Med Cruisers...Let's Discuss Planning!(Updated Tour Info, Links & BCN Info on Page 1)

[Doingitagain]

oh yikes - did they restock before the end of the trip?

Not to my knowledge. It was disappointing.

 

[tajz90]

DCL was running out of stuff right and left this year. We drank out of red solo cups and white styrofoam cups for a couple of days, twice on our 12 nt.

 

[lilpooh108]

DCL was running out of stuff right and left this year. We drank out of red solo cups and white styrofoam cups for a couple of days, twice on our 12 nt.

Red Solo Cups .... I wonder if Europe has Costcos I love how they ran out of regular DCL cups but not Red Solo Cups. How random

 

[debsters41]

I am really getting paranoid that the last cruise before the drydock is going to be served only the dregs of whatever is left

 

[lilpooh108]

I am really getting paranoid that the last cruise before the drydock is going to be served only the dregs of whatever is left

Awwhh, but look at it this way. You'll be cruising the beautiful Mediterranean, and I'll be driving my kids to boring gym classes, doctor appointments, attending new school year meetings and cleaning the house before my next surgery.

So either way, being on the Mickey ship with no Diet Coke is way better than a regular day in the life of (insert blank here).

 

[debsters41]

Awwhh, but look at it this way. You'll be cruising the beautiful Mediterranean, and I'll be driving my kids to boring gym classes, doctor appointments, attending new school year meetings and cleaning the house before my next surgery.

So either way, being on the Mickey ship with no Diet Coke is way better than a regular day in the life of (insert blank here).

Very true, and I am thankful. But this is where Irony rears its ugly head. I live in the beautiful Mediterranean. I was really looking forward to good ol' American comfort foods that I can't really get here.... peanut butter, rice crispie treats, mickey bars, mac and cheese, ginger ale and CAKE! lol! There had better be some sort of corn syrup concoction pretending to be maple syrup or I will be camping out outside the head chef's quarters

Good luck on your surgery! I wish you a speedy recovery.

 

[lilpooh108]

Very true, and I am thankful. But this is where Irony rears its ugly head. I live in the beautiful Mediterranean. I was really looking forward to good ol' American comfort foods that I can't really get here.... peanut butter, rice crispie treats, mickey bars, mac and cheese, ginger ale and CAKE! lol! There had better be some sort of corn syrup concoction pretending to be maple syrup or I will be camping out outside the head chef's quarters

Good luck on your surgery! I wish you a speedy recovery.

Awh, thanks!

I forgot you are an Ex Pat. As food is a major source of inspiration and happiness in my life, I can completely understand the importance of mac & cheese and ginger ale. I'm sure they won't run out of those. Can you imagine the outrage of children if they ran out of mac & cheese?

Mickey Bars though--- I heard they ran out the last time they did the Med. I actually saw that in a thread somewhere.

 

[Sir William]

You guys have no idea how helpful this thread is for those of us that have Med cruises booked for next year!! My family is on the May 31 seven nighter and while thumbing through this thread is a little overwhelming (sooo much information), that's a good problem to have!! So excited to scrub it a little closer and make some plans.
Thanks to ALL of you for putting so much time and energy into the thread and helping the rest of us out.

We are on that cruise as well.

 

[mkmommy]

I've just booked marked this thread for future years, thanks for putting it all in one place.





Dubrovnik one of my favourite places. There is a sign up at the port with the prices of taxis. We took the Panaroma tour which cost 50¬. Our axi driver who was fab and spoke really good English, drove us over the new bridge, pointed out a map with all the places we would stop for photos. Explainoed about the old and new town etc. we made a couple of photo stops and then he took us to the top of the cable car, where he explained about the war and showed us photos of the bombings and holes in the wall. He took photos of us up there and then dropped us at the gate. The tour lasted 1 hour. A taxi to the gate was ¬20 and the port were running a shuttle which I think was ¬8 each. I pre purchased our wall tickets before we left, so no standing in line. Make sure you have the local currency before you go up the wall for drinks and ice creams.

. .

We will be in Dubrovnik in October and there is like 5 ships in port that day so buying tickets for the wall in advance would be great, where did you pre buy the tickets ?

