Honest reports

[Desi]

I need an honest TRIP REPORT for those coming off the Magic after being in dry dock. PLEASE!
I've heard some pretty bad things form the last 2 trips after the dry dock.
Anyone out there with any stories to share?

 

[alleluia5]

Desi, I am a little confused - I think all TRs on here are honest/sincere. That being said, what questions do you have? We just got off the Magic and I am happy to answer any questions.

Btw, I think they may move this post since it isn't an actual TR.

 

[Desi]

This is a post by someone who just got back last week. On a board for upcoming cruises. It has me very concerned. As our son will be 3 almost 4 and I will not tolerate this behavior from councelors. Amoung other concerns.
Thanks for answering.

Yeah... sooooo... We're thinking about cancelling next year's double dip. It was that disappointing.

-Very little- was done for passengers. I was expecting a refreshed boat. Beyond less engine shimmy and the stabilizers working well (bearing in mind the seas never got over 8 feet, and mainly were 1-4 ft), passengers got stiffed HARD. Surfaces in the cabins were very worn and beyond the tv's, I saw squat for refreshing. Tiebacks were broken, drapery was missing, wood surfaces had veneer broken off, etc. The water in toilets, sinks, and pools was brown from sediment. I can no longer say with assurance that the tap is fine for making up baby bottles. Kids' counselors (specifically the lunch lady) were as surly as ever. Still have the pager system for kids.

Kiddo is three, turning 4. She was hurt twice accidentally by the counselors. One was a huge scrape on her back, another was a scrape on her forearm. No one said JACK to us about hurting her. Once, when I was checking her in halfway through the cruise, the counselor said she was involved in 2 fights and it was noted in her record. WTH??? You couldn't say anything when we came to GET her the night before? It got to the point where Fiona would cry when we took her to the Kids Club. Kid doesn't do that when she goes to day care here, and her story was (repeatedly) that the counselors were mean to her. After sitting with her at the club several times, I have to agree that some of the counselors ARE mean and need to go elsewhere for jobs. Some of the counselors were nice to me while I was calming Fiona down from being at the Kids Club and seemed to care about Fiona.

THE FREAKING MENUS were WELL USED. My menus were frequently tattered. Animator's Palette had changed pictures; Hades wasn't shown prominently on every wall. It was less Villains and more a variety of characters. No technology refreshing. The lights at Lumiere's kept flickering due to electrical problems. VERY annoying, and it happened multiple meals throughout the cruise.

Seriously... It was extremely poor show by DCL. Furniture wasn't touched in both of our cabins (Cat 5 and Cat 11). The mattresses were sagging, the sofa bed was downright uncomfortable (DH took a night on it), the little half moon chair was faded around the top, the grout in the shower wasn't even thoroughly cleaned and patched. None of the menus had changed since our May cruise. No chairs were changed in the adult pool area. Bring pillows from home, if you can. The linens were fine, the pillows deflated to flat.

The changes I noted: The Oceaneers Club check in desk was redone to be straight across, giving a bit more area to the kids that was completely unused. The TV system is VASTLY improved, but you still can't check your balance from the set. RFID for the kids was rumored to be happening in November (from the counselors at check-in). There was a waterfall coming from one of the hot tubs (the one that actually was hot).

The shore excursions were the same as the May cruise, so no changes there, except for the Pirate excursion getting cancelled 3 days before the cruise because the "pirate ship is in dry dock." There are multiple pirate ships, and we saw people getting tendered out to the lone Pirate ship.

Despite all the frustration with not getting a refreshed boat, the DCL personnel were overall wonderful and they really made the cruise lovely.

What questions do you have?

 

[Belle1997]

Well we did a back to back Starting on the 27th. Let's just say we will never book another cruise right after refurbishment. It was actually higher in price than our second week.

The ship just looked more worn. There seemed to be less staff. On Deck 9 in adult section many times tables were left with dirty plates on it for hours in the evening. I saw Brent the cruise director picking up towels at the family pool seems there was hardly any staff around.

The goofy gallery was closed early every night. The waiters were good but lacked enthusiasm. I know for the second week we had the same waiters and they were awesome. Did the little magic tricks etc that we did not get the First week.

I am so glad we did a back to back because Disney just seemed to be struggling to get the staff happy and motivated. It was just lacking that extra awe.

The second week was like yeah things are back to normal. The whole staff seemed happier. I did put in comment card was disney lacking in staff. Just not as many as we normally saw.

Our room was fine. So we were lucky there. Though our table mates had no soap in there room when they arrived and still had none at dinner. So she washed her hands with Shampoo that was left in her shower

The Mickey Pool looked like mud. They were still putting up the padding around the poles in the Miceky and family pool area. Lots of painting and painting and painting.

One morning at @7:00 you could hear loud banging it was so annoying. I think there was also alot of new staff that did not really know the routine yet.

