Disney Magic has the "B" team

[lexlaw69]

Just got back from Disney Med cruise that left June 18th. I took the same cruise a year before so I'm comparing my experiences to that. First, these are my opinions and you are free to think how you wish. Second, we had an amazing time and if I had not been on the same cruise 1 year before I would have given it an "A".

You can see my previous entries on the med cruise ports. They are great with the exception of Sicily which should be labeled a pit not a port. Although I was extremely entertained by the fighting tourist groups who were trying to get on the hop on hop off buses.

I will detail more on my port experiences when I get home (still in Paris). Now why was this the B team?

It appears that the top talent has moved on to the new ships and that in many ways the ship was struggling with a new crew. We recognized several faces from our last trip. I will not name names here because I don't want anyone to be in trouble. Shortcomings: a) did not see our cabin guy for the first 2 days- although he was better over time and did an excellent job overall b) dinner staff was not on the ball - missed orders - repeated requests - not the same degree of attention as last year - again good not great. C) room service made mistakes in most of our orders (did not bring complete simple order, no sugar with tea, missed orders).

Last, and I'm going to make this it's own topic NO AC on the transfer buses at the various ports. It was horrible to come out of the heat (and it was hot) only to enter a sweatbox for 20 - 30 minutes.

 

[dvcspain]

i'm sorry for you, we are going to be at the ship in the trasantlantic cruise and we are afraid about that too

 

[yargrnhoj]

Well, we just got off the Dream and the "A" team isn't there either.

Our room was never made up until 2:30PM, our room steward couldn't address simple requests (like when we asked if they had a sewing kit we could buy or borrow) and he would deliver things to our room too late to do anything with them (like giving us our float rental tickets sometime after we docked at CC -- we were in the room at 9AM and the disembarkment announcement had been made at 8:30 and we didn't have tickets).

Our assistant server was very slow with drinks. The appetizer arrived before they did each night.

Guest Services had no 'can do' spirit. DCL misplaced one of our bags and each day the story changed as to where it might be. Christian at GS told us to contact our hotel about it when the hotel was Port Orleans at WDW. He admitted he had never heard of Port Orleans. Our room steward claimed a 'thorough search' was performed yet the bag showed up this morning in someone else's room. Very thorough search indeed.

Maria at GS couldn't check us in for the airline rental program, at first because we were 'randomly selected' and after we challenged that, because we 'had a pending upgrade'. It took a 5 minute call to United to get checked in and allow DCL to print luggage tags but at no time did Maria think to suggest we call United together. All she did was give an apology and say she had talked to them three times.

So I am not sure where the "A" team is at DCL anymore. Service was definitely not up to standards vs. our four previous cruises.

 

[jazzykirl]

I knew that adding on a new ship would call for some adjustments and some mishaps. Our assistant server on the Dream was not an "A" player, but the rest of the team was doing their best to pick up his slack. Going on this cruise I had the attitude that there would be a lot of "earning my ears", so overall I kept a positive attitude and had a wonderful cruise on the Dream. In time all the ships will be back to having "The A Teams."

 

[jitsb]

*sigh* Oh, I was afraid I would hear things like this. Sub-par service on the other boats and nothing special on the Dream... won't this all be fun in 6 months or so when there's a fourth ship?!

I remember talking with my assistant server on the Magic last summer about his move to the Dream. He had been onboard the Magic her entire 12 year run and he was *dreading* moving to a new ship. He said it takes forever for the PowersThatBe to work out what they want where and how it should be done. The poor crew is left scrambling after very non-content customers and no one ends up happy with the results.

I did have a fleeting thought a few years ago whether it was ideal for Disney to release 2 new ships one after the other, so it will be interesting to see if customer service continues to falter with this plan. One of the things that always set DCL apart was its amazing service; I'd be quite sad indeed if that also became a "thing of the past".

 

[stephent92]

I think the largest problem DCL is having is Crew moving on. I was crew about 4 or 5 years ago and the staffing was pretty awesome - it was a fun place to be and everybody loved their jobs. Prior to the Dream was being launch crew were promised that DCL would 'look from within' to fill new senior positions (the talent and ability was there). Unfortunately this wan't the case - DCL recruited heavily from other lines to fill leadership roles. You can tell what this done to morale, and many crew went onto bigger and better things with other lines. Both RCL and NCL recruited heavily from DCL.