 

[Tianni]

You guys have no idea how helpful this thread is for those of us that have Med cruises booked for next year!! My family is on the May 31 seven nighter and while thumbing through this thread is a little overwhelming (sooo much information), that's a good problem to have!! So excited to scrub it a little closer and make some plans.
Thanks to ALL of you for putting so much time and energy into the thread and helping the rest of us out.

You're on my cruise!!! Are you on the meet/FE board? We also have a FB page for that cruise! If your family is at all interested in a private tour. We are doing one in Rome! Can't wait to meet you.

 

[Tianni]

Us too!!! See you on board!

Finally more people showing up for the may 31 cruise next year! How exciting! Are y'all on the board/FB page?

 

[liberty6201]

I am really getting paranoid that the last cruise before the drydock is going to be served only the dregs of whatever is left

We are on board next week and I'm wondering the same thing myself. We saved so hard for this I really hope the 'Magic' is still there and that everyone is not gearing own for the refurb

 

[tajz90]

We are on board next week and I'm wondering the same thing myself. We saved so hard for this I really hope the 'Magic' is still there and that everyone is not gearing own for the refurb

We had a great time on our med but we did notice several things broken. One of the drink machines was out. Not sure if Disney ever got it up and running after our cruise or not and several of the public restrooms had out of order issues. On our final night, the ladies restroom near the Walt Disney Theater had to be closed all together because water was flooding the area. Several washers and dryers were broken and never fixed our entire 12 night cruise. It was disappointing, but we didn't let of affect our attitudes or enjoyment. We drank happily from the other machines (in our red solo cups )

 

[liberty6201]

I know what red solo cups are (thank you Toby Keith!) but what cups did DCL used to use? Is it a massive change? I would have guessed on disposable cups anyway? I'm more concerned that they are running out of food/ drink and not bothering to replace it ..... Might have been different if our cruise was discounted but we paid just as much as every one else!! I'm just a bit wary because I've heard attitudes of staff are more 'meh' too, and was there much stripping of decor etc? Tbh out of order restrooms don't really bother me , ill just go elsewhere! But if the attitude is 'we won't bother fixing it bc we have dry dock coming up' that concerns me more

 

[bats]

We had no diet coke from the drink station for around 4 hours one day last week. The laundry room I used (deck 2) was working fine and we didn't have red solo cups!! Just for info, we do have Costco here in the UK, but the references to red solo cups are lost on anyone here who doesn't listen to country music!!

Finally more people showing up for the may 31 cruise next year! How exciting! Are y'all on the board/FB page?

I'm allergic to Facebook I'm afraid!! I'm sure I've already said hi on the Dis thread though.

 

[tajz90]

I know what red solo cups are (thank you Toby Keith!) but what cups did DCL used to use? Is it a massive change? I would have guessed on disposable cups anyway? I'm more concerned that they are running out of food/ drink and not bothering to replace it ..... Might have been different if our cruise was discounted but we paid just as much as every one else!! I'm just a bit wary because I've heard attitudes of staff are more 'meh' too, and was there much stripping of decor etc? Tbh out of order restrooms don't really bother me , ill just go elsewhere! But if the attitude is 'we won't bother fixing it bc we have dry dock coming up' that concerns me more

Well I don't listen to country music, but I do know the brand. DCL uses Disney branded disposable cups and yes, they totally looked out of place. The coffee cups ran out too. Food seemed to be plentiful and we never noticed soda running out, but we don't drink a lot of soda. I noticed more that the ice machines kept running out and / or needing to be worked on.


And the out of order restrooms were growing as our sail days went on. Just general upkeep seemed to be lacking and believe me, it's hard for me to admit that because WE LOVE DCL, but I do think the attitude was "no reason to fix" because of dry dock.

 

[texasgirl29]

We just got off the Magic from the Aug. 10 sailing (still fighting jet lag). Here are my observations:

The drink cups were DCL branded, not red solo cubs, whenever I went to the drink counter.

There were definitely signs of wear that I think would have been fixed if the dry dock was not happening in a couple of weeks. One example was torn wallpaper in the Ladies restroom near the theater.

We were in stateroom 6618. On the second day, I was walking in bare feet in front of the bathroom and the carpet was squishy, but not too much. We mentioned to our room steward and he got some towels and mopped up. But it didn't fix the problem, so my husband called guest services. Nothing happened, so I went down there about 11 p.m. and told them the carpet was soaking wet. The night guest services manager came to our cabin, called the desk manager and said, yes, there is a problem but since it's almost midnight, we'll have someone come about 9 a.m. Fine, we said.

