Bummed out after reading magic trip reports

[anna08]

Basically it sounds like there were rooms that were not cleaned post construction and prior to cruisers occupying rooms - dust on surfaces, no hot water - where are the stateroom hosts prior to the cruise?? Shouldn't they see the condition of their rooms and know there is no hot water, plumbing working long before the customers do?? Don't you notice when you are cleaning the bathroom there is no hot water?

It all says to me that renovations on the Magic were poorly planned/executed, and that there is no quality control. I would find it completely unacceptable to pay $200 a night per person and have no hot water or plumbing water all over the floor.

Weren't there mechanical updates made as well? Let's hope the folks who work in that arena know what they are doing.

 

[Feisty Fairy]

I answered my own question by pulling up the DCL web site, and your friend seems to be correct, Marla, and it appears, yes, lbgraves, you are also correct in that they changed the wording from what was advertised previously: What a bummer!!!!

They must of changed the wording sometime yesterday because I checked it earlier in the day.

 

[lbgraves]

I answered my own question by pulling up the DCL web site, and your friend seems to be correct, Marla, and it appears, yes, lbgraves, you are also correct in that they changed the wording from what was advertised previously:



What a bummer!!!!

I saw that Emily posted she was told there would not be the animation show on the 5-night cruises and that got me thinking that it would be a logistical issue to have both shows. I just guessed that the fact that they have the color show up and working now meant that it was their primary show. Now only the Dream doesn't have a unique show for AP since Crush is also on the Fantasy. I'm sorry that my thinking was right because I agree with those who are disappointed since everything I saw also hyped the animation show, including the videos DCL released.

Regarding the discussion of the room conditions, I don't remember any other dry docks having so many reports of the rooms being filthy. I know that the spa wasn't finished on both the Magic & Wonder, the pools were filled with brown water and closed on the Magic for two days on that added short cruise. It sounds like they possibly needed so much more help to get the public areas completed that they pulled workers from the stateroom detail and only left the movers to physically switch things out. I really feel sorry for the room hosts who will have had to do even more when they are trying to do their regular duties over the next few weeks.

 

[lbgraves]

Basically it sounds like there were rooms that were not cleaned post construction and prior to cruisers occupying rooms - dust on surfaces, no hot water - where are the stateroom hosts prior to the cruise?? Shouldn't they see the condition of their rooms and know there is no hot water, plumbing working long before the customers do?? Don't you notice when you are cleaning the bathroom there is no hot water?
...

I don't blame the hosts because they have to do what DCL tells them to. We don't know when they were allowed to start working in their stations. Most of the hosts we have met over the years take great pride in their work and go out of their way to make things wonderful for the guests. I would bet they were upset at what they encountered that morning when they reported to work and saw the staterooms for the first time. They probably worked their butts off to get all the beds made and towels in place.

 

[tigerfan2012]

I actually just moved my 7 day cruise on the Magic next year to a 7 day on the Fantasy. Cat 5E (9176) was just 250 more than my 9C on the Magic too.

Have only been on the Dream and really wanted to try out the Magic to have the smaller ship but with the issues I just dont want to take the chance when spending that much on a 7 day even though its over a year out.. Hopefully New Orleans does get a port stop in the future and that would likely be the Wonder or Magic there and I get to try out the classic ships without as much money on the line.

Besides the issues on the Magic right now things like no On-Demand or Detective Game and ability to get the aft balcony played into the decision.

 

[boogabuzz]

I answered my own question by pulling up the DCL web site, and your friend seems to be correct, Marla, and it appears, yes, lbgraves, you are also correct in that they changed the wording from what was advertised previously:



What a bummer!!!!

I AM SO ANGRY AT THIS!!!!

I just looked yesterday and even copy and pasted it in a different thread about how it said one EVERY DISNEY MAGIC CRUISE! Now, they change it!!! WTH!

 

[islandtimect]

What are the plumbing issues being reported? We sailed the Magic for 7 nights 2 yrs ago, and our toilet almost never flushed. The CMs kept saying its the vacuum system, give it time. Well it wasn't the system, it was our individual toilet, and other cabins had issues too. Finally an engineer fixed it on day 3, but not until we repeatedly complained to mgmt and got freebies due to this problem. Nobody wants to be in a cabin with you know what in your toilet bowl for 3 days!

 

[boogabuzz]

What are the plumbing issues being reported? We sailed the Magic for 7 nights 2 yrs ago, and our toilet almost never flushed. The CMs kept saying its the vacuum system, give it time. Well it wasn't the system, it was our individual toilet, and other cabins had issues too. Finally an engineer fixed it on day 3, but not until we repeatedly complained to mgmt and got freebies due to this problem. Nobody wants to be in a cabin with you know what in your toilet bowl for 3 days!

We had no hot water until about 10pm the last night of a 2n cruise. It got fixed some time between 5-10pm that night. People in rooms around us had the same problem. I also spoke to others who had flooding in their rooms, non working toilets ect. Unacceptable after a drydock!