Many of the talented staff that did stay behind were put onto the Dream - which is now seen as the DCL flagship. The problem here is that work on the Dream (just like it was on the Wonder) is very repetitive and therefore crew get bored and move on quicker.

DCL was a great line to work on, but I hear that is a different now and as a result crew turnover is much higher. Perhaps this is the problem.

 

[kamik86]

Even if it isn't something that DCL did wrong like what is above I can see why these types of problems would be on both ships.

To keep the most people happy the best thing would be to have half new and have experienced crew on both ships (this way the new people also will learn faster then if everyone is new all at the same time). However that does mean that many guests will see one or two new people that haven't quite gotten everything down yet.

I really hope this is the case, and not that DCL is seeing large turnover with expereinced crew leaving. If this is then things should get better until the new ship comes in, then it will get worse for a bit again when many more new staff come on until things get better again. The only way to prevent this would be expensive for DCL if they were willing to do it (to bring more of those new people on now and purposefully over staff all three current ships, this would cut down on the bad experiences everyone sees now and as everyone gets up to speed would give DCL more experienced staff to send to the Fantasy right away)

 

[momtylerashley]

You said this was on the Magic...we are going in October on the Magic...I hope it is better when we take our trip. Sorry to read all the ughs...with the new ship and the servers.

Just got back from Disney Med cruise that left June 18th. I took the same cruise a year before so I'm comparing my experiences to that. First, these are my opinions and you are free to think how you wish. Second, we had an amazing time and if I had not been on the same cruise 1 year before I would have given it an "A".

You can see my previous entries on the med cruise ports. They are great with the exception of Sicily which should be labeled a pit not a port. Although I was extremely entertained by the fighting tourist groups who were trying to get on the hop on hop off buses.

I will detail more on my port experiences when I get home (still in Paris). Now why was this the B team?

It appears that the top talent has moved on to the new ships and that in many ways the ship was struggling with a new crew. We recognized several faces from our last trip. I will not name names here because I don't want anyone to be in trouble. Shortcomings: a) did not see our cabin guy for the first 2 days- although he was better over time and did an excellent job overall b) dinner staff was not on the ball - missed orders - repeated requests - not the same degree of attention as last year - again good not great. C) room service made mistakes in most of our orders (did not bring complete simple order, no sugar with tea, missed orders).

Last, and I'm going to make this it's own topic NO AC on the transfer buses at the various ports. It was horrible to come out of the heat (and it was hot) only to enter a sweatbox for 20 - 30 minutes.

 

[johnlatte]

Just got back from Disney Med cruise that left June 18th. I took the same cruise a year before so I'm comparing my experiences to that. First, these are my opinions and you are free to think how you wish. Second, we had an amazing time and if I had not been on the same cruise 1 year before I would have given it an "A".

You can see my previous entries on the med cruise ports. They are great with the exception of Sicily which should be labeled a pit not a port. Although I was extremely entertained by the fighting tourist groups who were trying to get on the hop on hop off buses.

I will detail more on my port experiences when I get home (still in Paris). Now why was this the B team?

It appears that the top talent has moved on to the new ships and that in many ways the ship was struggling with a new crew. We recognized several faces from our last trip. I will not name names here because I don't want anyone to be in trouble. Shortcomings: a) did not see our cabin guy for the first 2 days- although he was better over time and did an excellent job overall b) dinner staff was not on the ball - missed orders - repeated requests - not the same degree of attention as last year - again good not great. C) room service made mistakes in most of our orders (did not bring complete simple order, no sugar with tea, missed orders).

Last, and I'm going to make this it's own topic NO AC on the transfer buses at the various ports. It was horrible to come out of the heat (and it was hot) only to enter a sweatbox for 20 - 30 minutes.