(FYI, my husband is an insurance claims adjuster. He said there was obviously a leak in the plumbing and the leak had to be addressed.)

A maintenance guy came -- at midnight! I told him please come back in the morning. By noon, nothing appeared to have been done, so I went to guest services again. The incident had been closed since the maintenance guy came the night before, and our room steward tried to extract the water, but it was just as wet. They attempted to extract and dry and again my husband stressed there is a leak.

Another deck manager came, and told me that our bathroom had been refurbished already last week ahead of the dry dock and perhaps some water had been spilled and it was leaking out. It was not until my husband talked to him that he understood there was an active leak. They finally fixed the leak, extracted the water and dried with blowers and we had no further problems (and got a complimentary bottle of wine from guest services).

BUT... the hallway a couple of doors down was soaked for about 10 feet. Obviously, there was a plumbing issue.

What I think was more apparent was the staff was stressed by very full ship and demanding customers. In the dining room, you couldn't converse at dinner, it was so loud. Dinner was not a pleasurable experience because of it -- you just wanted to eat and get out. Likewise, in the theaters, the audience was very rude and very loud. Maybe it's a cultural thing but when the cruise director was giving his introduction before the show in the evening, the people around us EVERY NIGHT did not shut up. They continued to converse in Spanish while the CD was talking. Kids behind us knocked our seats. The dad translated through the entire performance. One lady rocked the back of my chair in time with the songs. On the last night, the CD gave his intro in both English and Spanish to try to engage the audience more.

One waiter said the 4 day getaway cruise before ours was "a complete disaster," and he couldn't wait to get through the next two weeks.

 

[lilpooh108]

Several washers and dryers were broken and never fixed our entire 12 night cruise.

That sucks. We were on the June 1 and on deck 6, a few of them were already not working too well. Someone on another TR mentioned GS drying jeans for her granddaughter.

Just general upkeep seemed to be lacking and believe me, it's hard for me to admit that because WE LOVE DCL, but I do think the attitude was "no reason to fix" because of dry dock.

That is *such* a shame. This Med trip is such a major "trip of a lifetime" for many and that attitude (and for the cost of this cruise) is really not acceptable. I hope you guys pointed it out on the comment card.

BUT... the hallway a couple of doors down was soaked for about 10 feet. Obviously, there was a plumbing issue.

What I think was more apparent was the staff was stressed by very full ship and demanding customers. In the dining room, you couldn't converse at dinner, it was so loud. Dinner was not a pleasurable experience because of it -- you just wanted to eat and get out. Likewise, in the theaters, the audience was very rude and very loud. Maybe it's a cultural thing but when the cruise director was giving his introduction before the show in the evening, the people around us EVERY NIGHT did not shut up. They continued to converse in Spanish while the CD was talking. Kids behind us knocked our seats. The dad translated through the entire performance. One lady rocked the back of my chair in time with the songs. On the last night, the CD gave his intro in both English and Spanish to try to engage the audience more.

One waiter said the 4 day getaway cruise before ours was "a complete disaster," and he couldn't wait to get through the next two weeks.

That sounds awful. I hope you guys otherwise had a great cruise.

We're going back on the Magic after the drydock this year. I hope we don't run into similar problems. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[texasgirl29]

That sounds awful. I hope you guys otherwise had a great cruise.

.

We had a great vacation. I'd never let a few incidents ruin it. Working on the trip report!

JoAnn

 

[heatherbelle]

We will be in Dubrovnik in October and there is like 5 ships in port that day so buying tickets for the wall in advance would be great, where did you pre buy the tickets ?

Lucky you, wish I could go again.

Here's the link
http://www.dubrovnik-travel-experience.com/dubrovnik-city-walls-walk.html

Scroll down the page to near the bottom and click and then you get this link. It's all in Croatian, but this is where I got my tickets from.

When you go through the Pile gate turn left and you will see the staircase going up. There was a chap halfway up the stairs collecting tickets from pre-paid people, so you can walk right past the long line. There were only two ships in port on our day and it was very very busy in port. I suggest you go very early to beat the heat and crowds. A very beautiful picturesque place.

https://www.ulaznice.com.hr/paganini/app/web/ctl_web.jsp?lang=HRV&act=events_dz&id=159&org_adr=1