Disney Magic lack of "Pixie dust"

[perdidobay]

I've just read this whole thread, and am always amazed at how some people act.
I try to remember that people take their "mental baggage" with them where ever they go.
Like someone else said earlier, I just try to go the other way, and remove myself from the scene, as you can't change other people, only how you respond to them. Only it's sometimes hard to do in a confined enviroment like a ship at sea!

As for wearing a lanyard the whole cruise, those people who have a problem with it, or think it is showing off, that is their issue, their "mental baggage", not mine. I wear my lanyard all day on a cruise, because it's a convenient and safe way for me to carry my KTTW card. I sure don't want to carry a purse around the ship, I usually need my hands free to carry my reading material or drink. I don't like fanny packs, and after losing my KTTW card one time at the pool at WDW from the pocket of my shorts, I never carry things in my pockets any more.

News flash for men- womens clothing may have pockets, but usually they are shallow and cut at an angle so when you sit it is easy for items to be pushed out the top.

In the same vein, I have issues with people who run the WDW marathon in January and wear their metals the entire following week in the parks. To me it smacks of "look at me!!!" Of course, it is just my "Mental Baggage" as I am just jealous of all those fit people when I'm such a couch potato!

 

[NancyIL]

Disney is the only cruise line I've been on that gives out lanyards. When I sailed on other cruise lines, I carried my room key in a pocket or purse. On a Princess Transatlantic cruise in April, I finally bought a lanyard in the gift shop and had a hole punched in my room key so I could wear the lanyard. When I cruised on HAL in August, I wore my Princess lanyard with my HAL room key on it! On my last 2 Disney cruises, I was part of a group that had their own lanyard, so that's what I wore. I wouldn't get my nose out of joint because some wore their DCL lanyards the whole cruise!

My opinion of DCL is that the ships are beautiful, the shows and movies are great, and the food is comparable to other cruise lines I've enjoyed. However, DCL's dining room servers have been somewhat mediocre on 2 of my 3 Bahamas cruises, and I haven't been wowed by the "Disney service" that others have raved about.

 

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

Yikes

Some of these posts are making me nervous, but we will still go on our planned cruise and will still have a fantastic time.

Yes, I will wear my lanyard. No I am not platinum, but I like the lanyard for convenience. If someone has a special one-good for them. It does not matter to me any more then where they buy their socks.

If the servers are sub par, their tips will be sub-par. If they are above par, the tip will represent that. That's pretty much our philosophy on tipping for all the positions, and we have tipped above the recommended on all cruises so far, so hopefully we have another great experience.

If there is a major issue with our stateroom, I'll be right up at guest services, nicely asking for it to be rectified. Hopefully now that they are back at PC they will be better able to address the parts of the ship that require attention.

And about that lady who was so obnoxious-I bet you won't see her identify herself on this thread--afterall, she wasn't the "first" to post here

 

[nick262]

Ah Now it make sense. This woman went to Guest Services to complain. We were waiting there and she was ranting and raving at the CM there. She really gave it to this poor CM. We then went to the desk and my spouse commended the CM on keeping her cool. Turns out this woman is the daughter of a well known movie star. She is a frequent guest, but is always an issue. I saw her later on Deck 9 involved in a VERY loud cell phone conversation about (No I'm not kidding) constipation and getting bran. It was inane, and I couldn't believe her. The bear lady I think just liked the attention. This one however had serious issues.

Yes the would be her. She was telling others about her Hiatal Hernia and all of her cats. I fell bad that my actions caused another CM to be chewed out. Child of a movie star or not, she was way out of line.

This person must be very unhappy; I am sorry for her. Life can be so much fun.

Do NOT let her control your life. She is not worth remembering, talking about, or getting upset over during the confrontations. Cruises on Disney are a blast; let the jerks cuss, cut in line, reserve deck chairs, save seats, ignore dress codes, whatever. They must live with themselves; the 99% of your cruise which is away from this is a delight, let the 1% encountering them stay at 1%.