We were on the July 9th med cruise and it was our second on the Magic in as many years. I felt the service was top notch this time as it was last year before the Dream sailed. Our stateroom host met us as we were going into our stateroom for the first time. He kept the room spotless and checked on us daily. He was never more than a few doors away almost every time we left our cabin. Our dinner servers were also excellent. Our server is a 12 year vet on the Magic. His assistant was new, but very good and very sweet and engaging. She took excellent care of us and especially our kids. Our server always brought out a couple of extra entrees to our table to let us sample other things. Even though he was busy he entertained our kids with jokes, riddles and puzzles. We did experience some issues not related to direct service. Meals at Parrot Cay were very slow and down right terrible at times.

I do agree that most likely the Dream has had an impact on the service of the other ships. I also know that new service contracts, can have a crew member assisgned to any ship DCL wants them to go to and that is having some impact on morale. Our server for example, was going off line and felt he probably would not be back on the Magic when he came back. You could tell this was having an inpact on him. Our Palo server said that now, when someone goes off line, they have to take all their belongings with them because they don't know if they are coming back to the same ship. Previously, they would leave clothes and things with other crew members to hold for them.

Overall IMO, the service on the Magic is just fine. There will always be crew that goes the extra mile and there will always be crew that dials it in. Thats pretty much typical on any cruise ship out there. The same thing happens at the resort hotels. My advice is to make sure senior staff knows whats good and whats bad. Fill out the comment cards, speak to the director of hotel operations. I make a point of talking to him during every one of our Disney cruises. He's at the Captain's meet and greet.

As far as the buses go, I never was on one that didn't have the A/C ripping. In fact, at Pompeii, our guide called the driver a head of time to let know know that we were on our way and for him to crank the bus and get the A/C going.

I'm not at all arguing with the OP, just stating what we experienced to make sure both sides of the coin get a look.

 

[stephent92]

I don't want to ruin anybodies vacation and I seriously thought twice about posting this. Before you are outraged - please read carefully.

I have heard from a few sources, including one who was directly contacted by a DCL recruited. DCL is struggling so much for staff that they have offered employment to crew who have had their contracts terminated in the past.

This is for minor discrepancies such as poor timekeeping, breaching contract time lengths etc. and is nothing 'major'.

DCL are also recruiting staff who do not meet the minimum requirements for jobs (as in little childcare experience for YA, no serving experience for dining etc.)

The reason that they are having trouble with staff is unknown, however I am told that most staff are now leaving after 1 contract, instead of doing multiples.

I am sure that as soon as the Fantasy is out, and everything settles down it will go back to normal.

 

[Calfan]

I was also on the June 18 Med cruise on the Magic and had a largely different experience than the OP. I think there could be some "luck of the draw" issues going on. Our room steward was fabulous and very attentive. He was at our door the very first day asking if we needed anything and very quickly brought ice and extra hangers. As a PP mentioned, we saw him multiple times per day and it seemed he was never more than a few doors away from us. He always greeted us warmly. Our room was made up promptly in the morning (assuming DH wasn't hanging out in the stateroom). My kids (DD 8 and DS 6) had a fabulous time in the kids' clubs, and the youth counselors we interacted with at drop-off and pick-up always seemed to know what they were doing and were attentive. Our head server was fabulous - alwasy going out of his way to ask if everything was to our satisfaction (not just the food, but also the timing, etc.) and to entertain our kids with magic tricks. Our assistant server was also very courteous. I agree with a PP that drinks were slow, often not coming until we were well into the meal. I'm not sure whether this is an issue with the assistant servers, or I suspect, more to do with where the drinks are coming from and the demand on the bartenders. But in any event, I agree this should be fixed. The quality of the food is definitely an issue. Our Palo meals were fabulous, but the meals in the dining rotation were so so. An entree here or there would be outstanding, but the norm was more often dried out fish, chicken, etc. And the lack of vegetables was appalling. We had to ask for a side of veggies every night just to make sure we were getting some. But we were not impressed with the food on our 2009 cruise on the Magic, either, so it does not seem that this is a result of the new ships coming on line. And it really has nothing to do with the servers. In fact, our server went out of his way to snag some dishes for us quickly so we didn't get the dried out versions. But it is another thing the DCL needs to fix. Overall, though, we did not notice any drop-off in service on the Magic between 2009 and 2011, and felt the service was quite good to excellent. We re-booked for Alaska for Aug. 2012.