Disney Magic lack of "Pixie dust"

[Wadekind]

Well of course, silly... But if you are on a ship that has to serve many purposes sand it rains, please expect some water to get inside. Especially with the always present handful of selfish, inconsiderate guests that exist in any large group who leave doors open or prop them open and track stuff inside.

You seem to have an issue with calling people names. I find this reply condescending. My name is not silly. If you read through this thread you will see that the water issues posted have been about leaks, not rain coming in through the doors or tracked in from the deck. Not all of the recent reports have been about rain water either, some have been about sewer water.

 

[liesbeth1012]

When I read this tread I get a flashback.
On our Disneyland Paris forum (Belgium/Dutch forum) once someone said the magic is gone. And a simulair discussion follows.
Sometimes you went so often that you gone a bit blase and everything that was not good becomes a issue and compares with experiences before.
But there will always disappointments. And sure you expect the service that you paid for.
But for me as a first cruiser ever, there is nothing to compare with and we had a wonderful cruise full of pixie dust. We know how it was before.
And what Mandy said, some of the problems could be solved in 1 time and not 4. What that was.... But apperently the person on the desk was not allowed to solve the problem or does not dare to solve the problem.
But overal we had all a great time. And not... don't go with DCL for a while. Maybe it works and will you go back to DCL (because you can't miss it) and get you pixie dust back.
The same worked with the people of the Belgium/Dutch forum. They couldn't stay away from Disneyland Paris.

 

[Wadekind]

I just hate reading the phrase "I expect". Maybe that is the problem...."expect". I think people set their expectations way too high.

It seems the things people are having issues with are a result of DCL growing pains and not being consistent. Pre-Dream trip reports are almost all positive. As far as expectations go, If something is one way several times in a row then a person should expect it to be that way the next time. Disney set the standard to expect not the guest.
Pointing out the short comings is not complaining it may actually help previous cruisers to lower their expectations from what they experienced before.

 

[Tolson70]

It should be noted that is women whose name was Susan had some developmental problems. I actually got to talk to her, and yes she did tell me that she hated the food and sea days but she knew alot of the crew and she got to see them on the magic. She originally did not have this cruise planned but had to have surgery so this is what was available. She also told me like many of you have voiced on how bad her service was. She complained that her server everynite still couldn't remember she liked sprite. I have read many post complaining about the staff, so how is she any different. Just saying. I knew as soon as heard her talk that she was developmentally challenged and had no inhibitions on voicing her opinion. The crew did an amazing job with Susan and were not offended by her outburst because they realized that her loudness was normal for her.

I was commenting on the woman who was creating issues at the Bingo games, and started a fight with one of the posters here, including shoving her daughter out of the way so she could buy her Bingo card first. If this is the same woman, developmental issues or not, its not appropriate behavior and cannot be flippantly cast off. I am not sure if you are confusing her with the teddy bear woman or if they are one in the same, but I think you confused my comments about a different issue.

 

[Seraphine]

I'm glad the matter of Mandy being thought of as "high maintenance" has been put to bed... Mandy?? She's the most joyous, "glass half full" person I've ever met, and as one of her tablemates I can attest she had a great time most of the cruise.

The situations she described, some of which happened to us as well, were very aggrevating at the time and could have been resolved with much more aplomb than they were.

The Mixology/Princess Tea situation sounds (the two events ended up being scheduled for the same day and time), but at the time, we didn't know there would be an alternate date for the Tea. If we took our children to the Tea instead of going to our Mixology tasting, we would have had to forfeit the tickets and would be out $40. We didn't want to miss either event, so many visits to GS finally resolved the problem. But why did it take 2 days?

The fruit plate issue for our children was really ridiculous - as Pat said, there was fruit all over the ship, how hard was it to have something ready when it was requested every night. Same thing with the drink orders - every other cruiseline (even Carnival, though many DISers hold it in disdain) had our drink orders and our regular requests on the table by the time we got there.