But as I said the second week was just fine Except the menus are gross. They need replaced. Many of mine had left over food smudges on them. I always take pics of the menues. One was so bad I asked for another. It looked like Snow white had had an upset tummy and used her shirt to clean up.

With the major hygiene on the ship you think having clean menues would be a priority.

The ship is beginning to show its age in the stateroom areas. The carpets are worn (mostly just looking older not ripped or torn that I saw), the rooms need to be refreshed. The box springs look ratty (in our room). The bed ws not as comfortable as the last year we cruise and we had the same room. I sure hope they change the mattress before we cruise in 2010

But the real reason we cruise disney is the character and food. Most of the time the food was great. The characters still as charming as ever. And as I said by the second week the cruise staff were happier and there seemed to be more of them

But if you had never cruise Disney you may never have noticed.

 

[Desi]

Belle,
Thank you. That's what I mean by honest. Just what you saw & felt. That's all. No blame game going on. Just another person's opinion.
Thanks again.

 

[Belle1997]

Thanks but if you talk to my husband he agrees with everything but the menus rofl. He says he could care less if they had food smudges on them as he was just trying to figure out what he could eat. He says normal people do not take pics of the menues

I said well while in refurbishment they could have gone through the menues and thrown out the bad ones or just printed new ones.

I said if the cruise director bends down to pick up a tink paper lugguage tag that is in the hallway the least they could do is give us clean menus . Unfortunately I deleted all the bad snow white pics thinking they were so ugly which I kept one now

 

[momm2four]

I just returned from the Magic western, Oct 4-Oct 11. I, like you, had read a few of the reports from the cruise right after dry dock and was a little worried. I am not disagreeing with anyone else's experience, just giving you my perspective.

I, honestly, was 100% pleased with our cruise. Our beds were very comfortable. My DH even commented that he was surprised at how comfortable our bed was. The pools looked fine to me. My kids played in the Mickey and the Goofy pools, and I even dipped in the Goofy one to cool off. (My DH says he noticed a film on the Goofy pool when he got in, but we're thinking it may have been all the sunscreen. Don't know, I didn't notice it. ) I never even had a problem finding a lounger by the pool.

I noticed a few spots on the carpet here and there, but nothing I would call gross or anything other than normal wear and tear.

I loved our servers and must have been lucky because our menus were fine, and most of our food was wonderful (the lobster was extremely disappointing...should have gotten the venison).

My son never complained about the counselors in the Oceaneer's Club except to say that he asked to color his pillowcase on the "make up what you missed" night and was told to wait. When I went to pick him up, one of the counselors told him, "Next time, Matthew, you need to tell us what you want to do". His response to me was that he did tell them, but was told he'd do it later and they kept putting him off. No biggie, they gave us a pillowcase and we'll just get the markers from Hobby Lobby and do it at home.

Loved the new TV's and being able to move those around. Wish they had more channels to pick from. Did notice that the head server came around to our table each night to speak with us. On the wonder in 2005, we only saw ours the first and last night.

I had a wonderful time and am missing being on the ship. Have rebooked and am looking forward to going back.

Lori P.

 

[kritter]

Just,, got off today and everything was AWESOME!!~~~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mickeyluv]

Just,, got off today and everything was AWESOME!!~~~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My sister and brother-in-law just got off today also and they also said everything was awesome!!!

 

[kritter]

We even got a call on our second day asking us if our mattress was ok? I said yeah it is ok. The women told me ok is not good enought, your room was one of the ones who mattress did not get replaced during drydock and that they were coming to replace it asap. I told her that was not necessary. She would not take no for an answer and they came and replaced the mattress and asked us everyday after if it was ok. Things, were GREAT.. The only problem is we are sad that we are home...LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Desi]

Thank you guys so much for your answers!
I feel sooooooooo much better. And in a year's time, I'm sure they will work out even more "kinks".
Now I just have to work on getting the boy potty trained by then!
Thanks again for your comments. It really did make a difference.

 

[CruiseDisney]

We even got a call on our second day asking us if our mattress was ok? I said yeah it is ok. The women told me ok is not good enought, your room was one of the ones who mattress did not get replaced during drydock and that they were coming to replace it asap. I told her that was not necessary. She would not take no for an answer and they came and replaced the mattress and asked us everyday after if it was ok. Things, were GREAT.. The only problem is we are sad that we are home...LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wonder who's cabin your mattress got put into
I'm glad to see that the mattresses are getting replaced though. I think if DCL put out some of this information to it's cruisers it would solve a lot of qualms people are having.

 

[0rygun]

Got back yesterday and the only issue I saw was that the new carpet was still going through the usual shedding and making little 'carpet balls' towards the end of the day, but the crew was right on it. The kids' staff was AWESOME and put up with my DS not having sleep, so that says a lot!