Let me caveat this by saying we generally had a very good time, and we've sailed multiple times on the Magic (& understand it is 26 years old). That said, there are a number of wear & tear items on this ship. Lots of repairs to address and maintenance to do (the "P" in Animator's Palate was missing?). Plumbing issues, both in my room (problematic shower) and around the ship. Air conditioning is substandard, especially in the shared spaces. Plus there were cleanliness issues that I haven't seen with Disney previously; dirty glasses/dishes/napkins/etc.
Beyond this ship and this cruise, I think Disney has some opportunities to address. For one, adult programming is a weak point. There was an 18+ trivia around 7:30pm most nights (with multiple dancing children in the bar), and then a program block 10-11pm (game shows, magician, etc). There are liquor tastings, and that's about all I saw. I suspect
DCL's aim is to have you attend the stage show (Fathoms isn't open when the show is running), but the stage content is very family focused and (understandably) attended by lots of children.
I recognize Disney's positioning is "family", and this is part of what attracted us to them. In 2011, when we went on the Dream for the first time, our daughters were 5 & 1.5 and a lot of their content was perfect for us. Throughout the past decade, their content options have generally aged with our kids, but now I'm at a point where my 18/15/11 year old children aren't seeking as much of the younger content. Plus, as my kids need less attention, I'm available to attend more activities without them but there just aren't enough of those activities. I really like the Disney ambiance and standard, but I'm simply not spending as much time as I used to at character meet-ups. Another element of this is Disney's ability to maintain loyalty as families expand. I've seen more multigenerational families on the ships, which is awesome and something I'd like to do in the future. But that means the balance of adults to children on the ship will continue to increase, and the adult programming should increase commensurately.
Adjacent to this is Disney's need to update/expand technology on the ship. We're doing trivia with honor system pencils & pads, meanwhile my kids have been using Kahoots in school for nearly a decade. In room technology needs updating (& get Disney Plus, ESPN Plus, & Hulu on the TVs). Video gaming is a huge miss; there some limited gaming options in the kids clubs, but nothing for adults. The app is incredibly glitchy and hard to operate, and would greatly benefit from a "find my friends" type GPS solution.
I can go on, but this is a sampling of what I see. I'm hoping Disney is capturing & addressing feedback (and I see several notes here that they are), because their cruise experience has stagnated from my point of view. It's very hard to justify a Disney premium if Disney doesn't continue to innovate and if Disney will neglect entire age brackets of guests.