 

[islandtimect]

We had no hot water until about 10pm the last night of a 2n cruise. It got fixed some time between 5-10pm that night. People in rooms around us had the same problem. I also spoke to others who had flooding in their rooms, non working toilets ect. Unacceptable after a drydock!

So it seems that the old Magic problems continue. Making common areas prettier is all well and good, but plumbing is a basic necessity we expect to work properly. As a Disney TA, Im not sure Ill be promoting the Magic anytime soon..,

 

[uscgrl93]

Sounds like they were too aggressive in the dry dock schedule and should have planned a little better. Instead they tried to meet a hard completion deadline and sent the ship out with too many faults. I hope the issues are resolved quickly for those sailing in the near future!

 

[MagicMe]

Folks, no matter what was 'advertised' by DCL, you must always remember that regardless, these ships are over 15 years old and do not have the technology infrastructure built into the Dream class ships...

Disney promised stateroom enhancements... Given a 6 week window, it was virtually impossible for them to completely gut every item in every single stateroom... The logistics would have been impossible...

Well then why not schedule a longer dry dock?? Revenue, clearly. You cannot take the ship off for over 2 months when you only have 4 ships. In addition, the North Atlantic crossing in November is something you'd likely not want to do while the ship is still undergoing construction.

So, they likely have gathered lessons learned and will use them when these upgrades are done to the Wonder in the future.

I totally understand that they can not fit the classic with all the technology of the Dream class ships without taking her completely down to the studs. I was okay with the classic feel and didn't necessarily need all updated technology. And I didn't expect a lot in the staterooms except maybe some paint or at least clean (I knew they were already changing out the beds which I myself preferred the option of splitting the bed).

Besides,the Magic had reports previously of issues with the plumbing. Everyone expected that would have been one of the major overhauls during this longer drydock. And no hot water in staterooms is not acceptable either. They obviously needed more time!

 

[UmmGooD]

The more I read about this the more it is clear to me the drydock was intended to make the Magic more competitive. Disney is having problems booking the old ships in new itineraries and I think that all the hype about the new spaces/pools will get them extra booking.

I am disappointed they didn't fix the plumbing issues but face it since they only had 6 weeks to make the modifications and Disney was going for wow factor. I think they'll try to mask the other issues so they don't get a lot of bad press.

 

[Started With a Mouse]

Basically it sounds like there were rooms that were not cleaned post construction and prior to cruisers occupying rooms - dust on surfaces, no hot water - where are the stateroom hosts prior to the cruise?? Shouldn't they see the condition of their rooms and know there is no hot water, plumbing working long before the customers do?? Don't you notice when you are cleaning the bathroom there is no hot water?
.

Completely uncalled for. They are stateroom hosts. OF COURSE these serious cabin issues have been reported to management.

 

[CC Disney fan]

As I told in another thread, yesterday I was almost crying because this is going to be our first cruise ever (Dec 4)... But I have a friend who's an actual Imageneer...He just get off the ship yesterday and told me that they know they have major issues (DCL contractors were in charge of stateroom refurbs, not Disney imageers) and that the best idea is not to sail before December o at least November last week. He said everything is going to be pristine for those dates...

 

[holula]

The more I read about this the more it is clear to me the drydock was intended to make the Magic more competitive. Disney is having problems booking the old ships in new itineraries and I think that all the hype about the new spaces/pools will get them extra booking. I am disappointed they didn't fix the plumbing issues but face it since they only had 6 weeks to make the modifications and Disney was going for wow factor. I think they'll try to mask the other issues so they don't get a lot of bad press.

I think that if Disney made their itineraries more interesting on the classic ships (or made their pricing more in line with say, Princess) they wouldn't struggle to book them. They didn't need the 'wow' factor. They just need better ports. It shouldn't take long to add a coat of paint to each room and yet this seems not to have been done, which is so disappointing.

 

[UmmGooD]

I think that if Disney made their itineraries more interesting on the classic ships (or made their pricing more in line with say, Princess) they wouldn't struggle to book them. They didn't need the 'wow' factor. They just need better ports. It shouldn't take long to add a coat of paint to each room and yet this seems not to have been done, which is so disappointing.

I completely agree. All I am saying is instead of having to research and invest in figuring out these itineraries they just tried to make the Magic more comparable in wow factor to the dream class ships instead of focusing on fixing the major issues.

The more I read now though the more I think the contractor Disney chose to do the work dropped the ball and perhaps it will be rectified. I am hoping the plumbing issues that existed before the dry dock can be fixed since they didn't tear out walls.

 

[boogabuzz]

I totally understand that they can not fit the classic with all the technology of the Dream class ships without taking her completely down to the studs. I was okay with the classic feel and didn't necessarily need all updated technology. And I didn't expect a lot in the staterooms except maybe some paint or at least clean (I knew they were already changing out the beds which I myself preferred the option of splitting the bed).

Besides,the Magic had reports previously of issues with the plumbing. Everyone expected that would have been one of the major overhauls during this longer drydock. And no hot water in staterooms is not acceptable either. They obviously needed more time!

