Info Magic Drydock Cadiz

StephenKay

DVC Member VWL 2001
Joined
Dec 9, 2000
Evening Everyone,

I have been fortunate to be on the recent Eastbound Transatlantic crossing and after a weeks break a Med Cruise, during this time I have been asking some of the ships officers some info about the forthcoming drydock.

Firstly the ship will be growing some 20 plus feet at the back of the rear of the ship, known to staff as the duck tail. The reason is simple due to the increase in weight applied on deck 9 and 10 will alter the balance of the center of gravity. The duck tail is under construction already and major cutting of the hull will take place within hours of being place in the dock. The ship was due to be out of the water for just 3 weeks, however they now expect the ship will be out for the full 5 weeks, and when she returns to the water they will be going straight to the transatlantic crossing with contractors still onboard.

What we see throughout the ship will change by 75%, this will be completed by a team of 1200 contractors plus the dockyard crew. Infact small changes are being made as we speak, on the EBTA we had a team of Estonian's changing and fitting new wood panelling of the various stairwells, if you remember some had a grey covering in many areas. The panelling will extended into the corridors to staterooms as well, this will remove the old look around these areas.

One area being assessed last week was the signage, such as the corrections in removing the "Outlook Bar" and strange arrows pointing to nowhere. These were all being photographed and measured last week.

We all know that Topsiders will disappear, infact they are removing a large bulkhead that spilts the current diningroom in 2 and this will give the space required along with the removal of the walkway around the starboard side of deck 9 aft which connects the kids pool area to Topsiders. This change will also see the removal of the Gooffy Gallery and Ice Bar, this will now all be inside the Cabanas Restaurant. Another deck 9 change will be the removal of a outside stairwell, which one I got confused about. I think its the starboard as they are increasing the size of Pluto's doghouse and maybe removing the adjacent bar to allow for kids pool slide enchancement, which will see it rise by a significant height.

Changes will be made to Palo, some just cosmetic, such as new blinds, however I was told it might include an outside dining area, certainly no Remy.

In Animators Palate, things will look the same however in most areas the walls are being moved back by 1 metre to give more overall dining space, this is easily achieved as a gap of 1 metre was built in the 90's to accomodate the large displays and speakers, these will all now be LCD's

Every room will look completely different, they said about the change of furniture, like the high beds which allow baggage storage and removal of the old sofa beds, again these will look like the newer ships. I should say at this point many officers stressed that it will remain the Magic and not just a smaller Dream, the really stressed that point. Something that been talked about is the new cabling for interactive services in the rooms will take a lot of effort, for interactive services read Magic Portholes and inroom bill veiwing. One big challenge, is that of the waste and water both hot and cold, all systems will be completely removed, which will be great as the ship is struggling daily with waste leaks.

Just as I said the Chilhuly will go, have a look at my post on the first of Apr, yes first of Apr, and of course the stairway to the left of Lumieres will go to allow more photography sets in that area. Mickey will of course go to right where the piano sits to make it easier to allow access to the restaurant.

The bars are all changing, if you see them this summer take pics as it's all change, decor the lot. Sessions will be Keys (No Tim, he is off to the Wonder with Peter the CD, this means Brent is returning prior to drydock) Diversions will become the O'Gills Irish Bar and Rockin Bar D will become Fathoms with all new lighting and decor/seating.

As for the shops, the walkway between the 2 shops will become all glass to enable an increase in size and a change in overall decor and shelving. The shop Up Beat may see a name change but many aren't sure what is happening down stairs.

One big gripe is the wifi onboard and that's to be improved as the signal strength around all areas including the crew area!! The crew will see the crew bar move from it's current location to deck 5 forward.


The kids clubs will be all change as had been already shown on various sites, that said I did hear a comment that it might not just include Marvel, Ironman and the words Star Wars was mentioned.

We shall all have to wait and see, the project in my eyes is 2 years too late, however they were building 2 new ships at that time, but I think it shall be worth the wait. We shall just have to wish them all well.

PS: Dont be surprised if you hear of the 2 new ships being announced in the next year, both will be bigger than the Magic/Wonder however smaller than the Dream/Fantasy.
 
Wow - that's a lot of information - thanks for the update!

We all know that Topsiders will disappear, infact they are removing a large bulkhead that spilts the current diningroom in 2 and this will give the space required along with the removal of the walkway around the starboard side of deck 9 aft which connects the kids pool area to Topsiders.

I was wondering how they were going to do this, as Topsiders was cramped the way it was. Now it all makes sense.

Something that been talked about is the new cabling for interactive services in the rooms will take a lot of effort, for interactive services read Magic Portholes and inroom bill veiwing.

That's interesting. One thing I noticed missing on the Magic was the large library of on-demand movies available on the newer ships. Sure, they had quite a number of dedicated movie and other channels, but they played on a particular schedule. The newer ships let you start any movie or show anytime you want, pause, etc. It will be nice to have this on the Magic.

One big gripe is the wifi onboard and that's to be improved as the signal strength around all areas including the crew area!!

I was wondering about that as well. It was a big problem for me on the Magic. I was in the Walt Disney Suite, which comes with unlimited Internet, yet the only way to get a signal was to prop open the front door and sit in line-of-site with it. The Concierges were well aware of this problem, and they were the ones to suggest to prop open the door. Not a very royal experience. I'm glad they're addressing it.

Infact small changes are being made as we speak, on the EBTA we had a team of Estonian's changing and fitting new wood panelling of the various stairwells, if you remember some had a grey covering in many areas. The panelling will extended into the corridors to staterooms as well, this will remove the old look around these areas.