Your memory of the cruise should not include her; her memory certainly doesn't include you!

Trust me, she was less than one one hundredths of my cruise experience. The only reason I wrote about her in the first place was to support the previous posts regarding entitled people. The only reason I expounded on her was because someone asked me too. She no longer makes me angry, I now have a good laugh about how I almost got into a fight on a Disney Cruise and feel sad that she is as miserable and lonely as she is. If she really is the child of a movie star, I would think she was neglected badly. But who knows if she was making that up.

 

[JessicasMom]

Yes the would be her. She was telling others about her Hiatal Hernia and all of her cats. I fell bad that my actions caused another CM to be chewed out. Child of a movie star or not, she was way out of line.

Trust me, she was less than one one hundredths of my cruise experience. The only reason I wrote about her in the first place was to support the previous posts regarding entitled people. The only reason I expounded on her was because someone asked me too. She no longer makes me angry, I now have a good laugh about how I almost got into a fight on a Disney Cruise and feel sad that she is as miserable and lonely as she is. If she really is the child of a movie star, I would think she was neglected badly. But who knows if she was making that up.

Now, I feel left out because I didn't see her (that I'm aware of, anyway). A couple of people did mention her onboard, asking if I had met the "crazy lady" (their terminology, not mine) who was incredibly rude and said she was Charles Bronson's dtr. Sorry I missed her....well, maybe not!

 

[extechie rbd/wdt]

Love this picture! Mind if I post it to Facebook?

Sorry for the late reply cruisecrasher, please feel free and anyone else, A friend on FB posted, and I shared it, so go ahead!

Ex Techie

 

[extechie rbd/wdt]

{SNIP] I genuinely appreciate your sensitivity to this woman's possible issues. I never said I found the bear's presence disagreeable; more like humorous and slightly sad. But it never should have taken service or attention away from other customers or caused a server to be chastised

Thank's, I was just trying to see the better side of her, and also appreciate you never said the bear eating at the table was disagreeable, but some others did and now as it's been reported, quite rightly!

If this person is only doing it for reactions and attention, and not a condition (thinking that taking a full sized bear around is funny and having it served a meal is a condition IMO ), then she need's to be brought to task and her behaviour curbed immediately.
Also the big bear should be confiscated!

Ex Techie

 

[pxlbarrel]

Thank's, I was just trying to see the better side of her, and also appreciate you never said the bear eating at the table was disagreeable, but some others did and now as it's been reported, quite rightly!

If this person is only doing it for reactions and attention, and not a condition (thinking that taking a full sized bear around is funny and having it served a meal is a condition IMO ), then she need's to be brought to task and her behaviour curbed immediately.
Also the big bear should be confiscated!

Ex Techie

People do funny things to be different. Personally, i don't see anything wrong with the bear unless the bear was demanding too many things. It might have been one of these things that just got away from them.

I bring a little action figure with me and photograph it wherever we go ... it's become a sort of thing for my website. Now, it's about 5 inches tall and fits in my pocket and it doesn't sit down in a chair for dinner but it has been known to hang off of a tumbler or stand near a plate of delicious food.

The world is full of eccentrics and you gotta admit, it must have made the dining experience kind of unique for some people.

 

[extechie rbd/wdt]

People do funny things to be different. Personally, i don't see anything wrong with the bear unless the bear was demanding too many things. It might have been one of these things that just got away from them.

I bring a little action figure with me and photograph it wherever we go ... it's become a sort of thing for my website. Now, it's about 5 inches tall and fits in my pocket and it doesn't sit down in a chair for dinner but it has been known to hang off of a tumbler or stand near a plate of delicious food.

The world is full of eccentrics and you gotta admit, it must have made the dining experience kind of unique for some people.

Agreed! Wacky people need to go to place's where whacky people have padded room's sometime's!
Tolerance of one's idiosyncrasies does have levels, and a stuffed toy being served food is one for me!

Ex Techie

Edit to add, personally, I don't know how the serving team kept a straight face!