The part that really upset me was disembarkation - it was utter chaos, and at one point was very scary. We were trying to leave Parrot Cay after the first breakfast time, and the second-breakfasters were coming in. Added to that, the line of people leaving the ship had become so long that it trailed into the restaurant... we got caught behind some doors when there was wall-to-wall people and while people were trying to remain polite and sensible, my kids were getting scared and because I'm not very tall I had no idea where I should go. I was very relieved when we were able to escape into a vestibule. After the PERFECT embarkation, I can't believe there wasn't a better way to leave the ship - it really put a bitter taste in my mouth after all the emotions of the day. I hated that it ended like that!

We had an amazing time, and I loved our cruise, but we will be seriously re-considering whether we will sail Disney again. Some things were fantastic, but others were sorely lacking. It was still magical, but I think Pat (PFLamingo) is right that Disney needs to hear what needs to be fixed. They got it so close... let's help them get it absolutely right!

 

[herbg]

don't really give a hoot who's wearing a lanyard or not ...


but when Disney Cruise Line charges almost $1000 more than other cruiselines for a similar itinerary my expectations are EXTREMELY high and their service & accomodations should be 10 times better than the competition or it wouldn't make any sense sailing with Disney ... Keeping fingers crossed that the extra cost is really worth it...

 

[liesbeth1012]

I'm glad the matter of Mandy being thought of as "high maintenance" has been put to bed... Mandy?? She's the most joyous, "glass half full" person I've ever met, and as one of her tablemates I can attest she had a great time most of the cruise.

The situations she described, some of which happened to us as well, were very aggrevating at the time and could have been resolved with much more aplomb than they were.

The Mixology/Princess Tea situation sounds (the two events ended up being scheduled for the same day and time), but at the time, we didn't know there would be an alternate date for the Tea. If we took our children to the Tea instead of going to our Mixology tasting, we would have had to forfeit the tickets and would be out $40. We didn't want to miss either event, so many visits to GS finally resolved the problem. But why did it take 2 days?

The fruit plate issue for our children was really ridiculous - as Pat said, there was fruit all over the ship, how hard was it to have something ready when it was requested every night. Same thing with the drink orders - every other cruiseline (even Carnival, though many DISers hold it in disdain) had our drink orders and our regular requests on the table by the time we got there.

The part that really upset me was disembarkation - it was utter chaos, and at one point was very scary. We were trying to leave Parrot Cay after the first breakfast time, and the second-breakfasters were coming in. Added to that, the line of people leaving the ship had become so long that it trailed into the restaurant... we got caught behind some doors when there was wall-to-wall people and while people were trying to remain polite and sensible, my kids were getting scared and because I'm not very tall I had no idea where I should go. I was very relieved when we were able to escape into a vestibule. After the PERFECT embarkation, I can't believe there wasn't a better way to leave the ship - it really put a bitter taste in my mouth after all the emotions of the day. I hated that it ended like that!

We had an amazing time, and I loved our cruise, but we will be seriously re-considering whether we will sail Disney again. Some things were fantastic, but others were sorely lacking. It was still magical, but I think Pat (PFLamingo) is right that Disney needs to hear what needs to be fixed. They got it so close... let's help them get it absolutely right!

yes I totally agree with you.
We had a wonderful cruise and a lovely time with the princess tea and much fun with the mixologie.
What the disembarkation concerns. We were on our way in to Parrot Cay and got stuck in the middle of people and couldn't got into the restaurant.
And all because a few people were not showing with the custom. They wouldn't clear the ship.
It is a pitty that it has to end on this way.
When we eventually in the restaurant we had a quiet breakfast with the 2 of us and when we leave the ship at ca 9 pm we could walk straith to the bus to Disney World.

 

[our2disneygirls]

On the lanyards ... We're a family that typically is in swimsuits for the entire cruise other than when eating dinner. Also, we have a 7 and 9 year old who both want their own keys to the room. As others have said, the lanyards provide a great place to put your KTTW card and credit card or anything else like that. We use them because they're useful, not to demonstrate any status.

Our $.02.

