'd like to hear your opinions. You are an experienced cruiser and can compare their ship to other lines. We are Disney lovers - 4th cruise on the Magic is in September. We feel the ship is gorgeous but honestly I can see Mickeymars' point. Our verandah on every cruise has had some rust, nothing overpowering but noticable. We did make a mental note but never complained as it was the only thing we did noticed. Since we're not experienced cruisers (only cruised on the Magic) we don't have anything to compare to but I'm sure DCL encourages both positive and negative feedback as the cruise industry is highly competitive and I'm sure they don't want to lose any edge. I don't think any of the Disney lovers on here should take offense to Mickeymars' statements, corrective criticism can be a good thing.

[mmouse37]

I have sailed on 5 other cruise lines, Carnival, Princess, RCCL, Norwegian and Celebrity. I have also sailed 5 times on Disney, both the Magic and the Wonder. Compared to other cruise lines I found that Disney is at par or above in the maintenance dept. I sailed on the Maiden voyage of the Magic back on 7/30/98 and just sailed again this past Feb. I think the ship looks just as good as she did in the beginning. I do belive Disney takes great pride in keeping up appearances.

Everytime I would walk on deck, day or night, there was always several crew members down on their knees or standing up sanding, varnishing, painting, cleaning plexiglass, vacuuming, shampooing carpets, powerwashing, etc.

I do agree that the veranda's are in need of some maintenance, but overall DCL really does keep up with the competition. I have seen much worse conditions on other cruise lines with ships about the same age.

MJ

[mikeymars]

>>I, for one, have been cruising for 25 plus years and think that Disney is doing a great job and I've said so in a number of posts.<<

>>Compared to other cruise lines I found that Disney is at par or above in the maintenance dept.<<

Interesting. This is the first DIS thread I've ever been on regarding this specific subject (and I've seen in the range of 8-10 of them) where other experienced cruisers stated DCL is as good as or better than the industry when it comes to maintenance. Ergo, per what I've seen historically, these appear to be minority opinions, but then again maybe they aren't, who knows? Neither I nor anyone else here can possibly claim to have read every post ever put up discussing this subject.

Whatever, I stand by my point: I saw levels of unrepaired wear on the Magic that were far beyond anything I have seen on the Celebrity Zenith or Millennium, the Carnival Inspiration, The Holland American Rotterdam, The RCCL Majesty of the Seas....yada yada yada. Again, I'm not stating the Magic was a dump, but was its overall condition up to that of the other ships I just mentioned? No.

Perhaps the real basis of the debate revolves around PugDog's insightful observation: some of us are hyper-picky perfectionists (with all the good and bad that comes with that) and some of us aren't. Or stated differently: what bothers some may be irrelevant to others. Fine, to each their own.;)

[DreamsDoComeTrue]

Enough already, guys! Sheeesh! Getting back to the original subject... the fire damage repair???... here is the site that Kelly had asked for. Port Canaveral Web Cam. Large view. (http://www.mycfnow.com/cameras/portcanaveralcam/campopup.html)
The first Sat back after the fire, a crane was visible at the damage site. Otherwise, it's hard to make out much.

[kellyb2000]

Thanks - I could look at that picture for hours!!! September 21st cannot get here soon enough!

[mikeymars]

Originally posted by DreamsDoComeTrue
[SIZE=3]Getting back to the original subject... the fire damage repair?

It would appear this question has in essence already been answered. The quick hit, "patch and paint" cosmetic band-aid stuff was done within days of the fire, and now we are into a workless lag period while DCL waits for repair parts to arrive. For what it's worth, an article on the Cruise Critic page (which gave no specific source) said repairs wouldn't be "completed" until late May at the earliest.

[LiLgOoFyQt4EvA]

I was on the Magic March 23-March 30. My mom told me about the fire, it looks pretty good. The pipes are still a little burnt.