 

[*Flower*]

Ok, just shared your posts with DH and he asked if I mentioned that she hated sea days and that she thought the food sucks on DCL. He heard her telling other passengers this information.

I said no this was the first I heard this one. What the H*** is she doing on the cruise then? Especially one that is 14 days long with 8 sea days. What a wack a doodle.

We were in Lumiere's when that FEMALE was screaming at the CM in Guest Services. We could hear her in there with no problems! And maybe she was trying to win at Bingo so she could pay her shrink!

I'm really sorry that she was such a snot- however, we really enjoyed meeting you at Cove during the Pub Crawl!

 

[kj_connections]

Now, I feel left out because I didn't see her (that I'm aware of, anyway). A couple of people did mention her onboard, asking if I had met the "crazy lady" (their terminology, not mine) who was incredibly rude and said she was Charles Bronson's dtr. Sorry I missed her....well, maybe not!

Same here! I was on this cruise and didn't see this "crazy" lady. I did see the one with the bear however

Back to the topic of this thread, I did notice areas of the ship that need improvement.

- our cabin was extremely cold. We couldn't adjust the thermostat so it could get warmer but after we complained to guest services, they address the issue promptly
- there was leaking on deck 10 aft stairwell, just in front of the gym/spa area
- deck 6 had the smell of sewage from time to time..I'm not sure why
- one time, I was taking a shower and the water stopped completely! it came back after about 5 minutes
- other cruisers did complain about their server being terrible. The ship wasn't even full so I can't imagine how much slower the service would get if there were more people to serve. Fortunately I had an excellent, well experienced server and assistant server
- I agree that for a 14 night cruise, they should have had more variety for stateroom movies, at least switch it up after 7 days.

Overall, I thought I had a great cruise experience since it was my first Disney cruise, so I can't compare to other Disney cruises.

 

[ravensilverlight]

I've read this whole thread and...wow. I'm thrilled I haven't encountered any of the types of people described here on any of my cruises - on DCL or elsewhere! Of course, I'm usually in my own little world anyway...

There may have been a few comments, and I just missed them in between the tangents - not that I'm complaining, I love all the side stories! Makes it more like a real in-person conversation, IMHO. But anyway...has anyone cruised more recently than the OP and seen if the maintenance/ship condition is back up to "expectation"? The Magic isn't a brand new ship, but Disney is usually really meticulous with upkeep...I'd hate to think that not only is she losing her shine, but the standards are too...

 

[nick262]

We were in Lumiere's when that FEMALE was screaming at the CM in Guest Services. We could hear her in there with no problems! And maybe she was trying to win at Bingo so she could pay her shrink!

I'm really sorry that she was such a snot- however, we really enjoyed meeting you at Cove during the Pub Crawl!

I am sorry that you had to hear that. Just disgusting behavior.

I too had a great time meeting you. Hopefully we will be able to have another pub crawl on the next WBTA

 

[Tolson70]

OMG, I wonder if this was the same lady I am about the write about? James was wonderful, LOVED HIM. The rest of the entertainment staff was just as great. Carly, Lori, Sherielyn, and TJ with James, made the trip very very magical.



Here is the long and short of it for ya!



Please note that the lady I am about to write about is NOT the lady with the bear. This is a completely different person. She has been on between 5 and 10 cruises as she was wearing a gold lanyard.

Ok here goes:

1st encounter: they announced that on the 11th they were going to hand out wrist bands for the release of the TA exclusive pin at 2pm. I went to line up at Mickey Mates at about 1:15 as I know these lines can get long early. I walked in and asked Tom where the line was and he stated that there was not one yet. I asked him where he would like the line to be and I would start it. He showed me where to start it and which direction that he would like it to go. I said ok and that I would sit there and start the line. At this point, this woman, who was sitting in the chairs and tables for Preludes, turns and said in a harsh voice "I am first in line". I said ok that is fine, but I would sit there to start the line so that people would know where to line up. She then stated again in a very condisending harsh voice "But I am first". I again said that was fine that she could sit there and I would let her in front of me when the time came. I said this because she seemed a bit older than me, like in her late 50's early 60's and could have had a injury or not as spry as others to sit on the floor. (Now let me say, had I known what she was really like and how 'spry' she really was, I would have made her come and sit her *** down to be 1st )