 

[STLUCIELADY]

I don't think i really have any complaints about the transatlantic cruise. We had an awesome time! I would do it again in a heartbeat. The CMs are great, the entertainment was vast, the food was good and I thought the ship looked great. Not to mention all the great people we met! It was my 10th Disney cruise. I love the Dream but the Magic holds a special place in my heart. On every cruise we have ever been on regardless of the cruiseline, there are always small problems here and there. The leaking on the 10th floor stairwell was only for the day that the monsoon came by. It wasn't a regular occurence. Some of the menus on a day or 2 were not to my liking but then again i heard some people say they loved that menu. They are trying to please a wide variety of nationalities. Yes, there are CMs in training. We were all in training once. Some of the entertain is the same for the people who cruise alot but I kinda liked that. It gave me time to try different things that wound up being amazing! The only things I would have changed is make it longer and I also would have left castaway cay before the monsoon came. but then again, that was fun too.

As for the guy with the problem with lanyards, umm..

 

[GatorMomInNC]

Mandy - I know that you told me about some of those issues when we were on the cruise. I'm sorry you had some problems with CMs that led you to have a less than perfect cruise. I really do think it is the luck of the draw though, because we really had a great time.

We never had any problems with our servers, in fact they were wonderful, the best service I think we've ever had on a cruise. I didn't order lobster, but my tablemates did and our server insisted on taking the lobster out of the shell. My son is a very picky eater and kept not eating his food and asking for an apple, so one night he went and got an entire plate of sliced apples for him!! Every night they would cut my kids chicken nuggets for him (I told him not to get used to it, I will NOT be doing that at home!). If my server saw me debating between 2 appetizers or entrees, he would bring me both without me even asking. I would love to have the same servers again if and when I cruise on DCL. I even liked the restaurant manager/head waiter (whatever they are called), and usually I just find them annoying!!

But I will say the food, for me, wasn't that great, - I had heard that it wasn't, so I wasn't surprised. Some things were great, some were so-so...Palo was awesome. Overall I would say just okay. I did think the room service choices were good. Our room steward was really good, and we had 4 people in one room, so he really worked hard.

And I had all good experiences at the kids clubs and lab, EXCEPT - I wish they would have shown up in the restaurants at 9:30pm (as advertised) to pick the kids up instead of 9:45.

We were late disembarkation and it was the easiest disembarkation I have ever had, so maybe that was a difference between early and late.

I wish there had been more (non-Disney) trivia. The only problems I had, like many posters here, were a couple problems with other guests - rudeness, etc., but overall much better than on shorter cruises I've done on other lines. Maybe it was just all the other great Disboarders we met, but overall I found everyone to be so friendly. My kids still talk about the friends the made on the cruise and ask when we can see them again!

I need to post something over on our thread, but I have been avoiding it because... I don't know, just hard adjusting to the real world after spending those 2 weeks on the Magic, going from one continent to another... If I can afford it and the dates are right, I would love to book that cruise again in 2 years. I just have to wait and see if the dates fit with our schedule.

 

[jerry112]

Just off the Magic Oct 1-8th. 4th DCL cruise (2 were on the Wonder and 2 on the Magic - Jan & Oct 2011).

1) I am a lanyard wearer. Proud. Not snobby. In fact, people ask us questions and we are always happy to help. We came across many gold and platinum cruisers (wearing lanyards) and they were very nice! We kept encountering a couple from Bradenton (just south of us) and they were VERY kind

2) We are not jaded, but this was our favorite and best cruise yet (the 2nd was one of our 5-night double dips on the Wonder in Aug of 2010). We loved the length (7 nights) - perfect and so easy to relax. Our serving team was excellent - Llewellyn from Jamaica and Stipe from Croatia.

3) We stayed in secret verandah #6634. The room was fine. I never smelled sewage in our room. Our stateroom host was fine - nothing special, but didn't suck. The room was in fine condition. It's 13 years old and while it didn't look brand new, it was just great

4) Every cast member we encountered was friendly, talkative, and just great. We spent a lot of time talking to Alec from the US in the shops and he was so very nice. We learned a lot about a lot of things relating to DCL.....