I can't quite tell exactly what you're describing, but one thing that I noticed about the Magic vs the new ships is the guest hallways: on the new ships, there is trim on all walls, and walking down one, you might not even know you're on a ship, except for the occasional fire door and signage - instead, you might just be in a narrow hallway of a fine hotel. On the Magic, the wood paneling and trim was only on the stateroom side of the hallway, leaving the other side plain and industrial, and leaving no doubt that you were on a ship. If they fix trim issues such as this during the drydock, that will give a nice upgrade to the whole experience.
 
Thanks for the update. Any mention, yes, no, maybe, about adding a concierge lounge?
 
What a delightful read! Thank you for taking the time to share all this info. I hope your trip is spectacular.
 


I'm really hoping if they add more ships that they'll be able to keep on permanently on the west coast.

I know the Mexican riviera cruises weren't the best profit-wise but without a west coast (California) option we may never be able to take our kids on DCL. We can just barely afford the cruise fare, it's the flight to Florida that's murder for us.
 
Stevie! Thanks for the info, as always. You have made me miss the EBTA even more now. I need to rush over to the thread now to see your Med pics (had opened it on my phone and that just won't suffice haha).
 


I'm really hoping if they add more ships that they'll be able to keep on permanently on the west coast.

I know the Mexican riviera cruises weren't the best profit-wise but without a west coast (California) option we may never be able to take our kids on DCL. We can just barely afford the cruise fare, it's the flight to Florida that's murder for us.

We are in the same boat regards the cost of flying to connect with the ship, It currently costs more money generally to fly than the cruise cost itself, nothing to say of the time and effort. I heard a lady say "if they leave Galveston (just before the EBTA) then that's if for us on DCL because of the cost of driving to the port from Dallas" I thought if you only know what some people do to join the ship and the cost. :rotfl2:

I think, only think! that one will go to the far east as this is a massive potential market as they will have three parks to help as well.
 
Something that been talked about is the new cabling for interactive services in the rooms will take a lot of effort, for interactive services read Magic Portholes and inroom bill veiwin


Hi,

So are you saying there will be magic portholes? :)
 
I'm really hoping if they add more ships that they'll be able to keep on permanently on the west coast.

I know the Mexican riviera cruises weren't the best profit-wise but without a west coast (California) option we may never be able to take our kids on DCL. We can just barely afford the cruise fare, it's the flight to Florida that's murder for us.

A fellow Californian here and I agree about having ships year around on the West coast. There is a huge demand here with good year around weather. When Disney did have a ship here there was NO advertising or promoting it, zilch . Very very few even knew there was a ship here.
 
Something that been talked about is the new cabling for interactive services in the rooms will take a lot of effort, for interactive services read Magic Portholes and inroom bill veiwin


Hi,

So are you saying there will be magic portholes? :)

I have not heard that from the DCL officers, they did state that interactive cabling was being put in place for future upgrades, the person stating this was cut short as another officer stepped in to cut the conversation short, I can't think why they would do all the work and not do the portholes when the ship is going to such a extensive upgrade.
 
I have not heard that from the DCL officers, they did state that interactive cabling was being put in place for future upgrades, the person stating this was cut short as another officer stepped in to cut the conversation short, I can't think why they would do all the work and not do the portholes when the ship is going to such a extensive upgrade.

I really hope so :banana: I read somewhere it would cost too much :(
 
StephenKay said:
I have not heard that from the DCL officers, they did state that interactive cabling was being put in place for future upgrades, the person stating this was cut short as another officer stepped in to cut the conversation short, I can't think why they would do all the work and not do the portholes when the ship is going to such a extensive upgrade.

I can think of a few reasons. First is that if you make all 4 ships the same then there's be no reason to go on any of the other ships. ( forgetting itins etc)

2nd is manpower power. DCL has priorities. This time around there may not be simply enough people or time to do anything other then run the cables. Next time in 2 years they could drop the screens in and be ready.

3rd money. Say for arguments sake it costs 500000 to buy everything for the vp and its the same price say for the Aquadunk. DCL only has enough money for 1 and chose the Aquadunk.
 
First of all, thanks OP for posting all that information! :)

A fellow Californian here and I agree about having ships year around on the West coast. There is a huge demand here with good year around weather. When Disney did have a ship here there was NO advertising or promoting it, zilch . Very very few even knew there was a ship here.

I totally agree with the lack of advertising. We are in AZ, but we still get a lot of DLR advertising. Never once did we see anything, even on national TV, about cruises until a year or so ago (and they were generic, and mostly implied Bahamanian/Caribbean cruises). I think my DH and I would have cruised before now (our first cruise is in October) if there was one that was closer. We can get to San Diego or LA in less than 6 hours and for MUCH cheaper than flying to Texas or Florida...or Alaska...or Barcelona :rotfl2:
 
I can think of a few reasons. First is that if you make all 4 ships the same then there's be no reason to go on any of the other ships. ( forgetting itins etc)

2nd is manpower power. DCL has priorities. This time around there may not be simply enough people or time to do anything other then run the cables. Next time in 2 years they could drop the screens in and be ready.

3rd money. Say for arguments sake it costs 500000 to buy everything for the vp and its the same price say for the Aquadunk. DCL only has enough money for 1 and chose the Aquadunk.

I am certainly not going to reveal what sources, however it's strange you mention money, as this was supposedly the deal breaker on a number of projects not mentioned in the original post, I never heard that mentioned by DCL before.
 

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