Second encounter: This took place at a Bingo session, cannot remember which one. I was walking up to purchase my cards when they started to sell them. She was sitting at the front table nearest the walk way. As I got to her table, she turned her head, look straight at me, jumped up and bumped my shoulder and cut in front of me. No excuse me or sorry I bumped you. I again let this one slide and just bought my cards after her. What burns my butt is that she won one of the sessions. After this, I would wait to buy my cards until she was done as I was getting less patient with her behavior.

Third encounter: This one was not me but I witnessed it. At another session of bingo, we were waiting for sales to begin again and I saw her again butt in on someone. They were up there asking a question when the sales started and so they just went ahead and asked to purchase. She had walked up behind them and stated that she was first. They looked at her weird and she said, I was in the room first so I am first inline. They again looked at her weird but let her go in front of them.

Fourth encounter: At one session of bingo, we had to move to the Promenade Lounge as Rockin Bar D was booked. My daughter was with us and was curious about how Bingo Betty worked (the bingo machine for those who have not played before) so we were up in front talking to Carly about it. Kirsten was standing to the side of Betty and I was half way in front of the sales terminal. When Carly stated that they would start sales in a minute, this woman came up and again bumped me out of the way and into my daughter to be first. She did it hard and there was no "excuse me are you in line" or anything, just a hard push and a dirty look so you know she did it intentionally. Luckily, I was able to keep Kirsten from being pushed into Betty, which was at about neck/lower face level. I was so pissed off, I had to excuse myself and Kirsten to go back to the table at which point I told my husband to go buy the cards as I was too pissed off to deal with it properly. After bingo, I had to take some things back to the room and went to the elevators to go to deck 8. She was standing there, so I took the stairs from deck 3 all the way up to deck 8 because I knew that it was a bad idea for me to get into an elevator with her at that point.

Final encounter: This was the last session of bingo. We got there early to get a good table. They were having a dance lesson in Rockin Bar D at the time. JT came around and let us know that they were going to be clearing the room in after the lesson (about 15 min later) to get it ready for bingo. He then moved on to tell all the other people in the room. We got up and went outside to line up with most of the others in the room. 15 min later, when they asked those that stayed behind to leave, she came out of the room and stood right by the door. At this point I was done with her entitled behavior and I said that the end of the line was back there. She then insisted that she was in the room first and that she was first in line. I went to say something else and my husband asked to let it go so I shut up. She did not. She went on about how if I did not see her enter the room then she was there first and that she deserved to be in the front of the line. After about 2 minutes, I calmly said to her "I stopped talking to you, please stop talking to me". It was at this point that she called me a B***H. This is when my husband got between us and pushed me back. He knew it was about to get out of hand. The lady behind us started trying to calm me down saying that she had been cussing out other passengers and CM's and that she was not worth the effort because it was only going end badly. As this point the woman was then yelling about how big a B***h I was and going on and on about it. This is when I learned that she had been saying obcenities to the Bingo CM's when they did not call the right numbers. I have to say that I did not hear this first hand as I sat as far away as I could but another lady join the conversation to confirm that she had cussed at the CM's during Bingo and several other passengers throughout the cruise, including the first womans husband for an infraction that he did not even know he commited.

Since this was the last sea day and the second to the last day on the ship, I was able to avoid her the rest of the cruise. This type of behavior, unfortunately, is never addressed on the cruise because the staff cannot do or say anything about it and other passengers usually let it slide as it does turn ugly like it did in the last encounter.

So this is my story and I hope that you did not find it too boring. Please note that this did not spoil my trip. I have many many many more magical stories that far out weigh the bad and only typed this out because it was requested. I was only using this as an example of the entitlement mentality that was displayed by other passengers that was just over the top.