5) The ship. She looked just fine. Yes, she's 13 years old, but they take great care of her. They were oiling the teak, painting, and fixing some kind of leak in front of the aft staircase deck 10 near Palo. People talk of dirty carpets, well, one night, I saw a crew member scrubbing a bloody mary that someone spilled all down the stairs. Red on gold carpet.

6) The food is the food. People will agree or disagree because it's very subjective. I will say we were happy of the addition of the BBQ ribs at Cookie's. Also, we usually do Palo dinner, but did brunch this time - our server (Sasha) and the food were excellent

All in all, a great cruise. Please ask if you have an detailed questions I can answer.

Was your server Sasha from Croatia?

I have been wondering if he remained on The Magic or if he moved to another ship. If so, he is the best ever.
Heard he was training for head server. Before that he was a server in Palo.

 

[wachnicki]

Wow .... just ... wow.

Not only did this woman not have any pixie dust, I think she ate Tinkerbell.

I'm sorry, I know this was several pages back......but best quote EVER!

 

[hazelandannie]

Was your server Sasha from Croatia?

I have been wondering if he remained on The Magic or if he moved to another ship. If so, he is the best ever.
Heard he was training for head server. Before that he was a server in Palo.

We were on the WBTA and had Sasha from Croatia in Palo and he was just fantastic!

 

[liesbeth1012]

I don't think i really have any complaints about the transatlantic cruise. We had an awesome time! I would do it again in a heartbeat. The CMs are great, the entertainment was vast, the food was good and I thought the ship looked great. Not to mention all the great people we met! It was my 10th Disney cruise. I love the Dream but the Magic holds a special place in my heart. On every cruise we have ever been on regardless of the cruiseline, there are always small problems here and there. The leaking on the 10th floor stairwell was only for the day that the monsoon came by. It wasn't a regular occurence. Some of the menus on a day or 2 were not to my liking but then again i heard some people say they loved that menu. They are trying to please a wide variety of nationalities. Yes, there are CMs in training. We were all in training once. Some of the entertain is the same for the people who cruise alot but I kinda liked that. It gave me time to try different things that wound up being amazing! The only things I would have changed is make it longer and I also would have left castaway cay before the monsoon came. but then again, that was fun too.

As for the guy with the problem with lanyards, umm..

Mandy - I know that you told me about some of those issues when we were on the cruise. I'm sorry you had some problems with CMs that led you to have a less than perfect cruise. I really do think it is the luck of the draw though, because we really had a great time.

We never had any problems with our servers, in fact they were wonderful, the best service I think we've ever had on a cruise. I didn't order lobster, but my tablemates did and our server insisted on taking the lobster out of the shell. My son is a very picky eater and kept not eating his food and asking for an apple, so one night he went and got an entire plate of sliced apples for him!! Every night they would cut my kids chicken nuggets for him (I told him not to get used to it, I will NOT be doing that at home!). If my server saw me debating between 2 appetizers or entrees, he would bring me both without me even asking. I would love to have the same servers again if and when I cruise on DCL. I even liked the restaurant manager/head waiter (whatever they are called), and usually I just find them annoying!!

But I will say the food, for me, wasn't that great, - I had heard that it wasn't, so I wasn't surprised. Some things were great, some were so-so...Palo was awesome. Overall I would say just okay. I did think the room service choices were good. Our room steward was really good, and we had 4 people in one room, so he really worked hard.

And I had all good experiences at the kids clubs and lab, EXCEPT - I wish they would have shown up in the restaurants at 9:30pm (as advertised) to pick the kids up instead of 9:45.

We were late disembarkation and it was the easiest disembarkation I have ever had, so maybe that was a difference between early and late.

I wish there had been more (non-Disney) trivia. The only problems I had, like many posters here, were a couple problems with other guests - rudeness, etc., but overall much better than on shorter cruises I've done on other lines. Maybe it was just all the other great Disboarders we met, but overall I found everyone to be so friendly. My kids still talk about the friends the made on the cruise and ask when we can see them again!