I was hoping for the technology, but understand it not being possible. The appearance of the ship as a whole should have been up to par with the Dream class though. Cosmetically, we should have been able to look around and have it look like we are on a brand new ship. The pool deck was old and dirty looking! They didn't even bother to replace the life rings around the ship. The red Magic logo was faded on all of them. Unacceptable for a "Re-Imagined" ship!

 

[boogabuzz]

As I told in another thread, yesterday I was almost crying because this is going to be our first cruise ever (Dec 4)... But I have a friend who's an actual Imageneer...He just get off the ship yesterday and told me that they know they have major issues (DCL contractors were in charge of stateroom refurbs, not Disney imageers) and that the best idea is not to sail before December o at least November last week. He said everything is going to be pristine for those dates...

Understandable. But it's certainly not fair to those who are being used as the guinea pigs. If they want me to come onboard for free, I will gladly do a test run. But we paid just like anyone traveling after November. We should get the same quality as far as the condition of the ship. Im supposed to go back in 2weeks and honestly, I really want to try and switch to a different ship. My husband has only been on Dream and Fantasy. I just know he is going to be bummed out. I know, first world problems. But dang it....when you spend $$ on anything Disney, you can always expect clean and well maintained. That is not what we got this weekend. At least it was the same Disney service level. Sigh...

 

[tigerfan2012]

"I think that if Disney made their itineraries more interesting on the classic ships (or made their pricing more in line with say, Princess) they wouldn't struggle to book them."

I really really like the Magic's Southern itineraries but thats limited to only a couple of times. Im sure its selling well by the prices its demanding. However the issue for me was that is that if Im booking based on itinierary then the ship is less important to me and the San Juan southern cruises are typically some of the cheapest for any fleet since most people have to pay so much to fly there. The cost of flying plus the high Disney fare prices me out of that trip after airfare DCL priced 3x more than Carnival and 2x more than RCCL when I priced them.

Now if DCL ever comes to NO which is pretty much my home port then I just hope to god it doesnt go to Jamaica,Grand Cayman and Cozumel and nothing else.

Grand Cayman, Roatan and Cozumel or somehow try to make a trip out to Castaway in there would sell really well.

 

[elephant98]

I was on the 2-day Magic cruise. Below is a cut and paste of my response on another thread on this board, which is also responsive to this thread. My apologies to those who read the other thread and now have to read it twice.

We were on the 2-day Magic cruise. Had a wonderful time. Not to be overly critical, but our stateroom showed the typical wear and tear that you would expect to see on a ship after 10 years of service. We had no hot water on embarkation day. The stopper in the tub/shower was missing, so we couldn't give our son a bath. The clip for the detachable shower head wouldn't stay in place to hold shower head. So the shower head kept falling down. We had issues flushing the toilet. The spout at the end of the sink faucet, which screws in place, completely fell out. Our room safe didn't work. Again, these are very common issues that we have experienced on other cruise lines. And, to the maintenance crew's credit, all of the issues were fixed within a couple hours time after being reported.

In the end, we weren't inconvenienced any more on this cruise then we have been on other cruises. I guess we were ultimately just a bit surprised that these issues existed after the ship came out of drydock. But, then again, the purpose of the drydock was to upgrade the public spaces with some new additions. It was probably unrealistic to expect the staterooms to be returned to like-new condition.

On that note, the upgrades to the public spaces are beautiful. We did see some maintenance throughout the ship on things we would have thought would have been accomplished during drydock. For example, there was a small stage area next to the new Twist and Spout stairway that several people were busy sanding and putting down a new finish on Saturday morning. Not that this type of maintenance activity is unusual to see on a cruise ship. It isn't. You see maintenance people painting, sanding, pressure washing, etc. all the time on a cruise. I'm just guessing that people were expecting an immaculate, good as new ship from the get go.

I would just like to emphasize that these reports of issues are anecdotal. I'm sure there are plenty of people who had no stateroom issues at all. Does the ship still show wear and tear in spots? Yes. But, the upgrades are amazing. The AquaDunk definitely brings the wow factor. The ride is short, but it is quite a rush. The plexiglass door closes on you, the 3 second countdown starts, and the floor drops out from underneath you. Amazing. The Twist and Spout is a nice long water slide. (Though I caution that adults wearing rash guard shirts might get slowed down a bit on the Twist and Spout. They caution you to lie down to gain speed, and an adult sitting up could possibly come to a stop.) Word of advice -- do the slides early. I was able do to the AquaDunk 3 times in a row, without anyone else riding it. After that I was a bit pooped out from walking up the stairs. On that note, both slides have lots of stairs.

The new Oceaneers Club/Lab are amazing. The overall layout is very good and functional, with a long private hallway between the areas for kids to go back and forth in a secure manner. My 4-year-old son couldn't get enough of the Slinky Dog slide in Andy's Room. (He even got to take turns with Chip and Dale on embarkation day). The Avenger's Academy, where kids can virtually put on Iron Man's suit is very cool. Kids loved it (and adults did too during Open House). We were on the Fantasy just 6 weeks ago and my son preferred the Magic's kids club over the Fantasy (which he liked very much too).