This is atrocious behavior for ANYONE, regardless of who their daughter is, or the number of cruises they have taken. I am glad you finally had it out with her, she probably feeds on people who cave into her "elitist" ideals.

 

[Tolson70]

To lanyard or not landyard, that is the question!

We are lowly silver CC members, even if I were higher, I still wouldn't wear the lanyards, not because I think down on the status of levels, I just can't stand having it around my neck. I pocket my key.

As far as the issue with the levels of loyalty go, you get that with every loyalty program. Go to the airport these days and watch the Platinum (or top tier with whatever airline) as they line up 25 minutes before boarding in the Sky Priority lane for Delta flights, and then they give you the stink eye as you walk through 1st class. I am a gold member with Delta, soon to be Platinum, and get an upgrade maybe 20% of the time and its embarassing how other Elite's act. Oh well, to each their own, whether they wear it like a badge or courage or just accept the benefits of it quietly, human nature is funny!

 

[inmyis]

On the Lanyard thing. We will be Gold when we cruise in Feb on the Magic. I usually wear my Lanyard and keep mine and my DW's Room Key. I also usually put a few pins on it. It makes life easy for me. But DW NEVER wears hers, she just doesnt like it. So, if you prefer to keep card in pocket, do not feel obligated to wear lanyard.

I would also love to hear about recent Magic Cruises.

 

[Silverfox97]

On the Lanyard thing. We will be Gold when we cruise in Feb on the Magic. I usually wear my Lanyard and keep mine and my DW's Room Key. I also usually put a few pins on it. It makes life easy for me. But DW NEVER wears hers, she just doesnt like it. So, if you prefer to keep card in pocket, do not feel obligated to wear lanyard.

I would also love to hear about recent Magic Cruises.

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.

 

[PFlamingo]

Wow .... just ... wow.

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

Oh.My.God!!!!!

I agree.

So glad I missed the "pleasure" of encountering this woman.

Now, I feel left out because I didn't see her (that I'm aware of, anyway). A couple of people did mention her onboard, asking if I had met the "crazy lady" (their terminology, not mine) who was incredibly rude and said she was Charles Bronson's dtr. Sorry I missed her....well, maybe not!

Charles Bronson's daughter, eh? Wasn't he famous in like, the 70's? Methinks someone needs to get over herself.


Okay, my two cents. We've cruised twice on the Wonder, both 4-nighters, so I was really excited about 14 days on the Magic. We had a great time and have booked an Alaska cruise for next year, so we love DCL enough to keep coming back, but that's not to say everything was perfect on the TA.

For one thing, I have to say, compared to the Wonder, the Magic was looking a bit care-worn. Before anyone jumps on me about her age, etc., consider this - the MK is 40 years old and still looks as good as it did in '71. Or close to it. (Grew up in Orlando, been there more times than I can count. It still looks good.) On the cruise DVD (yes, I've watched it so many times I have bits memorized) they mention the "day one policy" (or something like that) where the goal is to make the parks - and the ships - look as good each day as they did that 1st day. Do I seriously expect that? Not really. But...

When we got to our stateroom, I noticed a couple of things. First, the verandah wasn't clean. I don't mean there was a smudge on the railing or something, I mean puddles of standing water with clumps of long, dark hair floating in it. Eeeew. I pulled the little desk chair out to sit at the desk and noticed a piece of paper on the floor. I picked it up and it looked like one of those little tags dry cleaners put on clothes. Again, though, there were long dark hairs clinging to it. Again, eeeeewwww. (BTW, I have extremely short red hair and DH has short grey hair. It wasn't ours.) The carpet in the entryway was definitely damp and had a mildewy smell. I went to take a shower and... no shower curtain! The decorative outer curtain was there, but the plastic liner wasn't. How do they miss that when cleaning and prepping the room? I have to say, the problems were corrected swiftly and that was fine. I just think that's not up to Disney's standards to find the room in that condition. And I'm not one of those people who rips the bedspreads off of hotel beds and stashes them away because of germs, or who scrubs every hotel room surface with Clorox wipes and Lysol before sitting down. It takes a lot to gross me out and make me complain about a room.