I need to post something over on our thread, but I have been avoiding it because... I don't know, just hard adjusting to the real world after spending those 2 weeks on the Magic, going from one continent to another... If I can afford it and the dates are right, I would love to book that cruise again in 2 years. I just have to wait and see if the dates fit with our schedule.

You both said what I would said too!!!!!

 

[aan1701]

I just wanted to say that I am on the Magic right now sailing out of St. Thomas. Yes there was a leak on the forward staircase on deck 10. This ship is still a beauty. It is in great shape. Crew is awesome. If people thing a leak is losing some magic I wonder how they would feel about rough seas due to unavoidable weather which this cruise had.

 

[Wadekind]

I just wanted to say that I am on the Magic right now sailing out of St. Thomas. Yes there was a leak on the forward staircase on deck 10. This ship is still a beauty. It is in great shape. Crew is awesome. If people thing a leak is losing some magic I wonder how they would feel about rough seas due to unavoidable weather which this cruise had.

Constant reports of leaks indicate there are maintenance issues that are not being properly addressed. Why should someone be expected to look over this? The condition of the ship is even more important than the condition of a hotel because you can't leave the ship and the ship is also part of the vacation. There are reports going back to August about leaks in this same area and in other areas. Some of the leaks are sewage water. Your comparison to rough seas is pointless until Disney has as much control over the weather as they do with maintenace on the ships

 

[jerry112]

We were on the WBTA and had Sasha from Croatia in Palo and he was just fantastic!

Thanks!!

Sasha was our server on our first ever cruise back in 2003. Boy did he spoil us. After 7 more cruises, no one has ever come close to the service he provided us. We felt like family.

We last saw him in 2010 and he was training to be a head server. He always remembers us and even though he is in Palo, he makes time to visit with our kids.

Hope he is still on the Magic next summer when we cruise again!

 

[jerry112]

We were on the WBTA and had Sasha from Croatia in Palo and he was just fantastic!

Thanks!!

Sasha was our server on our first ever cruise back in 2003. Boy did he spoil us. After 7 more cruises, no one has ever come close to the service he provided us. We felt like family.

We last saw him in 2010 and he was training to be a head server. He always remembers us and even though he is in Palo, he makes time to visit with our kids.

Hope he stays on the Magic!!

 

[jerry112]

We were on the WBTA and had Sasha from Croatia in Palo and he was just fantastic!

Thanks!!

Sasha was our server on our first ever cruise back in 2003. Boy did he spoil us. After 7 more cruises, no one has ever come close to the service he provided us. We felt like family.

We last saw him in 2010 and he was training to be a head server. He always remembers us and even though he is in Palo, he makes time to visit with our kids.

Hope he stays on the Magic!!

 

[extechie rbd/wdt]

[SNIP] Constant reports of leaks indicate there are maintenance issues that are not being properly addressed. Why should someone be expected to look over this? The condition of the ship is even more important than the condition of a hotel because you can't leave the ship and the ship is also part of the vacation. There are reports going back to August about leaks in this same area and in other areas. Some of the leaks are sewage water.

I agree that it is unacceptable, but disagree that the problem's are not being properly addressed with all respect.
The unfortunate part is that unlike a hotel on land, an area cannot be closed off and the Guest's that were booked to stay in those rooms moved to another hotel should the hotel be fully booked.
In the case of a hotel being part of the vacation, on a ship I agree.

It seem's they are having major plumbing problems, but without cancelling some of the Guest's in those affected area's cruises so they can undertake a proper fix, (and give them a full refund and compensation, or transfer to one of the other ships).
As ship's are running 24/7-365, and maintenance has to happen during a cruise, but it would obviously be unsafe for Guest's to be in those area's that require a total overhaul as it sound's like in this case.

I'm not sure what DCL can do to please the Guest's that have booked stateroom's in a affected area's without cancelling or re-booking their cruise with compensation at a later date.

Ex Techie