How are the Magic's repairs coming??

[kritters4]

Can anyone report on the Magic and her repairs from the fire?? How does the ship look now and are they still working on her??

 

[DreamsDoComeTrue]

I took a peek at the web cam last Sat. and didn't see any cranes in use. (Hazy picture though)

 

[*Huey*]

I drive home from work on the beeline and see the ships all the time when they're in port... What happened to the Magic? Have I been in a cave?

 

[mmouse37]

Huey...in the beginning of March the Disney Magic had a fire onboard that damaged one of the funnels. It was crumpled and in need of a new paint job.

MJ

 

[bweppner]

Hey kritters4!

I just got back from the Magic 4/6 - 4/13 cruise and the repairs don't really seem to be coming along. Around the damaged funnel they have a bunch of scaffolding ready to be set up, but that is it. They may have been planning do to work on our voyage, but we had 8-13ft. seas for most of the trip with a strong crosswind which would have made the work dangerous. Other than the funnel damage, the ship is in great shape and all sorts of other maintenance was being done during our cruise.

 

[stormkrow]

Do they still restrict access to the one pool, or is that back to normal?

 

[bweppner]

stromkrow,

All the pools are open and there is free access to the public areas of the ship. Again, it looked like they were ready to start repairs at any time, but I'm sure the weather for our trip delayed the start.

 

[iluvorlando]

From what I heard on the cruise from staff, was that a new "red" funnel cover was ordered. They will only replace it when it comes in and I would assume they would have to do that in a port. Don't know how long it takes to get that part! She is still magnificent!

 

[MarkRG]

I work with Italian companies for equipment. I'd guess a month, possibly two for them to fabricate a new one from the desgin drawings and ship it here. That's just a guess based on big items shipped in the past.

 

[Pugdog007]

What other type of maintenance were being done when you were on the MAGIC? The damaged funnel doesn't take away from the cruise experience, I hope.

 

[bweppner]

PugDog007,

First, the funnel should not take away from your cruise experience at all. It's only visible if you are on one side of Deck 10 or off the ship. The other maintenance was what you would expect Disney to do to keep the ship beautiful. Sanding down and refinishing of wood railings, painting, washing off salt spray, etc. The ship looks great for all the wear and tear it must get hauling around 2,400 passengers and 900 crew every week for four years...

 

[mikeymars]

>>The ship looks great for all the wear and tear it must get hauling around 2,400 passengers and 900 crew every week for four years...<<

I have to politely but strongly disagree with this. We were on a recent (3/23/02) Magic sailing, which was our first trip on DCL but not our first time cruising (we've previously cruised on RCCL, Carnival, Holland American and Celebrity). One of our few "complaints" was the condition of the ship.

Compared to the ships on other lines we've cruised, the Magic was not in particularly great shape given it is only four years old. We saw plenty of rust (including a huge amount on the railings on our veranda, which I found unacceptable) and outside woodwork that desperately needed refinishing (all around the Mickey pool as example). Lots of trash in the pools, too - even during the quiet hours.

While I saw a little bit of repair/maintenance work going on (an occasional single crew member doing some painting), it was nothing compared to the levels I've seen on other ships, particularly the Celebrity ones. They wrote the textbook on how to keep a ship looking new, you can't walk around a single deck on a Celebrity ship at any hour without running into 10-12 crew members busy painting, refinishing, etc.

 

[kellyb2000]

DreamsDoComeTrue - What web cam? I would love to see it.

 

[I Luv Disney Cruise]

Not to create an argument, but we have been on 3 other cruises with them and everytime we looked they were doing some type of work and there would be several crew members working. I saw refinishing going on at the Quiet Cove Pool, repainting of some of the outside of the boat, refinishing of some of the railings on Deck 10. Plus, it doesn't bother me to much that there is some rust, I know that they are trying their best to keep the ship up. How can they do 100% improvement without stopping cruises? Also, how can they take care of the verandahs of staterooms during the actual cruise without imposing on cruisers? I say give them a little break, they are trying their best.

 

[mikeymars]

>>we have been on 3 other cruises with them and everytime we looked they were doing some type of work <<

Granted, and my point was not imply that no maintenance is ever done or that the Magic is in horrible shape (which it is not). Rather, it was to compare the level of maintenance on it to those of ships on other cruise lines, ones we have actually sailed on. That is because -- irrespective of how many times one has been on DCL -- one can't give a meaningful grade to anything (in this case, the condition of the Magic) without comparing it to something else.

And when one does that, the finding is the same: maintenance on the Magic is NOT up to the level of the general industry. And that isn't just my opinion. Every other post I've ever seen from experienced cruisers -- ergo, ones who have sailed on other cruise lines in addition to DCL -- on this board on this subject (and there have been several) agrees with my point - DCL just doesn't do quite as good a job in this area as competitors.

>>give them a little break, they are trying their best. <<

I'm not "after" DCL and/or the crew, but are they really "trying their best?" Again, I don't think they are, and that is surprising: Disney is known for a history of "keep it looking new and polished" at their parks, and I'd give most of their land resorts (at WDW or DL) high grades compared to the competiton, in terms of maintenance and condition.

As a result, I was surprised (and somewhat disappointed) by the condition of the Magic and don't see why DCL can't maintain it to Disney's historic property standards, much less those of the general cruise industry. Per my prior example, if Celebrity can afford put large groups of crew into regular maintenance, why can't DCL?

 

[I Luv Disney Cruise]

True, you do have a point there.

 

[KMovies]

When staying on the ship, you see much maintenance going on. Everyone is off in Nassau or St. Martin or where ever and they are busy fixing up the ship.

 

[I Luv Disney Cruise]

DH and I would come back to the ship for lunches when at ports and would notice the little boats are at sides of the ship painting, we also couldn't walk through one of the entrance to the quiet cove pool they were refinishing the deck there, we also noticed there was a section roped off as they were repainting. I also watched them clean the sides of the ship from my verandah, they were on this neat contraption that they sat on (reminded me of tall buildings and how the window cleaners get around) anyway, it moved across and down the side of the ship.

 

[DisneyKids]

What I find interesting is that I sailed in October of 1998 (inaugural season) and then again this past January. The ship looked every bit as good as it did 10 or 12 weeks into it's life. Also, when I sailed in January, there was a GREAT deal of sanding, painting, etc. going on (along with other general maintenance). Mikeymars mentioned those areas as areas needing work. It seemed that wherever I went, especially early in the morning, there was chipping and sanding of rust where needed, painting, sanding, etc. How, between January and March, so much fell apart, I don't know. And, I never saw garbage in the pools or anywhere, for that matter.

I hope, for DCL and all of us that cruise, that Mikeymars saw the exception rather than the rule.

 

[I Luv Disney Cruise]

I also saw on the last cruise the Mickey pool emptied twice, cleaned and filled, while we were at sea.

I am very impressed with Disney Wonder and Disney Magic and will continue to cruise every year. (I also hear they are in the planning process of building a 3rd ship)