I had no qualms with our servers. They were very nice and I think they tried hard to please us, and I thought they did a good job. But every night, our table was one of the last to receive our food. Other tables were on their main courses when we were just receiving our appetizers. We had to skip dessert on Pirate night in order to go to the party. There were nights when we didn't finish dinner until well after 10:30.

I wonder if there were problems in the kitchen, because our servers were definitely working all of their tables. It's not like they disappeared from the dining room while we were waiting for our food. And I never once had a good meal at Lumiere's. I was persuaded to try breakfast there one morning. I waited 30 minutes for a hard-cooked egg (I don't eat runny yolks - ever; makes me gag), and when it finally arrived, the yolk was runny. Not soft cooked, runny. DH had finished his meal (as had everyone else at our table), so I ended up at Topsiders, which was fine, b/c their breakfasts were always good. Another reason why I think the problems were in the kitchen was the sorry excuse for Canadian Cheddar Cheese soup served on the international menu night. That was the only thing (other than the runny eggs) that I was served that was inedible. Call me a food snob but, I have the recipe for that soup from Le Cellier, and I've made it - successfully - on many occasions. My point is, if I can make it, surely the DCL chefs should be able to make it. It wasn't just not to my taste - it was nasty and wrong.

So if you're not rolling your eyes by now (or maybe if you are), please understand; I don't expect perfection, but I do expect my room to be clean when I get there (with all the basic things in place, like shower curtains), and food to be prepared correctly. If you can't hard-cook the egg, tell me that in the first place (I even said, "can they do this," and was told, "certainly") and I'll order something else. And if the food isn't prepared correctly and doesn't taste right, don't serve it. Basic rule of food service.

On the positive side, every CM we dealt with was friendly, helpful, and professional. James was a stitch and we loved talking to him. The Shutters photogs were awesome and gave us outstanding pictures. The spa staff was fantastic and we booked extra services, which we never do. We had two fabulous meals at Palo and our server went above and beyond to make our meals memorable. The "on-stage" people couldn't have been nicer, and made our cruise truly wonderful, as did our tablemates and all the friends we made on the trip.

I'm not trying to be petty here, though I'm sure it sounds like it. The problems we encountered weren't catastrophic. As I said, we love DCL, we'll go again, but there were unquestionably problems that needed to be addressed better than they were. I do think their customer service has slipped a bit, but it can certainly be brought back to par.

As for the lanyard issue - I don't give an obese rodent's backside. Wear 'em or don't, regardless of color. I find it convenient for carrying my card. No pockets in my swimsuit (though there probably should be). DH never wears his. To each their own.

 

[TotallyAngelic]

As for the lanyard issue - I don't give an obese rodent's backside. Wear 'em or don't, regardless of color. I find it convenient for carrying my card. No pockets in my swimsuit (though there probably should be). DH never wears his. To each their own.

Well said Pat ..... although I must admit I do find it amusing that people can get so hot under the collar about other people wearing lanyards ... why do the words "get a life" spring to mind

 

[LindaBabe]

Have just completed Disney Magic Transatlantic, our third, and the standards are slipping.

. . .

Lets hope the training improves.

Regards

Chris and Yvonne

We were on the WBTA and that was NOT our experience at all!

I found the service and entertainment to be MUCH better than it had been on the Wonder for the Panama Canal Cruise.

Our first night dining service, it's true, was a little rocky, but that could have been partially our own fault, since 3 of us showed up 20 minutes late for dinner. After that, though, it was STELLAR!

Dinner at topsider's 1 night was a little slow. Room service confused our order once (as opposed to 13xs on the PC).

That's all the complaints I can muster, though, and in a 14 night cruise, that's not bad.

We sail on the Magic again next month and are looking forward to it! I hope we get the same serving team